Work Less Play More

"Rest is such a valuable book. If work is our national religion, Pang is the philosopher reintegrating our bifurcated selves."---Arianna Huffington, New York Times Book Review Overwork is the new normal. Rest is something to do when the important things are done—but they are never done. Looking at different forms of rest, from sleep to vacation, Silicon Valley futurist and business consultant Alex Soojung-Kim Pang dispels the myth that the harder we work the better the outcome. He combines rigorous scientific research with a rich array of examples of writers, painters, and thinkers—from Darwin to Stephen King—to challenge our tendency to see work and relaxation as antithetical. "Deliberate rest," as Pang calls it, is the true key to productivity, and will give us more energy, sharper ideas, and a better life. Rest offers a roadmap to rediscovering the importance of rest in our lives, and a convincing argument that we need to relax more if we actually want to get more done.

Having more fun at work isn't a fantasy. It's a smart and savvy strategy to becoming a more creative, productive, and dynamic employee. Work Like Your Dog is an inspiring call to "come out and play" at work. Dogs seem to have endless energy and tackle tasks with enviable enthusiasm, and Matt Weinstein and Luke Barber believe that most people could take a course from their ca-nines. By learning to play more at their jobs, workers can "lick" difficult challenges, take pleasure from tasks previously dreaded, reduce their levels of stress, and recharge their creative side. People spend more time working, thinking about work, and traveling to and from work than all other waking activities combined. Employees are asked to do more for less--making their work lives more exhausting and less satisfying. More hours are far from the answer; honing a sense of frolic and fun is. This book is a launching pad for fifty fun lessons about frolicking your way to success: Don't be afraid of being the fool. Be prepared to take risks; your new experiences may well lead to new contacts or new accounts and, if nothing else, will make you feel wonderful. Celebrate every success, not just your own but your coworker's new account, brilliant idea, or anniversary. You'll help release tension, underscore positives, and keep people aware of challenges conquered. Use humor to solve problems. Create a swearing room, where you and coworkers vent frustrations. Use a joke to diffuse verbal abuse from a customer. Humor can help you stay focused on the most important aspects of your job and prevent the worst aspects from getting the upper hand. Why choose stress? Almost every situation can provoke either stress or laughter. If you choose the highway of humor, your job will be more enjoyable and you'll work more effectively. And many more suggestions, stories, and ideas to unleash your playful professional and keep you from barking up the wrong tree. Weinstein and Barber's advice comes from seminar attendees and hundreds of corporate clients, such as American Express, IBM, Federal Express, and AT&T. This book shares the wisdom from these employees and from twenty-plus years of helping people enjoy their way to success.

From bestselling writer David Graeber—“a master of opening up thought and stimulating debate” (Slate)—a powerful argument against the rise of meaningless, unfulfilling jobs…and their consequences. Does your job make a meaningful contribution to the world? In the spring of 2013, David Graeber asked this question in a playful, provocative essay titled “On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs.” It went viral. After one million online views in seventeen different languages, people all over the world are still debating the answer. There are hordes of people—HR consultants, communication coordinators, telemarketing researchers, corporate lawyers—whose jobs are useless, and, tragically, they know it. These people are caught in bullshit jobs. Graeber explores one of society’s most vexing and deeply felt concerns, indicting among other villains a particular strain of finance capitalism that betrays ideals shared by thinkers ranging from Keynes to Lincoln. “Clever and charismatic” (The New Yorker), Bullshit Jobs gives individuals, corporations, and societies permission to undergo a shift in values, placing creative and caring work at the center of our culture. This book is for everyone who wants to turn their vocation back into an avocation and “a thought-provoking examination of our working lives” (Financial Times).

A National Bestseller Foreword by Mark Hyman, MD Preface by Andrew Huberman, PhD You know you should be meditating, so what’s stopping you? This entertaining and enlightening book by the founder of Ziva Meditation—the favorite training for high achievers—will finally take meditation mainstream. In our high-stress, overworked lives, we think the answer to accomplishing more is to do more. But the best advantage we can give ourselves is to take a mental break—to spend a few minutes of the day giving the body and brain rest. Did you know that a brief meditation can offer rest that’s five times deeper than sleep? When you make time to practice the Z Technique this book teaches, you’ll actually be more productive than if you took an hour-and-a-half nap or had a cup of coffee. A leading expert in meditation for high performance, Emily Fletcher has taught meditation at numerous global corporations, including Google, Barclays Bank, and Viacom, to help their employees improve their focus and increase their productivity levels. With Stress Less, Accomplish More, anyone can get the benefits of her 15-minute twice-daily plan. Emily specifically developed the Z Technique for working people with busy lives. Now, you can learn to recharge anywhere, anytime—at home or at your desk. All you need is a few minutes and a chair (no apps, incense, or finger cymbals required). This is not just another meditation book. In Stress Less, Accomplish More, Emily teaches a powerful trifecta of Mindfulness, Meditation, and Manifesting to improve your personal and professional performance, clarity, health, and sleep. You’ll learn how to cultivate Mindfulness through brief but powerful exercises that will help you stop wasting time stressing. Plus, you’ll get Manifesting tools to help you get crystal clear on your personal and professional goals for the future. Filled with fascinating real-life transformations, interactive exercises, and practical knowledge, Stress Less, Accomplish More introduces you to a revelatory daily practice and shows you how to make it work for your modern life. “We meditate to get good at life, not to get good at meditation.”—Emily Fletcher

In his classic book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni laid out a groundbreaking approach for tackling the perilous group behaviors that destroy teamwork. Here he turns his focus to the individual, revealing the three indispensable virtues of an ideal team player. In The Ideal Team Player, Lencioni tells the story of Jeff Shanley, a leader desperate to save his uncle’s company by restoring its cultural commitment to teamwork. Jeff must crack the code on the virtues that real team players possess, and then build a culture of hiring and development around those virtues. Beyond the fable, Lencioni presents a practical framework and actionable tools for identifying, hiring, and developing ideal team players. Whether you’re a leader trying to create a culture around teamwork, a staffing professional looking to hire real team players, or a team player wanting to improve yourself, this book will prove to be as useful as it is compelling.

PANIC LESS, PLAY MORE, AND GET YOUR PARTY ON! From her rural Missouri beginnings decorating tables with cherry-tree branches to her current and much-anticipated dinners and parties that always include a "cherry on the top" surprise for her guests, Cheryl Najafi teaches others to break the rules of "proper" entertaining. With her signature wit and creativity, Najafi inspires hosts to infuse their own personal style, humor and whimsy into any occasion. Most people put all of their efforts into celebrating big events, but she believes that it's the little things in life that nurture us, making moments matter--and memorable. With You're So Invited, she shares her fresh approach to entertaining to get you planning your next--or maybe your first!--party without fretting or fussing, so you can relax and have as much fun as your guests! An inspiring book for novice and experienced entertainers alike, You're So Invited features ten beautifully photographed parties--from a chic surprise birthday to an irreverent going-away roast to an indulgent tween spa party. Every page is loaded with playful ideas that will get you thinking outside the party-planning box: --The Bar Exam: How much food and drink to have on hand for parties of 10, 20, or 30 people --Takeout's In: 10 no-fail crowd-pleasing dishes you can order in (and spruce up) --Blue-Sky Thinking: 5 foolproof tips for outdoor entertaining --Decorating the Set: 15 ideas to take your table settings from fancy to unforgettable --Turning Bites Into Delights: 20 quick-and-easy no-cook appetizers --How-To-Go-To's: Fun how-to projects like how to dress up a present, build a bountiful cornucopia, host your own Scotch tasting, and much more!