Stress-Free Productivity: A Personalised Toolkit to Become Your Most Efficient, Creative Self

by Dr Alice Boyes

Have you ever felt that you're too much of a perfectionist to be productive? Does the prepackaged advice from experts just not work? Then this is the book for you.There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all productivity plan. The tricks that work for your colleague may not work as well for you. Or perhaps they don't work at all. The fact is that everyone has their own productivity quirks to make them work efficiently and effectively. They just don't know how to crack them.In this innovative guide, Dr Alice Boyes will help you diagnose your unique productivity profile and give you the framework to formulate a powerhouse personalised system. Drawing on groundbreaking research, countless examples, and quizzes in every chapter, this book will help you be the most growth-oriented, most effective and efficient, and most creative and visionary version of yourself.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Productivity, Business, Psychology

336 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2022

Reviews

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for you, if you've found that typical productivity advice makes you feel like a square peg in a round hole -- no way it's going to fit. I like the psychological and personality-oriented approach in this book that equips you to examine where you're currently rocking it and where some tweaks might up-level your creativity and productivity. I went through once to get an overview of the concepts, and now I'll dive back into specific chapters to do the work that feels most useful for me.

[BooksAndMinerals · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this unique take on modern productivity tips! I liked how the author focused on doing work that is valuable or helps your goals vs. Actual increased daily output or working 24/7.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a really neat book! It had some great advice and stood out from other productivity books I have read. I loved the emphasis on incorporating rest and the resistance against the trending hustle culture and the emphasis on creativity producing higher quality work. It fell a little short of the title and summary for me, but I still really enjoyed it and ended up taking multiple pages of notes since I checked out a physical copy from our library. Overall, the book was solid and worth the read and the author was relatable.

[Liz McDade · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. Some of the advice and points made in this book were truly helpful and refreshing. As someone who likely has ADHD, I liked the general thesis of this book - the idea that true productivity comes from allowing yourself to indulge your creative ideas and go off-topic from time to time, as opposed to strict task management and attempting to constantly be in a state of deep focused work. That being said, there were other things in this book I simply couldn’t relate to or even flat out disagreed with. The author continually mentions her love for The 4 Hour Workweek, a book with a message that I see as deeply exploitative with an author who writes from a place of extreme privilege. I disliked the references to that book as well as the references to real estate investing and “passive income”, which I didn’t feel were relevant and felt too businesslike. Not to mention, not all the advice in this book will feel helpful to those with ADHD, as it seems to be written for neurotypical people first and foremost. Make no mistake, this is a productivity book - not a psychology book - although the author does occasionally reference psychological studies and knowledge. In the end, I’m glad I read it. I got a lot of out it, and it provided me with inspiration to indulge more of my creative side at work and home.

[Rachelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stress-Free Productivity... creative solutions to get you thinking outside the box for career and life moments. Methods to cope with stress and how to grow in challenging circumstances are included along with brief examples of successful strategies of creative people and unique ways to apply the methods to different career paths. The quizzes at the beginning of each chapter was a bit much, but helpful in deciding how thoroughly to read each suggestion.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the idea of dismissing the concept of productivity shame and that we all have a natural inclination towards getting things done. Some solid ideas for atypical advice to improve workplace productivity that didn't resonate with me since I just retired. But the message that my existence isn't justified by how much I get done was a good message to read.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book really helpful. I doesn't oversell like some self-help books, but gives some practical tips and different ways of thinking about things, that can be built on over time. It made me sit and think about things in ways that had longer term impacts.

[Trista Noell · Rating 3 out of 5]

If productivity is something you struggle with then this is the book for you. It helps you learn tips without making you feel like you're doing something wrong. The chapter I resonated with the most is chapter 8 procrastination.

[Nancy Bostwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book to helpful ideas and calming thoughts to improve me

[Andrew Mckinney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good message wrong writing style I think?? I could not get into it. I could not finish this book

[Lyrica Handley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very thorough and thought provoking. Harnessed the topic through a very open and creative perspective.

[Ashlee · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF, this book was just not for me.