Study Smarter

The books, in order

1. 1

   Productivity and Focus · 17 min

   Learning How to Learn: How to Succeed in School Without Spending All Your Time Studying; A Guide for Kids and Teens

   Barbara Oakley

   Alternating between total concentration and moments of intentional distraction allows the mind to find solutions that forced focus cannot see.

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2. 2

   Health · 16 min

   Spark

   John J. Ratey

   In Naperville, putting gym class first thing in the morning went hand in hand with better scores on international tests, according to the book's account of that school district.

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3. 3

   Productivity and Focus · 17 min

   Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time

   Brian Tracy

   Checking off a dozen minor tasks brings a false sense of relief that only delays the reckoning with that decisive obligation you avoided facing.

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4. 4

   Psychology · 14 min

   The Intelligence Code

   Augusto Cury

   If you do not choose where to focus your attention, old memories that surface on their own end up deciding how your day goes.

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5. 5

   Productivity and Focus · 17 min

   Indistractable

   Nir Eyal

   For the book, repeating "I have no willpower" becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy: the story you tell about yourself shapes what you do.

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6. 6

   Productivity and Focus · 15 min

   Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence

   Daniel Goleman

   The body often warns you before your mind understands: noticing your own physical signal early gives you time to choose your reaction, instead of just suffering the consequence.

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7. 7

   Productivity and Focus · 16 min

   The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload

   Daniel J. Levitin

   Writing down your to-dos on a physical medium frees up your brain's working memory to solve problems instead of wasting energy just holding on to reminders.

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8. 8

   Personal Development · 16 min

   Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise

   Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool

   Doing the same task for twenty years without changing anything about it only teaches you to repeat it, not to improve.

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9. 9

   Productivity and Focus · 16 min

   Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

   Cal Newport

   For any serious project, two hours of total attention are worth more than a whole day sliced up between messages, email, and meetings.

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10. 10

    Psychology · 17 min

    Frames of Mind

    Howard Gardner

    What counts as talent changes with the place: reading the sea and the wind matters a great deal in a fishing village.

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