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A review by ipreferquiet
Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long by David Rock
5.0
Aside from the slow narrator, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is composed in a rather interesting way. Each chapter deals with a particular topic and describes functions and limitations of your brain. Every chapter starts with a scene: a short episode in the lives of 2 people, Emily and Paul, in their busy jobs. (Tbh, their days sounds kind of crazy to me, with all the deadlines, emails, meetings, but what do I know...) Then in the rest of the chapter, an explanation follows of what goes on in a human brain regarding the things going wrong in the scene. This is pretty clear and not hard to follow. The author shows how the things Emily or Paul did were only adding to their stress / unproductivity / unhappiness. They could have done things differently if they had more insight in how their brain works.
After that, each chapter has a 'take 2': the scene is played again but this time the characters act as they should to maximize their brain output and minimise the effect of their liabilities. At the end, there is a short recap of the chapter and a brief 'what can you change now you know this' list.
Here's a scope of the topics that are discussed:
The pre-frontal cortex, which is our 'thinking brain', taps into a rather limited supply of energy, so use it wisely. It can only hold a few items at a time, so group things together and simplify. You can veto distractions. Your brain needs the right level of arousal for optimal performance. You can overcome blockages in creative thinking by clearing your space of attention and allowing unconscious processes to flow. Emotions and expectations are always present; there are different strategies to cope with them, each situation may have its own approach.
The author didn't forget to include a section on how to act when others lose the plot and how to influence others toward change.
For all this information to be beneficial and effective, you need to be able to observe what your brain is doing and what else going on in your thinking. He explains how to get good in this in an excellent chapter about mindfulness.
After that, each chapter has a 'take 2': the scene is played again but this time the characters act as they should to maximize their brain output and minimise the effect of their liabilities. At the end, there is a short recap of the chapter and a brief 'what can you change now you know this' list.
Here's a scope of the topics that are discussed:
The pre-frontal cortex, which is our 'thinking brain', taps into a rather limited supply of energy, so use it wisely. It can only hold a few items at a time, so group things together and simplify. You can veto distractions. Your brain needs the right level of arousal for optimal performance. You can overcome blockages in creative thinking by clearing your space of attention and allowing unconscious processes to flow. Emotions and expectations are always present; there are different strategies to cope with them, each situation may have its own approach.
The author didn't forget to include a section on how to act when others lose the plot and how to influence others toward change.
For all this information to be beneficial and effective, you need to be able to observe what your brain is doing and what else going on in your thinking. He explains how to get good in this in an excellent chapter about mindfulness.