19 Best productivity courses online. Become a top performer.
Essentially, to be productive is to create or to process. The quantity and the quality of what you put out will determine your value as a member of the workforce or as an entrepreneur. That said, being productive is not just about your abilities. Productivity encompasses knowing your strengths and weaknesses.
It is also about managing your time and being as effective as possible with the time you have to produce value. So how to learn it? In this post, you will get a tour of some of the best productivity courses online to help you become your most productive self.
Productivity Courses Online – Overview
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the importance of productivity lies in striking a more advantageous balance between input and output. In other words, to increase output without increasing inputs proportionally is to win at the game.
With growth in productivity, an economy is able to produce – and consume – increasingly more goods and services for the same amount of work.
On the other hand, your personal productivity is linked to your ability to live your best life and be your best self. Depending on what you want to do (produce), your plan of action will be made up of details that form a picture of your personal productivity.
These details will include how long you give yourself to complete your project, the tools and skills you need, and the process you will use. In terms of your personal input/output balance, the beginning of your input is mental preparation.
Below are now listed some of the best productivity courses online. Some focus on providing tips and philosophies and are rather short while others teach comprehensive strategies and systems and thus require a longer time commitment. Enjoy.
Best Productivity Courses Online 2023 – Top Picks
| Mindvalley | MasterClass | Udemy | Skillshare |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |
| from$41/month | from $15/month | from $11.99/course | from $15/month |
| Get 60+ Courses | Get 180+ Courses | Individual Course | Access All Classes |
| Visit Website | Visit Website | Visit Website | Visit Website |
*Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Read the full disclosure at the end of this post.
Note: This round-up aims to give an overview of the best productivity courses online. It is not meant to be comprehensive as there are many other online classes available.
1. Superbrain – Jim Kwik, Mindvalley
Let’s start boldly. Superbrain (visit website) with world-renowned memory and brain coach Jim Kwik is a personal transformation and productivity course on Mindvalley. It allows students, professionals, or career planners to learn anything within a fraction of the time they would usually spend. Learning more in less time is the mission here.
The opportunities here are endless considering you can expand your newly developed dexterity to a wide array of fields from language learning to mastering a professional skill. Within 30-days and in compact 15-20 minutes lectures, Jim Kwik will guide you through the process of turbocharging your professional performance.
Superbrain taps into what it calls the inherent potential in every human to acquire a “bulletproof memory, unshakeable focus, and superhuman productivity”. And it does it all by unlocking the codes of neuroscience.
You will begin with the fundamentals and lifestyle before getting into the gritty parts of remembering long lists, names, vocabulary and languages, speeches and texts, and numbers to finally conclude with lifestyle integration.
This popular class is one of the best productivity courses online if your priority goal is to gain new skills and you look for an effective strategy to do so. Mindvalley members get access to all other classes which focus on professional and personal development.
Time: 4 Weeks | Price: $99/month or $499 annually. Access to all online courses.
Info: View course page. Free: Get free masterclass 10 Powerful Brain Hacks.
2. Becoming Focused and Indistractable – Nir Eyal, Mindvalley
Becoming Focused and Indistractable (visit website) is a great productivity course with Nir Eyal to help people stop procrastinating, stay focused and concentrate on the job at hand. It features immersive training, transformational indistractable tools, and daily coaching to build habits that increase overall productivity and also satisfaction, and happiness.
This class might is for those who often find themselves getting distracted with all kinds of things when they actually should be working on an assignment, projects, or tasks instead.
During 4 weeks of daily lessons, Nir shows students how to hone their focus and become indistractable. Get aware of unknown subconscious beliefs or routines and discover bad habits, patterns, or blind spots that may hold you back. You will then learn his four-step process to lifelong indistractibility and how to effectively apply the method in your daily life.
Becoming Focused is for everyone and is certainly one of the best productivity courses online. It is not just about performing great in your career but also helping to boost mental health and well-being. The process uses the latest approaches in neuroscience, and psychology to help students build good habits, and live a more productive and happy life.
Platform: Mindvalley | Instructor: Nir Eyal | Training: 8.5 Hours
Price: $99/month or $499 annually. Access to all 60+ online courses.
Info: View course page. Try: Get free class 4 Keys to Incredible Focus and Productivity.
Charismatic doctor and YouTuber Ali Abdaal (view course) started sharing productivity advice while he was still in medical school. He is a wiz at note-taking, review strategies and ways to lock information into your long-term memory.
He says: “Being productive is really just about understanding the productivity equation and then figuring out which bits we need to optimize to apply to our own lives”. This is the first of a series of personal productivity courses online.
Ali breaks down the concept of productivity into principles, theories, laws and powers. By gaining a better understanding of productivity, he believes that we can all then work towards living more productive, happier lives.
Learners found Abdaal engaging and his content useful. Some found his anecdotes too specific to his own life for them to be useful to a wider audience. That said, this class will likely appeal to post-secondary students, especially if you are in graduate or post-grad programs. It is one of the best productivity courses online though.
Instructor: Ali Abdaal. Skillshare | Level: Entry | Video Lectures: 10
Class Projects: 70 | User Review: 4.8 ★★★★☆
Info: View course. $15/month. Get 30% Off Premium to try all productivity courses.
4. Techniques to Improve Your Productivity – Domestika
Elastic Heads, a digital product design studio in Madrid, offers this popular productivity course (visit website) on the Domesika platform. In it, they show you how to concentrate, maintain focus, and manage your time. You will study the origins of concentration woes.
The class will help you analyze your time usage and identify impediments in your workflow. Your instructor Fede Sánchez, a certified Notion consultant, will show you how to build a personal digital productivity system for organizing days, weeks and months effectively
You will get a closer look at more complex productivity systems and glean valuable tips for your daily work. For the course project, you put your learning into practice. By the end, you will be creating your own customized productivity system in Notion. This is among the best productivity courses on Domestika, available in Spanish with subtitles in 8 languages.
Instructor: Fede Sánchez, Domestika | Level: Beginners | Rating: 4.9 ★★★★★
Info: View course. From $14.90. Up to 75% off. Browse category Productivity Classes.
5. Become a SpeedDemon 2: Productivity Tricks – Udemy
In ‘Become a SpeedDemon 2’ (visit website) you will “learn productivity strategies and easy-to-use tricks to help you get through everyday tasks faster and more efficiently”. Instructor Jonathan Levi of SuperHuman Academy will help you with hacks and tips to improve computer-based productivity and become conscious about “time-wasters”.
He asks that learners come with an open mind, but no prior knowledge is required. This productivity course is version 2 of the original and very popular class. Tried by many, it could be well worth learning where and when to use automation and improve efficiency.
Indeed, some learners said the class was full of useful tools and mental tricks. On the other hand, some of the recommended solutions that are taught are not available for free. Apart from that, it is certainly one of the most popular and best productivity courses online.
Instructor: Jonathan Levi. Udemy | Level: All levels
Lectures: 38 | Video: 3 hours | User Rating: 4.6 ★★★★☆
Price: from $11.99. View Course. Up to 95% off. Browse category on Udemy.
6. Wayne Gretzky Teaches the Athlete’s Mindset – MasterClass
Wayne Gretzky’s MasterClass (visit website) helps you transform your mindset into that of a resilient and dominating athlete to tackle any obstruction lying in the path of career success. This is one of the best productivity courses online if you want to adapt the psychological strategies of top-performing athletes for your own career and projects.
Apart from a 21-year career under the belt, Wayne Gretzky has already enrolled his name in the records of history for being one of the greatest professional athletes. He is now offering his MasterClass to help share the secrets behind developing the mindset and formula that enabled him to achieve such success.
This course is suitable for anybody who wishes to achieve greatness by tapping into their reservoir of dedication, potential, and motivation. Wayne’s MasterClass teaches learners the art of creativity over structure, playing above your level, setting great expectations along with achievable goals, and building a championship team.
Coming out of the class, you will better understand how one doesn’t need to be an athlete to have an athlete’s mindset and benefit from it. By simply harnessing your love and passion for something, it is possible to score great rewards.
Instructor: Wayne Gretzky | Level: All | Time: 3 hours
Price: from $15/month. Access to all 150+ courses.
Info: View course page. Compare pricing plans and browse all classes on MasterClass.
7. Work Smarter, Not Harder: Time Management for Personal & Professional Productivity
Offered by the University of California (visit website), this productivity course counts as part of the Career Success Specialization. Instructor, Margaret Meloni, has an MBA with a background in IT project management and runs her own corporate coaching company.
With such learning outcomes as delegating effectively, managing expectations and learning when to say “No” when appropriate, it is clear that Meloni is a productivity pro. In week one, she hits you with “Smart Work Habits Just Don’t Happen”.
Many found this course helpful and practical, while some found it too “elementary” for seasoned professionals. This may be so, but there is something to be said for going back to basics with the help of a great coach to build your productivity from the ground up.
Provider: University of California, Irvine Division of Continuing Education, Coursera
Instructor: Margaret Meloni | Complete in 5 hours. | User Review: 4.5 ★★★★☆
Pricing: View Course. Get Coursera Plus – $59/month with certificate. View Website.
Thomas Frank is known for his website College Info Geek, which he created while he himself was a university student as a resource for other students. On it, he shares productivity tips and study strategies. He teaches “task management essentials”, as well as filing, note taking and email management.
This productivity course (view) targets professionals, employees, and students alike. Some learners found it a bit basic, but overall very helpful. Positive reviews generally point out how the information was organized. This is one of the best productivity courses online for entrepreneurs and is easy for beginners.
Instructor: Thomas Frank. Skillshare | Level: All levels | Video Lectures: 10
Class Projects: 165 | User Review: 4.6 ★★★★☆
Info: View course. $15/month. Get 30% Off Premium to try all productivity courses.
9. Modern Productivity — Superhuman Focus In A Distracted World – Udemy
Entrepreneur and Journalist Brad Merrill says you will “boost your productivity, reclaim your focus, and achieve your goals with this proven approach to personal productivity” In this course, you will learn to identify peak hours for productivity and use “the power of habit”.
Merrill touches on many core principles of personal productivity, including work ethic, self-reflection, procrastination, and goal setting. He promises positive results if you will put all of what he teaches you into action.
For some students, it was an eye-opener. Poor habits like social media distraction became more apparent to them in a way that made them want to put an end to it. While suitable for everyone, this productivity course particularly offers value for entrepreneurs and creatives.
Merrill apparently gives a product demonstration of the popular to-do list app Todoist. If you use this app and want to maximize it, you will get some extra value out of this course. This could be one of the best productivity courses online to tackle distraction challenges.
Instructor: Brad Merrill. Udemy | Level: All levels | Lectures: 31
Video: 2 hours. | User Rating: 4.5 ★★★★☆
Price: from $11.99. View Course. Up to 95% off. Browse category on Udemy.
10. Productivity: How to Do a Million Things All at Once – NAS Acaedemy
In Productivity: How to Do a Million Things All at Once instructor Dhruv Rathi will show you how to create a powerful productivity plan to achieve and live your dreams. In this five-day class, you will learn how to visualize and plan your ideal day, keep track of time, and take the right action at the right time.
Once enrolled, you will quickly master the fundamentals of goal setting and create the right work-life balance. Concepts discussed include distinguishing between short and long-term goals, consciously setting goals to achieve, and planning an ideal week.
Next, learners will encounter tips to improve time management, identify opportunities to save time and spend it wisely. The third module solely focuses on productivity. Here, you will create a to-do list and stick it out, learn to prioritize tasks and understand how to get more done in less time.
Finally, you will explore the problem of procrastination, Identify the blockers in your path, learn to avoid them and create your plan for success. This is one of the best productivity courses online for all paths of life and if you want to pursue multiple projects at once.
Provider: NAS Academy | For: All levels | Rating: 4.9 ★★★★★
Instructor: Dhruv Rathee | Duration: 5 days | Goal: Setting up a Productivity Plan
11. Improve Your Organizational Skills – LinkedIn Learning
Dave Crenshaw, Gini von Courter, and Suzanna Kaye take turns covering Time Management basics, Using Outlook Calendar and To-Do Lists and Improving Your Focus in this course. It is actually a series of management, focus and personal productivity courses online that can each be taken individually. Just pick the best.
As a collection, the program promises to help you “Boost your productivity by managing time more efficiently, creating effective to-do lists, and sharpening your focus on what matters most.” One key skill you will walk away from this productivity course is how to protect your focus from daily distractions. That is a must for optimal productivity.
Instructors: Dave Crenshaw, Gini von Courter, Suzanna Kaye. LinkedIn Learning
Level: Beginner | Learning Path: 4 Productivity Courses Online
Plans: View course. from $17.99/month annually. Get a 1-Month free trial.
12. Productivity Machine: Time Management & Productivity Hacks – Udemy
Patrick Dang says he has a “Proven Productivity Methodology” called the Productivity Machine. In his highly popular productivity class (visit website), he shows you how to set clear goals and create plans to accomplish them.
His method can be used in both the professional and personal parts of your life. Dang gives learners insights into the core foundations used by highly productive world-class performers. You will learn how to hyperfocus, eliminate distractions and build time management skills. Dang also teaches organizational skills.
By the end, you should be ready to “live an extraordinary life doing the things that matter most to you”. This is one of the best productivity classes online for beginners.
Instructor: Patrick Dang. Udemy | Level: All levels
Lectures: 21 | Video: 2.5 hours | User Rating: 4.5 ★★★★☆
Price: View Course. From $11.99. Up to 95% off. Browse category on Udemy.
13. Effective Problem-Solving and Decision-Making – Coursera
Another UCI course and part of two specializations on Coursera, instructor and project manager Rob Stone targets your ability to think critically. You will learn to “use analysis, synthesis, and positive inquiry to address individual and organizational problems.” Stone will help you gain critical thinking skills that you will need “in today’s turbulent times.”
Reviewers liked the content and found it practical, even one who appears to be employed with the United Nations. One reviewer commented that the content covered is also available in business management degree courses. If that’s true, then this course presents an opportunity to get a BA education without spending thousands on a degree program.
One learner also said the instructor’s English was simple enough for non-native English speakers to easily follow. One of the best productivity courses online to get familiar with the topic, principles and strategies quickly.
Provider: University of California, Irvine | Instructor: Rob Stone
Complete in 5 hours. | User Review: 4.5 ★★★★☆
Info: View Website. Get Coursera Plus – $59/month with certificate. View Website.
14. Getting Things Done – LinkedIn Learning
A very simple title that emphasizes the point of productivity, Getting Things Done is taught by David Allen, a productivity and time management expert. In this course, Allen walks you through his five-step process. Allen clearly understands how busy people feel when they are trying in vain to be as productive as they can be.
The course promises to help you “stay on top of your work and avoid feeling buried by it while carving out space in your life to do more meaningful things”. The description gives the impression that you will walk away having a better idea of how to prioritize all the things that demand your attention and have a new sense of clarity at the end of the day.
This is one of the best productivity courses online that are suitable for a wider audience and learning outcomes can be applied to all tasks, projects and goals.
Instructors: David Allen | Level: General | Items: 12 Lectures
Plans: View course. from $17.99/month annually. Get a 1-Month free trial.
Popular platforms: Browse our lists of the best Coursera courses or Domestika courses or Skillshare classes or LinkedIn courses to further improve your skills.
15. Time Management Mastery: Do More, Stress Less – Udemy
This National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) CPE accredited course is taught by productivity coach Alexis Haselberger. The subtitle offers you the opportunity to “Take control of your time, your to-do list, and ‘your overwhelm’”.
Haselberger will help you plan your work and goals out to save time. The fact that she shows you to use your own natural traits and tendencies to optimize your productivity and your time is encouraging. It’s a you-have-what-it-takes-to-win approach that makes this program customizable to and actionable for each unique learner.
Many learners found this productivity course (visit website) full of useful material, while others didn’t get anything new out of it. Notably, it appears that Ms. Haselberger replied to every single review she received whether it was a 5 star or 1-star rating. Clearly, she is concerned about every learner’s experience. That’s a good sign!
One of the best productivity courses online for developing better time management skills.
Instructor: Alexis Haselberger. Udemy | Level: Introdcutionary | Lectures: 45
Video: 2 hours. | User Rating: 4.4 ★★★★☆
Price: View Course. from $11.99. Up to 95% off. Browse category on Udemy.
16. Workflow, Time Management and Productivity for Creatives – CreativeLive
This could be one of the best productivity courses online to help you build and implement your own productivity systems. Lisa Congdon, a fine artist, illustrator and author, will show you a workflow system, to-do list ideas and ways to manage distractions.
The time management strategy she shows you is known as “time-blocking”. Remember when you were selecting time blocks in advance for each thing you need to do every day? Did you know it was a thing?
Learners found Congdon generous, as the systems she shared are the very ones that helped her maximize her own productivity. She offers tools that will help with the practical application of the productivity systems she will help you construct.
Instructor: Lisa Congdon. CreativeLive
Level: All levels | Class Content: 3 hours | Video Lessons: 9
Price: CreatorPass from $13/month (annually)| User Rating: 89% ★★★★☆
17. The Science of Everyday Thinking – edX
“Learn how to think better, argue better, and choose better” says this University of Queensland Australia course offering’s description. A team of three instructors helps you explore such psychology as forming opinions, expectations, judgment and “why people believe weird things” using the scientific method.
It is said that productivity starts in the mind. The rationale of this course appears to be that if you can make better decisions, your productivity will improve. Skills that will turn you into a more logical thinker can empower you to produce value more effectively.
Figuring out that you are impulsive, and knowing what a handicap that makes a big difference. Actually targeting that as a foundational move towards becoming a better you is an investment that will return you big dividends. It is one of the best productivity courses online if you look for a university-style teaching approach.
Provider: University of Queensland, UQx. edX
Level: Introductory. | Instructors: Emma MacKenzie, Jason Tangen, Matthew Thompson
Duration:: 12 weeks. 2-3 hours/week | Pricing: Free. Certificate $89
18. How To Create A Productivity System – Highbrow
This is a course that can help you to develop a “productivity system that allows you to get more done with less stress”. Productivity blogger Paul Minors teaches you how to manage your time, energy, and attention, to become a more effective person.
Learners found it useful for helping to overcome procrastination, as well. The course description promises a step-by-step guide through using tools and apps to organize tasks and plan your time more efficiently. The lessons come by email every day for ten days. This might be one of the best productivity courses if you plan to subscribe to Highbrow.
Instructor: Paul Minors. Highbrow | Level: Beginner
Format: 1 email lesson/day| Study Time: 10 days. 5min/day.
User Review: 88% recommendation ★★★★☆
19. How To Make Better Decisions With The Matrix – Highbrow
Known as the “in-house productivity expert” in her own workplace, instructor Kari Beaulieu brings you one of the most accessible and practical productivity courses online.
The class description, along with the header image of a man covered in sticky notes, speaks directly to those of us who feel like we are drowning in “to-dos”. Often, with so much to do, you are still not as productive as you can be.
Beaulieu welcomes you to the Matrix. In the second lesson, she presents the Eisenhower method to prioritize. The 34th president of the United States may not be around anymore, but Dwight D. Eisenhower’s tried and true method for decision-making endures with four simple quadrants that provide you with a very effective prioritization tool.
Instructor: Kari Beaulieu. Highbrow | Level: All
Format: 1 email lesson/day| Study Time: 10 days. 5min/day.
User Review: 93% recommendation ★★★★★
How To Choose The Best Productivity Courses Online
Some of these online productivity courses are geared more toward full-time post-secondary students for whom the biggest productivity challenge is in their academics.
Others are designed to help people in their everyday lives or will be more helpful to people with careers or interests in specific fields.
For the most part, the key to choosing the best productivity courses online is to look at the instructor’s background. Once you have found some online productivity classes of interest look for a match between you and the instructor. Their personal bios give you enough to go on terms of their experience, their personality, and their target audience.
The consolation is that there is probably someone out there who has overcome the plight you are facing now. When you discover that instructor, you have found the right course.
Popular Reads: Personal Development Courses | Project Management Courses
Best Productivity Courses Online 2023 – Verdict
Wrapping up our list of the best productivity courses online. To summarize, I’d like to emphasize again that productivity is directly connected to purpose. Without purpose, life can certainly feel empty and people make poor choices due to a lack of direction.
Or, as personal development coach Carthage Buckley says: a highly productive lifestyle begins with a productive mindset. He identifies seven characteristics, including having a clear vision, living your purpose, and being focused.
A more widely known route to personal productivity is taken by those who ascribe to Franklin & Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Individual values such as being proactive and putting first things first are almost cliché, but when practiced well, they can improve a person’s contribution.
Improving your own productivity can help you become a contributor to the collective productivity of your community. Productive people usually encourage others around them to be productive. This makes you an asset to your family, your business, and your workplace. On a larger scale, think about how your personal productivity could positively impact your city, your country, and your world.
Collective productivity is critical for sustaining communities, cities, and nations, but personal productivity is essential, too. The latter is critical for a meaningful, fulfilling life. It is the key to deciding how one should spend the numbered days each of us has.
If done well, online productivity courses focused on equipping people with skills and information to increase their personal outcomes can be pivotal for many. Whether you believe you need a productivity course or not, you should see what’s out there. There is always room for growth in this area.
Best Productivity Courses Online 2023
- Superbrain – Jim Kwik, Mindvalley
- Becoming Focused and Indistractable – Mindvalley
- Techniques to Improve Your Productivity – Domestika
- Techniques to Improve Your Productivity – Domestika
- Become a SpeedDemon 2: Productivity Tricks – Udemy
- Wayne Gretzky Teaches the Athlete’s Mindset – MasterClass
- Work Smarter, Not Harder: Time Management for Professional Productivity
- Managing Productivity: Create a Custom System that Works – Skillshare
- Modern Productivity — Superhuman Focus In A Distracted World – Udemy
- Productivity: How to Do a Million Things at Once – NAS Academy
- Improve Your Organizational Skills – LinkedIn Learning
- Productivity Machine: Time Management & Productivity Hacks – Udemy
- Effective Problem-Solving and Decision-Making – Coursera
- Getting Things Done – LinkedIn Learning
- Time Management Mastery: Do More, Stress Less – Udemy
- Workflow, Time Management and Productivity for Creatives – CreativeLive
- The Science of Everyday Thinking – edX
- How To Create A Productivity System – Highbrow
- How To Make Better Decisions With The Matrix – Highbrow
- Essential Productivity Training – GoSkills
What are the best productivity courses online 2023? Have you applied some of the techniques seeing results in less than a week? Let us know by email.
Best Ted Talks Productivity
Here are some suggestions for the best Ted Talks on productivity. I don’t aim to offer a comprehensive list. I have chosen them because I like them.
Cal Newport – Why you should quit social media.
courselounge tutorial: Deep Work – How to Get More Done
Tim Ferris – Smash Fear, learn anything.
Arianna Huffington – How to succeed? Get more sleep.
David Autor – Will automation take away all our jobs?
Yves Morieux – How too many rules at work keep you from getting things done
Anthony Goldbloom – The jobs we will lose to machines, and the ones we won’t.
Rainer Strack – The workforce crisis of 2030 — and how to start solving it now
Disclosure: This site contains affiliate links to some providers of personal productivity courses online. courselounge may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. It does not add any extra costs. All reviews, opinions, descriptions and comparisons expressed here are our own.
