Books I've Read
Everything below is a book I've actually read, grouped by the kind of problem it helped me think through.
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Focus & Deep Work
Digital Minimalism
Cal Newport
A philosophy and practical guide for intentionally reducing technology use to reclaim focus and time.
Deep Work
Cal Newport
Makes the case for building the ability to focus without distraction and lays out rules for developing that capacity.
The Pomodoro Technique
Francesco Cirillo
The original methodology for working in short, focused intervals separated by breaks.
The Myth of Multitasking
Dave Crenshaw
Argues multitasking is really rapid task-switching that reduces productivity, with methods for focusing on one task at a time.
Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less
Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
Argues deliberate rest is central to sustained high performance, drawing on historical case studies.
Slow Productivity
Cal Newport
Proposes doing fewer things, working at a natural pace, and prioritizing quality over busyness.
Getting Things Done
Getting Things Done
David Allen
A personal-organization methodology for capturing, clarifying, and tracking tasks to free up mental bandwidth.
Eat That Frog!
Brian Tracy
A procrastination-focused method centered on tackling your hardest, most important task first each day.
Essentialism
Greg McKeown
A framework for identifying and focusing only on what’s essential by systematically eliminating everything else.
Getting Things Made
Friedemann Findeisen
A daily planning journal built for creative professionals - musicians, artists, and makers.
Stoicism & Resilience
The Daily Stoic
Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman
A year of daily Stoic meditations drawn from Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius, with commentary.
Meditations
Marcus Aurelius
The Roman emperor’s private philosophical journal, recording Stoic reflections on duty, mortality, and self-discipline.
The Obstacle Is the Way
Ryan Holiday
Uses Stoic philosophy and historical examples to argue obstacles can be reframed as opportunities for progress.
Stillness Is the Key
Ryan Holiday
Draws on Stoic and Buddhist philosophy to argue mental stillness, not constant motion, enables sound decisions.
The War of Art
Steven Pressfield
Identifies "Resistance" as the internal force blocking creative work and lays out a mindset for overcoming it.
Habits & Self-Compassion
Atomic Habits
James Clear
A framework for building small, incremental habit changes into significant long-term behavior change.
The Kindness Method
Shahroo Izadi
A habit-change approach built on self-compassion rather than willpower or self-criticism.
Take Your Own Advice
Jeffrey Marsh
A guide for redirecting self-help energy inward and learning to trust your own judgment.
Mindset
Carol S. Dweck
Distinguishes "fixed" versus "growth" mindsets and how each shapes achievement, motivation, and resilience.
The Burnout Workbook
Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski
A companion workbook of exercises for processing and completing the body’s stress-response cycle.
The 5-Minute Gratitude Journal
Sophia Godkin
A guided daily journal with short prompts for recording gratitude entries in five minutes a day.
Leadership & Feedback
Radical Candor
Kim Scott
A management framework for giving direct feedback while genuinely caring about the people you lead.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Stephen R. Covey
Seven principle-based habits for personal and interpersonal effectiveness.
Mind & Consciousness
The Untethered Soul
Michael A. Singer
A meditation and mindfulness book on releasing identification with thoughts and emotions to reach inner freedom.
The Gateway Experience: Wave I - Discovery
The Monroe Institute
The original Hemi-Sync audio program built around guided meditation exercises for reaching a relaxed, altered-consciousness state.
Engineering & Problem-Solving
The Six Sigma Project Planner
Thomas Pyzdek
A step-by-step planning guide for running a Six Sigma improvement project through the DMAIC methodology.
Understanding A3 Thinking
Durward K. Sobek II and Art Smalley
Explains the A3 report, a single-page problem-solving and communication tool used in Toyota’s PDCA process.
Think Like a Rocket Scientist
Ozan Varol
Applies reasoning strategies from rocket science and astrophysics to everyday problem-solving and decision-making.
UNIX and Linux System Administration Handbook
Evi Nemeth, Garth Snyder, Trent Hein, Ben Whaley, and Dan Mackin
A comprehensive reference covering day-to-day Unix/Linux system administration: networking, security, storage, and troubleshooting.