Freelancing isn’t a piece of cake. Although you can see several perks and privileges that come with this fabulous career, however, there are some challenges. The main aspect that most freelancers struggle with is productivity, time management, and marketing. To help you out, we are going to focus on these aspects with our list of the best productivity books for freelancers in 2023.
Make sure to read it till the end, so you can get the essence of the book and excel in your career. Here is a list of all the productivity books that have boosted so many freelancers. And enabled them to work with authoritative entities.
Check out this list and read every one – it’s worth it:
We also have a Hardware setup for Digital Nomads; if you’re interested in looking at what goes best for you, you should definitely check it out.
1. Getting Things Done by David Allen
Getting things done is one of the tops recommended productivity books for freelancers in 2023. It gives a deep impact on how to manage the focus from open loops of time toward the things that are more valuable.
One of the main ideas that this book gives is — what “done means to you” and how does the “doing” look like? These ideas inspire you to a significant level, and you end up doing more things in less time.
Also, Allen tells you how to free your mind, by using a system you can rely on that you never miss something. Now you don’t have to worry and can free yourself from this anxiety.
David Allen focuses on the main aspect of anxiety that comes when you aren’t as productive as you could be. He says that guilt doesn’t come from having too much to do. It comes when you break the agreements that you made to yourself.
2. The ONE Thing by Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan
The ONE Thing by Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan explains the phenomenon of how important is a single thing. In contrast to multitasking, this book explains that how you end up with nothing good at the end if you do that. Hence, you should put all your efforts into one thing at a time.
They further add that in pursuit of achieving big things, people left with nothing at all, which is something you’re not working for, right? Furthermore, this book helps you learn which things are valuable for you. Everything has its own worth, and discipline helps you succeed.
3. The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss
This is one of our all-time favorite productivity books for freelancers. Surprisingly, this book was turned down by 26 out of 27 publishers and didn’t go as exploding as it should have. However, this book is a bible for all the people who want to live a joyful life in their Middle Ages and experience financial freedom.
Although people have to face a lot of struggles and hardships and are still left with nothing, do you know what the reason is? The answer is that they aren’t giving maximum attention to the things that are far more important and valuable. Gladly, this book is all about how you can do big things with minimum efforts and save your efforts for the stuff that is really valuable.
4. Atomic Habits by James Clear
Do you know small things can do give you big results? If no, then you should right away add this book to your reading list. According to this book, James Clear agrees with the butterfly effect, so do we. Also, the power of consistency is explained in this book.
If there is something that might seem like a small and unimportant action initially, but if you end up giving your ten years to the same project, it is going to be one of the biggest breaks that you have ever experienced. Small changes & consistency lead to the biggest effects.
5. Deep Work by Cal Newport
This is big! Cal Newport is something special!
Freelancers or independent workers are more prone to getting distracted. Even though successful and well-established digital nomads face similar issues, if you are also going through such problems, this can be the ideal book for productivity.
Deep working is not only a working technique. It is a whole new learning procedure that you can implement in your professional and personal life to do more things without your pinpoint focus. This book also explains how much it is important to deep work and make yourself free from distractions in this busy world that we are living in.
6. The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch
The 80/20 principle by Richard Koch is a book that is not limited to freelancers for productivity but also to every single person who wants to stay productive in their careers. This book explains how a person should divide his attention.
By distributing the right efforts to the right workload, you can necessarily do more with your valuable time and with less effort. The idea of the 80:20 ratio applies everywhere in our lives. For instance, in business, 80% of revenue comes from 20% of customers. We only wear 20% of clothes for 80% of our time.
7. The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod
A productive day starts with a productive morning. This book emphasizes the parameters mainly that how you should wake up in the morning and have your main productivity hit. Hal Elrod further explains that how you wake up each day and choose your morning routine determines how you are going to perform that day.
We all know it’s not easy to get up each day. Almost everyone admires sleep, but this book is going to help you choose the right thing instead of the easy thing. So if you are struggling to wake up in the morning and opt for the hard choices, this book is for you.
8. The Productivity Project by Chris Bailey
This book is an all-to-guide you need for productivity. As Chris Bailey mentions, “if a person says that they don’t have time for something, what they’re really saying is that a task isn’t as important or attractive as whatever else they have on their plate.”
In short and simple words, this book helps you determine the important things in your surroundings. When you figure out those things, that is the right time when you understand overcoming the things that are unnecessary and consuming your time on an everyday basis.
9. Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? By Seth Godin
A fabulous book that can do wonders. In this book, Seth Godin motivates the readers to become better people in their life. He quotes the linchpin, which is a person who dedicates himself to his work, career, and colleagues. But mainly, a linchpin creates his own rule book. He doesn’t go by the rules and keep delighting his colleagues.
With the term linchpin, he shows how much you can achieve and satisfy yourself. This happiness encourages you to become one valuable being that is certainly indispensable.
10. First Things First by Stephen Covey
If we have to describe this book in a short phrase, that would be setting priorities. Although you might think about what difference it can make if you can set your priorities, well, the answer is a significant one. In the first part of the book, Stephen Covey gives small differences of the efficiency that you can achieve simply by prioritizing.
Stephen explains as a garden requires a gardener to maintain it, so does you. Be your own gardener and make your life worth it. In the next part, Stephen shows how you can decide your priorities. If you are not able to find your priorities as a freelancer, this is one of the best productivity books for you in 2023.
