Book Review: Get It Done: The 21-Day Mind Hack System to Double Your Productivity and Finish What You Start

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Book Review: Get It Done: The 21-Day Mind Hack System to Double Your Productivity and Finish What You Start
(Last Updated On: January 4, 2020)

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to review Get It Done: The 21-Day Mind Hack System to Double Your Productivity and Finish What You Start by Michael Mackintosh. This is probably the fourth book that I’ve been asked to review and I am privileged each and every time. I had no idea what the book was going to be about. I like surprises. I am happy to say that I was very pleased with the substance of this book. Get It Done puts you on a path to completing goals and objectives with laser focus.


Across 193 pages, Mackintosh put together a strategy to increase productivity in 21 days. This book has 23 chapters and is arranged in three parts:

  • 11 essential mind hacks to make things happen
  • The unstoppable 21-day challenge
  • Your unstoppable 21-day challenge

A lot of what Mackintosh wrote in Get It Done I already knew. I’ve read it or heard it in a number of books or podcasts. However, it was nice to see all this packaged into one book. Get It Done provides a strategy for bringing some of the best productivity tips together to help you achieve your objective in 21 days.

In the first part of the book, the 11 essential mind hacks, Mackintosh addressed a number of key issues. Some of the issues that resonated with me include the 80-20 rule, which highlights the importance of focusing on the 20% that will get you 80% of your results. We often can stay busy throughout our workday doing fake work but if we want to really be productive, we need to identify the key tasks that when done will help us move towards our goal.

Mackintosh also talked about good is good enough. There is a point in time where you can keep improving a product thus not getting it out to market on time and missing out on revenue. The time or energy that you’re exerting to get to absolute perfection, which is in itself impossible, is taking up valuable resources for achieving your goals.

One of my favorites in the book is The Resistance. The resistance is self-talk that prevents you from achieving a goal or developing a habit. If you can recognize the resistance, you recognize the strategies that are against you. You can then counteract the resistance and set a path for success. This understanding makes it much easier to achieve your goals.

Finally, do it now! Adopting an “eat the frog” mentality so that you go out and clear tasks from your list. Work on your most important task first thing in the morning. Just do it!

Mackintosh outlined the strategy for the unstoppable 21-day challenge. He defined two important acronyms: WAR and WHACK. These two acronyms work hand-in-hand in setting you up for success. The acronyms focus on three areas: planning, doing, and celebrating. I like how he broke his 21-day plan into these two acronyms. They are memorable and actionable. I am going to write them out so that I can have them in front of me.

The last part of the book, your unstoppable 21-day challenge, is putting this all into motion. Mackintosh provided a template that one can fill out for the next 21-day challenge.

Get It Done is a very quick book to read. It’s laid out very nicely. It’s not only very readable but also very scannable so you can hone in on specific items.  Throughout the book, Mackintosh provided little fill-in-the-blank templates. As you’re working through each section, the templates help you pull together your strategies and tactics.

As I noted above, Get It Done is a nice collection of productivity hacks that are put together in such a way that will lead you to success. The intent is that you find a goal or objective that you want to complete, put together the strategy to do it, and then focus on it for 21 days. Rather than focus on many priorities, Mackintosh is challenging you to just find one and work on achieving it. This is a similar strategy that I’ve been using at work. There are some things in this book that I will definitely weave into the strategy I am using. But if you are struggling with getting things done, I would definitely recommend the book, Get It Done from TCK Publishing.

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