Check out my new book Intentional on accomplishing more with the science of goal attainment. Read more →
Book a Keynote
My newest book Intentional →

Bestselling Author · Keynote Speaker · Productivity Researcher

Four books. 900,000+ readers.
One through line: becoming more intentional.

Hi, I'm Chris, and welcome to my website! On here you'll find articles I've written, information about my books, and other ways I can help you become more productive—including speaking to your company, my newsletter, my podcast, and my course, Overcoming Procrastination.

Get Chris's latest book → Book a keynote →
Chris Bailey on stage under blue lighting
TEDx Manchester 2026
Intentional: How to Finish What You Start

Setting goals is easy.
Following through? A whole lot harder.

Intentional—my new book. It's about accomplishing more with the science of goal attainment.

"A powerful guide to turning ambition into action—by focusing not on willpower but on what matters most."

Charles Duhigg · Author of Supercommunicators

Get Intentional →
Companion Take the Values Test →

Here are my four books.

Intentional
Intentional
Jan 2026
How to Calm Your Mind
How to Calm Your Mind
2023
Hyperfocus
Hyperfocus
2018
The Productivity Project
The Productivity Project
2016

All four books →

Get a free chapter from all four books.

Enter your email below, and I'll send you a full chapter from all four books so you can begin putting them into action right away. I will also sign you up for my newsletter—you can unsubscribe any time, no hard feelings.

No spam. Unsubscribe any time.

Recent Articles.

New essays and conversations on focus, intention, and getting things done.

Article

There is no such thing as an automation

Automations aren’t permanent—they’re systems that work until they break, which eventually they all do. Weigh how likely each automation is to fail and what…

Jun 30, 20262 min read
Article

Everything with AI is an optimization equation

Every AI task is really an optimization problem. Here’s the one habit that gets you dramatically better results.

Jun 23, 20262 min read
Article

The 5 parts of a useful AI system

The five building blocks of a useful AI system—and how to use each one intentionally.

Jun 18, 20265 min read
View All Articles →
TED Talk · 16 min

One of the most-watched TED talks of all time.

How to Get Your Brain to Focus is a mini dive into the science of distraction and how we can use it to our advantage. So far, it has been watched 19 million times worldwide.

New TED Talk coming soon
TED · TEDxManchester
How to Get Your Brain to Focus 16:00
Featured In

I've been in all these places over the years.

The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
TED
Harvard Business Review
Fast Company
Wired
Forbes
Fortune
GQ
BBC
O, The Oprah Magazine
New York Magazine
The Sunday Times
The Globe and Mail

Press & media kit →

New podcast

Intentional AI.

A podcast with Chris Bailey & David Sparks

Two good friends chatting about how to use AI to become more intentional.

A practical, tactical podcast about using AI to become more productive—with no hype and no doom, just practical advice for using AI intentionally.

AppleSpotifyOvercastPocket CastsYouTubeRSSRelay FM
Intentional AI cover art—a bonsai tree growing from a sun-yellow disk on a chartreuse circuit-board field

Research-backed keynotes,
customized for your audience.

TED watched 19M+ times · A decade of research · Google · Microsoft · TED

Here are a few places Chris has spoken at:

Have Chris speak at your next meeting →
Overcoming Procrastination A course by Chris Bailey

Science shows there are just six triggers behind procrastination—here's how to overcome each one.

A practical, science-backed course for people who want to get more projects, tasks, and goals done. Self-paced, 2–10 minute videos, risk-free for 30 days.

$129 60 short videos 30-day guarantee
Jump into the course →
Chris Bailey, studio portrait

Hi, my name is Chris.

I help people just like you become more productive—not in ways that promise to help you hustle yourself to a state of burnout, but in ways that help you become more intentional about what's actually important every day.

Everything got started over a decade ago, when I graduated from business school and declined a few full-time job offers to spend a year running productivity experiments on myself. That year of experimentation turned into my first book, The Productivity Project, which sent me on a course to keep experimenting, researching, and writing about the topic for the last decade.

Learn more about Chris →