Recently I read about Charles Duhigg’s latest book Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of BeingProductive In Life And Business on another blog, and it prompted me to pick
up a copy and give it a read. A few years ago, I read Duhigg’s first book The Power of Habit, and I found his
writing, his examples, and his prescribed tools for developing and curtailing
habits to be highly insightful. As I picked up this latest book, I had high
expectations, and I was not disappointed.
The book is comprised of eight chapters and each has
examples of a technique properly applied along with what a lack of a given
technique can produce (sort of a negative reinforcement of why the techniques
are good). At the end of the book, Duhigg also included an appendix which is an
abbreviated outline and a “How To” for applying the skills listed in the
book.
The appendix is particularly enlightening because the author
discloses that simply knowing the techniques does not necessarily mean they
will be applied. His case in point was that although he knew the techniques, he
had a hard time applying them to the deadline of writing the book. That
statement reminds me of a favorite saying of mine from C. S. Lewis. Lewis
states that much of the time we do not need to learn something new as much as
we need to be reminded of what we already know. Most of the time when I read
books like Duhigg’s I find myself noddingly saying “Of course!” or “That makes
sense,” and then slowly moving toward adoption of skills.
Each chapter had great examples and skills that I want to
apply to my life, and I have been slowly inserting different skills into my
routines. One example of this is a technique for absorbing information. Think
for a moment about how large the volume of information is we digest daily. How
do we retain it? How do we keep it from flowing “in one ear and out the other?”
One of the best ways to turn a large volume of information into something we
can do something with is to spend time processing it. For example writing this
review right now is helping me process the contents of the book. Telling
someone about something we have read or learned is another way to get it to
stick. As tedious as it might seem when presented with a large amount of
information, slowly chewing through it can help us make it more real and applicable.
In addition to the chapter foci, the book also provides
traps of mis-applying (or not applying) each technique. I don’t want to give
away every part of the book, but I do want to recommend it wholeheartedly. Have
you ever struggled with any of the following? (Motivation, Focus, Goal Setting,
Decision Making) If so, then this book has some great tools that, if properly
applied can help you be Faster, Stronger,Better. Give it a read, and if you do, I look forward to seeing the
transformation taking place as you begin to apply Charles Duhigg’s tips.
