The Power to Get Things Done

November 30, 2015
Clinical psychologist and entrepreneur Levinson and business consultant Cooper are here to help any people who feel like they could be more productive—which is to say, most of them. The coauthors ask a simple question: Why do workers find it so hard to be productive and follow through on what they want to achieve? The answer, they say, is that people rely too heavily on motivation, which is certainly a factor in productivity but isn’t enough to guarantee it. Levinson and Cooper go on to show that the simple desire for success is not enough to make one actually sit down and do the “specific success-producing things.” The trick is developing motivation that’s greater than one’s natural resistance to completing the task at hand. Levinson and Cooper mainly discuss finding ways to overcome resistance: making it hard to do the wrong thing, and easy to do the right thing. They cover challenges that are particular to business owners, tips for working smarter rather than harder, and strategies for getting things done once and for all. Some advice is high-level and some more concrete; all of it is backed up by worksheet questions, opportunities for reflection, and strong cheerleading.