There are whole sections on productivity in bookstores. It's hard to discover anything new in this area. Luckily, this book doesn't try to do it.

It's a framework of multiple tactics (87 in total), put together into a 4-step framework. It's a menu to choose from, try if it works for you and adapt, not a step-by-step guide. This way it has a chance to work, instead of being read and instantly forgotten, like most other productivity books.

The 4-step framework:

1. Highlight: Start each day by choosing a priority
2. Laser: Beat distraction to make time
3. Energize: Use the body to recharge the brain
4. Reflect: Adjust and improve your system

There are multiple tactics and tips for each of the steps.

The book was written by two ex-Googlers who worked on Gmail and YouTube, two of the biggest distractors of our time. They needed to be productive and on top of things at work and later they expanded it to the rest of their lives, not just work-related stuff. They've tested all the tactics and documented what worked and what didn't. Some tactics worked for one of them but not the other.

When I started reading the book, it felt like common sense. In a way, it is. But then the bigger picture emerged, a few less popular tactics were presented and suddenly it was much more interesting than I first thought.