The best 62 Mindful Work books

Flow (1990) explores how we can experience enjoyment in our lives by controlling our attention and strengthening our resolve. This is achieved by being immersed in an activity or subject that makes us neither anxious (if it’s too hard), nor bored (if it’s too easy). In this “flow state” we lose our self-consciousness, selfishness and sense of time. Using goal-setting and immediate feedback, we can achieve a state of flow that improves our relationship with work, increases our self-worth and gives our lives meaning.

Essentialism (2014) teaches you how to do better by doing less. By offering practical solutions for how to get your priorities straight, Essentialism helps you to eliminate all of the junk in your routine that’s keeping you from being truly productive and fulfilled.

Deep Work (2016) is all about how the rise of technology has wrecked our ability to concentrate deeply on tasks – and how to overcome this blockade. These blinks illustrate different strategies that can help you improve the output of your work and get the most out of your free time.

18 Minutes (2011) is a helpful guide to getting things done by focusing on meaningful work, reaching goals and preventing distractions. These blinks will show how to identify the kind of work that is right for you and how to stay on track and hit your targets.

No Hard Feelings (2018) is a guide to understanding, expressing and managing your emotions in the context of your working life. All too often, we buy into the idea that emotions don’t belong in the workplace. But the reality is that your work life is full of emotion. From feeling frustrated with irritating colleagues to the misery of being unmotivated, these blinks are a practical guide to help you navigate how you feel about work.

Do/Breathe (2015) is a calming antidote to the stressors of contemporary life, offering a simple guide to cultivating balance, honing focus, and learning to be present. Do/Breathe takes you right back to life’s basics – like breathing, eating, and sleeping – to show how adjusting fundamental practices, habits, and mindsets can produce positive, lasting change in your life. 

The Refusal of Work (2015) is a critical look at the way our society is structured around work. Given the fact that 40 hours of work per week makes many of us exhausted, irritable, and actually ill, it doesn’t seem right that it’s the only way we can access necessities like income, social acceptance, and a sense of belonging. Author David Frayne engages with the theory and practice of resisting the way we are expected to work, invoking critical thinkers and interviews with people who have reduced their hours, or given up working altogether.

Making Work Human (2020) is a roadmap for building the workplace of the future based on positive human values such as community, connection, and belonging. Drawing on a vast amount of data and using deep analytics, the pioneers of social recognition company Workhuman explain how a work culture of gratitude makes people happier and healthier while boosting productivity and performance.

What Color Is Your Parachute? 2021 (2021) is a fresh edition of a book that’s widely regarded as the job-hunter’s bible. It’s packed with classic exercises and time-tested strategies that empower prospective employees to find, and secure, the role they want. This new edition contains essential updates that speak to the contemporary job market.

Noise (2019) is an antidote to our distracted times. In an age of shrinking attention spans and divided focus, it shows us how to reclaim our natural powers of concentration.

Kaizen (2019) is a guide to the improvement philosophy known as kaizen, which encourages taking small steps to complete ambitious goals. Already well established in the world of business and sports, this method can also be applied to personal development. Using practical examples, this guide explains how to take a kaizen approach to setting goals that’ll improve health, relationships, money, and work.

Goals! (2003) explores the power of goal-setting. It outlines tips and techniques for achieving your most important aims in life and examines the link between goal-setting and success.

You’re About to Make a Terrible Mistake! (2020) deals with the negative but often predictable effects that cognitive biases have on high-stakes decisions. Far from claiming that biases can be eliminated altogether, it demonstrates how every decision is colored by bias and outlines specific techniques that’ll help you make more rational, fact-based business decisions.

Win at Work and Succeed at Life (2021) explores the pitfalls of our long-hours work culture. It outlines how professionals can reclaim their personal lives and achieve a better work-life balance.

All Work No Play (2021) teaches tricks and tips for getting more happiness and joy from everyday life. This fun and practical handbook draws on play-based mindfulness strategies designed to help you improve relationships, boost mental well-being, and reconnect with your inner child. 

Employee to Entrepreneur (2018) demonstrates how to transition from the mentality of an employee to that of an entrepreneur. It shows how you can pursue purpose in your work while avoiding the pitfalls that most first-time entrepreneurs encounter. With practical strategies for launching and testing your ideas, this exploration of the entrepreneurial mindset proves that anyone can find fulfillment in work and in life when equipped with the right tools and attitude.

A World Without Email (2021) presents a bold reimagining of the workplace, one in which the days of email and instant messaging are a thing of the past. It argues that while email may seem like an integral part of modern knowledge work, it’s actually making everyone less productive and less focused, not to mention miserable. The solution will require a major paradigm shift –⁠ but it will be well worth the effort.

Real Change (2020) is a guide to building a better world through cultivating inner strength. This manual teaches how meditation and mindfulness are key to navigating the stresses and pressures of modern life.

How to Thrive in the Virtual Workplace (2021) is a guide to working remotely. With tips for both organizations and individuals, it covers everything from the benefits of remote work to steps for implementing it successfully, and the tools and tricks that make it easy.

The Long-Distance Teammate: Stay Engaged and Connected While Working Anywhere (2021) is a guide to being a quality teammate while working remotely. It helps you navigate all the interpersonal issues that pop up when you’re no longer sharing an office with your coworkers, and gives advice on how to build connections with people you haven’t seen.

Bring Your Human to Work (2018) explores how organizations can put human connection at the center of their business. It outlines the benefits, both financial and social, of encouraging better communication and deeper relationships between coworkers. 

The Work-Life Balance Myth (2021) is a guide to managing stress and creating harmony across the key areas in your life using the Seven-Slice Method. Rather than divide your waking hours between work and life, the Seven-Slice Method recontextualizes life into seven key areas and demonstrates how spending time in each of them every day can help you overcome pressure and find peace.

The Purpose Myth (2020) dispels the idea that what you do to earn a living should also be your life’s driving purpose. Although many job offers are posted as fulfilling opportunities, the reality of office life remains banal. This book offers clear guidance on how to find the joy and satisfaction that’s too often lacking at work. 

Urgent! (2021) is your guide to getting the right things done at the right time. In our fast-paced world, it’s easy to fall into the urgency trap – and keeping up with the constant demands often feels impossible. But by learning to consciously replace reactive behaviors with proactive ones, you can reduce stress and do deeper, more effective work.

How to Fix Meetings (2021) is a guide for turning long and ineffective meetings into well-designed sessions that encourage collaboration and produce results. From defining a meeting’s purpose to helping people get started on their tasks, How to Fix Meetings outlines the best ways to get the most out of any meeting.

Effortless (2021) challenges the idea that achieving anything worthwhile means overexerting ourselves. This easy-to-follow guide breaks down how to make tasks and projects feel easy, actions we can take to maximize our efforts, and techniques for increasing outputs while keeping our inputs low.

The Burnout Fix (2021) is a practical guide to thriving in the modern workplace. Today’s world of work is characterized by uncertainty, change, and a blurring of lines between home and the office. That’s why it’s essential that employees learn to set healthy boundaries, develop core skills, and make choices that prioritize their well-being. 

Permission to Glow (2021) provides managers with a roadmap to lead with intention and purpose so that everyone can reach their full potential. By embracing its four permissions, it shows how leaders can maximize outcomes and personal successes by first tapping into their own power and then guiding others to do the same.

Meditation (1988) provides a valuable overview of Osho meditations – an approach to meditation that emphasizes awareness and uses movement as a way of preparing the mind and body. It provides the basic principles behind Osho meditation, as well as a few foundational techniques to get you started.

Wellbeing at Work (2021) explores how the different spheres of our lives contribute to our overall sense of well-being. It also outlines how leaders can positively impact their employees’ well-being, and sheds light on the link between employee well-being and organizational success. 

A Minute to Think (2021) explores how busyness is harming our productivity – and why it's so important to take regular pauses. It reveals the mental and economic costs associated with our hectic modern working environments and explains how we can reclaim our time. 

Shapers (2020) chronicles how technological and organizational shifts have transformed our workplaces. Most importantly, it outlines the key competencies that modern organizations and workers should develop to thrive in a world of uncertainty and disruption.

How to Be a Productivity Ninja (2014) transforms old-school time-management techniques and productivity advice into a twenty-first century handbook on how to work smarter – not harder. Adapted to the realities of contemporary work and life, it’s filled with practical guidance and exercises for boosting productivity.

Positively Energizing Leadership (2022) offers organization leaders and workers a practical guide to understanding and harnessing the power of positively energizing characteristics and interpersonal approaches. With empirical data and how-to advice, it aims to boost innovation, profits, and compassion in the workplace and at home. 

Conversations Worth Having (2018) looks at the power of conversation in our lives and what we can do to communicate more productively at work, in our relationships, and in the community. Drawing on real-life stories and scientifically based theories, it illustrates how we can improve organizations and lives using the principle of Appreciative Inquiry – effective conversation through positive perspective and asking the right questions.

Stolen Focus (2022) begins with author Johann Hari experiencing a common problem: his attention span is diminishing. He can’t seem to focus on much outside of Twitter and online news. Over three years, Hari tries to identify the root causes of this problem. He uncovers a collective attention crisis that’s affecting the entire globe. From social media to the culture of productivity, Hari identifies the culprits behind our stolen focus – and wonders if, and how, we can claim it back.

The Procrastination Cure is a practical and motivational guide to overcoming procrastination. It offers strategies and personal insights to diagnose and address the root causes of this behavior, enabling readers to balance productivity and relaxation without guilt.

The Song of Significance (2023) is business thinker and creativity expert Seth Godin’s manifesto for leveraging teamwork and collaboration to build radically meaningful workplaces. Traditional models of work are under threat from encroaching AI technologies – why not dismantle them altogether, Godin asks, and build something better in their place? 

The Search (2023) provides a roadmap to finding meaningful work. It asks insightful questions and provides many real-life examples of people who, freed from outdated work scripts, have transformed their lives and written their own stories of work and success.

The Good Enough Job (2023) is a radical guide to reclaiming your life beyond the corporate walls. Through a series of anecdotes and actionable advice, you’ll learn to break free from burnout and find true work-life balance. 

Happy Mind, Happy Life (2022) busts the age-old myth that happiness is a by-product of wealth or success. Instead, it’s something to cultivate and nurture independent of life’s circumstances.

Mindful Self-Discipline (2022) presents a new perspective on self-discipline as a tool for personal empowerment, rather than a set of rigid constraints. It guides us through a transformational journey of harnessing self-discipline, underlining the significance of integrating self-discipline into daily routines to control base instincts, chase higher goals, and design a life that mirrors one’s deepest values and dreams.

The Power of a Graceful Leader (2021) offers an immersive journey into a radical reimagination of your leadership approach. Focusing on aligning your core values with your actions, it provides insightful steps for self-evaluation and reflection, demonstrating how to handle any situation with grace. As you traverse this transformative path, you'll discover the secret ingredient for sustained happiness, fulfilling work, and a profound impact on the world.

The Purpose Effect (2016) combines motivational psychology, organizational culture, and the pursuit of meaning to explore how shared purpose can change the world. What happens when company and employee goals align? How can we foster a culture where we pursue work that really has an impact? This deep-dive is your guide to finding the sweet spot of shared purpose.

The Stress Prescription (2022) offers a practical seven-day guide to reducing anxiety and cultivating joy. Combining scientific research with accessible advice, it leads readers through techniques like mindfulness, gratitude, and harnessing hormetic stress to build resilience and embrace ease. With a different empowering theme each day, it provides a roadmap to a calmer, more purposeful life.

Awakening Your Ikigai (2018) introduces the Japanese concept of ikigai or “life’s purpose,” and explains how uncovering and nurturing ikigai can catalyze a life filled with purpose and meaning.

Humanocracy (2020) explores the constraints of traditional bureaucratic organizational structures and proposes a shift toward more human-centric models. Based on the idea that bureaucracies stifle innovation and alienate employees, it argues for a system that unleashes human potential and creativity. Through real-world examples and strategies, it guides organizations in restructuring to foster empowerment, adaptability, and resilience.

The Practice of Adaptive Leadership (2009) demonstrates how leaders can mobilize people to tackle tough challenges and thrive in the face of harsh realities that demand new skills and responses. It provides a practical framework for diagnosing situations, distinguishing between technical problems and adaptive challenges, and avoiding common leadership pitfalls that come with over-dependence on authority.

The Mind of the Leader (2018) explores how leaders can cultivate critical inner capacities like mindfulness, selflessness, and compassion to become more effective guides. Supported by research conducted by The Potential Project, it draws on psychology, neuroscience, and case studies of global organizations to provide science-based tools for strengthening these core leadership skills. 

Finding Clarity (2023) offers insight into developing more fulfilling personal and professional relationships through the practice of compassionate accountability. It delves into seven strategies for enhancing communication and understanding in relationships, to foster environments that are both supportive and productive. 

Decisions About Decisions (2023) digs into the delicate process of how people make decisions big and small. It reveals the emotional and cognitive mechanisms hidden beneath decision-making methods and the effects of various strategies, showing how our judgments impact our ideas, values, and behaviors.

How to Win at Chess (2021) is a comprehensive beginner-oriented guide to the ancient game of chess. Packed with insights into openings, endings, tactics, and strategy, it provides a clear, structured path for players to get to grips with the fundamentals of the game, and build on their skills.

Mind Shift (2023) describes how intentionally structuring your mental frameworks is the key to unlocking personal fulfillment and success. It encourages you to make courageous choices and optimize your performance by discarding self-limiting beliefs and actualizing your dreams. 

Building a Non-Anxious Life (2023) is a straight-talking manual for regaining peace and joy. It offers a six-step roadmap to navigating the stress-inducing modern world with intention and perspective – reminding us that while we might not be able to eliminate anxiety completely, we can reduce it significantly. 

To Hell with the Hustle (2019) examines modern society's obsession with productivity and constant busyness. It advocates for a more intentional and purposeful way of living that rejects the relentless pursuit of hustle culture, instead emphasizing the importance of rest, relationships, and spiritual health.

Dopamine Detox (2020) is a concise guide that addresses a prevalent issue in today's distraction-filled world, offering you practical strategies to overcome procrastination and enhance focus. It reveals the impact of excessive dopamine stimulation on your ability to concentrate and tackle demanding tasks. Through a step-by-step approach, it empowers you to implement a dopamine detox in just 48 hours, enabling you to regain control over your attention and pursue your goals with renewed clarity.

How to Enjoy Your Life and Your Job (1955) provides guidance about getting more out of your day-to-day life, by generating more energy into your workday and improving your personal relationships. It sheds a light on how human nature influences the way we behave, so you can improve your interpersonal skills and deepen your self-understanding.

The 5 Resets (2024), is a comprehensive guide to how we can better manage stress with the help of five key life-enhancing strategies. Brought to life by the stories of a Harvard doctor and her patients, it focuses on making manageable lifestyle adjustments to improve mental and physical health, fostering resilience and balance in the process.

The Little Book of Stoicism (2019) is about how using stoic principles can turn life’s adversities into advantages, promoting resilience, confidence, and calm in everyday life.

Slow Productivity (2024) offers a transformative philosophy for achieving meaningful accomplishment while avoiding overload. It critiques the broken definition of productivity that leads to overwhelming task lists and burnout, proposing a more sustainable alternative inspired by history's creative thinkers. Drawing on examples from Galileo to Jane Austen, it presents the principles of "slow productivity", offering practical advice for escaping overload and pursuing long-term quality in work.

Practical Optimism (2024) offers actionable strategies for fostering well-being and resilience in everyday life. Through nurturing relationships, forming positive habits, and cultivating self-compassion, individuals can enhance their mental and physical health while thriving amidst life's challenges.

The Mindful Body (2023) delves into the intricate connection between the mind and the body, presenting the idea that they aren’t separate entities but rather one unified system. Backed by cutting-edge research, it explores how changing our thoughts and perceptions can profoundly impact our physical well-being.