I’m a life-long reader. I’ve literally read hundreds of books. I love all sorts of genres, including self-help and business. I’m a big advocate of reading, but I’ve noticed a trend: People would rather read than work. What if, instead of continually reading about productivity, we just get to work?
Do Less To Find More Productivity
Sometimes we need to cut all the excess in order to get to what’s important. Sometimes we need to stop chasing productivity and actually get to work. It’s that simple.
This post was prompted when John Lee Dumas of Entrepreneur On Fire asked this question on Facebook:
What is your #1 book recommendation for helping you become more productive.
I thought about that for minute. Productivity comes from within. Productivity comes by getting rid of everything that might get in its way. Yes, we can be inspired and motivated by books, blogs, and podcasts, but if we’re constantly chasing productivity, we’ll never get anything done. Maybe, we should just get to work. So I replied to John’s post:
Books don’t make me more productive. I do. If I had to choose, I’d say, Essentialism, by Greg, McKeown. But that book essentially told me what I already practice, so maybe it decreased my productivity for the time it took to read…
In my free ebook, The Happiness Of Simple: Making Connections Between Happiness, Simplicity, And Productivity, I teach the simple idea that happiness and productivity are both found when we learn to simplify our lives. Simplifying our lives includes doing less, and yes, that means reading less.
Is Self-Help All The Same?
I’ve read enough self-help and business books to know this: They all essentially tell me the same thing in different words.
See my post: How Reading Books Changed My Life.
I’m not saying we should never read another book or blog post. I’m not telling you stop listening to podcasts. In fact, if you want to be a great writer, you need to be well-read. Somewhere, I saw a quote that says something to this effect:
Never trust a writer who writes more than he reads.
That’s excellent advice. I believe I’ve read enough in my life that I could never read another word and still never write as much as I’ve read in the remainder of my lifetime. This might not be your situation. If you want to be a writer and you’ve read very little, then by all means, read some books. Read lots of books. But if you’re simply reading to get the inspiration to be productive…
Just Get To Work
I’m keeping this post short. I don’t want to become part of the problem. I don’t want to stop you from getting started on your next project. I just wanted to remind you that true productivity isn’t something you learn in a book. It’s not something you’ll start doing because of the next podcast you listen to.
True productivity comes by getting rid of nonessential things in your life. It starts by clearing your busy space so that you have more creative space. So stop chasing productivity through books, blogs, and podcasts and get to work.
Now it almost feels hypocritical to ask you to read my book, but it can be read in less than an hour. It really gets to the heart of this problem about productivity. And it’s free. Just click the link below:
