Best Self-Improvement Books to read during Lockdown

Recently one of our team members asked me about the books that I recommend for self-improvement. When I enquired more, he was looking at following areas specifically — Staying Focused, Managing People and Sorting priorities. That got me reviewing my library and recollecting the books that I read over last two decades.

Here is the list of quick recommendations I could come up with for his question. Sharing it here so that it might be useful for others as well:

1. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Awesome book that can act as a great foundation for anyone’s journey in self-improvement. 7 habits that are mentioned in the book are : Be proactive, Begin with the end in mind, First things first,Think win-win, Seek first to understand, then to be understood, Synergize, Sharpen the Saw. (For someone who wants to go much deeper on how to prioritize, manage their times, one can look at “First Things First” book by same author Stephen Covey)
2. How to Win Friends and Influence People: This is best book written ever on improving one’s soft skills. Lot of things that the book talks about are plain common-sense, but most people miss them.. Understanding and applying this time-tested principles will create wonders in one’s interpersonal relationships at home and work. (For someone who wants to go much deeper on in-personal skills, would recommend to additionally read the other titles from the same author Dale Carnegie)
3. Deep Work: It’s a must read book in the world we live in today, with so many distractions at work, from social media etc. It talks about fundamental principles that will improve one’s productivity by focusing on important and reducing the distractions. Though these are not necessarily very easy to implement, but just being aware of the factors that’s reducing our productivity is a great starting point to change things. ( Digital Minimalism is another great book by the same author Cal Newport that goes much deeper on social media and other digital distractions)

For people who are not into reading books, there is lot of video material in youtube (book summaries, lectures etc) on the above books. Do consider viewing them as well as an alternative to reading. Audio books (on Audible) are another great option too!