Author: Charles Duhigg
Short Summary |
Smarter Faster Better (2016) is a self-help book by Charles Duhigg who was a part of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting and has written several books on self-improvement mantras. Smarter Faster Better summary sheds light on ways one can increase productivity, set attainable and realistic goals, and work in an efficient manner while saving time and energy. |
Detailed Summary
Smarter Faster Better is a book for people who want to attain maximum results while saving their time and energy. Let’s be real no one wants to spend seven hours on a task that can be done in two hours. As a goal-oriented you would want to do your best, enjoy the process and give each task on hand the maximum attention, energy, and time. But wanting to save time and not exhaust ourselves does not make you a bad person. It makes you an eager hardworking human who wants to work more smartly and efficiently. If you have ever found yourself questioning if there is a better way to manage your time, energy, and work while achieving excellent results Smarter Faster Better will provide you with the exact recipe.
As the author lays it all out on the table, there are eight key concepts for living and getting things done that have been repeated by smart people over and over again. These eight important principles include creating your sources of motivation, teamwork, setting goals, making decisions, getting creative, staying focused, and seizing every opportunity to learn something new. When you work at cultivating your motivation, making yourself feel powerful by taking control, being autonomous, and setting SMART goals you will increase your work efficiency and productivity ten folds.
Smarter Faster Better Summary Key Points
Be Autonomous
The first step towards achieving your goals is realizing that you are responsible for everything from goal setting, efficiency, and productivity to achieving results. It’s all under your control. If you want it, you can achieve it. In his previous book, the author emphasizes the importance of knowing the why behind your goals. It is only through the right motive you will achieve what you want to achieve so make sure your goals have solid and concrete reasons behind them. You can prove to yourself that you are the one in control by making firm decisions. This will help you in sustaining your power.
Motivation Is a Skill
Unlike other motivational speakers who argue that motivation is extrinsic and we need it like doses to keep going the author of Smarter Faster Better believes that motivation is a skill. It is something intrinsic. You cannot wait for something from the outside to come and inspire you. It is a skill hence it is cultivatable. What you need to do is constantly form a habit of searching for motivation from within. As you learn to hone this skill you will free yourself from depending on outside factors. The person who will earn value by learning to produce motivation from his goals and ambitions is you. So do it for yourself. Stop depending on extrinsic factors to motivate you. Learn to motivate yourself.
Make SMART Goals for Yourself
People who set SMART goals are more likely to attain them because this provides them with vision, and clarity and saves them from exhausting their time and energy. SMART is an acronym introduced in the book by Charles Duhigg which stands for the following factors: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound. These are the factors to consider when you want to achieve goals efficiently. Look at your goal and mend it so it can fit this criterion. This will only save you time by putting you to work at the beginning on goal setting rather than working when you are mid-way through your journey and realizing that the goal you have set is not entirely realistic or functional.
Your goals should be specific because generalization only leads to multiplicity and more confusion. Know and define what you want exactly. They should be measurable so that you can keep a track of your progress and not lose your motivation. They should be attainable. This means looking at your strengths, skills, and resources so that you can prepare for the foreseeable future and setbacks. Another criterion that your goals should fulfill is of being realistic because making far-fetched plans and humongous goals will only lead you towards disappointment and will diminish your strength. While looking for all these specifications during your goal-setting process consider time too. Will you be able to allocate enough time? If not, how can you make changes and provide the necessary time for this specific goal?
Smarter Faster Better Quotes
“The choices that are most powerful in generating motivation, in other words, are decisions that do two things: They convince us we’re in control and they endow our actions with larger meaning.” ― Charles Duhigg
“The paradox of learning how to make better decisions is that it requires developing a comfort with doubt. There” ― Charles Duhigg
Smarter Faster Better Summary Review
As human beings living in the twenty-first century, we tend to feel overwhelmed by the enormity of tasks that we have to complete every day. While we may not be able to reduce these things that need to be done, we can hone our skills to perform them efficiently while saving our time and energy. Smarter Faster Better summary will teach you to reclaim your control over the things in your life and will make you a goal-oriented and more productive person. Give this book a read during the days you feel stuck in a rut. Totally, worth your time!
To Whom I Would Recommend Smarter Faster Better Summary
- To the twenty-two-year-old university student who is overwhelmed every day by the number of tasks to be done.
- To the CEO of a new business who wants to take his company to new levels by managing healthy goals.
- And to everyone who is looking for advice on goal setting.
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