Darya Sinusoid, Author at Shortform Books

Avoiding Work: The 3 Reasons You Do It

Do you find it difficult to get yourself to sit down and do your work? Do you tend to put off work until the last minute and then end up scrambling? According to Neil Fiore, the author of The Now Habit, avoiding work is a symptom of anxiety rather than laziness or lack of motivation. Therefore, discipline is not an enduring solution. To address the problem, you have to tackle the underlying psychological reasons that make you dread work. Here’s why you’re avoiding work and just can’t get things done.

Chip and Dan Heath: Making Important Decisions in Life

Is a big decision on the horizon for you? What are some things you should consider when making important decisions in life? Your decisions chart the trajectory of your life. When faced with a big decision, it’s important to push yourself beyond the current situation and consider how you’ll feel about your decision at various points in the future. Here’s how to make high-stakes decisions, according to Chip and Dan Heath.

How Francis Galton’s Eugenics Inspired the Holocaust

Who first formulated eugenics? How did Galton’s ideas inspire the Holocaust? Francis Galton coined the term “eugenics” in 1883. Put simply, eugenics meant strategic breeding with the goal of producing a superior human race by weeding out undesirable traits. Galton’s ideas were deeply immoral from the start, but they didn’t reach their terrifying conclusion decades later when Hitler came to power. Here’s how Francis Galton’s eugenics has led to the extermination of 11 million people.

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End

What is the problem with the modern approach to end-of-life care? What are some ways we can help ease the passing of the dying? According to Atul Gawande, the author of Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, our modern approach to aging and dying harms our well-being. He suggests some specific ways we can help the dying meet their ends with peace, dignity, and composure. In this article, we’ll examine the key takeaways from Gawande’s Being Mortal.

Why We Procrastinate and How to Avoid It

Do you tend to procrastinate on important projects, delaying them until the last minute? Why do we procrastinate? Is procrastination a symptom of laziness? Before we can tackle procrastination, we need to understand why we procrastinate in the first place. According to Neil Fiore, the author of The Now Habit, procrastination isn’t a character flaw—it’s a symptom of underlying psychological distress. Here’s why we procrastinate and how to avoid it, according to Neil Fiore.

WRAP Decision-Making: Make Smarter Choices

What is the WRAP framework? What are the four steps in Chip and Dan Heath’s WRAP decision-making process? In their book Decisive, Chip and Dan Heath organize the four steps of their decision-making process into a mnemonic called “WRAP.” Each letter in the acronym stands for a step in their process: Widen Your Options, Reality-Test Your Assumptions, Attain Distance Before Deciding, and Prepare to be Wrong. Let’s examine the four steps of the WRAP decision-making process, including specific strategies for implementing each step.

Environment and Genetics: Understanding the Connection

What roles do genes play in behavior? Is your personality largely the product of your genes or your environment? Our genes contain the blueprints for our bodies. Therefore, in a very real sense, our genes determine who we are. Each of us has crucial elements of who we’ll become encoded in our DNA. However, genes only tell a small part of the story because your environment can influence how genes are expressed. Keep reading to learn about the interplay between environment and genetics.

Thought-Provoking Book Club Questions for Being Mortal

Are you looking for book club questions for Being Mortal? What are some of the key ideas to discuss? Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande was widely praised and dubbed one of the best books of the year when it was published in 2014. It brings forth some difficult yet necessary questions about the way we approach aging and dying in the 21st century. Here are some questions to help you reflect on the book’s key messages.

Fear of Success: The Psychology of Self-Sabotage

Is the fear of success a thing? How does fear of success cause people to self-sabotage? The possibility of achieving significant success triggers irrational fear in many people. As they experience greater success and joy, they begin to unconsciously self-sabotage to bring themselves back to a level that they are used to. Keep reading to learn about the psychology of the fear of success.

Dan and Chip Heath: Decisive (Book Overview)

What is Dan and Chip Heath’s Decisive about? What is the key message to take away from the book? In their book Decisive, Dan and Chip Heath present a decision-making process we can use for big decisions across any area of our lives. They wrote this book because they noticed there’s ample research on how flawed our decisions are but little advice on how to make better choices. Below is a brief overview of Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work by Dan and Chip Heath.