The collection of productivity and self-development books is overwhelming. As a busy student, we know you barely have time to complete your assigned readings. But as a lifelong learner, expanding your knowledge beyond the classroom materials should become a permanent habit. Here are some
Title: Mindshift
Author: Barbara Oakley
Category: Learning and Motivation
Description: Profiling people from around the world who have overcome learning limitations of all kinds, Mindshift shows us how we can turn perceived weaknesses, such as impostor syndrome and advancing age, into strengths. This book takes us deep inside the world of how people change and grow. Our biggest stumbling blocks can be our own preconceptions, but with the right mental insights, we can tap into hidden potential and create new opportunities.
Title: How to be an imperfectionist
Author: Stephen Guise
Category: Productivity
Description: Perfectionism and imperfectionism are 100% determined by what you care about. To be an imperfectionist, and make excellent progress, all you need to do is manage your cares. In general, the idea is to not care so much about conditions, and care more about what you can do right now to move forward. Perfectionism is a naturally limiting mindset. Imperfectionism frees us to live outside the lines, where possibilities are infinite, mistakes are allowed, and self-judgment is minimal.
Title: Teach yourself how to learn
Author: Saundra Yancy McGuire
Category: Learning and Motivation
Description: Beginning with explaining how expectations about learning, and the study efforts required, differ between college and secondary school, Dr. Saundra Yancy McGuire introduces students, through the concept of metacognition, to the importance and powerful consequences of understanding themselves as learners.
Title: How to win at college
Author: Cal Newport
Category: Learning and Motivation
Description: What does it take to be a standout student? How can you make the most of your college years—graduate with honors, choose exciting activities, build a head-turning resume, and gain access to the best post-college opportunities? Based on interviews with star students at universities nationwide, from Harvard to the University of Arizona, How to Win at College presents seventy-five simple rules that will rocket you to the top of the class.
Title: Mindset: The Psychology of Success
Author: Carol Dweck
Category: Learning and Motivation
Description: After decades of research, renowned psychologist Carol S. Dweck discovered a simple but groundbreaking idea: the power of mindset. In this book, Dr. Dweck shows how success in school, work, sports, the arts, and almost every area of human endeavor can be dramatically influenced by how we think about our talents and abilities. People with a fixed mindset—those who believe that abilities are fixed—are less likely to flourish than those with a growth mindset—those who believe that abilities can be developed.
Title: Manage your day-to-day
Author: Behance – 99u.com [Edited by Jocelyn K. Glei]
Category: Productivity
Description: Are you over-extended, over-distracted, and overwhelmed? Do you work at a breakneck pace all day, only to find that you haven’t accomplished the most important things on your agenda when you leave the office? The world has changed and the way we work has to change, too. With wisdom from 20 leading creative minds, Manage Your Day-to-Day will give you a toolkit for tackling the new challenges of a 24/7, always-on workplace.
Title: The productivity project
Author: Chris Bailey
Category: Productivity
Description: Chris Bailey turned down lucrative job offers to pursue a lifelong dream—to spend a year performing a deep dive experiment into the pursuit of productivity, a subject he had been enamored with since he was a teenager. After obtaining his business degree, he created a blog to chronicle a year-long series of productivity experiments he conducted on himself, where he also continued his research and interviews with some of the world’s foremost experts..
Title: What the best college students do
Author: Ken Bain
Category: Learning and Motivation
Description: The first thing successful students should do? Think beyond the transcript. The creative, successful people profiled in this book aimed higher than straight A’s. They cultivate habits of thought that enables them to grow and adapt throughout their lives. Combining academic research on learning and motivation with insights drawn from interviews with people who have won Nobel Prizes, Emmys, fame, or the admiration of people in their field, Ken Bain identifies the key attitudes that distinguished the best college students from their peers.
Title: The happiness equation
Author: Neil Pasricha
Category: Personal Development
Description: What is the simplest formula for a happy life? Why success doesn’t lead to happiness? The Happiness Equation is a book that changes how you think about your career, your relationships, and ultimately, of course, yourself. The Happiness Equation is the result of over more than a decade of research to “hack” human happiness. It contains the “collective wisdom” of hundreds of positive psychologists, dozens of Fortune 500 CEOs, and thousands of personal interviews.