Mastering Productivity

The 5 Ingredients of the Optimal Productivity System

By: A.S. Basahal

Narrated by: Rob Maxwell

Are you curious about what sets successful goal achievers apart from those who struggle to make progress? The secret lies in building a sustainable productivity system that encompasses all the essential components. Many people focus on only one aspect of productivity, such as mindfulness or goal-setting, and neglect the bigger picture, resulting in underwhelming results.

Mastering Productivity: The Five Ingredients of the Optimal Productivity System is a comprehensive audiobook that offers practical, science-backed strategies to help you reach your goals, manage your time effectively, and construct a personalized productivity system. It covers all five essential components of a successful productivity system:

• Goal-setting.
• Mindfulness.
• Distraction management.
• Self-care and energy management,
• Constructing a personalized weekly and daily system.

Whether you're an entrepreneur, professional, student, manager, or stay-at-home parent, this audiobook will reshape the way you think about productivity and progress. It provides actionable advice to achieve consistent progress in every area of your life, enabling you to take control of your productivity and transform your life.

©2023 A.S. Basahal (P)2023 A.S. Basahal

Game changer

This book is a game-changer for me. The narration was engaging, ensuring that even the most intricate strategies were easy to grasp. The author seamlessly melds theory with actionable steps, guiding listeners to not just understand the essence of productivity but to live it. It's rare to find a guide that's both insightful and practical, but this one hits the mark. For anyone looking to elevate their efficiency and find more balance in their lives, I can't recommend "Mastering Productivity" highly enough.

A six-hour investment for a manyfold return.

The main point of this book is that productivity (and the success that comes with it) are skills and habits that can be learned, making an Important distinction between being *productive* and being *busy*. Type A personalities and those who see detailed planning as a must-have are the most likely to enjoy this book, although I think anyone with a more laid-back personality that can get through it and implement event a handful of the recommendations will likely enjoy a greater proportional benefit.

The tone, type, and vocabulary of the instructions, as well as the structure in how they are presented, suggests to me someone coming from an experience base in an upper management corporate position. Some of the suggestions are less practicable than others. For example, designating a specific time period of the day to check and respond to text messages (I think designating a time period when you won’t check or respond to text messages is more do-able and less likely to give offense to people trying to communicate with you). And you’re certain to find one or more things you either disagree or simply don’t think it’s worth your while to implement (in the case of night owls like myself, sleeping as late as possible on the weekends is a non-negotiable must-have, as opposed to the author’s recommendations against sleeping past noon).

I’d say the best way to look at this book is as a type of productivity self-improvment à la carte where you can pick and choose what works for you, and while a lot of the stuff seems like basic common sense, as the author points out, it’s the kind of common sense that only a minority of us possess. It got five stars from me because even though there’s a lot of stuff I either already knew or wouldn’t make use of, the straightforward presentation, scope of material covered, and amount of stuff I actually found useful made it worth the time it took to listen to. Topics include (but are by no means limited to) setting and prioritizing goals, as well as a solid general outline of how to break down overwhelming long-term goals into bite-sized medium and habitual short-term goals (arguably the most important part of the book). There is a discussion on how to be mentally present so you can focus to work more efficiently, and enjoy your non-working time more. Everything from diet to arranging your workspace to maximize your comfort and minimize distraction, as well as to avoid falling into the trap of perfectionism is covered.

I would have personally benefited the most from a book like this in high school or late middle school (I think something like this should be basic curricular material), but even at age 40, it was still a good use of time (especially since I went through this book in audiobook format, and the narrator and production quality were both excellent).