Book Review: “Feel-Good Productivity” by Ali Abdaal
Note: I was able to read an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. I have an interest in self-help, productivity, mindset, and psychology so this book was recommended to me and offered in an advance eBook edition in exchange for my honest review.
Book Review: Feel-Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You by Ali Abdaal
Publication Date: December 26 2023 by Celadon Books
As a subscriber of Ali Abdaal’s “Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal” Youtube channel I knew his book was launching soon and had it on my list to purchase. I love Abdaal’s videos and have been watching his content for some time. I find him intelligent, affable, gentle, and disciplined. He’s a great voice in the crowded Youtube self-help space because he appears comfortable on camera showing up as his full self, with a beginner’s mind and a sense of earnestness that you don’t always see in other male self-help YouTubers.
(PS: If you want to check his videos out some of my favorites are these two: (1. How to Not Die Alone: A Dating Expert’s Guide and 2. Change Your Brain: The Power of Neuroplasticity and Braincare with Dr. Tara Swart)
“Feel-Good Productivity” was a breezy and quick read full of actionable ideas and tactics for improving your output while also feeling and being fully human.
If you read psychology, self-help, and motivational books frequently the studies and phenomena Abdaal references won’t be brand new, but that’s the point. This book gives you the best of the best in productivity, mindset, and feeling-good positive psychology hacks so you don’t have to wade through a morass of podcasts, books, articles, and research studies. Abdaal did the hard work of gathering that info for you through his years of independent study and distilled them into memorable, actionable tips.
What sets Abdaal’s book apart is his philosophy. When you make it a focus to feel good, you become more effective. Our culture is so output-obsessed and Abdaal’s counter-culture advice to “do less in order to be more” feels refreshing. We all know from experience that when we feel good life has a productive flow to it that’s hard to describe, but when it comes to living out our daily lives we forget this state of ease we can tap into and start thinking we need to push and grind in order to succeed. Abdaal’s book is an argument against this type-a attitude that’s so celebrated in our culture and instead encourages us to have a more gentle, inquisitive, and exploratory relationship towards goal-setting and work that will hopefully have us moving closer towards our ideal life whilst experiencing a lot more ease.
My favorite chapters by far were the chapters on how to avoid and recover from burn-out. Abdaal posits that appropriate conservation of our energy while working towards our goals will either make or break both our productivity and mental health. The last third of his book focuses on how to conserve your mental and physical energy by preventing and/or treating burn-out. I found these tips alone worth the purchase.
My favorite takeaway from the chapters on preventing burnout was Abdaal’s theory that burnout isn’t always caused by how many hours you’re putting in, but more so how you feel when you’re putting in those hours. Mainly, that most of the time you have to feel good while working to avoid burnout. He further broke burnout down into three main types: over-exertion burnout (doing too much), depletion burnout (not enough physical or emotional recovery time), and misalignment burnout (doing too much of the wrong things).
I’m a huge believer in the importance of making time for rest, play, and finding meaning in our days, so Abdaal’s chapters on preventing burnout through incorporating more rest, breaks, energizing distractions and values-based decision-making resonated with me. I especially loved the idea of “doing less to unlock more.”
If you’re looking for an approachable, positive, and uplifting book on personal productivity and self-improvement, this is a great one to pick up in advance of the new year. Heading into 2024 with a healthy balance of goal-based striving and whole-person health is a great way to start off a new chapter in your life.
