Book Capsules, November 2024

Hyperefficient
Mithu Storoni
Little, Brown Spark, 272 pp., $30

Sometimes, taking a coffee break or doing stretches away from your desk isn't enough to keep you from hitting a mental wall during the workday. Storoni proposes a new way of working: Rather than imposing the rhythms of the workplace on our brains, we should impose the rhythm of our brains on our work. The author says brains are like car engines, in that multiple gears enable us to operate in an optimal mode for different mental challenges. Hyperefficient uses recent research to demonstrate how to shift your brain into the best gear to efficiently complete tasks at work and perform your job at the highest level.

Jobs, Health, and the Meaning of Work
Mary Davis
MIT Press, 176 pp., $35

This text explores the science of professional occupations from the vantage point of public health and economics to discover what makes individuals happy, healthy, and fulfilled in the workplace. Davis uses stories from workers who have both thrived and struggled in their jobs. The book covers job wage and nonwage characteristics that affect workers' well-being, the recessions' role in happiness, as well as job stress and burnout. There may not be one single solution that guarantees happiness and a healthy work outlook, but science can point in the right direction.