Books for a Better Work-Life Balance

Healthy boundaries. We all know we should have them – in order to achieve work/life balance, cope with toxic people, and enjoy rewarding relationships with partners, friends, and family. But what do “healthy boundaries” really mean – and how can we successfully express our needs, say “no,” and be assertive without offending others? Licensed counselor and sought-after relationship expert Nedra Glover Tawwab demystifies this complex topic for today’s world and presents simple-yet-powerful ways to establish healthy boundaries in all aspects of life – even at work.

Burnout. Many women in America have experienced it. What’s expected of women and what it’s really like to be a woman in today’s world are two very different things — and women exhaust themselves trying to close the gap between them. In Burnout, sisters Emily Nagoski, Ph.D., and Amelia Nagoski, DMA, aim to help end the cycle of feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. Instead of asking us to ignore the very real obstacles and societal pressures that stand between women and well-being, they explain with compassion and optimism what we’re up against—and show us how to fight back.

Can’t read a book these days? Or even an article? Feeling wholly unproductive at work? You’re not alone. Our ability to pay attention is collapsing. We think our inability to focus is a personal failure to exert enough willpower over our devices. The truth is even more disturbing: our focus has been stolen by powerful external forces that have left us uniquely vulnerable to corporations determined to raid our attention for profit. In Stolen Focus, author Johann Hari learned how we can reclaim our focus—as individuals, and as a society—if we are determined to fight for it.

Any given day brings a never-ending list of things to do. Even on days when we get a lot done, the thing left undone can leave us feeling guilty, anxious, or disappointed. After five years of searching for the secret to productivity, Madeleine Dore discovered there isn’t one. Instead, we’re being set up to fail. I Didn’t Do the Thing Today is the inspiring call to take productivity off its pedestal—by dismantling our comparison to others, aspirational routines, and the unrealistic notions of what can be done in a day, we can finally embrace the joyful messiness and unpredictability of life.

Feeling over your inbox? Modern work has become defined by a relentless barrage of incoming messages and back-and-forth digital conversations – a state of constant, anxious chatter in which nobody can disconnect, and so nobody has the cognitive bandwidth to perform substantive work. There was a time when tools like email felt cutting edge, but a thorough review of current evidence reveals that the “hyperactive hive mind” workflow they helped create has become a productivity disaster, reducing profitability and perhaps even slowing overall economic growth. Equally worrisome, it makes us miserable. Humans are simply not wired for constant digital communication. We have become so used to an inbox-driven workday that it’s hard to imagine alternatives. But they do exist. Drawing on years of investigative reporting, author and computer science professor Cal Newport makes the case that our current approach to work is broken, then lays out a series of principles and concrete instructions for fixing it and creating, yes, a world without email.

Despite our constant search for new ways to optimize our bodies and minds for peak performance, human beings are working more instead of less, living harder not smarter, and becoming more lonely and anxious. We strive for the absolute best in every aspect of our lives, ignoring what we do well naturally and reaching for a bar that keeps rising higher and higher. Why do we measure our time in terms of efficiency instead of meaning? Why can’t we just take a break? In Do Nothing, award-winning journalist Celeste Headlee seeks to institute a global shift in our thinking so we can stop sabotaging our well-being, put work aside, and start living instead of doing.

Proper work-life balance requires just as much life as work, and life requires fun. If you’re not having fun, you’re not fully living. Journalist and screen/life balance expert Catherine Price makes the case that, far from being frivolous, fun is actually critical to our well-being—and shows us how to have more of it. Price argues that True Fun—which she defines as the magical confluence of playfulness, connection, and flow—will give us the fulfillment we so desperately seek. If you use True Fun as your compass, you will be happier and healthier. You will be more productive, less resentful, and less stressed. You will have more energy. You will find community and a sense of purpose. You will stop languishing and start flourishing. And best of all? You’ll enjoy the process.

If your work doesn’t feel meaningful, spending time doing it can feel even more soul-crushing than usual. Bill Burnett and Dave Evan show us how design thinking can transform our present job, and how it can improve our experience of work in times of disruption. All disruption is personal, write Burnett and Evans, as with the life-altering global pandemic we are living through now. Designing Your New Work Life makes clear that disruption is the new normal, that it is here to stay, and that it is accelerating. The authors show us how to design our way through disruption and how to stay ahead of it—and thrive.

Ok, so your boss isn’t accepting your new “do nothing” philosophy when it comes to your job? In Smarter Faster Better, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Charles Duhigg explores the fascinating science of productivity and offers real-world takeaways to apply your life, whether you’re chasing peak productivity or simply trying to get back on track. At the core of Duhigg’s book are eight key concepts—from motivation and goal setting to focus and decision making—that explain why some people and companies get so much done. Drawing on the latest findings in neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economics—as well as the experiences of CEOs, educational reformers, four-star generals, FBI agents, airplane pilots, and Broadway songwriters—this book reveals that the most productive people, companies, and organizations don’t merely act differently. They view the world, and their choices, in profoundly different ways.

Notre Dame philosophy professors Meghan Sullivan and Paul Blaschko wrestle with the big questions about how to live and what makes life meaningful. In this book, they invite us into the classroom to work through issues like what justifies our beliefs, whether we should practice a religion, and what sacrifices we should make for others—as well as to investigate what figures such as Aristotle, Plato, Marcus Aurelius, Iris Murdoch, and W. E. B. Du Bois have to say about how to live well. Sullivan and Blaschko do the timeless work of philosophy using real-world case studies that explore love, finance, truth, and more. In so doing, they push us to escape our own caves, ask stronger questions, explain our deepest goals, and wrestle with suffering, and the nature of life and death.

Following years of career success, Rachel O’Meara hit a wall after taking on a new role at Google. Her relationship with her boyfriend grew stuck, and she began receiving poor reviews at work. Consumed by stress, she took advantage of a sabbatical offering at Google and discovered the importance of a pause button. Though not everyone is in a position to go on sabbatical, O’Meara’s journey is one anyone who’s fallen into a rut or grown overwhelmed can relate to. She provides tools, like breathing exercises and tips for discovering what “lights you up,” that can help you find your own pause button and reconnect with your purpose.

Scott Galloway teaches brand strategy at NYU’s Stern School of Business, but his most popular lectures deal with life strategy. In the classroom and YouTube videos garnering millions of views, he offers answers to the big questions: What’s the formula for a life well-lived? How can you have a meaningful career, not just a lucrative one? Is work-life balance possible? What are the elements of a successful relationship? Through a mix of anecdotes and hard-won wisdom about life’s challenges, Galloway’s no-BS insight is brash, funny, and surprisingly moving—a refreshing perspective on our need for both professional success and personal fulfillment.

Mental models can be a lifesaver. The greatest problem-solvers and decision-makers all rely on a set of frameworks and shortcuts to help them cut through complexity and separate good ideas from bad ones. Skip the dense textbooks and read this fun, illustrated guide to every mental model you can possibly need. They can help you prioritize a to-do list, understand people’s motivations, or get to the root cause of a problem—and most importantly, implement change in your life.

Leadership expert Jeffrey Hull opens Flex with reflections on why things may go wrong in life-or-death situations, like on the operating table or in a plane accident. In some cases, hierarchy plays a role: members of the team don’t feel empowered to speak up to the leader, even when they recognize an issue. From there, Hull interweaves real-life stories with practical tips and the latest evidence-based research to show readers what it means to lead in today’s world. Based on his popular classes at Harvard Medical School and NYU, Hull identifies six key elements that leaders in today’s workplace need to succeed, known as F.I.E.R.C.E.: Flexibility, Intentionality, Emotional Intelligence, Realness, Collaboration, and Engagement.

Not only was the moon landing a great scientific achievement for humankind, its success was filled with powerful life lessons in succeeding against the odds. Renowned psychologist Richard Wiseman explores how you can apply the same secrets used in that astronomical success to accomplish your impossible in work and life. The result of intensive research, including interviews with surviving members of the Apollo mission control team, Moonshot delivers eight key lessons on teamwork, leadership, persistence, creativity, and more, shedding new light on the science of success.

With an authentic voice that makes you feel like you’re talking to a close friend, Dooley tackles the scary questions: How do I find my purpose? How do I figure out what to do with my life? There are no easy answers, but Dooley assures readers they aren’t alone, even if they might feel that way scrolling through their social media feeds. With compassion and wisdom, she equips readers to tackle disappointment, perfectionism, comparison, and distraction; identify and eliminate unnecessary stress over an unknown future; and break out of expectations. If you ever feel you need to shift your mindset but don’t know how, this book will help you overcome shame, practice gratitude, and redefine success.

More and more, experts recommend mindfulness as a way to not only manage stress but to transform your way of thinking, and thus your life. In this pocket-sized how-to book, renowned Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh introduces readers to the essentials of mindfulness practice. Profound and approachable, he teaches the art of looking deeply into our knee-jerk assumptions and runaway thoughts so we can recognize the true meaning of our lives. This easy-to-digest read will help any reader slow down, breathe, and reconnect with themselves.

This novel is less about how to find balance and more a warning about what can go wrong when a company grows too powerful, and the line between work and life is lost. Paxton is a former prison guard who’s reluctantly taken a security job with Cloud, a giant tech company that’s eaten much of the American economy. He never thought he’d work there, much less move into one of the company’s sprawling live-work facilities. Zinnia, meanwhile, never thought she’d be infiltrating the company. But now that she’s undercover, she’s determined to ferret out the company’s darkest secrets.