RESOURCES FOR THRIVING
There are many valuable resources for us to draw on in our journey to thriving. Here is a selection of further avenues to pursue beyond the starting point provided by this book.
Further Reading
If you have been inspired to go deeper than what I’ve been able to fit into these pages, here is a collection of wonderful books and articles to consider.
Introduction
The Information by James Gleick
A masterful overview of the history and present of how we think about information
Chapter 1
Zen and the Art of Making a Living by Laurence Boldt
A beautiful reflection on how to find your place in the world, filled with practical exercises
The News by Alain de Botton
A philosophical reflection on our relationship to news
Essentialism by Greg McKeown
An inspiring paean to doing only what is essential
Chapter 2
WTF by Tim O’Reilly
O’Reilly on how he creates maps to make sense of the progress of technology
How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens
A practical book that has popularized the Zettelkasten method of connected note-taking
The Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto
Used extensively by consultants to structure their thinking
Gödel Escher Bach by Douglas Hofstadter
A mind-expanding tome exploring the deepest foundations of thought
Systems Thinking Tools: A User’s Guide by Daniel H. Kim (thesystemsthinker.com/systems-thinking-tools-a-users-reference-guide/)
An excellent compact introduction to systems thinking and systems diagrams
Thinking in Systems: A Primer by Donella Meadows
A seminal text by one of the foundational thinkers in the field
Chapter 3
The Organized Mind by Daniel Levitin
A cognitive approach to overload focusing on organizing information in your life
Calling Bullshit by Jevin West and Carl Bergstrom
An engaging tour through useful tools and approaches to distinguish what is worthy of your attention
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Distills extensive research into the neurology of cognitive biases and the implications
Chapter 4
Deep Work by Cal Newport
A strong case and practical guidance for highly focused, completely undistracted work; a number of Newport’s other books, including The Time-Block Planner and A World Without Email, are also relevant and useful
Indistractable by Nir Eyal
Practical guidance on how to move from distraction to traction
Focus by Daniel Goleman
An engaging exploration of the value and practice of focused attention
How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler
The classic text on how to get value from reading, highlighting the need for flexibility
Breakthrough Rapid Reading by Peter Kump
A solid example of the many books available on classic speed-reading techniques
The Distracted Mind by Adam Gazzaley and Larry Rosen
The science of our brains’ response to pervasive distractions and our potential responses
Chapter 5
The Eureka Factor by John Kounios and Mark Beeman
Leading neuroscientists share lessons learned from studying the nature of insight
Think Again by Adam Grant
A strong, deeply grounded case for being open to changing your mind
Impro by Keith Johnstone
A life-changing introduction to the philosophy and practice of improvisational theater
Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke
Useful lessons in good decision-making and thinking derived from poker
A Tradecraft Primer: Structured Analytic Techniques for Improving Intelligence Analysis by Center for the Study of Intelligence
A summary of useful techniques for better thinking provided by the US intelligence community
Consilience by Edward O. Wilson
A landmark text on how synthesis lies at the heart of science, progress, and humanity
Mind and Nature by Gregory Bateson
A beautiful book expressing foundational thinking on synthesis and systems thinking
Chapter 6
The Extended Mind by Annie Murphy Paul
How we can think beyond our brains, in our bodies, surroundings, and relationships
Superminds by Thomas Malone
How groups of humans and computers can together achieve superior intelligence
Content
Here are other kinds of resources to improve your information capabilities.
Podcasts
Thriving on Overload (thrivingonoverload.com/episodes)
All the interviews done for this book, plus many more with inspiring information masters
Knowledge Project (fs.blog)
Shane Parrish’s Knowledge Project podcast and website overlaps substantially with the themes of this book
The Tim Ferriss Show (tim.blog)
Tim’s interviews regularly include details of his fascinating guests’ information habits
Huberman Lab (hubermanlab.com)
Many episodes of Stanford University professor Andrew Huberman’s podcasts deal with the neuroscience of improving attention
Training and Education
Calling Bullshit (callingbullshit.org)
A set of free resources from the famous University of Washington course
Media LIT: Overcoming Information Overload (edx.org/course/media-lit-overcoming-information-overload)
A free online course created by pioneering journalist Dan Gillmor
Technology and Tools
This section provides a representative compilation of apps and technology tools you may find useful. There are dozens more tools of equal quality to those included here, so don’t limit yourself to what you find on this list—seek the best ones for you!
Feed Readers
Three of the most commonly used RSS readers, each with distinctive features including granular filtering and recommendations:
Feedly (feedly.com)
Inoreader (inoreader.com)
NewsBlur (newsblur.com)
Two of the more prominent app-based email newsletter aggregators:
Stoop (stoopinbox.com)
Slick Inbox (slickinbox.com)
Algorithmic Aggregators
A handful of general-purpose and industry-specific aggregators beyond those provided by the major technology companies:
Flipboard (flipboard.com)
A popular platform for curated and personalized content
News360 (news360.com)
An app-based aggregator that refines results based on user feedback
Hacker News (news.ycombinator.com)
The current reference aggregator for the startup community
Techmeme (techmeme.com)
Mediagazer (mediagazer.com)
Memeorandum (memeorandum.com)
Gabe Rivera’s social-signal-driven aggregators provide very useful single-stop views of the latest in technology, media, and US politics and society
Reading Apps
These apps offer a variety of features, including read-it-later, formatting for reading, text-to-audio, and surfacing relevant content:
Pocket (getpocket.com)
A well-established platform for bookmarking and content sharing
Matter (getmatter.app)
A next-generation reading app for enhanced reading and curated discovery
Instapaper (instapaper.com)
A cross-platform read-it-later application
Connected Note-Taking Apps
Each of these platforms has enthusiastic advocates. Preferences are highly personal, depending on your thinking styles.
Roam (roamresearch.com)
A popular online platform for making and connecting notes
Obsidian (obsidian.md)
An open-source app-based alternative to Roam
TheBrain (thebrain.com)
The original connected note-taking app, still widely used
Notion (notion.so)
Not explicitly designed for connecting notes; however, it can be used this way
Focus Apps
There are dozens of focus apps for both computers and phones. Here is a small selection representing different categories:
Cold Turkey (getcoldturkey.com)
A desktop app that schedules blocks of time and limits access to selected content and apps
Freedom (freedom.to)
Blocks distractions across all your devices
Focusmate (focusmate.com)
Get paired with a partner to keep you accountable to remaining focused for a period
Clockwise (getclockwise.com)
Designed to optimize your calendar to free up timeblocks for focused attention
Space (findyourphonelifebalance.com)
Smartphone app to track your usage, set goals, and improve habits
News Feed Eradicator
Chrome and Firefox extension that replaces the newsfeed of a variety of social media sites with an inspiring quote
Writing Apps
Some apps are dedicated to writing, assisting by eliminating distractions.
FocusWriter (gottcode.org/focuswriter/)
A free distraction-free word processor
Typora (typora.io)
A multifeatured app for writing and reading using markdown for plaintext formatting