There are hundreds of thousands of productivity-enhancing books out there and a lot of them claim a host of benefits.

Being a fan of self-development books, I’ve only found a handful of those to be truly impactful on my day-to-day life and work. Sometimes the best productivity-focused books are the ones that contextualise the teachings to your work or personal life.

Bringing the learnings into everyday activities, problem-solving, constructive thinking and planning skills is what we should strive for when reading these titles. In this article, we share a few recommendations

1. How to Think Like DaVinci

DaVinci was one of the most successful thinkers of our time — Bringing problem-solving and creative thinking to a new level. In this read, author Michael Gelb dissects how DaVinci was able to implement his abilities to his workload and accomplish his great achievements.

Read here | Kindle

2. Eat That Frog

Photo from Toodle

A classic for many, you may have already come across Brian Tracey’s Eat That Frog. Discussed in this well-crafted read are ways to beat procrastination and begin combatting your goals and targets. Author Brian Tracey investigates what it takes to go the next mile.

Read here | Kindle

3. The Power of Less

Photo Credit: List25

Crafting a simple life is a tricky one, with the noise of the 21st century, many struggle. The Power of Less by Leo Babauta explores the concept of needing less and bringing more to your life and work. Leo runs a successful blog called ZenHabits, one of my personal favourites musings on zen practices.

Read here | Kindle

4. 12-Week Year

On my reading list right now, the 12-week year investigates the process of getting things done in a condensed period of time. Bringing all of your efforts into short stints of workload to avoid the drag across the year. This book uncovers how to achieve your targets in a shorter length of time.

Read here | 12 Week Year

5. The Productivity Project

Adopting a 80/20 approach to productivity, author Chris Bailey downsized his work efforts and travelled. The Productivity Project reveals his discoveries, learnings and teachings from moving forward with his use of time. This shorter read brings a lot of tips and advice.