The Productivity Project

Accomplishing More by Managing Your Time, Attention, and Energy

By: Chris Bailey

Narrated by: Chris Bailey

A fresh, personal, and entertaining exploration of a topic that concerns all of us: how to be more productive at work and in every facet of our lives.

Chris Bailey turned down lucrative job offers to pursue a lifelong dream—to spend a year performing a deep dive experiment into the pursuit of productivity, a subject he had been enamored with since he was a teenager. After obtaining his business degree, he created a blog to chronicle a year-long series of productivity experiments he conducted on himself, where he also continued his research and interviews with some of the world’s foremost experts, from Charles Duhigg to David Allen. Among the experiments that he tackled: Bailey went several weeks with getting by on little to no sleep; he cut out caffeine and sugar; he lived in total isolation for 10 days; he used his smartphone for just an hour a day for three months; he gained ten pounds of muscle mass; he stretched his work week to 90 hours; a late riser, he got up at 5:30 every morning for three months—all the while monitoring the impact of his experiments on the quality and quantity of his work.

The Productivity Project—and the lessons Chris learned—are the result of that year-long journey. Among the counterintuitive insights Chris Bailey will teach you:

· slowing down to work more deliberately;

· shrinking or eliminating the unimportant;

· the rule of three;

· striving for imperfection;

· scheduling less time for important tasks;

· the 20 second rule to distract yourself from the inevitable distractions;

· and the concept of productive procrastination.

In an eye-opening and thoroughly engaging listen, Bailey offers a treasure trove of insights and over 25 best practices that will help you accomplish more.

©2023 Chris Bailey (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Chris Bailey has tackled the daunting task of personally experimenting with any and every technique you can imagine that could positively affect your productivity. His dedication to the project and his intelligent conclusions, combined with his candor and articulateness, make this a fun, interesting, and useful read!"—David Allen, author of Getting Things Done

"Chris Bailey might be the most productive man you’d ever hope to meet."—TED Blog

"Here's a book that promises, in the title, to pay for itself. And, the truth is, it will, in just a few days. And you'll even enjoy the journey."—Seth Godin, Author of Linchpin

Excellent Book on Personal Productivity

Really enjoyed this audio book but it is not without a downside - I hope to properly convey my feelings.

I love the youthful exuberance that the author has. His passion and energy will inspire all who listen. I also enjoy that the author took this on almost as a science project. Although many of his experiments produced subjective data, he does back up with real science where he can.

There are so many takeaways and personal experiments, and that's what leads into the downside of this audio book. This is not a book you can just "zone out to" on your commute to work. I started off with pen and paper and then tried using the bookmark feature on Audible and ultimately just said that I'm going to have to relisten or buy the book. A pdf with the authors challenges and other key points would be nice; however, it does not warrant a lower rating on the book.

Some interesting information

The author, who also narrated, showed it is obvious he does not have a busy work life, or even domestic life, making the book slow and at times tedious. There are times where he would pause for so long I thought the playback stopped. While there are a few key points to take from the book, you have so much to go through to just get to the point. While I am happy I listened to it, it also could have been cut back substantially while still getting all main points across. I would recommend an abridged version, and I never do!

This has been a game changer.

It's astonishing to find so much wisdom and practical advice in someone so young (mid-twenties). I've already put some of Chris Bailey's productivity tactics into my routine with good results and am working on completing each of the chapter challenges. I like that Chris tested each tactic himself over a full year so is able to speak from experience.

I recommend this book for people who have goals they deeply care about but also want to live a balanced personal life. Too often I've worked long hours, giving up personal and family time. This book has changed my perspective and has shown me that I can reach my goals and still have a life. I just finished it and it's already making a difference in my approach to work and personal goals.

An interesting book, a spell binding narrative

Chris has not just hit the productivity elements of the knowledge work era spot on, it's his energetic and enthusiasm in the narrative that kept me interested till the very end. Managing Time, energy and attention are key to staying productive and his insights from experiments he conducting on himself during AYOP are worth adopting. I moved all my social apps to a secondary phone and there are several others hacks that I will implement in 2017.

Some great info

If this is your first book on productivity, you'll gain so much from Chris. I've read a few, by now, and I still found this book beneficial. In fact, the author cites some of the books I've listened to, previously, and uses them as evidence for some of the ideas he shares. There are some great, easy ways to start living more mindfully. I highly recommend this to anyone who feels like there aren't enough hours in the day.

loud and quick inhale, speak, repeat

I'm not sure if I'll get through the rest of the book. I'm halfway and can only focus on his annoying inhales before he speaks. Also, equal parts good concepts, common sense and filler.

Beautiful ideas

Chris has the right idea about productivity--that it is because of people, and that it isn't just checking things off a to-do list. This is, in the end, a beautiful book.

helpful

While this book is fairly ad hoc in its approach to the study of productivity...I found it helpful to remind myself that change is possible.

incremental change.

It has a certain naivete to it, in that the author has a pretty flexible life. The strategies are valuable and I strongly expect I will adopt some of them, but there is something to be said about having experienced the success while dealing not just with work, but with kids, including daycare and school bus schedules, a pretty substantial commute and a home maintenance. Everything is a choice...and that is one of the main points of the book. But there is also something to be said about reality.

Definitely Recommend

I learned so much from this book. There is so much condensed and practical value in every chapter, and I will have to read this book a few times to extract all the things I can use. I enjoyed the author reading his book and added more passion and importance to what he says.

Good summary of productivity improvements

This is a good summary of productivity improvements that I have learnt from multiple best sellers. Even touches into improving personal life which implicitly impacts work productivity.