The best books to manage your time, energy, and priorities

What blew me away about this book was that it successfully made the case that if I have more than three priorities, I have none. Perhaps even better than that, the author popularized the idea that even three priorities are two too many–that if I’m seeking to achieve truly extraordinary outcomes, I’ll really want to focus as tightly as humanly possible on the absolute smallest number of things, to zero in on what matters more than anything else.

This book inspired me to keep going and never give up on what turned out to be my toughest, most grueling project, a book that I’m proud to have published.

I loved this book because it connected the idea of having priorities with the concept of criteria; put simply, the way to evaluate how important given priorities actually are. Criteria is a slippery, ephemeral topic. So, by helping me easily understand how to discern whether a potential priority is more versus less important, the author cut to the heart of why prioritization is so dang hard. But he did so in a way that makes it accessible and easy to understand.

The other thing I liked about this book is that it framed the topic of prioritization as a philosophy for leading a better life, that by figuring out what matters most and getting rid of everything else, I can be happier, healthier, and more productive to boot.

This book ought to be required reading for every high school student. I didn’t read it in high school. But I’m grateful I found and read it a short few years ago. Why? Because I’m never going to win the rat race. The harder I try, the worse off I’ll become because “the rats” keep getting bigger and faster.

While it's a truism to say that time is the most precious resource, until recently, I didn’t act that way. I know that each of us has limited time, energy, and resources. So, getting more comfortable with the fact that my life is finite is key. Becoming a productivity master is a fool's errand. And the author, Oliver Burkeman, does a stunning and entertaining job of helping you get off that treadmill to live a better, fuller, and more meaningful life.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. By naming the feeling that held me back from becoming my best self, the author anthropomorphized an emotional monster that blocked me from leading my best life, creating my most creative works, and pushing myself beyond what I thought I was capable of to achieve truly extraordinary works.

Pressfield calls this demon Resistance. The book showed me how resistance had infected every part of my life. It helped me overcome resistance by explaining the difference between being an amateur and a pro—that is, a hard-core professional. This is is an indispensable guide to life. I've given more copies of it away as gifts than any other book, and I will always have a first-edition copy on my bookshelf.

I recommend this book more than almost any other one because it simplifies personal prioritization–prioritizing by yourself and for yourself–to its core. It helped me evaluate my life through the sharp lens of what I might regret most when I eventually reach the "end of the line," so to speak. Helping me develop a plan to prevent myself from ever having to experience that regret shed a blinding but compassionate light on what ultimately will matter most to me, at the point I can no longer go back and change anything.

This short and lovely book held the key to identifying my number one priority and how to develop a practical plan for getting to a place where I would be at peace with myself.