This added to my perspective on how to manage life and gave insight as to how to how we can all be self-sufficient.

Lots of good takeaways here, not so much about tips and tricks to being productive but rather how we deal with cognitive and psychological factors within our sphere of control that influence productivity.

Very well written book:
1) Motivation: to generate motivation, make a choice that puts you in control (like having a hard conversation, determine where it will occur). The specific choice matters less than the assertion of control. Figure out how this task is linked to something you care about, explain to yourself why this choice will get to your meaningful goal and explain why this matter.
2) Goal settings: stretch goal - something to spark ambition, smart goal - something that forms a concrete plan. Write to do list: identify stretch objectives and smart aims
3) Mental models aid focus. Imagine what the next day / week ought to look like
4) To stay focus envision what will happen, what will occur first, what are the potential obstacles, how will you preempt them. Telling yourself a story of what will occur makes it easier on where your focus should be when your plan meets real life.
5) Probabilistic thinking - envision multiple futures and figure out which one is most likely and why.
6) Creativity emerges when combining old ideas in new ways.
7) Be sensitive to your own experiences, pay attention to how things make you feel and think.
8)To absorb data better - when we encounter new information, we should force ourselves to write out a note on what we have just learnt or force yourself to explain the idea to a friend.