The Productivity Project - by Chris Bailey (Paperback)

About the Book

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.

Book Synopsis

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 read, Bailey offers a treasure trove of insights and over 25 best practices that will help you accomplish more.

Review Quotes

"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

"Chris has written the ultimate guidebook for setting your life on fire. Read it, and you'll not only get more done, you'll feel better about it too."
-- Laura Vanderkam, author of I Know How She Does It

"So often we get stuck just doing what we have always done, even if it's not really working. This book helps you cut through all the productivity advice out there to find and test what really works for you."
-- Shawn Achor, positive psychology researcher and New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Advantage

"The Productivity Project is well-written, fun, practical and useful all at the same time. I loved this book. It's practical Buddhism at its best!"
-- Marshall Goldsmith, bestselling author of Triggers, MOJO and What Got You Here Won't Get You There

"Chris doesn't just want you to be more productive. He wants you to live a better life. This book is a two-hour ticket to not only becoming more productive, but becoming genuinely happier."
--Neil Pasricha, author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation

About the Author

Chris Bailey, a graduate of Carleton University in Ottawa, wrote over 216,000 words on the subject of productivity on his blog, ayearofproductivity.com, during a year long productivity project where he conducted intensive research, as well as dozens of productivity experiments on himself to discover how to become as productive as possible. To date, he has written hundreds of articles on the subject, and has garnered coverage in media as diverse as The New York Times, The Huffington Post, New York magazine, TED, Fast Company, and Lifehacker.