I’ve been reading about mind management for the past couple of months. Mind management recognizes that dividing your days into little blocks of activities doesn’t work. What if the calendar shows that it is time to write a blog post, but your mind would rather watch paint dry than try to be creative? Working your own daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly mental cycles means doing the type of work your brain is revved up to do.
I finished reading Building a Second Brain, by Tiago Forte, about a month ago, but I’m still absorbing it and returning to it. Forte introduces a system for capturing all of your ideas, questions, research, and thoughts in a second brain. It literally changed my life. Because my brain can let go of the details – they are kept in my second brain – creativity has just exploded for me. I’m on day 44 of continuous blog posts strictly because of this book. You can check out his website with its excellent blog here.
David Kadavy’s Mind Management Not Time Management is a good introduction to managing your work by what your brain wants to do rather than by the clock. For example, I write first thing in the morning. It flows easily and I can usually get a full post done before I need to take my dog to doggy daycare. There are some cons to this book. He has a lot of acronyms. A lot. In Kindle format, it is hard to page back and forth while reading in order to reference earlier passages, which is a must for this book. I suggest reading this book in hard copy.
I finished reading Octavia E. Butler’s Wild Seed on Monday. This was a masterpiece, right up there with One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Anathem by Neil Stephenson. It affected me in ways I’m still figuring out. Parts of this book pop into my head at unexpected moments. It also helped me view American history through a different filter.
Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg’s On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World is one I read for a bit and then put down to let it simmer. This book makes for some uncomfortable reading because it forces you into the looking glass to think about your own past actions. Spend some time with this book and you’ll be a better person.
Finally, I listen to audiobooks quite a bit. Or I used to. I’m still trying to fit them back into my life. Right now I’m listening to Vanished Kingdoms: The Rise and Fall of States and Nations by Norman Davies. I love history and this overview of past city-states and kingdoms is fascinating. Hopefully, I can make more time for it!
What are you reading this week? Let me know in the comments!
What Clients are Saying about Sophrosyne Tarot
I was advised to ask open-ended questions instead of predictive questions which I thought was helpful because I never would have known if it weren’t for the reader. The reader provided the reading along with some advice too so the entire reading was very thorough and explained in an understandable manner.
Everything said was accurate and helpful for me to identify my flaws in order to grow as a person. I have learned a lot about tarot and what it does to help me.
That sounds like an interesting book. I too like to write my blogs either early morning or very late at night. If the suggested topic is something I want to write about, I have a blog already written for the next day.
Hello, I totally dig your blog post and how you have valid reviews of the nonfiction books you have read, or are in the process of reading. I like to know what other readers thoughts like the type of format, why you can’t/can put it down, and how they affected your life. It seems we have very similar taste in books, I am looking forward to more of your reviews. I am going to check out the last two books as I am doing research on Native American reparations. Thank you for sharing. Sending lots of love and virtual hugs. Jaime
I cannot wait to look into these books. My mind is racing right now with everything I have to do to finish our move. Trying to juggle it all is exhausting – but I’m managing. New tools are always welcome! Thanks for this very informative post.