Required Reading

Looking for a good book to dig into through the long weekend? We’ve rounded up some of our recent favorites on productivity, management, and finding fulfillment in the office. These eight engrossing reads will make you think about your work life differently and offer actionable tips to help you level-up your career.?

Check out our choices, as well interviews with the authors, below — and let us know if you’ve read something fantastic lately.

"Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout"

By Cal Newport

Cal Newport has developed a cult following for his practical advice on getting sh*t done. In his 2016 bestseller, Deep Work , the author and computer science professor provides a blueprint for how to focus in a world full of digital distractions. In his latest book, he tackles burnout — and the flaw at the heart of white-collar work that’s driving it.?

If you feel like you’re drowning in meetings, emails, and Teams messages, this book will help you take back control of your workday.

"The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life from Work"

By Simone Stolzoff

Is our devotion to our jobs making us miserable? Simone Stolzoff suspects the answer is yes. The writer makes a compelling case that the culture of “workism” in the U.S. is grinding us down and leaving us unfulfilled —?and offers some sensible solutions. It’s a thought-provoking book that may make you see your 9-to-5 in a new way.

"Likeable Badass: How Women Get the Success They Deserve"

By Alison Fragale

This new book by organizational psychologist Alison Fragale is a must-read for professional women everywhere. She provides smart, science-backed advice —?that goes beyond the typical girlboss maxims — to help women at every level cultivate status and respect at work (and earn the titles, promotions, and pay they deserve).

"Indivisible: How to Forge Our Differences Into a Stronger Future"

By Denise Hamilton

There’s a lot of confusion about DEI — what it is, how it works, what it aims to accomplish. If you want a clear, thoughtful overview of what diversity, equity, and inclusion is all about, how it can be harnessed to create lasting change, and what HR professionals can do now to create a more equitable workplace, look no further than this eye-opening title.

"Uptime: A Practical Guide to Personal Productivity"

By Laura Mae Martin

Want to get more out of your day? Check out this new book from Google’s productivity advisor. In it, she shares how she helps some of the most productive people on the planet squeeze even more out of their days, offering easy-to-follow strategies to organize your emails, structure your work, and maximize your time.

"The Search: Finding Meaningful Work in a Post-Career World"

By Bruce Feiler

Bruce Feiler believes that “the traditional career that follows a linear path” has been obliterated. Today, it’s not at all uncommon to job-hop or change industries. And although that’s unnerving to some, the writer sees this moment as an opportunity for all of us to carve out our own versions of success. The problem is that we’re still following an outdated playbook; The Search is his modern guide for finding meaning —?and possibly even joy —?in your job.

"The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder"

By Bob Sutton and Hayagreeva Rao

This one’s for all you managers out there. If you’re looking to streamline your workflow and get more out of your team, this one is guaranteed to resonate. Written by two Stanford professors, this book examines all the forces in corporate America that make things “harder, slower, more complicated, or downright impossible” — and what to do about it.

"The Retention Revolution: 7 Surprising (and Very Human!) Ways to Keep Employees Connected to Your Company"

By Erica Keswin

If you’re in HR —?or are just interested in learning about the macrotrends moving corporate America —?you’ll want to give Erica Keswin’s new book a read. It’s all about the end of the “lifer,” someone who spends decades behind one desk, and how companies can adjust to the shifting demands of workers to stay ahead of the curve.

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