The best time management books - 10 short summaries
If you can even implement only 1/10 of them, we have no doubt you’ll become a time management ninja. So, let’s start.
To make sure not to waste any of your time, each summary consists of up to 7 key points from each the books, adding up to sums up to 50 top pieces of advice on time management.
On Amazon alone you can find more than 50.000 results. There’s no way one could read them all, so that’s why we’ve prepared a short summary of the 10 most popular.
One of the best ways to excel in time management is to acquire knowledge from time management books; the only problem being that there are thousands of time management books out there.
Getting Things Done is probably the most popular self-organization and time management framework out there and is employed by millions. The idea of Getting Things Done is to provide a work-life management system that alleviates overwhelm and instils focus, clarity, and confidence.
He popularized the concept known as “eat that frog” in time management, which recommends doing the hardest task first thing in the morning, the idea being that if you eat a frog in the morning, everything else will be a piece of cake to get done during the day.
Besides Stephen Covey, one of the oldest and most popular business, personal development, and time management authors is Brian Tracy .
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People was published in 1989 and was one of the first popular time management books (with more than 25 million copies sold), popularizing concepts like proactivity, the abundance mindset, the Eisenhower Matrix and much more.
The key time management points from the book are as follows:
The narrative of the book is to teach you how to escape the 9 – 5 job, live anywhere, and join the new rich. Thus, we can consider it a productivity and time management book.
Tim Ferriss has the most popular business and personal development podcast and blog of all time. The 4 Hour Workweek is the book that made him famous.
5. Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown
The idea of essentialism is to focus only on those things that really matter. Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less is more than a time management technique; it’s a system that helps you get only the right things done, identifying what is absolutely essential and then eliminating everything else.
The crucial aspect of following essentialism is to learn to say no - both to yourself and others.
The key time management points from the book:
Stop trying to say Yes to everything: focus on the tasks that bring the most results and you will be working effectively.
The point of essentialism is finding the tasks that really matter, so eliminate the tasks that are not essential and distracting.
Focus on creating a smooth path for the completion of essential tasks.
If you have a lot of options, you can’t focus on what is important and you become less effective.
If you fail at prioritizing your tasks at work, somebody else will do that for you in a less effective way, which you may not like.
6. The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg
Great time management is closely connected to managing habits right, and the most popular book on the topic is The Power of Habit, written by Charles Duhigg.
The core idea of the book is that the key to exercising regularly, losing weight, being more productive, and achieving success is understanding how habits work. If you know how to hack your habits, you can also put your time management on autopilot.
The key time management points from the book:
Habits have three steps: Cue (a trigger that starts an automatic process in your brain), Routine (the actual process and the response to the Cue) and Reward (when completing the routine, you receive a reward that you like and thus remember).
Habits can be changed by changing the Routine part of the habit. So, think of your routines, which cues are they triggered by, what kind of a reward you get out of your current routines, and which better routines you could switch to.
Habits take time to “stick” and require a certain amount of willpower to stay active.
We rely on habits to clear our mind and to make work and life more sustainable.
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7. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
With the rise of technology, and especially mobile phones, our environment has become full of distractions. Notifications, emails, chat messages, video call apps, phone calls etc., - there are so many things competing for our attention.
The problem is that is hard to get anything done with all these distractions. “Deep work”, popularized by Cal Newport, is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively-demanding task, and it’s one of the most important contemporary time management concepts.
The key time management points from the book:
If you want to complete a demanding task in a professional way, you need distraction free and high concentration time, Deep Work.
Nowadays it is rare to be able to do deep work, because of our fast-paced life, and because shallow work is that much easier.
Deep work is hard, but it creates much more value, improves your skills, and is hard to replicate compared to shallow work.
Learning new skills is faster if you are in a highly-concentrated state.
If you do shallow work for a long time, you begin to lose the ability to do deep work.
You can learn more about why distractions are a problem and the best ways to handle them here in our blog post.
8. Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day by Jake Zeratsky and John Knapp
The book Make Time is in a about creating space for what truly matters in life. It offers several tools for how to achieve that, like using highlights (middle-sized projects you can complete in a day) and intentions, being disciplined in laser-style focus work, taking energizing breaks, and regularly reflecting on how to improve. I
n the book there are more than 80 tactics, which you should approach as a scientist, experimenting to find out what works for you and what doesn’t.
The key time management points from the book:
Choose a highlight task that is important, meaningful, or joyful every day and strive to achieve it. Set one intention at the start of each day and make sure you follow it.
Too many tasks at work and too much entertainment (social media, news, games, apps ...) are in the way of the laser focus that you need to complete your highlight task. Design your environment in a way that allows you to stay focused.
Stay in good physical condition, the style of life we know today is new to our bodies. Embrace the caveman inside and eat well and exercise more - and don’t forget to socialize.
9. 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think by Laura Vanderkam
The book 168 Hours tackles the common excuse we all often use, and that is “I don’t have enough time”. Laura is not fond of this phrase, arguing in her book that the 168 hours we have in a week is enough time to fit in a great career, a family life, exercise, hobbies, and enough sleep per night.
Similarly, Brian Tracy has a time management quote: “Maybe there is not enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important things”.
The key time management points from the book:
Start tracking your time: you need to know how you spend time before you can do anything about it. You can use an app such as MyHours to do this. Based on the analysis, see where you are losing time and what you can offload.
Work on the things you do best, and don’t spread your skillset too thin.
Stop doing “pretend-work” that keeps you busy and far away from doing meaningful work.
If you can outsource a task, do it.
Talk to people that have already achieved the thing you want to achieve.
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10. The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande
The Checklist Manifesto is all about checklists. The book explores the fundamental importance of checklists in organizing and managing complex processes, including in running our own lives. A checklist can help us not to omit or overlook tasks that need to be performed in order to achieve the desired goal.
The reason we often don’t perform all these necessary tasks is that the volume and complexity of knowledge has exceeded our ability as individuals for proper delivery without having the help of simple tools, such as a checklist.
The key time management points from the book:
By writing down the tasks that need to be done, we have less on our mind and become more creative and more focused.
Communication and teamwork are essential for success, but everybody must know what they are responsible for.
Checklists help you deal with the complexity of your work and eliminate possible mistakes.
No task is so complex that it can’t be broken down into a checklist.
Checklists should be short, clear, meant for learning and remembering, revised regularly, and should represent the type of task (difficult, critical, easy, important…).
You can read additional ideas on how to use checklists and to-do lists in the most productive way here.
11. Bonus: The Ultimate Time-Management Guide
At Spica, we published The Ultimate Time-Management Guide, which you can download here for free .
The main idea of this eBook is that if you had infinite time on this planet, you could achieve every single thing you wanted. The time limitation is the biggest burden in our lives. Therefore, the first rule of success is to manage time wisely. The most valuable asset you have in your life is time.
The key time management points from the eBook:
Learn how to manage the 10 biggest time wasters (distractions); and in doing that, don’t rely on your self-discipline, but rather build yourself a system that will enable you to work in a distraction-free environment.
Make sure to avoid fake feelings of progress, (meaning doing activities that have low added value). Focus on creating and delivering value based on your competencies.
In a world full of choices and options, have a minimalistic mindset. Simplify your life and minimize the number of projects and choices you make during the day.
Know your limitations, limit work in progress so as not to be stressed all the time, take enough rest, and regularly invest in yourself.
We hope you enjoyed the summaries. And if you would like to learn more about time management, we have also prepared a list of the ultimate 58 time management techniques.
Time Management Books: 8 Best Books To Read In 2022
Is time management really important in one’s life?
From the kitchen to giving the exam, Time management plays a vital role in organizing our schedule. If time management is not there, you will not work according to your schedule. Time management is the essential thing that everyone follows.
This blog will guide you by providing time management books. Taking the challenge of time management can be hard for some people. But no doubt it will help you in living a meaningful life. The other and the most important thing, an individual should set time so that person can manage money and physical possessions.
Everyone on this planet gets 24 hours a day, and you cannot hold or save it for later, and we can’t trust a moment. Time passed rapidly, and we didn’t know about it. But everyone should be concerned about it.
So, how can we manage our time? And use it in the correct place and appropriately.
Well! This question always rolls in our minds. Don’t panic; we are here to recommend you the best books about time management so that you can make the best out of them.
Best Time Management Books
1. Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals
by Oliver Burkeman
Everyone makes their to-do list and the uncountable distractions, and we believe in becoming more effective and productive to manage our day. But such methodology often makes things more menacing. Nobody wants to say that there is enough time.
Burkeman demonstrates a delightful, funny, logical, and eventually deep guide to the period and time management after concluding on the insight of both ancient and modern philosophers, spiritual professors, and psychologists.
2. A Minute to Think- Reclaim Creativity, Conquer Busyness, and Do Your Best Work
by Juliet Funt
A MINUTE TO THINK is amongst the best time management books. Every topic of the books comes with a new sense. You will find yourself more productive at the end of this book as you use your time more efficiently.
This book will ultimately help you in :
You will have control over your overload, inbox-worshipping workday.
Readers will free themselves and their group from tiredness and busy work.
Recycle originality and concentrate despite the mess around you.
Carry your insights into inventing your task norms
Discover your valuable minute to think.
3. Drop the Ball- Achieving More by Doing Less
by Tiffany Dufu
Drop the ball is considered one of the best time management books. Every woman must read this book, looking for a way to succeed. Men- Father, husband, and male leaders can also read this book. As a husband, you will notice what your wife has done, being an awesome wife, mom, and career expert. After going through these books, you will notice that you have earned compassion and a new mindset.
4. The Tao of Time
by Diana Hunt
The Tao of Time is considered one of the best time management books. It is a book that describes how you manage your charts and time. It is all about the Tao. The Tao of Time instructs you about the myth about time. This book contains some principles that will work in your life. As per the reviews, people started to get overburdened. I Truly suggest this book for all the “overachievers” who depend on your plans and organizers.
5. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People- Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
by Stephen Covey
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has given powerful lessons, and it was published in 1990. It remains a bestseller, and you will be amazed to know that more than 10 million copies have been sold yet. An internationally respected leadership authority, Stephen believes that success confines a balance of professional and personal effectiveness. Hence, this book is a manual for doing better in both areas. It is considered to be one of the best books about time management.
6. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich”
by Timothy Ferriss
In this book, Timothy Ferriss shares his step-by-step guide on how anyone in the world can start earning a monthly-based five-figure income by just working The 4-Hour Workweek. As a result, you’ll be able to live the life that you actually want to live without even working as other people do.
If this sounds better to be true than Ferriss, it includes over 50 practical tips and real-life case studies on how you can live your life to the fullest without even working more.
Key Quote: “Being able to quit things that don’t work is integral to being a winner.”
7. The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less by Richard Koch
by Richard Koch
The 80/20 Principle is a program for accomplishing great results with very minimal effort. If we discuss it deeper, then the 80/20 rule states that 80% of results come from 20% of the efforts. So this means that the key to success is not to stay busy all the time but rather to invest your focus and energy into the 20%.
The book’s first part explains the ideas in-depth, exploring related academic concepts and tracing their history.
On the other hand, the middle section focuses on applying the 80/20 concept to the corporate world. It also advises on the topics like finding the right customers and employing simple strategies. This book reflects on how to reduce time waste, how to reclaim free time and operate more efficiently in all aspects of life.
Notable Quote: “It is not the shortage of time that should worry us, but the tendency for the majority of time to be spent in low-quality ways.”
8. “Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World”
by Cal Newport
Deep Work is one of the best books on productivity and time management. This guide presents a masterclass in turning out distractions. In this book, you’ll learn about the merits of a steadfast work ethic. On the other hand, it also explains the guidelines and training methods for concentrating.
If we talk about the middle section, then it focuses on blocking out social media, preventing interruptions, and tips for working more efficiently, including avoiding boredom and achieving peak “deep work.” This book teaches you how to focus more intentionally in the real world.
Key quote: “To produce at your peak level, you need to work for extended periods with full concentration on a single task free from distraction.”
Time Management Tips: 6 Best Tips For You To Work Efficiently.
We’ve learned over the years that the best way to improve my time management and productivity skills has been through books. So, we listed the best ever 6 tips on time management. So, you will learn the importance of time management as you’re reading these books.
Planning
Analyzing a task or a set of tasks and developing a schedule for their completion is essential. Effective time management needs you to have powerful planning abilities to create and use an organized understanding of your responsibilities when making your task plans. Consider time management books to plan fastly without wasting extra time.
Organize your tasks and their deadlines
You will notice your time is effectively used, and no extra time is used for them. It will hardly take 10 to 20 minutes to prepare an outline for each of the activities you have to perform and establish their last dates. Your tasks will complete before the deadlines.
Be deliberate: maintain a to-do list
Making up a to-do list helps you to become more efficient and productive.
A person should always make a list of their tasks as it helps you know what you have to do next. When you make a to-do list, you realize that your work is finished on time and properly utilize resources. A person can apply it to all types of businesses.
Always be Focused
No doubt, how much we are focused, all get somehow distracted from social media to friends. Hence, you must manage your distractions effectively to save your flow and get concentrated.
To increase your time management skill you must read the best books about time management. Many disturbances you can discover easily, but some can be hard for you to discover. Once you explore the source, you can fix controls to determine when to allow notifications.
Set Your Goals
It is the main aspect of time management. Set your objective that will direct you to what you have to work for another. Setting meaningful goals enables you to always get motivated and encouraged. When you set your objectives, it will help you allocate proper time utilization.
Give some breaks to get a refresh
Giving 15 minutes breaks in every hour increases your brainpower to memorize more. When you do this technique, you will find it more stress-free. Hence you will get stress management habits.
Final Verdict
One of the soundest ways to boost your time management skills is to read the best time management books. But reading the best book is very important. Otherwise, it is a total wastage of time.
So here in this blog, we have recommended the top 5 time management books that will make you more productive, enthusiastic, and encouraged.
If you are not able to complete your management assignment. In that case, you can contact our well-experienced and qualified experts, who are well known for providing the best ever solutions with 100% unique content.
Moreover, if you have an issue related to this blog, you can contact us without hesitation. Just visit our management assignment help. We will shortly be connected to you.
Frequently Asked Question
4 Books That Can Help You Boost Your Time Management Skills
Time is the most precious resource in an entrepreneur’s life. Once lost, it can never be retrieved.
Managing time is one of the most critical elements of productivity, work-life balance and eventually, success. Experts believe that once you’ve mastered your time, you’ve mastered your life. Time management not only allows you to deliver top-quality results, it also lets you to achieve them quickly. Therefore, in order to be successful, it’s important to take the reins of your time. Because if you allow your time and energy to be wasted on things of little importance, you will end up holding yourself back and wasting valuable hours that could be spent on more productive pursuits.
Entrepreneurs are often pressed for time, and one of the best ways to improve time management and productivity skills is by reading tips from others. Here are four helpful books on time management and productivity that can help you learn how to maximize and take control of time.
Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy
The famous Mark Twain quote “Eat a live frog the first thing in the morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day” forms the basis of this book by Brian Tracy. The author uses the metaphor of the frog as your most important and most challenging task, the one you are most likely to procrastinate doing. Get it done the first thing in the morning and the rest of your day will go smoothly. And if you have to eat two frogs, go for the uglier one first, which is another way of saying that if you have two important tasks to finish, start with the hardest and most important one first.
At its core, Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time focuses on the importance of prioritizing daily tasks the right way so that you can get better results in limited time. Tracy highlights the fact that the ability to choose between the important and the unimportant tasks could be the fundamental determining factor of success in life and work. In the book, he details 21 time-management techniques including how to set goals, practice the Law of Three, apply the 80/20 rule and use the ABCDE method.
Getting Things Done by David Allen
Time management and productivity guru David Allen believes that our productivity is directly proportional to our ability to relax. Only when our minds are clear and our thoughts are organized can we achieve effective productivity and unleash our creative potential. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity centers around actionable, pragmatic time management methods to improve your day-to-day efficiency. In the book, Allen outlines three simple steps to his productivity system: using a collection bucket to keep important information so you can stay focused on essential tasks, having a “next actions” list for all upcoming projects and reviewing your work weekly.
Allen has tweaked the book several times over the years to add perspectives catered toward the new workplace and the younger generations; however, the basic concept remains the same — when you have a clear mind, you can organize your thoughts, spark creativity and boost your productivity.
15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management by Kevin Kruse
Bestselling author and entrepreneur Kevin Kruse met with more than 200 super-productive people including billionaires Mark Cuban, Kevin Harrington and John Lee Dumas; Olympic athletes; successful entrepreneurs, and honor students, and asked them about their time management secrets. After analyzing the results, he found that they all shared 15 secrets about time management.
15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management: The Productivity Habits of 7 Billionaires, 13 Olympic Athletes, 29 Straight-A Students, and 239 Entrepreneurs outlines a set of tools that he has extracted from his interviews, such as focusing only on one thing, never using to-do lists, processing emails only a few times a day and following the 80/20 rule.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
Any time management and productivity list is incomplete without the mention of this bestseller by Stephen R. Covey. First published in 1989, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change is considered one of the best books to read if you are looking to improve your time-management, productivity and effectiveness skills, both professionally and personally. The book focuses on building good habits in order to stay on track as opposed to getting rid of bad habits. In particular, he focuses on defining your goals and priorities.
This book discusses seven major habits that the most effective people use to influence their lives, including being proactive, planning ahead and so on. But before you can adopt these seven habits, you'll need to accomplish a paradigm shift, which is a change in perception and interpretation of how the world works. Covey writes, “Paradigms are powerful because they create the lens through which we see the world ... If you want small changes in your life, work on your attitude. But if you want big and primary changes, work on your paradigm.”
Covey uses the analogy of placing sand, pebbles and rocks into a jar to help you define what’s really important. He believes that if you put the little things such as sand or the pebbles first, the rocks won’t fit. But if you start with the rocks, there will be enough room in the jar to fit the smaller items around them.
We'd love to hear your recommendations of books or podcasts about time management — feel free to share them in the comments!