Title: Eat Sleep Work Repeat
Author: Bruce Daisley
Genre: Self-help
Publisher: Harper One
Publication Date: February 25, 2020
Pages: 320
Format Read: Audiobook
Standalone or series: Standalone
Where I got the book: Library Libby App
Date finished reading: June 14, 2020
Goodreads Description: How does a lunch break spark a burst of productivity? Can a team’s performance be improved simply by moving the location of the coffee maker? Why are meetings so often a waste of time, and how can a walking meeting actually get decisions made?
As an executive with decades of management experience at top Silicon Valley companies including YouTube, Google, and Twitter, Bruce Daisley has given a lot of thought to what makes a workforce productive and what factors can improve the workplace to benefit a company’s employees, customers, and bottom line. In his debut book, he shares what he’s discovered, offering practical, often counterintuitive, insights and solutions for reinvigorating work to give us more meaning, productivity, and joy at the office.
A Gallup survey of global workers revealed shocking news: only 13% of employees are engaged in their jobs. This means that burn out and unhappiness at work are a reality for the vast majority of workers. Managers—and employees themselves—can make work better. Eat Sleep Work Repeat shows them how, offering more than two dozen research-backed, user-friendly strategies, including:
Go to Lunch (it makes you less tired over the weekend)
Suggest a Tea Break (it increases team cohesiveness and productivity)
Conduct a Pre-Mortem (foreseeing possible issues can prevent problems and creates a spirit of curiosity and inquisitiveness)
“Let’s start enjoying our jobs again,” Daisley insists. “It’s time to rediscover the joy of work.”
Title: Do Nothing
Author: Celeste Headlee
Genre: Self-help
Publisher: Harmony
Publication Date: March 10, 2020
Pages: 288
Format Read: Audiobook
Standalone or series: Standalone
Where I got the book: Library Libby App
Date finished reading: June 16, 2020
Goodreads Description: We work feverishly to make ourselves happy. So why are we so miserable? This manifesto helps us break free of our unhealthy devotion to efficiency and shows us how to reclaim our time and humanity with a little more leisure.
Despite our constant search for new ways to “hack” 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 illuminates a new path ahead, seeking 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. As it turns out, we’re searching for external solutions to an internal problem. We won’t find what we’re searching for in punishing diets or productivity apps. Celeste’s strategies will allow you to regain control over your life and break your addiction to false efficiency. You’ll learn how to increase your time perception to determine how your hours are being spent, invest in quality idle time, and focus on end goals instead of mean goals. It’s time to reverse the trend that’s making us all sadder, sicker, and less productive, and return to a way of life that allows us to thrive.
My Review: Eat Sleep Work Repeat is basically the story of my present life. I was curious as to what recommendations Bruce Daisley would provide to help me enjoy my ESWR life. Unfortunately, there was no new concepts that I hadn’t heard before and/or tried to utilize in my own work life. However, here are the concepts I found most useful from Eat Sleep Work Repeat:
- Monk Hour or Morning: Beginning your day by working on your task list or a specific project instead of checking/responding to emails and phone calls and doing anything that distracts you from accomplishing these tasks (attending meetings, etc).
- Recharging: Mr. Daisley gives many tips about recharging at work. For an example, a tip provided is to take breaks – like go for a walk – away from your work or desk.
- Open workspaces do not promote efficiency and productivity: Offices that have cubicles or open work concepts may lead to collaborations but more likely lead to too many distractions and not enough work being accomplished.
- Having a community at work of people who care about each other can lead to a happy and productive work experience. Laughter at work is also a positive activity that can lead to a more enjoyable work life.
I do feel like the suggestions that Bruce Daisley throughout Eat Sleep Work Repeat are great in theory but sometimes not possible for a worker to actualize. For example, most employees do not have a choice what kind of workspace they have. When I started my current job, I was placed in an office space with 20 other people. There was no privacy and constant distractions, but that was the spot I was given. It took years of discussions with the department manager to finally get a coveted inclosed workspace. I do like the idea of taking time to laugh. I think that would definitely make a work day more enjoyable.
Eat Sleep Work Repeat allowed me to focus on improving my work life, and there was a nice overlap going into reading Do Nothing. At the beginning of Do Nothing, Celeste Headlee mentions being more focused and productive during our work hours, that sometimes we feel like we work longer hours than we actually do. I know that distractions are easy with social media and email notifications. However, there are plenty of people who do work long hours. Burnout is a real thing. American society promotes working hard and long hours. Employees’ fear of falling behind at work or being overlooked for a promotion is real.
I actually am currently having a bit of a work dilemma. My employer is trying to convince all employees to utilize their paid time off hours. I am sure many people need this time right now with everything going on in the world. I would love to take some time, even though I don’t feel comfortable traveling right now, with the pandemic and all. However, my department is continuously adding more deadlines to my already intense work load. It is getting harder to do all my work tasks, recharge like Bruce Daisley states in Eat Sleep Work Repeat, and actually live a more leisure life like Celeste Headlee recommends.
What I most liked about Do Nothing, is that the author selects tangible steps to achieve a more desirable work/life balance. Here are her recommendations:
- Increase time perception.
- Create your ideal schedule.
- Stop comparing at a distance.
- Work fewer hours.
- Schedule leisure.
- Schedule social time.
- Work in teams.
- Commit small selfless acts.
- Focus ends not means.
While I already discussed perceived work hours (step one), I don’t know if I agree with step nine either. I understand the author’s suggestion to focus on the end, but I think that have more luck with smaller tangible goals. I do agree that all goals though should be flexible. This is something I only just realized the importance of.
I overall enjoyed Do Nothing a bit better than Eat Sleep Work Repeat. This may be just because the idea of less work and more doing nothing sounds very appealing to me at this particular moment. How do you balance work and life?
My Rating of Eat Sleep Work Repeat: ♦ ♦ ♦
My Rating of Do Nothing: ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
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