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Start your free trialBlink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business
Smarter Faster Better by Charles Duhigg teaches readers how to improve productivity and achieve success by using effective goal setting, motivation, decision-making, and teamwork strategies.
Have you ever been excited to start a new project, only to have that excitement fade over time? This is a common problem. Let’s look at some tips for keeping your spirits high as you stay on track.
You can maintain motivation by making choices to benefit yourself, your team or your project. Researchers at Columbia University found that people feel more motivated when they have greater control over a situation. Basically, people get excited when they get to make choices! A sense of control and responsibility can also help you recover from any setbacks during the process.
In fact, neuropsychologist Mauricio Delgado at Columbia found that one of the brain’s “motivation centers” lights up whenever a person has an opportunity to make a choice – even something as simple as selecting a colored key in a video game.
So make this phenomenon work for you! If you’re stuck with a task, let yourself make a decision. Even mundane choices can help to pick you back up. If you have 40 emails to read, for instance, just pick four and look at the rest later.
Making choices isn’t always enough to give you a boost, however. You also need to remind yourself how your choices contribute to the project and your overarching goals.
Remembering the big picture is another important element in staying motivated. Even if a task doesn’t feel rewarding on its own, you’ll feel good when you know it plays a part in something more important.
Let’s say you want to develop a drone. You start reading an essay about drone building, but it’s terribly dry, and your attention starts to wane. You’d rather stop and do anything else to keep from falling asleep!
What do you do in this situation? How do you get yourself back on track to focus on your goal?
Consider this simple trick. At the top of the essay, write in bold letters: ”Reading this will help me make the drone.” In short, remind yourself of what you want. When you do this, the essay that will bring you one step closer to your goal won’t seem so boring anymore.
Smarter Faster Better (2016) combines personal stories and business research to show that being productive isn’t just about managing your to-do list, but about making the right choices and maintaining the right mindset. These blinks offer advice on how to stay motivated, keep yourself on track and work in teams effectively to maximize your creativity, productivity and success.
Smarter Faster Better (2016) is a captivating book that offers valuable insights on how to improve productivity and achieve success in both personal and professional life. Here's why this book is definitely worth reading:
When people believe they are in control, they tend to work harder and push themselves more.
It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.
Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.
Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.
Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.
Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 7,500+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.
Start your free trialBlink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
What is the main message of Smarter Faster Better?
The main message of Smarter Faster Better is that success is achieved through productive habits and a growth mindset.
How long does it take to read Smarter Faster Better?
Reading Smarter Faster Better takes several hours, but the Blinkist summary can be read in just 15 minutes.
Is Smarter Faster Better a good book? Is it worth reading?
Smarter Faster Better is a worthwhile read as it provides insights and strategies to improve productivity and achieve success.
Who is the author of Smarter Faster Better?
The author of Smarter Faster Better is Charles Duhigg.