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100 Things Productive People Do: Little Lessons in Getting Things Done
Following the success of the international bestseller, 100 THINGS SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE DO, Nigel Cumberland turns his attention to productivity.
100 THINGS PRODUCTIVE PEOPLE DO distills all the wisdom of a lifetime of coaching successful business people into 100 short chapters showing you how to boost your productivity and get things done.
It is packed with great ideas for achieving more and creating success. Explore the habits, tools, techniques and mentality of highly productive people and discover how to effortlessly take on your to-do list. Every chapter features a new idea that will help you work smarter, not harder. Mixing simple explanations with activities and exercises, you'll learn the optimal mindset and habits you need to succeed.
Praise for 100 THINGS SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE DO
'Inside these pages you'll find a powerful reminder of the many ways you can make your life - and other people's lives - more successful. It will help you identify what success means to you and give you the building blocks for making that success a reality. This is your chance to overcome whatever obstacles are stopping you. Read it, act on it and experience the difference' Marshall Goldsmith Ph.D., bestselling author of TRIGGERS
100 THINGS PRODUCTIVE PEOPLE DO distills all the wisdom of a lifetime of coaching successful business people into 100 short chapters showing you how to boost your productivity and get things done.
It is packed with great ideas for achieving more and creating success. Explore the habits, tools, techniques and mentality of highly productive people and discover how to effortlessly take on your to-do list. Every chapter features a new idea that will help you work smarter, not harder. Mixing simple explanations with activities and exercises, you'll learn the optimal mindset and habits you need to succeed.
Praise for 100 THINGS SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE DO
'Inside these pages you'll find a powerful reminder of the many ways you can make your life - and other people's lives - more successful. It will help you identify what success means to you and give you the building blocks for making that success a reality. This is your chance to overcome whatever obstacles are stopping you. Read it, act on it and experience the difference' Marshall Goldsmith Ph.D., bestselling author of TRIGGERS
224 pages, Hardcover
Published December 6, 2022
101 people are currently reading
2954 people want to read
About the author
Nigel Cumberland
24 books58 followersNigel Cumberland is the co-founder of The Silk Road Partnership, a leading global provider of executive coaching and leadership training solutions to some of the world’s leading organizations. He has lived and worked in locations as diverse as Hong Kong, Glasgow, Budapest, Santiago, Guatemala City, Kuala Lumpur, London and Shanghai. Gaining experiences and wisdom that have helped teach him what it takes to succeed in life.
Previously, Nigel worked as a multinational finance director with Coats plc, as well as for some of the world’s leading recruitment firms including Adecco. He is a Fellow of the UK’s Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. He co-created an award-winning recruitment firm based in Hong Kong and China, which he later sold to Hays plc. Educated at Cambridge University, UK, Nigel is an extensively qualified executive coach and leadership training professional.
He is the author of a large number of self-help and leadership books among the most recent of which are: 100 Things Millionaires Do: Little Lessons in Creating Wealth (Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2019), The Ultimate Management Book (John Murray Learning, 2018), 100 Things Successful People Do: Little Exercises for Successful Living (John Murray Learning, 2016), Secrets of Success at Work: 50 Techniques to Excel (Hodder & Stoughton, 2014), Finding and Hiring Talent in a Week (John Murray Learning, 2016) and Leading Teams in a Week (John Murray Learning, 2016).
Previously, Nigel worked as a multinational finance director with Coats plc, as well as for some of the world’s leading recruitment firms including Adecco. He is a Fellow of the UK’s Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. He co-created an award-winning recruitment firm based in Hong Kong and China, which he later sold to Hays plc. Educated at Cambridge University, UK, Nigel is an extensively qualified executive coach and leadership training professional.
He is the author of a large number of self-help and leadership books among the most recent of which are: 100 Things Millionaires Do: Little Lessons in Creating Wealth (Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2019), The Ultimate Management Book (John Murray Learning, 2018), 100 Things Successful People Do: Little Exercises for Successful Living (John Murray Learning, 2016), Secrets of Success at Work: 50 Techniques to Excel (Hodder & Stoughton, 2014), Finding and Hiring Talent in a Week (John Murray Learning, 2016) and Leading Teams in a Week (John Murray Learning, 2016).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
January 10, 2025
3/5 ⭐️ listened to the audiobook - nothing revolutionary
December 3, 2023
Whether you're in business, dentistry, research, writing, media, or law, at some point in your profession, you need to organize your daily work to accomplish your career goals. The myth of working hard for eighteen hours a day has been demystified long ago, and it is now widely recognized that to be productive, you only need to be efficient and outcome-oriented in your work. Being efficient and productive depends on how smart and skillful you are in utilizing tools that can enhance both the quality and quantity of your work. This book offers many such tools, but I would like to focus on ten key things one should follow to become more productive and efficient:
1. Quantify your goals:
You cannot manage something that you cannot measure. Hence, it is very important to quantify your goals. Quantifying the goals gives you direction and helps you figure out the starting point and ending point. Quantifying sounds like: How much weight do I need to lose? How many books do I want to read? How much money should I save?
2. Break complex tasks into simple components:
If you master the art of breaking down complex tasks into simpler ones, you will not be overwhelmed by the enormity of the work you need to put in for longer hours. For instance, if you want to write your PhD thesis within a stipulated time of six months, you must consider writing one chapter each month. Furthermore, if each chapter consists of fifty pages, you must be willing to write at least two pages a day for the month as your first draft. One of the key benefits of breaking down complex tasks is their ability to transform into a habit. I developed the habit of reading fifty pages of a book every day through this method.
3. Prioritize:
There are two essential tools that can be used to prioritize your work. One is the Eisenhower matrix, where you can categorize tasks into urgent-important, urgent-not-important, not-urgent-important, and not-urgent-not-important. The other tool is the 80/20 principle, where you find out the key 20% of input that gives 80% of outcomes. For example, in business, 80% of your revenue or profits will come from 20% of the customers, and hence, you can focus your time more on this minority. This principle applies to every domain of your work, and it needs careful attention to figure out that 20%.
4. Make a checklist:
I was deeply influenced by Atul Gawande’s book ‘The Checklist Manifesto’ when I read it in 2016, and ever since then, I have been making a checklist every single day of my life. A checklist will help you structure your day, and when you fulfill your desired tasks as marked in a checklist, at the end of the day, you will feel you were in control. A checklist also helps you overcome forgetfulness and carelessness.
5. Utilize technology:
One thing I started doing this year to reduce screen time is converting my speech to text whenever I am writing articles, book reviews, and documents. For documents that need multiple reviews and corrections, we switched to Google Docs and Sheets instead of sending emails back and forth, enabling multiple participants to work on the same documents at the same time. Artificial Intelligence can now check your grammar, fix the flow of content, find references and citations for your work, and help you debug codes. Use them wisely.
6. Balance between generalization and specialization:
How I find interest in reading anything and everything, from sociology to economics, despite working in a completely different field, is a question I am often asked by people. A few years ago, I read Isaiah Berlin's essay titled "The Hedgehog and the Fox," which changed my life. To strike a balance between generalization and specialization, I follow this method: imagine a 'T.' The top horizontal line represents all the areas we're interested in with a solid foundational understanding of fundamentals. The bottom vertical line represents the one thing we want to specialize in. We must broaden our general interests and deepen our special interest. As a lifelong learner, we can keep expanding our T. "The fox knows many things; the hedgehog knows more about one thing." In many cases, it may be advantageous to be both a fox and a hedgehog.
7. Become a subject matter expert:
Expanding the T will also eventually lead to becoming a subject matter expert in your field. You can monetize your expertise in many ways: by becoming a tutor for online courses, being a consultant for a firm, writing articles and eBooks, and offering lectures and seminars at universities.
8. Don't be a donkey
“Don't be a donkey” is an allusion to the fable of Buridan’s ass, which describes a donkey standing halfway between a pile of hay and a bucket of water, unable to decide which to go to first. Eventually, the donkey falls over and dies of both hunger and thirst. The point is that a donkey can’t think of the future. If he did, he would realize that he could go first to drink the water and then eat the hay. “Don’t be a donkey” is a reminder that you can do everything you want to do, but you need to focus on one thing at a time to make progress.
9. Manage Risk:
Risk management is not something that is exclusively employed in investing alone. It is important to apply risk management in all aspects of life. In an interview, Charlie Munger revealed that his grandfather always advised him: swim as long as you want but always stay near the shore. We tend to follow the crowd with our 'herd mentality' and try to emulate others without understanding our own risk appetite. A simple question to ask yourself to understand your risk appetite is: Can I sleep peacefully at night if what I am about to engage in goes wrong? This one question has saved me many times and helped me rationalize many aspects of my life.
10. Share, outsource, and incentivize:
One simple lesson I learned during my PhD was that you do not need to do every single thing on your own to accomplish your goals. If you are only good at writing and conducting experiments, do not hesitate to assign sample collection to a technician, and outsource data analysis to a statistician with an incentive of assigning them as co-authors for your publication. Similarly, if you don’t have the time to analyze individual stocks and invest in them, hire an accredited investor or AMC to invest your money for a fraction of the cost. Trying to be a jack of all trades will only lead to being a master of none. This requires swallowing your ego, accepting your weaknesses, and focusing more on your strengths.
1. Quantify your goals:
You cannot manage something that you cannot measure. Hence, it is very important to quantify your goals. Quantifying the goals gives you direction and helps you figure out the starting point and ending point. Quantifying sounds like: How much weight do I need to lose? How many books do I want to read? How much money should I save?
2. Break complex tasks into simple components:
If you master the art of breaking down complex tasks into simpler ones, you will not be overwhelmed by the enormity of the work you need to put in for longer hours. For instance, if you want to write your PhD thesis within a stipulated time of six months, you must consider writing one chapter each month. Furthermore, if each chapter consists of fifty pages, you must be willing to write at least two pages a day for the month as your first draft. One of the key benefits of breaking down complex tasks is their ability to transform into a habit. I developed the habit of reading fifty pages of a book every day through this method.
3. Prioritize:
There are two essential tools that can be used to prioritize your work. One is the Eisenhower matrix, where you can categorize tasks into urgent-important, urgent-not-important, not-urgent-important, and not-urgent-not-important. The other tool is the 80/20 principle, where you find out the key 20% of input that gives 80% of outcomes. For example, in business, 80% of your revenue or profits will come from 20% of the customers, and hence, you can focus your time more on this minority. This principle applies to every domain of your work, and it needs careful attention to figure out that 20%.
4. Make a checklist:
I was deeply influenced by Atul Gawande’s book ‘The Checklist Manifesto’ when I read it in 2016, and ever since then, I have been making a checklist every single day of my life. A checklist will help you structure your day, and when you fulfill your desired tasks as marked in a checklist, at the end of the day, you will feel you were in control. A checklist also helps you overcome forgetfulness and carelessness.
5. Utilize technology:
One thing I started doing this year to reduce screen time is converting my speech to text whenever I am writing articles, book reviews, and documents. For documents that need multiple reviews and corrections, we switched to Google Docs and Sheets instead of sending emails back and forth, enabling multiple participants to work on the same documents at the same time. Artificial Intelligence can now check your grammar, fix the flow of content, find references and citations for your work, and help you debug codes. Use them wisely.
6. Balance between generalization and specialization:
How I find interest in reading anything and everything, from sociology to economics, despite working in a completely different field, is a question I am often asked by people. A few years ago, I read Isaiah Berlin's essay titled "The Hedgehog and the Fox," which changed my life. To strike a balance between generalization and specialization, I follow this method: imagine a 'T.' The top horizontal line represents all the areas we're interested in with a solid foundational understanding of fundamentals. The bottom vertical line represents the one thing we want to specialize in. We must broaden our general interests and deepen our special interest. As a lifelong learner, we can keep expanding our T. "The fox knows many things; the hedgehog knows more about one thing." In many cases, it may be advantageous to be both a fox and a hedgehog.
7. Become a subject matter expert:
Expanding the T will also eventually lead to becoming a subject matter expert in your field. You can monetize your expertise in many ways: by becoming a tutor for online courses, being a consultant for a firm, writing articles and eBooks, and offering lectures and seminars at universities.
8. Don't be a donkey
“Don't be a donkey” is an allusion to the fable of Buridan’s ass, which describes a donkey standing halfway between a pile of hay and a bucket of water, unable to decide which to go to first. Eventually, the donkey falls over and dies of both hunger and thirst. The point is that a donkey can’t think of the future. If he did, he would realize that he could go first to drink the water and then eat the hay. “Don’t be a donkey” is a reminder that you can do everything you want to do, but you need to focus on one thing at a time to make progress.
9. Manage Risk:
Risk management is not something that is exclusively employed in investing alone. It is important to apply risk management in all aspects of life. In an interview, Charlie Munger revealed that his grandfather always advised him: swim as long as you want but always stay near the shore. We tend to follow the crowd with our 'herd mentality' and try to emulate others without understanding our own risk appetite. A simple question to ask yourself to understand your risk appetite is: Can I sleep peacefully at night if what I am about to engage in goes wrong? This one question has saved me many times and helped me rationalize many aspects of my life.
10. Share, outsource, and incentivize:
One simple lesson I learned during my PhD was that you do not need to do every single thing on your own to accomplish your goals. If you are only good at writing and conducting experiments, do not hesitate to assign sample collection to a technician, and outsource data analysis to a statistician with an incentive of assigning them as co-authors for your publication. Similarly, if you don’t have the time to analyze individual stocks and invest in them, hire an accredited investor or AMC to invest your money for a fraction of the cost. Trying to be a jack of all trades will only lead to being a master of none. This requires swallowing your ego, accepting your weaknesses, and focusing more on your strengths.
October 2, 2024
Some interesting and practical tips, but nothing revolutionary. Maybe I’m just super productive! Lots of these tips seemed to me to be for Owners/MDs/CEOs/Entrepreneurs rather than for everyone.
September 14, 2025
listened to this. gave some good tips, nothing to rave about.
July 3, 2025
Some really helpful tips but otherwise this book is geared towards older professionals, and much of the chapters “lessons” were contradictory of each other.
February 16, 2025
I've read a few books on focus and productivity, and really enjoyed this one (which I listened to as an audiobook) - will be recommending to others.
A few of the other reviewers knock it down a few stars for just being "common sense" and "nothing revolutionary". But TBH I didn't expect it to be revolutionary and swathed in personal development and organisational design science... the title says it all, it's 100 little lessons to get things done. They are useful, evidence-based, succinctly delivered tips, with practical suggestions for trying each one. Yes, all 100 won't fit your role, or your industry, or even your style of working - but I think there is something in it for everyone. And each tip is a short chapter, which means you can listen to a 5 min snippet and take something actionable from it. I think listening to it as an audiobook really worked for me, as it was a nice easy "read" in the car on the way to work or out walking the dogs.
I'll be dipping into this one again.
A few of the other reviewers knock it down a few stars for just being "common sense" and "nothing revolutionary". But TBH I didn't expect it to be revolutionary and swathed in personal development and organisational design science... the title says it all, it's 100 little lessons to get things done. They are useful, evidence-based, succinctly delivered tips, with practical suggestions for trying each one. Yes, all 100 won't fit your role, or your industry, or even your style of working - but I think there is something in it for everyone. And each tip is a short chapter, which means you can listen to a 5 min snippet and take something actionable from it. I think listening to it as an audiobook really worked for me, as it was a nice easy "read" in the car on the way to work or out walking the dogs.
I'll be dipping into this one again.
May 20, 2025
I really liked this book. It was very interesting and insightful and the tips I learned are definitely things I hope to carry on into other aspects of my life.
September 29, 2025
Practical!
The book offers a brisk, idea-rich read that distills productivity into 100 bite-sized habits, mindsets, and techniques. Packed with short, actionable chapters, the book makes it easy to dip in anywhere and apply insights immediately. Cumberland’s style is practical and encouraging rather than preachy, and Nigel blends useful tips (like structuring breaks, saying “no,” and managing email) with reminders about mindset, priorities, and self-care. While some entries feel familiar or repetitive if you already read a lot of productivity books, this serves well as a reference guide or a daily inspiration booster and reminder, especially for readers aiming to build sustainable, everyday effectiveness rather than dramatic life overhaul.
The book offers a brisk, idea-rich read that distills productivity into 100 bite-sized habits, mindsets, and techniques. Packed with short, actionable chapters, the book makes it easy to dip in anywhere and apply insights immediately. Cumberland’s style is practical and encouraging rather than preachy, and Nigel blends useful tips (like structuring breaks, saying “no,” and managing email) with reminders about mindset, priorities, and self-care. While some entries feel familiar or repetitive if you already read a lot of productivity books, this serves well as a reference guide or a daily inspiration booster and reminder, especially for readers aiming to build sustainable, everyday effectiveness rather than dramatic life overhaul.
May 9, 2024
I really liked the book, but if I had to rate it, I'd give it more like 3.5 stars instead of 4. It's mainly focused on productivity at work and with professional teams, which didn't resonate with me personally. Still, the book is well-organized, and I especially enjoyed the "put it into action" chapters. Being detail-oriented, I found these sections more helpful than general tips like "find a better space to concentrate." When there are examples to follow, I tend to remember the advice better. Overall, it was a cool read, and I'd consider going through it again, this time taking notes to try out more of the techniques.
October 27, 2023
While this book contained some useful tips, it felt more like a fluffier version of something I would read on Buzzfeed. I keep track of actionable and useful information as I read things, and after listening to the audio book for more than 4 hours, the only thing I got from it was a pithy quote. If I were not aware of a few of these productivity tips I guess I would have been happy to find them here, but overall for my particular use case, I was disappointed with the lack of actionable content verses time spent reading/listening.
July 24, 2023
3.5
It's a good, easy read with helpful tips and information. Unfortunately it focuses almost completely on work (which is expected, but I would have liked a broader look. People want to be productive in other ways as well) and in an office setting. That's not everyone's experience. And some chapters were skipped because they wouldn't apply to me. Still a good read though and reading always made me want to get up and do something.
It's a good, easy read with helpful tips and information. Unfortunately it focuses almost completely on work (which is expected, but I would have liked a broader look. People want to be productive in other ways as well) and in an office setting. That's not everyone's experience. And some chapters were skipped because they wouldn't apply to me. Still a good read though and reading always made me want to get up and do something.
March 11, 2025
DNF - For as many times as I heard “put it into action” I felt as though this was the least actionable list of tips I have ever read. Unless you have a crew of people who you can pass work off to, I don’t think this book can really help anyone more than a quick google search could do. I decided that I would be more productive not completing the audiobook than the tips that I could glean from the remainder of the book.
April 10, 2025
I listened to the audiobook version of this book. I’ve always enjoyed reading books on my commutes but recently, as I’ve decided to walk part of the way to work, I started listening to audiobooks. This is the first one and though it doesn’t cover anything ‘groundbreaking’ it was a very good reminder of the things we can do and change to be more productive in our daily lives, whether it be personal or professional.
April 18, 2025
Self help
I liked this book cause all the suggestions were broken down into bite sized pieces. If something was interesting to you, it dove a little deeper, but no lesson was too long that if something didn't work for you, it didn't take up too much time.
A few things are redundant if you read a lot of self help books, but I think it was nice to have them all in the same place, especially since I'm someone who likes to send others passages that I am reading and this made it easy to.
I liked this book cause all the suggestions were broken down into bite sized pieces. If something was interesting to you, it dove a little deeper, but no lesson was too long that if something didn't work for you, it didn't take up too much time.
A few things are redundant if you read a lot of self help books, but I think it was nice to have them all in the same place, especially since I'm someone who likes to send others passages that I am reading and this made it easy to.
November 27, 2023
An easy read filled with many simple tweaks one can make in their life to be more productive. I have made 3-4 small, sustainable changes to my habits and have noticed not only a great increase in my productivity, but also a decrease in stress. Definitely planning a reread in year so I can monitor progress and identify another few changes.
July 26, 2025
Eh nothing groundbreaking. Maybe I'm already productive. As with all "motivational/self help" books it could have been summarised into 10-15 points rather than 100 chapters. There was a lot of repetition. Only listen to the audiobook if you're prepared to hear "put it into action" about 90 times at the start of every chapter.
April 30, 2024
First audiobook entry!
I feel because I read this as an audio book the tips felt a little monotonous and repetitive, (100 so there were similar ones!) but I did clue in on some good insight and advice.
I feel because I read this as an audio book the tips felt a little monotonous and repetitive, (100 so there were similar ones!) but I did clue in on some good insight and advice.
November 2, 2024
There were a handful of interesting tips in here - but largely it was very basic common sense stuff.
At one point, the author suggesting if you “don’t have time for admin… hire a PA” is just unrealistic for most people reading this book.
I thought it would be most interesting than it was.
At one point, the author suggesting if you “don’t have time for admin… hire a PA” is just unrealistic for most people reading this book.
I thought it would be most interesting than it was.
March 31, 2025
3.5
I listened to this through Spotify audiobook, definitely recommend the book if you wish to keep this as a reference. Overall pretty generalized tips with a few good reminders. Target audience does seem to be senior IC staff and line managers with the anecdote/examples.
I listened to this through Spotify audiobook, definitely recommend the book if you wish to keep this as a reference. Overall pretty generalized tips with a few good reminders. Target audience does seem to be senior IC staff and line managers with the anecdote/examples.
May 4, 2025
This book just took a collection of self help and productivity ideas and plopped them all in a book.
Perfect if you just want all the ideas, not so good he just took other people's ideas.
I wouldn't recommend but I also wouldn't defer people from it either.
Perfect if you just want all the ideas, not so good he just took other people's ideas.
I wouldn't recommend but I also wouldn't defer people from it either.
May 11, 2025
The eye-catching title of this book, which sets the target of 100 things, is overambitious and leaves the content of the book lackluster. There were at least three points in there that were basically a variation of "Learn to say no to your colleagues".
May 29, 2025
I feel like I am a pretty productive person, but I loved that I learned new things and was called out on my unproductive behaviors. You have to see what tasks speak to you but I seriously might print these out for my room to keep myself accountable !!
July 19, 2025
Helpful and informative. I especially appreciated the link to websites in this book as it sets you on the right path immediately after reading or listening to the relevant chapter. This book could easily be used as a reference book as opposed to one you read cover to cover.
September 10, 2025
baffling choice to cite elon musk as a productivity icon but go off i guess? very corporate and pretty standard advice but i appreciate having all these little bits of advice collected in one place. not as relevant to academia as i’d hoped though :(
March 5, 2023
A good refresher with a good narrator that I could easily speed up. Tasks, lists & prioritizing.
August 2, 2023
easy to read & provides a collection of useful hints.
October 29, 2023
It provides 100 tips to become productive. But it felt that some tips are mutually contradictory. But 70 % of the content are extremely useful and practical.
November 28, 2023
An expanded list of the 100 things, which is what it says on the box.
3 stars
So far this year, my library saved me A$2644.12
3 stars
So far this year, my library saved me A$2644.12
May 13, 2024
It was good, made me more motivated in some areas, in others I dipped in and out
July 12, 2024
thorough compilation of activities that can help you increase your productivity; liked how the author has given actionable items that follow each advice on productivity
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews