2022 has been an amazing year for books of all kinds, and productivity books are no exception. And yet with so many great titles, where do you start?
At the Next Big Idea Club, we crunched the numbers to determine the productivity books that were loved most by our tens of thousands of app users. (Our curators Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Daniel Pink, and Adam Grant only pick each season’s two official selections.) So if you’re ready to have your most productive year yet in 2023, check out these nine books below.
9. Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters
By Laura Vanderkam
For anyone who’s sick of letting to-do lists dictate their time, the bestselling author of What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast shares nine strategies for reclaiming your hours. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Laura Vanderkam, in the Next Big Idea App
8. Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away
By Annie Duke
Drawing on stories from leading athletes, entrepreneurs, and entertainers, a former pro poker player explains why quitting is integral to success, sharing strategies for determining when to hold ’em or fold ’em that will save you time, energy, and money. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Annie Duke, in the Next Big Idea App
7. Deep Purpose: The Heart and Soul of High-Performance Companies
By Ranjay Gulati
A distinguished Harvard Business School professor offers a compelling reassessment and defense of purpose as a management ethos, documenting the vast performance gains and social benefits that become possible when firms manage to get purpose right. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Ranjay Gulati, in the Next Big Idea App
6. Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential
By Tiago Forte
A revolutionary approach to enhancing productivity, creating flow, and vastly increasing your ability to capture, remember, and benefit from the unprecedented amount of information all around us. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Tiago Forte, in the Next Big Idea App
5. I Didn’t Do the Thing Today: Letting Go of Productivity Guilt
By Madeleine Dore
An inspiring call to take productivity off its pedestal; by dismantling our comparison to others, aspirational routines, and the unrealistic notions of what can be done in a day, we can finally embrace the joyful messiness and unpredictability of life. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Madeleine Dore, in the Next Big Idea App
4. Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention—and How to Think Deeply Again
By Johann Hari
Our ability to pay attention is collapsing. From the New York Times bestselling author of Chasing the Scream and Lost Connections comes a groundbreaking examination of why this is happening—and how to get our attention back. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Johann Hari, in the Next Big Idea App
3. The End of Burnout: Why Work Drains Us and How to Build Better Lives
By Jonathan Malesic
Going beyond the how and why of burnout, a former tenured professor combines academic methods and first-person experience to propose new ways for resisting our cultural obsession with work and transforming our vision of human flourishing. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Jonathan Malesic, in the Next Big Idea App
2. The Science of Stuck: Breaking Through Inertia to Find Your Path Forward
By Britt Frank
Bringing together research-backed solutions and empowering personal stories, this book is a hands-on road map for moving forward with purpose, confidence, and the freedom to become who you’re truly meant to be. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Britt Frank, in the Next Big Idea App
1. Get It Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation
By Ayelet Fishbach
With fascinating research from the field of motivation science and compelling stories of people who learned to motivate themselves, Get It Done illuminates invaluable strategies for pulling yourself in whatever direction you want to go—so you can achieve your goals while staying healthy, clearheaded, and happy. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Ayelet Fishbach, in the Next Big Idea App
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