"Slow Productivity" by Cal Newport explores the flaws of modern productivity standards in knowledge work, which often equate visible activity with true productivity. Newport advocates for a slow productivity philosophy grounded in three principles: doing fewer things by limiting projects and daily goals; working at a natural pace by embracing …

In their book, Adam Gazzaley and Larry D. Rosen explain that our cognitive control abilities required to accomplish goals have not developed to the same degree as our executive functions used for goal setting. We have limitations in distributing and sustaining attention, working memory capacity and fidelity, and in managing …

There are several problems with goal setting, especially when it comes to material accomplishments. First, we mistakenly assume that achieving a particular goal will make us happier, once and for all. But, on the contrary, happiness level returns to normal not long after attaining the desired thing. Second, we choose …

A molecular biologist and Roman Catholic at the same time, Kenneth R. Miller, sets out to answer the question: Can evolution and God coexist? To begin with, he explains the basic principles of the evolution theory and provides some scientific evidence in support of its validity. Then, he goes on …

In his excellent book Why We Do What We Do, based on empirical research, Edward Deci shows that intrinsic motivation is much more effective than extrinsic motivation. Contrary to the behaviorist dogma, self-motivation underlies successful learning, creativity, responsibility, healthy behavior, and long-lasting change. It comes from innate psychological needs. The …

In book "Management of the Absurd", Richard Farson argues that leaders cannot be trained, they can only be educated. He points out to important distinsctions between training and education (in human relations, at least): "Training, as we know, leads to the development of skills and techniques [which] don't work well …

In this unusual non-fiction book, full of metaphors and insights, Steven Pressfield argues that each of us has a specific work to do. It might be writing, painting, starting a business venture, etc. The work can be recognized by the fear it causes in us. The greater the fear, the …

This is a follow-up on this post. Since the time I published it, I've made a couple of improvements that I wanted to share here. First, I've started using Smartsheet reports as the data source instead of sheets. It's because there might be occasional changes to the underlying sheet (like …

Stephen Few, who has written excellent books on visualizing numerical data, focuses on data sensemaking in this book. The author argues: mastering modern analysis tools is not enough to understand the data; we still need to train the thinking skills. Most important of these are critical and scientific thinking skills …

In this book, Cal Newport shows that cognitively demanding intellectual work, that is deep work, is extremely valuable and rare at the same time. This includes rapid acquiring of new skills and gaining complex knowledge, as well as producing at a high quality level. If we prioritize this kind of …