how to have a good day“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”

Annie Dillard, The Writing Life

I was given How to Have a Good Day: Harness the Power of Behavioral Science to Transform Your Working Life by a good friend of mine – I hope it was not a subtle hint that I needed to work on having a good day:)   The author, Caroline Webb, integrates research from from behavioral economics, psychology, and neuroscience help the reader experience a truly satisfying day.

This book is filled with practical tips and examples you can readily apply to everyday life to increase your overall effectiveness and emotional well-being.  Here is the Table of Contents to give you an overview of the topics covered,

Introduction
THE SCIENCE ESSENTIALS
PART 1: PRIORITIES – Setting intentional direction and focus for your day
1. Choosing your filters
2. Setting great goals
3. Reinforcing your Intentions
PART II: PRODUCTIVITY – Making the hours in your day go further
4. Singletasking
5. Planning deliberate downtime
6. Overcoming overload
7. Beating procrastination
PART III: RELATIONSHIPS – Making the most of every interaction
8. Building real rapport
9. Resolving tensions
10. Getting the best of others
PART IV: THINKING – Being your smartest, wisest most creative self
11. Reaching Insight
12. Making wise decisions
13. Boosting your brainpower
PART V INFLUENCE – Maximizing the impact of all you say and do
14 Getting through their filters
15.Making things happen
16. Conveying confidence along the way
PART VI: RESILIENCE – Sailing through setbacks and annoyances
17.Staying cool, calm and collected
18.Moving on
19. Laying strong physical foundations
PART VII: ENERGY – Boosting your enthusiasm and enjoyment
20. Topping up the tank
21. Playing to your strengths
POSTSCRIPT:MAKING IT STICK
APPENDIX A: How to be good at meetings
APPENDIX B: How to be good at email
APPENDIX C: Reinvigorating your routine

It was an encouraging confirmation that many of my current practices were mentioned in the book and I gained several new ideas for enhancing my productivity.  The author not only provides helpful strategies, but also principles of why you should implement the strategies.  “The difficulty lies not in the new ideas, but in escaping from the old ones” (John Maynard Keynes, p. 165).

You may want to visit the author’s website for more information.  If you want to make a good day even better then I highly recommend this book.

RickAssociate Pastor – Discipleship.  The Church at LifePark

Professor of Discipleship, Columbia International University

Follow me on twitter:  rickhiggins5