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JD is Currently Reading

JD is currently reading

Your Brain at Work, Revised and Updated: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long ― A Focus Guide

by David Rock

bookshelves: leadership-business, currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in August 2016

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JD said: " Wow. I loved this book. I was hooked instantly. The first seven sentences did it, really:

"An avalanche of emails. An overload of information. A meeting schedule that leaves you exhausted. Ever more change and uncertainty. The occasional win just to Wow. I loved this book. I was hooked instantly. The first seven sentences did it, really:

"An avalanche of emails. An overload of information. A meeting schedule that leaves you exhausted. Ever more change and uncertainty. The occasional win just to keep you going. If this sounds like your average day at work, you’ve picked up the right book. This book will help you work smarter, be more focused and productive, stay cool under pressure, reduce the length of meetings, and even tackle the hardest challenge of all: influencing other people."

And of course, the first seven sentences only represent the promise of the book, not what it actually delivers. But the book delivers. It has literally changed the way I think. Rock couches the teaching inside a simple metaphor (your consciousness is like a bunch of actors competing for time on stage, and a director who can control them) and then provides actionable ideas throughout.

Here's a super-simple example of an idea from the book, and how it can be put into practice: The idea--Your emotions can easily take over your thought processes (if you've read Switch, that's the elephant commanding the rider). You can cool off your emotions by reappraising the situation and trying to imagine things from the other person's perspective (which, by the way, ties into 7 Habits). Putting it into practice--I get frustrated and tense on the freeway when people drive aggressively (glued-on tailgating, swerving-passing-on-the-right moves, etc.). I physically tighten up, and emotionally get pissed off. Since covering this idea in the book, when it happens, my instant response is tight anger, but within 2 seconds, reappraise and think "what if they have a family member being rushed to the emergency room?" I instantly feel a release of physical and mental tension.

That's just a small example of some major, actionable insights Rock has on how your brain works, and how you (or rather, "the director") can take control. He gives fictional (not my favorite method) examples of how your brain can get in the way of best results, but then (and this is brilliant, and redeems the fictional component) provides an example after he delivers the theory on how things would have gone had his characters been in control of their directors.

If you see yourself in any of those first seven sentences, please do yourself a favor and read this book! ...more "

progress:

(80%)
— Aug 19, 2016 04:11AM

Nov 08, 2026 07:58AM · see review