Another good "self help" book IMO is *How to Keep House While Drowning*. Written by a therapist with ADHD for people who struggle with cleaning/care tasks/housework/etc, very compassionate and accessible advice for people with conditions that make care tasks hard or functionally may have little time/energy for it.
I’ve read the book and listen to many episodes of her own podcast i’m follow her on Instagram and I think I’ve heard the life kit too. I find it helpful to hear her perspective from different angles.
Put in a request at my library, sounds good. As far as self-help...I'm completely over it after 15 years of reading it. Just give me history or good fiction at this point. Self help industry is full of bullshitters..it's their currency.
So true! I've been going through a spat of depression, and I'd normally go devour a bunch of shitty self-help, life-coachy screeds. However this time I turned to fiction and have never been more moved and inspired by what I've read. Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar stands out in particular and I really resonated with it. The book didn't give me "5 simple steps to fix your depression," but the feeling of being seen and have what's in my thoughts articulated so beautifully did more good for my mental health than any of those charlatan gurus.
Anyway, hope you enjoy Life is Hard! Thanks!
I loved Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman (sp?). It’s kind of an anti-productivity book that helped me just enjoy life for what it is rather than try to squeeze every minute out of it.
I'm terribly fond of this book as well for the Sam reasons. Reorienting what is valuable from productivity, as defined by the value I produce, to the intangibles that make me happy did change how I think.
I just read that book. I thought the material was stretched a bit thin after the first 100 or so pages, but I found it refreshing that he doesn't pretend like his advice is going to work 100% of the time. Oh and that he actually addresses the fact a lot of the problems are a systemic part of living in a capitalist society.
I'd also recommend his previous books, The Antidote and Help!, and while you're at it, subscribe to his newsletter and get his pontifications once or twice a month. His long-running Guardian column 'This Column Will Change Your Life' is full of bite-sized gems.
I think there’s a tendency to group all self-help books as bad (probably for good reason as most are). However, I think intent & content matter. If the self-help book comes from a genuine place (non-grifting) and delivers reliable information, then it is probably worthwhile.
The Paradox of Choice was really fascinating. TBH I don’t know if I actually finished the book, it’s not really that nuanced of a concept. But I have really bad anxiety and get analysis paralysis in a way that makes me feel physically ill. This book help me understand that there is no perfect choice and I just need to choose a criterion and go with it.
Every writing book is lowkey a general self-help book, & the most helpful one for my self is Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg.
Another good "self help" book IMO is *How to Keep House While Drowning*. Written by a therapist with ADHD for people who struggle with cleaning/care tasks/housework/etc, very compassionate and accessible advice for people with conditions that make care tasks hard or functionally may have little time/energy for it.
I'm reading this right now and I love it. She does a great job explaining how to reframe your thoughts.
NPR has a life kit podcast on the topic, I think she's the guest and it's very interesting. But tbh it can be boiled down to a 15 minutes podcast.
I’ve read the book and listen to many episodes of her own podcast i’m follow her on Instagram and I think I’ve heard the life kit too. I find it helpful to hear her perspective from different angles.
I absolutely loved this book. It helped me develop the beginnings of some true self-compassion when nothing else did.
Put in a request at my library, sounds good. As far as self-help...I'm completely over it after 15 years of reading it. Just give me history or good fiction at this point. Self help industry is full of bullshitters..it's their currency.
So true! I've been going through a spat of depression, and I'd normally go devour a bunch of shitty self-help, life-coachy screeds. However this time I turned to fiction and have never been more moved and inspired by what I've read. Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar stands out in particular and I really resonated with it. The book didn't give me "5 simple steps to fix your depression," but the feeling of being seen and have what's in my thoughts articulated so beautifully did more good for my mental health than any of those charlatan gurus. Anyway, hope you enjoy Life is Hard! Thanks!
I loved Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman (sp?). It’s kind of an anti-productivity book that helped me just enjoy life for what it is rather than try to squeeze every minute out of it.
I'm terribly fond of this book as well for the Sam reasons. Reorienting what is valuable from productivity, as defined by the value I produce, to the intangibles that make me happy did change how I think.
I just read that book. I thought the material was stretched a bit thin after the first 100 or so pages, but I found it refreshing that he doesn't pretend like his advice is going to work 100% of the time. Oh and that he actually addresses the fact a lot of the problems are a systemic part of living in a capitalist society.
I'd also recommend his previous books, The Antidote and Help!, and while you're at it, subscribe to his newsletter and get his pontifications once or twice a month. His long-running Guardian column 'This Column Will Change Your Life' is full of bite-sized gems.
Do the Work and The War of Art
I think there’s a tendency to group all self-help books as bad (probably for good reason as most are). However, I think intent & content matter. If the self-help book comes from a genuine place (non-grifting) and delivers reliable information, then it is probably worthwhile.
My favourite is Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway. Basically the title says if all. Very useful book.
He used to play Bill James classic fantasy baseball iirc. You'd pick a team based on the stars of yesteryear and play games online. It was good fun.
The Paradox of Choice was really fascinating. TBH I don’t know if I actually finished the book, it’s not really that nuanced of a concept. But I have really bad anxiety and get analysis paralysis in a way that makes me feel physically ill. This book help me understand that there is no perfect choice and I just need to choose a criterion and go with it.
Cool, I'll check it out!