Want to improve your sleep, relationships and mental and physical health? You’re in luck: thanks to the thriving self-help industry, there are tens of thousands of books that claim to change your life in less than 500 pages.
But here’s the thing: most self-help books aren’t worth your time. Although some repeat the opinions of others, many have dubious claims at best – and at best it is outright pseudoscience that can harm you.
That’s why we’ve put together a list of the best, science-based self-help books that can help you improve your life.
The best self-help books of 2023
Why Has No One Told Me This Before?
Dr. Julie Smith
Although best known for her instant TikToks, Dr Julie Smith has dedicated decades to psychology, practicing in clinical practice as a member of the British Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Psychotherapy. And he was taken from this experience to give Why Has No One Told Me This Before?an easy-to-understand treatment toolkit designed to help readers cope with a variety of mental health problems, from anxiety, depression and low mood and motivation.
This book’s greatest strength: it works beautifully. While other mental health guides can get bogged down in lengthy anecdotes, Smith’s book provides short chapters with advice that is clear, practical and accessible to anyone.
Serious Work: Rules for Success Focused on the Serious World
Professor Cal Newport
How do you organize your day? Are you trying to tick off a whole to-do list, but wasting hours in the haze of email and social media? As Professor Cal Newport of Georgetown University explains, a to-do list is bound to lead to such confusion – but there’s a better way to organize your time.
In this practical advice book, he explains his time-blocking system that considers both carefully how long every job takes and how much the time you have. Then comes the important part. Newport explains how readers should spend more time on serious work – that is work without distraction from silly work. With the help of compelling scientific studies, Newport argues why structuring your day around areas of deep work will improve your focus, productivity and creativity.
Importantly, Serious Work it is not a manifesto for hard work and long hours. It’s different. Yes, Newport’s time management tips are designed for maximum productivity, but also for a healthy work life without crippling time hunger.
A Path Through the Jungle: A Mental Health and Wellness Program to Improve Strength and Resilience.
Professor Steve Peters
When it was first released, by Professor Steve Peters The Chimp Paradox it was praised for its direct explanation of how the human brain processes emotions, and how to better manage those emotions. It became a bestseller and was praised by former footballers Steven Gerrard and Olympic champion Victoria Pendleton.
However, the book had a problem. For others, The Chimp Paradox it was too simple, and much of the neuroscience supporting the book’s mind control program was not explained. The Way That Flows into the Sky is the remedy for this. Although the language is still simple, Peters provides a complete picture of the complex neural network behind your emotions and stress responses. And it comes from this deep explanation of brain processes, the reader can learn to control their internal emotional machine (what Peters calls ‘The Chimp’).
A comprehensive guide to improving mental health in many areas.
Breathing: The New Science of a Lost Art
James Nestor
Do you ever feel like the whole self-improvement game is just learning that you have a list of endless inadequacies? If so, you may meet this claim by journalist James Nestor with some objection: you are breathing badly. In particular, you probably breathe through your mouth a lot.
Why is that important? As Nestor’s engaging, amazing and comprehensive book explains, it can have a profound effect on your life. With the help of leading researchers – and an amazing reference section – Breathing explains how good breathing can dramatically change our physical and mental health.
Sleep Fix: Effective, Proven, and Amazing Solutions for Insomnia, Tossing, Shift Work, and More.
Diane Macedo
Many of the best sleep books, such as Matthew Walker’s Why Do We Sleep?, have highlighted the importance of getting enough sleep. But when it comes to practical advice, most of these guidelines don’t fit into everyday life. For example, it is common advice to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. But what about shift workers?
That’s right there Sleep Adjustment This book, written by US journalist Diane Macedo, contains real and flexible sleep remedies, using advice from the world’s leading sleep experts. Drawing from the scientific literature and his own experience of working overnights, Macedo explains in simple terms how to overcome snoring, insomnia, shift work, sleep apnea, anxiety, death of sleep and restlessness. a lot Again.
Full of unexpected but valuable advice, this book is great for those who feel they’ve tried everything.
Four Thousand Weeks
Oliver Burkeman
How long is a human life? The answer, as you can guess from the title of the book, is only 4000 weeks. It may seem like a worryingly small number, but as journalist and productivity expert Oliver Burkeman points out, embracing our incredibly short time on Earth can be key to living life more perfect.
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Drawing from the best scientists and philosophers in history, Burkeman says that our obsession with filling up our inboxes, which are constantly expanding our to-do lists and research The endless pursuit of self-improvement will never leave us satisfied. He says that our weaknesses are better accepted than rejected.
Overall, this is part self-help book, part anti-self-help, looking to fix your relationship with time – and figure out how to make the most of your 4,000 weeks.
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