We’re coming to the end of our Designing Your Day theme, but if you’re interested in learning more and taking the ideas we’ve explored further, the following eight books and blogs are a great source of inspiring ideas…

1. Getting Things Done

With a devoted following bordering on the fanatical, Getting Things Done by David Allen has become more of a lifestyle than simply a book. Allen’s principles outline a methodology for ranking projects by deadline, progress, and priority to overcome mental blocks and avoid ‘fire-fighting’ from one urgent task to the next.

2. Change By Design: How Design Thinking Creates New Alternatives for Business and Society

Tim Brown’s book Change By Design talks about applying design thinking to every aspect of your business, from encouraging creative innovation through to collaborative problem solving. It’s a beautifully laid out, thought-provoking outline of a new way to approach creativity. His blog, Design Thinking, is also worth following.

3. Never Check Email In The Morning

Julie Morgenstern’s Never Check Email In The Morning offers far more time-management advice than the simple tip in the title. (Although it is an excellent starting point to ensure you dedicate your most productive hours to meaningful achievement.)

4. Willpower: Rediscovering Our Greatest Strength

Willpower by Roy F. Baumeister and John Tierney is a no-nonsense analysis of the titular human resource. Looking at neuroscience, psychology, and strategic implications for maximising willpower, this is one of the most complete books available on this subject.

5. How To Be A Productivity Ninja

Graham Allcott’s How To Be A Productivity Ninja is a fun and insightful guide to maximising your potential through the application of a few simple changes.

6. Inbox Zero

Merlin Mann’s Inbox Zero is a internet phenomenon that can help you reach the zen-like state of an empty inbox, and stop relying on the crutch of an email-centered to-do list

7. The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do, and How to Change

In The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg explains why habits exist, how you can change them and why they have the potential to play such a powerful role in your working day.

8. Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus and Working Smarter, All Day Long

Your Brain at Work by Dr David Rock explores how our brains work, and how they work when we’re at work in particular. It’s an excellent resource for applying ideas from the world of neuroscience to improving your productivity.

Of course, the temptation can be to spend so long reading about how to design your day, that you miss your opportunity to put the lessons into practice! Try building time for reading and learning into your schedule, so that you can carry on finding new ideas to build into your prototype design for your perfect working day.

 Image credit: CCAC North Library