I intend in the coming weeks to spend some time on the topic of motivation and time management. I do not wish to get a good and generic theoretical view (though I wouldn't mind). Instead I am mostly aiming at the following gains :
- Increase the time I spend reading, thinking, and working.
- A better control on my choices of pleasant activities (choosing to read fiction I will enjoy rather than more immediately rewarding youtube videos, for example).
- A better control of my time schedule.
To do so, I have decided to use a process that first collects "complete views" on the topic. This means books, blogposts series, videos, or other forms of media detailing a paradigm on the topic. Complete with usable advice. These are called "views" bellow.
I intend to collect between 5 and 10 such views. It is my intuition that some of the relevant scientific background can be vulgarized in a few hours and be helpful. If that is correct, one of the first views should also present it. In a second phase, I intend to make my own synthesis of the whole and make changes to my life. The idea is to judge the changes after a few months and think back on the topic periodically.
I welcome remarks on the process I have planned but that is not why I am writing a lesswrong question. Instead, I would like you to give me suggestions of authors to consider. I am mainly interested in views that :
- Come from authors who are high achievers themselves.
- Come from authors who are specialists in psychology, sophrology, or other relevant fields.
- Have had a documented positive impact on people before, ideally on male computer scientists (though with this last bit I am probably starting to be too picky).
Any combination of these is good, the more the better.
I promise that if I go through with the process using at lest one view recommended here I will write an account of my synthesis on lesswrong.
Edit : I am still collecting views and will therefore delay the project, probably by a couple months. I am not cancelling anything, just delaying.
I suggest Atomic Habits by James Clear. Building a habit effectively is a main topic but I believe that it's closely related to motivation (and there's some content about motivation as well).
I liked the book due to its simplicity, pragmatism and well articulated model of a habits and "levers" that you can use to influence it. I still haven't implemented all of the strategies/ideas from the book but a couple of them continue to have a positive impact. For example adapting/creating your identity so that it reinforces the habit (e.g. thinking about myself as a runner increases the chance that I'll go for a run), and being more focused on my environment and how it supports/weakens new habit (e.g. hiding my tablet in a drawer in a separate room increases the chance that I'll read a book).