Reviews

Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long by David Rock

ahnmur's review

4.0

A very thoughtful guide to applying neuroscience research to improve your life in many ways. I plan on re-reading this frequently in order to really cement the strategies and understandings it offers. They example set up is incredibly effective.

jwhyteappleby's review

4.0

took me awhile to get into actors-on-a-stage metaphor, but ultimately very full of useful advice and guidance

charliemudd's review

5.0

This book combined brain function and chemistry with management techniques, in a good way. It used the standard trick of showing a scene before its techniques are applied and then showing the same scene after said techniques are implemented. The main takeaway for me was that the pre-frontal cortex is a small stage that takes a lot of energy to run (like RAM), so keep it as empty as possible and realize that it runs out of steam quickly. The metaphor of the actors being external stimuli, the audience being internal thoughts and memories, and the director trying to control it all has turned out to be an effective approach and easy to remember and use. Also, a few of the management technique,s particularly SCARF (status, certainty, autonomy,relatedness,fairness), were valuable in day-to-day situations. Maybe it is because I don't read management/self-help books, but this book was fun and valuable.

scottkirkwood's review

4.0

Practical advice how to work better by recognizing human cerebral limitation.

amitsaurav's review

2.0

Some interesting ideas in this book but overall it bored me to death.

scherzo's review

3.0

SCARF = status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, fairness
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