Time is an irreplaceable resource. This phrase remains true to date. It’s difficult to control the way you spend time and how much time you spend on certain things. Luckily, there are time management books in 2022 to guide you on this.
Top time management books help you manage your time more effectively. However, finding the best time management books may take some time, which we will help you save. So, we explore the best sellers’ time management books in this article.
Top Time Management Books
The following time management books cover productivity, stress management, time management organization, etc.
#1. Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown is one of the top time management books that talks about stress management. In his book, Greg McKeown advocates doing only what’s essential rather than doing more. What this means is putting the most vital tasks first and focusing on the most important ideas.
Although many people brag about their busy schedules, this book shows how being busy is a less disciplined approach. It is more difficult to commit to a single task and concentrate on the right areas than it is to multitask. Every chapter focuses on behavior that makes life easier, such as establishing boundaries, decision making, and removing barriers.
Buy Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
#2. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen
One of the best sellers time management books about improvement is “Getting Things Done”. This is a revised edition of the guide for mastering workflow and managing tasks. Using illustrations like flowcharts, this book explains best practices and organizational methods that assist readers to work more effectively and worry less.
The main idea of this book is that, because the human brain can only process and concentrate on a finite amount of information at a time, handling tasks as they come can prevent them from overwhelming you.
Quick action keeps responsibilities from stacking up or being forgotten. The GTD system described in “Getting Things Done” aids readers in organizing workflows and responding properly to tasks.
Buy Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
#3. The Productivity Project: Accomplishing More by Managing Your Time, Attention, and Energy by Chris Bailey
The goal of the text, “The Productivity Project” is to identify the perfect working conditions. For over a year, the author, Chris Bailey tried several productivity experiments on himself and recorded his outcomes. So, he learned important time management lessons along the way, and that’s what he’s sharing in this book.
Bailey talks about the behaviors that had the most impact on his results. For instance, slowing down and working more thoughtfully, and allotting less time for vital tasks. Throughout the book, it combines these first-person observations and experiences with research and interviews with top productivity experts.
This book is a collection of tested strategies that reminds you that work is not only about how much time you spent but also about the outputs of that time. Therefore, it’s considered one of the best time management books in 2022.
Buy The Productivity Project: Accomplishing More by Managing Your Time, Attention, and Energy
#4. Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy
Mark Twain once said, “if it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.” This book is centered around that philosophy.
Brian Tracy suggests ways to overcome procrastination and gain momentum by taking on the most difficult projects head-on. The book offers advice on how to plan your day, cut large tasks into smaller ones, keep consequences in mind, and make the most of technology.
Buy Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time
#5. The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less by Richard Koch
The 80/20 Principle is a philosophy for achieving massive results with little effort. According to the 80/20 rule, 80% of results come from 20% of efforts. The secret to success is not to remain busy but to put most of your effort and attention into the 20%, or the most important priorities and projects.
The first section of the book thoroughly explains the concept by tracing its history and examining similar academic concepts. Whereas, the middle part talks about using the 80/20 principle in business, and covers topics including using simple techniques and identifying the right customers. The book concludes with reflections on how to increase efficiency in all areas of life, regain free time, and minimize time waste.
So, this book is undoubtedly one of the top time management books you should read in 2022.
Buy The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less
#6. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey
The book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” was first published in 1989. And it’s often considered among the best time management books to increase your productivity on both a professional & personal level. Instead of emphasizing breaking bad habits, it emphasizes creating new ones that will help you stay on track. Most importantly, set objectives and goals for yourself.
Covey illustrates this by putting sand, pebbles, and rocks into a jar to help you determine what’s truly important. The rocks won’t fit if you place the smaller things first, like the pebbles or sand. However, if you start with the rocks, there’s plenty of space for you to place the smaller things around them in the jar.
Buy The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
#7. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
Another book on our list of top time management books in 2022 is Deep Work. You may ask, “what is Deep Work?” Cal Newport, a writer, and lecturer define it as, “Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that pushes your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.”
The challenge is that getting into this flow is difficult since our world is becoming more and more distracted. But the good news is that Newport describes certain disciplines that will transform your habits and mindset. So that you can focus and get to work right away.
Buy Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
#8. Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky
One of the best sellers time management and organization books is “Make Time”. Jake Knapp is a Google veteran and the creator of the company’s design sprint. And John Zeratsky is a journalist whose works on tech firms have appeared in Time, Harvard Business Review, and The Wall Street Journal.
These authors show how to take charge of your attention and refuse things that are not in your best interests.
In this book, time management is presented as an intentional activity that entails shutting out from the pressures of modern life and focusing on the most important pursuits, projects, and tasks. Make Time provides a toolkit to help you manage your schedule.
Buy Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day
#9. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
This book has consistently been one favorite of startup founders. And it’s one of the best sellers of time management books. This book is all about making the most of your work, for those looking to leave the rat race and get more done with less.
If you read Tim Ferriss’ book, your perspective on work and time will undoubtedly change. It doesn’t matter if you don’t move from making $40k a year to making $40k a month as he did.
Buy The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
#10. Competing Against Time: How Time-Based Competition Is Reshaping Global Markets by George Stalk
Time is not just synonymous with freedom. It’s a tool that organizations like Ford, Honda, and Wal-Mart used to maintain their position as industry leaders.
The author talks about how to use time as a crucial element of competitiveness to increase productivity and innovation. And how to produce better products and services. Thus, it deserves a spot on our list of top time management books in 2022.
Buy Competing Against Time: How Time-Based Competition Is Reshaping Global Markets
#11. The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande
The most complicated issues sometimes need the easiest solutions. According to Atul Gawande, being highly knowledgeable or skilled does not guarantee doing excellent work.
Gawande promotes a simple checklist, which we have all used at one point or the other. He illustrates the power of checklists in various situations using many stories. This is one book that cannot be left out of the best sellers time management books.
Buy The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right
#12. Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time by Jeff Sutherland
Scrum is one of the top time management books you should have in your library in 2022. Even though you don’t work in the software industry, you may be familiar with the scrum methodology, an agile working approach developed by Jeff Sutherland.
You can find more about it in this authoritative guide from Sutherland. This includes how scrum revolutionized the work of many experts today and helped huge organizations like the FBI operate more efficiently, eventually saving time and money. Apart from the time management aspect, this is an interesting book to read.
Buy Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time
Summary
If you have issues achieving everything on your to-do list, you might read some time management books. These books will guide you to plan and structure your day and tasks in a way that you become more productive.
FAQs
The three P’s of time management include Planning, Prioritizing, and Performing.
Most of the world’s successful people attribute their success to good time management activities which they employ in their daily routine.
When you don’t have straightforward time management goals, it can lead to poor time management.
If you were given a big project, how would you ensure you finished it promptly? What will you do when you have many high-priority projects all due in the same week?
Effective time management improves your focus and increases your productivity. Better focus enables you to identify greater opportunities. It also enables you to spend more time on the tasks, goals, and people that matter.
References
- toggl.com – Top 20 Time Management Books
- teambuilding.com – 15 Best Time Management Books to Read in 2022
- entrepreneur.com – 15 of the Best Time Management and Productivity Books of All Time
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