SELF-HELP

How To Calm Your Mind: Finding Presence and Productivity in Anxious Times

Penguin Life. Dec. 2022. 288p. ISBN 9780593298510. $28. SELF-HELP
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Bailey, a productivity expert and author who also hosts a podcast, shows how balancing efficient productivity practices with calm makes for better results in everyday life. This is his personal journey to calm, and he relates how anxiety from his career led to his need for a change, and how natural that burnout can be for most of us. He guides readers through reasonable expectations for productivity and brings in the benefits of his “non-productive” calm time and how that helps achieve one’s goals more effectively. He goes into the science of how different mindsets function and what triggers them, to better help readers understand and strategize using his ideas as a basis. He demonstrates how smartphones are a big reason for a dopamine rush, with their push notifications and YouTube videos and 24-hour news cycle, which make one want to consume more, and he offers ideas for how to balance out or eliminate dopamine-driven habits we’ve developed.
VERDICT While occasionally repetitive, and while it could benefit from additional voices, this book makes for a good start on the journey to calm.
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