Shortform Books

How to Get Your Brain to Focus: Steven Kotler’s 4 Methods

Want to know how to get your brain to focus? What is a flow state? How can it help you achieve deeper focus? According to Steven Kotler, if you want to learn how to get your brain to focus, the secret is to master a state of flow. He claims that entering a flow state allows you to achieve your most ambitious goals, and in his book The Rise of Superman, he provides four methods for achieving the flow state. Read on to learn how to get your brain to focus, according to Kotler’s four methods.

Common Types of Biases: 4 Mistakes Your Brain Can Make

The 25 Cognitive Biases: The Lollapalooza Effect

Do you tend to give a preference to the information you hear first? Do you give more weight to the ideas of people you like? Gathering information is the first step in the critical thinking process. However, you should exercise caution. Some information has baggage—biases that distort reality. Keep reading to learn about four common types of biases that can get in the way of the truth.

The Book of Joy by the Dalai Lama & Desmond Tutu: Recap

What is The Book of Joy by the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu about? What are the main takeaways of the book? In The Book of Joy, the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu offer reassurance that joy is not as elusive as you might think. While many look for joy in a different relationship, a different city, or a different job, they argue that joy can be found exactly where you are no matter what your life looks like. Read below for an overview of The Book of Joy, Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu’s spiritual guide to finding joy.

2 Vital Emotional Intelligence Skills to Use in the Workplace

What are the most important emotional intelligence skills in the workplace? Why is emotional intelligence important at work? According to the authors of The School of Life, there are two common issues in the workplace that can be best dealt with by using emotional intelligence skills. By learning these two skills, you can feel more emotionally secure and satisfied in the work you do. Read on to discover which two emotional intelligence skills will serve you best in the workplace, according to the authors.

The 2 Uses of Fungi in Daily Life That May Surprise You

What are the common uses of fungi in daily life? How do fungi help anxiety and the environment? The role of fungi expands far wider than supporting plants, soil, and the cycle of life. In Entangled Life, Merlin Sheldrake says that fungi could solve pressing problems in everyday life if we spent more time and resources studying fungi. Here we’ll focus on fungi’s potential to address two of these problems: mental illness and environmental destruction.

Why a Niche Targeting Strategy Works Best for Tech Startups

What is a niche targeting strategy? Why does this strategy work best for business growth, especially for tech startups? According to Andrew Chen, if there’s a secret to success in the tech industry, it’s a thorough understanding of the network effect. He claims that using the network effect together with a niche targeting strategy is one of the best ways to make your startup profitable. Read on to learn why a niche targeting strategy helps tech startups grow, according to Chen.

Who Is Bryan Stevenson? A Hero to Death Row Inmates

Who is Bryan Stevenson? How does Stevenson help death row inmates? Stevenson’s book Just Mercy details his life work as a lawyer and social justice activist who helps death row inmates who could be redeemed. He shares how his legal background showed him the unfairness of the justice system and the need for merciful treatment of the accused. Keep reading for more on Stevenson’s work as a lawyer who exposes the corrupt justice system.

How to Supercharge Your Productivity and Time Management

Do you want to improve your time management skills? How can you maximize your productivity per unit of time? Time management isn’t just about prioritizing what’s most important, but also about minimizing what isn’t important. Therefore, the key to effectively managing your time is knowing which tasks to minimize (or even eliminate altogether). Here’s how you can supercharge your productivity and time management game by eliminating tasks from your to-do list.

Being in Denial: How Lying to Yourself Corrupts Your Soul

Do you feel like you’re living in denial? Why do people deny what they know deep down is true? Denial is a psychological coping mechanism for protecting yourself from pain or discomfort. While being in denial about something can help you numb the negative feelings that will result from facing the truth about a situation (or yourself), it can be dangerous in the long term. Keep reading to understand the psychology of denial, why living in denial is harmful, and how to overcome it and face the truth.

How to Write a Story Outline: Advice From Robert McKee

Why should a story outline take more time than the other steps in the writing process? Should you work forward or backward? In his book Story, Robert McKee details what he believes to be the ideal writing process: Begin with an outline, flesh it out into a treatment, then polish it into a final script. McKee frames this as a process for screenwriters, but you could apply it to stories in any medium. Let’s look at McKee’s advice for how to write a story outline.