Work-Life Balance: Top 5 Useful Books

We offer you a list of useful and motivating books that will help you find a balance between work and personal life, become more mindful and productive, gain inner harmony, and become happy.

Top 5 Useful Books:

“Just Space,” Katerina Lengold
A practical guide on how to turn agile planning into a lifestyle. Agile is a short-term flexible planning concept used in IT software development teams. This concept is now applied to personal goal management, personal development, and success achievement.
The key in agile is action orientation, adaptability, adjusting priorities and goals, and obtaining valuable results. All of this applies to personal planning — agile life planning.
The author offers practical advice, exercises, and tools.

“Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters,” Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky
This book isn’t about being more efficient or productive. It’s by former Google and YouTube employees Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky, about how to focus on what really matters amid the crazy pace of modern life.
The system helps you find more time each day for the things, activities, and people important to you, and stop getting distracted by unnecessary noise.
It presents over 80 tactics on how to stop being “busy all the time” and start getting things done.

“Time Binds: When Time Feels Scarce,” Brigid Schulte
The result of a journalistic investigation by Brigid Schulte, who interviewed people of various professions, neurologists, and sociologists about how they manage constant busyness, stress, distractions, and how to find time for themselves and hobbies.

“Mindfulness: Finding Peace in a Frantic World,” Mark Williams, Danny Penman
A practical guide to mindfulness meditation, the basis of a therapy developed by the authors and their colleagues at Oxford University.
The British Ministry of Health recommends this method.
It improves life quality, helps fight stress and challenges of modern life, and teaches concentration on what really happens in your life.
Starting with just 10–20 minutes a day helps you stop the flow of thoughts and be present, observing your body and mind.

“Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life,” Ken Mogi
A book by Japanese neuroscientist Ken Mogi about the life philosophy of ikigai, which helps people find joy, pleasure, and mindfulness in simple daily activities.
According to the author, you live because of ikigai. Finding something you love and enjoy is key to longevity, according to Mogi.
Ikigai is a life principle that doesn’t require proving anything to anyone.
Importantly, you don’t need high professional achievements to reach ikigai. Having ikigai may lead to success, but success isn’t required.