
Loading…
Book summary
by Erica Schultz
Premium summary · Opens in the app · 30 min read
*Not Today** *The 9 Habits of Extreme Productivity* By Erica Schultz and Mike Schultz
**Not Today** *The 9 Habits of Extreme Productivity* By Erica Schultz and Mike Schultz
**Estimated Reading Time:** 35 minutes
**What You'll Learn**
A complete system for reclaiming your time, focusing on what truly matters, and building a life of meaning rather than mere busyness. You will learn the TIME framework for categorizing every activity, how to manufacture motivation when it disappears, techniques for entering deep focus at will, and strategies for bouncing back quickly when life knocks you off course.
**Who This Book Is For**
Anyone who has ever felt that their days slip away without meaningful progress. The professional who works constantly yet feels unfulfilled. The parent juggling career and family while wondering if either is getting enough attention. The entrepreneur who built a business but lost control of their schedule. Anyone who suspects that productivity is not about doing more but about doing what matters.
Erica and Mike Schultz did not set out to write a productivity book. They were running a successful sales training company, RAIN Group, building their careers, and raising a family. Then their son Ari was born with a severe congenital heart defect. For five and a half years, Ari's life hung in a delicate balance. Every day brought medical decisions, hospital visits, and the constant awareness that time was not guaranteed. The Schulzes faced an impossible tension: they needed to keep their business running to support their family financially, yet every moment away from Ari felt like a theft from something irreplaceable. Most productivity advice would have failed them completely. Working harder was not sustainable. Working smarter, in the conventional sense, still meant trading time they did not have. They needed something fundamentally different. They needed a way to work that honored the preciousness of time itself. Out of this crucible emerged what they call Extreme Productivity. It is not a system for cramming more tasks into your day. It is a philosophy for ensuring that how you spend your hours aligns with what you genuinely value. It is about working wholeheartedly on things that matter and having the clarity and courage to let everything else go. The title "Not Today" comes from a phrase the Schulzes used with each other during Ari's illness. When one of them felt overwhelmed by fear, grief, or the temptation to give up, the other would say, "Not today." Not today will we surrender to despair. Not today will we let circumstances define us. Not today will we waste the time we have been given. This book is the system they built. It contains nine habits that emerged from necessity and were refined through practice. These habits are not theoretical. They were forged in hospital waiting rooms,…
Continue reading in the MinuteRead app
Get the complete 30-minute summary of Not Today
Get the complete summary in the appDefine your "why" before you optimize your "how." Purpose precedes productivity.
Categorize every activity as Treasured, Investment, Mandatory, or Empty. Then shift time toward the top two categories.
Manufacture motivation by connecting daily actions to a compelling vision of your desired future.
Lower activation energy by scheduling your most important tasks and using countdowns to bypass resistance.
Reengineer one habit at a time using "When I, Then I" statements. Expect it to take about 66 days.
Say no to good opportunities so you can say yes to great ones. Apply the "gung ho" rule.
"Not Today" is a strong fit if you want practical ideas around self help, especially themes like define your "why" before you optimize your "how." purpose precedes productivity; categorize every activity as treasured, investment, mandatory, or empty. then shift time toward the top two categories. The MinuteRead summary distills these concepts into a focused read, whether you're deciding whether to buy the book or applying its lessons at work.
Erica Schultz serves as Chief Marketing Officer and Owner of Boston-based RAIN Group, a sales training company. She leads marketing strategy, branding, and thought leadership initiatives. Since 2005, she has directed the RAIN Group Center for Sales Research, authoring benchmark reports and bestselling books on sales and productivity. Featured in Entrepreneur, ESPN, and People Magazine, she was named to Worcester Business Journal's 40-under-40 in 2019 and SLMA's Top 20 Women to Watch. She holds a…
Continue Reading
Access the complete 30-minute summary and thousands more nonfiction books in the MinuteRead app.
Continue reading the complete summary in the MinuteRead app.