May 19th, 2008 in Featured, Productivity

The Lifehack Productivity Bookshelf

I just received my copy of Lifehack contributor Pamela Skilling’s new book Escape from Corporate America: A Practical Guide to Creating the Career of Your Dreams. Pamela’s book is a guide for people fed up with the corporate lifestyle — the lack of creative expression, the lack of spiritual reward, and ultimately the lack of control over the conditions of your own employment — who are looking to “make a break for it” and follow their dreams. I’ve only managed to read the introduction and a few pages of chapter 1 so far, so I have no real review to offer — I have, however, asked Pamela to come on Lifehack Live next month to talk about the book, so keep your eyes open for that.

Pamela isn’t the only Lifehack contributor who has published on themes related to personal productivity, organization, creativity, and the other topics Lifehack covers. In fact, you could fill a pretty nice-sized bookshelf with the work our contributors and former contributors have written. Which is just about what you’d expect from a group of such talented writers, all of whom are experts of one kind or another in their fields.

Here, then, is a guide to the work of Lifehack’s contributors. Where an author has written several relevant books, I’ll pick one I think is representative and try to give you links to the rest of their work. With summer upon us, maybe you’ll want to tuck a couple of these into your carry-on bag or into your suitcase as you set out on vacation!

Steven Aitchison, Change Your Thoughts Guide to Making Friends

In this short e-book, Steven discusses the value of true friendship, and how you can attract more true friends to yourself. Also look at the Change Your Thoughts Guide to Lucid Dreaming.

Leo Babauta, Zen to Done

Ex-Lifehack Contributor Leo Babauta offers his take on the popular GTD methodology, combining it with his own take on simplicity to create an easy to adopt and maintain system for anyone.Check out my review of Zen to Done.

Arvind Devalia, Get the Life You Love and Live It

Part philosophical guide, part workbook, Arvind walks readers through the process of figuring out their goals and dreams and changing their lives to make those dreams a reality. Check out my interview with Arvind on Lifehack Live.

Craig Harper, Fattitude

Craig takes on the psychological and emotional blocks to weight loss and healthy living. Check out his other books and DVDs too, including his Little Books for Life such as So you’ve decided to get into shape (again).

Rowan Manahan, Where’s My Oasis?

With wit and humor, Manahan guides job-seekers through the process of “career hunting”, from deciding where to apply though sending resumes, interviewing, and finally negotiating terms. Rowan emphasizes long-term planning throughout, hoping to help you avoid getting yourself stuck on a path that isn’t your own.

Marrero - 30 Ways to Find Time to Get Organized

Lorie Marrero, The Clutter Diet

Not a book per se but an ongoing membership providing regular updates on home organization — with newsletters, tutorials, videos, and all sorts of other content. Download Lorie’s e-book, 20 Ways to Find Time to Get Organized, from her blog. I talked with Lorie about The Clutter Diet on Lifehack Live.

Roosen and Nakagawa - Overcoming Inventoritis

Peter Paul Roosen and Tatsuya Nakagawa, Overcoming Inventoritis: The Silent Killer of Innovation

Peter and Tatsuya take on the corporate world’s obsession with it’s own creations, even when there’s no market for their products. Check out my interview with the pair on Lifehack Live.

Susan Sabo, Manage Your Email & Paper Mail

In this e-book, Susan tackles the #1 problem for many people: dealing with email overload! I talked with Susan on Lifehack Live about her work.

Adrian Savage, Slow Leadership: Civilizing The Organization

Adrian Savage challenges the macho, take-no-prisoners approach to leadership, what he calls “hamburger management” – all fast food and quick fixes — showing how ineffective it is and ultimately how much it damages companies.

Rosa Say, Managing with Aloha: Bringing Hawaii’s Universal Values to the Art of Business

Former Lifehack Contributor Rosa Say explores ways to bring the values of traditional Hawaiian culture to the modern workplace.

Paul Sloane, The Innovative Leader: How to Inspire Your Team and Drive Creativity

Lateral thinking is a model of creativity and innovation that approaches problems “sideways”. Paul has written a number of books of lateral thinking puzzles to help exercise this skill; here, he applies the lessons of lateral thinking to leadership, advocating vision and innovation over control.Check out the entire body of work at Paul Sloan’s website.

Scott Young, Learn More, Study Less

Former Lifehack writer Scott Young applies his understanding of how the mind works to the question of lifelong learning in this e-book on studying and learning more efficiently.I interviewed Scott on Lifehack Live back in January.

That’s a baker’s dozen of good books and e-books right there, and for some of our authors, there are several more as well. If you’ve read any of our contributors’ books, why don’t you let the rest of the Lifehack community know what you thought in the comments?

WRITER'S BIOGRAPHY

Dustin Wax

Dustin M. Wax is a freelance writer and project manager at Stepcase Lifehack. He is also the creator of The Writer's Technology Companion, a site devoted to the tools of the writing trade. When he's not writing, he teaches anthropology and gender studies in Las Vegas, NV. He is the author of Don't Be Stupid: A Guide to Learning, Studying, and Succeeding at College.

Follow him on Twitter: @dwax.

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Ann says on May 19th, 2008 at 11:57 am
I was just musing on my blog yesterday about being surrounded by books about self-improvement. I wonder what it would be like to be surrounded by books that tell us we’re already wonderful.
Your list is a little more gentle than the titles I was looking at on my shelf, and many were new to me, so I may have to check a couple of them out.
Rosa Say says on May 19th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Aloha Dustin, and mahalo nui loa! Thank you for sharing Managing with Aloha with the Lifehack.org community once again. Our MWA movement of workplace reinvention via value alignment is thriving, and I do invite everyone to join in the charge :)
Productivity has always factored significantly into our efforts, for being “accomplished versus busy” – to borrow one of Scott Young’s intuitively brilliant phrasings – makes room in our lives for the new learning and adaptation of whatever new initiative we set our sights on, whether it be Managing with Aloha or something else.
Here is my new page of productivity articles:
http://snurl.com/29nwr
Will be adding some of our Lifehack.org “classics” there, and community input is warmly welcomed!
Rosa