5 second summaries of 5 psychology books you need to read:
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“What are the best psychology books to read?”
Everyone asks me that. But then they don’t read the books.
It’s hard to blame them – no one has time these days.
In the past I’ve done recommendations with quick takeaways and fun videos (here and here.)
Time to do it again with five more great books.
1) Where Good Ideas Come From
What is it?
Steven Berlin Johnson’s book about the history of creativity and innovation.
What did I learn from it?
Want to be more creative? Get lots of ideas crashing together in your head. “Chance favors the connected mind.”
More interesting bits from the book on how you can be more creative here.
Check the book out here.
2) Invisible Gorilla
What is it?
Dan Simons and Christopher Chabris’s book boldly shows that “Our minds don’t work the way we think they do. We think we see ourselves and the world as they really are, but we’re actually missing a whole lot.”
What did I learn from it?
Your brain can really only focus on one thing at a time. You can’t actually multitask and you’ll be more productive if you stop trying.
Test these theories yourself with some mindblowing videos here.
Check the book out here.
3) Predictably Irrational
What is it?
Duke professor Dan Ariely’s fun, research filled book on the puzzling ways our brains work.
What did I learn from it?
You’re not as rational as you think. And context affects your behavior a lot more than you might guess.
You can read my interview with Dan here.
Check the book out here.
4) Willpower
What is it?
Roy Baumeister and John Tierney’s book covers Baumeister’s groundbreaking — and incredibly useful — research on self-control.
What did I learn from it?
Willpower is like energy — using it burns it up, and you have to replenish it. Anything that involves self-control pulls from a single resource: so dieting takes energy away from your ability to hold your tongue in a conversation — and vice versa. Like a muscle, using willpower makes your self-control ability stronger. Simply making decisions burns willpower and reducing the number and difficulty of decisions you make is an easy way to conserve it.
Learn other ways to improve your willpower by reading my interview with Roy Baumeister.
Check the book out here.
5) Stumbling on Happiness
What is it?
Harvard professor Dan Gilbert’s book on what makes us happy and what we can do to be happier.
What did I learn from it?
We’re terrible at remembering what made us happy in the past so we consistently make poor choices regarding the future.
The things that are proven to make you happier are here.
Check the book out here.
Again they are:
Need more great psychology books to read? Go here and here.
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