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 is one of the top productivity-zapping phenomena. 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.

As a working mom, productivity is a topic very close to my heart. Unlike most other books, this one teaches you to be efficient. It will help you reclaim the joy of doing things you love rather than speeding through weeks of "mindless busyness". Shoshin, implementation intentions, broaden and build are just some of the powerful strategies within the book that readers can use to skyrocket their productivity and feel joyous while doing so!
Must read for all working professionals, busy executives and overworked parents.

Ali talks through the challenges of productivity (procrastination, burn out, lack of motivation, etc) and offer useful tools to get you on track toward achieving those things you truly want to do.

I appreciated the practical applications and real-life examples. I feel confident that I can tackle any challenge that arises in my quest to reach my goals.

This is the productivity vibe we all need. As a productivity writer, coach, and speaker I love seeing a kinder, gentler message than RISE AND GRIND AND GET IN YOUR ICE BATH!!

This book is laid out with clear, research based examples you would expect to hear from a physician. The bonus is that Dr Abdaal is able to translate research with humor and compassion.

This book is for everyone who needs a mind shift in approaching productivity, which I would say is most of us!

This would make a great holiday gift for friend, family or coworkers. It also lends itself well for book club discussions.

I really loved this book. It’s very well-researched with a very appropriate tone for the subject matter. Abdaal backs his claims with proven research and life experiences rather than just throwing out methods of productivity that have worked for him specifically. He takes a realistic approach to increasing your productivity by meeting yourself where you are. A lot of “self-help” type books are watered down with ableism that assumes everyone can always just go take a walk to clear their head or commune with nature or start an expensive hobby. He does make some of these suggestions, but also leaves room for alternatives rather than being presumptive that everyone has the same access/abilities.

The only reason this is not a 5 star is that it gets to be a bit little too research heavy towards the last third of the book. I felt like some of the points really didn’t need to be expanded upon to the extent they were or as many research pieces included. Some points can stand on their own without needing to be proven.

All in all, great book, great YouTuber, and now great author. I read a lot of self-help/motivational/productivity based books and I still learned a few new tricks with some interesting fact nuggets on how the brain works to be productive.

"Feel Good Productivity" by Dr. Ali Abdaal is a refreshing take on productivity that emphasizes the importance of joy in our work. Abdaal's insights draw from solid psychological research and provide practical, actionable steps to improve productivity and overall happiness. What I appreciated most about the book is its focus on sustainable success and the personal anecdotes shared by accomplished individuals. However, one downside was the repetitive nature of some concepts, which could have been condensed for a more concise read. Overall, it's a valuable guide for those seeking a more enjoyable and fulfilling path to productivity.

I started following Ali on YouTube prior to this book. I love that the advice is science-based and positive. His approach is very practical and knowledges the limitations that some people have with their time. I'm glad that this book mirrors his videos and I would recommend this book to people who want advice on this topic.

A very interesting read full of ideas to help you with your productivity in a more relaxed positive way.The author has a lot of followers and he has written a very interesting guide.#netgalley #celadonbooks

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this book early in exchange for a honest review.
This is an interesting read on the art of productivity. But if you’re a person who has read other self-help books or listened to self-help podcasts (or been in therapy), then a lot of this information won’t be new to you. Maybe the way it’s presented will be appealing to readers who are new to this type of book and content though.

Having watched a few videos of Ali Abdaal, I recognised the author and hence the interest in the book. The author has shared most of the ideas that have worked for him. I like the switch from SMART to NICE goals, CALM choices. There are references to many studies and takeaways to overcome fear, procrastination, getting started. Very accessible book. If you like reading or learning about self development, you can add more to your knowledge repertoire. I knew the concept of self-efficacy, now to that I add the "enactive mastery" term. Interesting fun facts or alternative perspectives on how Feynman used play when his research stalled, Leonardo's career and choices. I took other pointers from the book for eg to read Matthew Dicks book - I have already started reading "Someday is today".

I thought three parts of the book were a very helpful break down of the content: energize, unblock, & sustain. That's what I want to figure out, how to tackle my productivity in a more positive & manageable way! The small illustrations and highlighted important points help to soak in the content. I love how Abdaal shows us that accomplishing our tasks can have a positive affect on our energy and mood. She shows us simple ways to get that cycle started so we can reap the benefits.

This was an interesting read. As someone with a professional background in mental health, a lot of this information was not new to me. I think this might be a good introductory book for mainstream readers who are wanting to boost their productivity.

This book takes research that is fairly mainstream and repackages it with a heavy dose of positivity. Fine. But, nothing new here.

Feel Good Productivity means well, both literally and figuratively.

Written by a popular YouTube productivity blogger, the book is touted as an antidote to the popular hustle-culture and life hack proponents. To that end, the book delivers: Ali Abdaal’s bright, cheerful encouragement to find the pockets of life which interest people works well.

However, the issue which plagues many a *book that should have stayed a few blog posts* is very evident here. Abdaal’s case is made on mostly anecdotal stories, which makes sense given the topic isn’t easily quantifiable. The sheer volume of padding makes for an exhausting read and rapidly becomes little more than skimming until the next point is made.

Like most people living in late-stage capitalism, I’m interested in productivity and the way to balance inner satisfaction and outer results. For readers who have not already tackled the big bestsellers in the career self-help space, then Feel Good Productivity may contain new and useful information. If you are like me, it reads like a repackaging of other often superior books with little to recommend that is new or novel.
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Thank you to NetGalley and Celedon Books for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. Expected publication date Dec 26th, 2023.

<i>Feel-Good Productivity</i> is a shallow pastiche of better books.

Can you get value out of it if you haven't read a productivity book before? Absolutely. But is it the best place to build solid understanding of both what to do and why? That's a hard no.

Abdaal breaks his material into three sections, each with three chapters. Part 1 is about building and maintaining positive emotions through play, power, and people as 'energizers'. Part 2 looks at three 'blockers' that sabotage our energy: uncertainty, fear, and inertia. Part 3 looks at three different types of burnout: overexertion, depletion, and misalignment. Each chapter shares a few anecdotes from Abdaal's direct experience, books he's read, or authors that he has interviewed.

I may not be in the audience for this book, since I have read a large portion of the source material Abdaal draws from, but even so, I was hoping for more <i>synthesis</i> -- i.e., more useful connections and insights drawn from the connections between the original sources. There was, however, little of that to be found.

So, if you haven't already read David Allen (<i>Getting Things Done</i>), Mihály Csíkszentmihályi (<i>Flow</i>), or Stephen Covey (<i>7 Habits of Highly Effective People</i>), I highly recommend starting with one of those. Even second-generation authors like Nick Winter (<i>The Motivation Hacker</i>), Dan Charnas (<i>Everything in its Place</i>), Oliver Burkeman (<i>Four Thousand Weeks</i>), or Brian Tracy (<i>Eat That Frog!</i>) have deeper insights that will offer you better value for your time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.