books
04 Jan 2009 Leave a Comment
in suggestions
this is a list of good books. i hasten to define “good”. good in this case means “useful”. with one notable exception, these are not great works of literature. some of them are barely readable. if you want spiritually and mentally enriching works of great depth and beauty, there’s a whole world of those waiting for you, and they’re easy to find. these are not they.
instead, this is a list of books which i’ve found to have useful ideas for approaching practical, day-to-day issues. money. housekeeping. getting things done. learning to enjoy what you have to do and make time to do what you want, including reading better books. i hope you find them useful as well. clicking the isbn number for each will take you to a page with information on getting a copy.
simplifying
walden
by henry david thoreau
(isbn 0393959058)
the bible of american conservation is also the bible of simplicity, and the source of the mantra “simplify, simplify”. still as brilliant and relevant as ever; perhaps more relevant today, in an age in which people have become more imprisoned by their possessions, and more and more quietly desperate. the first chapter is worth regular rereading.
simplify your life (100 ways to slow down & enjoy the things that really matter)
by elaine st. james
(isbn 0786880007)
this is considered one of the cornerstones of the voluntary simplicity movement of the 1990s, and it draws the same criticism that’s drawn by the movement as a whole: it’s aimed at yuppies. it preaches the virtues of simplicity to people who can easily afford the time and effort to make a change, instead of to poor people who really need practical ideas for pulling themselves out of their situation. still, the ideas are worthwhile and generally applicable, no matter what the original target audience. see my rambling on yuppies for more thoughts about it. (note: elaine st. james went on to build a career from this with stacks of other books, recordings, calendars, newspaper articles, etc.)
clutter control
by jeff campbell
(isbn 0440503396)
a terrific guide to getting rid of what you don’t need and putting the rest of it in order. if you need to streamline your house, find a copy asap.
stop junk mail forever (telemarketing & spam, too)
by marc eisenson, nancy castleman, marcy ross, and ‘the stop junk mail-man’
(isbn 0943973228)
a booklet of guidelines for stopping the flow of garbage into your mailbox.
the 4-hour workweek
by timothy ferriss
(isbn 0307353133)
a 21st century slant on living the examined life, with a compilation of internet-age techniques for eliminating or delegating what’s unimportant to you so you can get to the important today.
reading this changed my relationship with computers, turning them into tools for automating much of my work and forgetting it for longer periods. see my article about living offline.
getting things done
by david allen
(isbn 0142000280)
terrific ideas for keeping your plate empty once you get it that way. written in sleep-inducing repetitive corporatespeak; don’t feel bad about hitting the high points and skimming the rest.
finance
your money or your life
by joe dominguez and vicki robin
(isbn 0140286780)
just as walden is a wakeup call to thoughts about society and what we’re getting or losing from our involvement with it, your money or your life is a bucket of ice water in the face that takes us through reevaluating our relationship with money. many books will tell you how to make money. this one will you tell why, and when to stop. if you avoid managing your money and investing because it seems shallow and materialistic to worry about such things, this is especially for you. read it openly and honestly think about whether taking financial responsibility and working toward financial independence aren’t actually more in line with your beliefs and more likely to enable you to live up to them. the second chapter was a great eye opener for me back when i was semi-consciously above thinking of such things, and changed my life.
the only investment guide you’ll ever need
by andrew tobias
(isbn 0156029634)
this is the cream of the crop of general information books on investing, wonderfully informative and entertaining. everything you need to know is here. most importantly, tobias gives quick explanations of why you shouldn’t waste your time even considering much of the overpriced, underperforming junk people will try to sell you. and if you’re overwhelmed with options, he’ll give you the simple, long term, get-rich-slowly ideas that will take you slowly but surely to retirement.
believe the title. i looked at a great many other inferior volumes so you wouldn’t have to bother.
protecting your wealth in good times and bad
by richard a. ferri
(isbn 0071408177)
why add more to the list if tobias’s is the only one you need? well, while this isn’t really necessary, it’s good reinforcement of the ideas in tobias’s book in sometimes exhausting mathematical detail, if you’re into that sort of thing, and could keep the inspiration flowing. the second half is nicely broken into chapters on “here’s what you should be doing if you’re 30. here’s what you should be doing if you’re 40. here’s what you should be doing…”.
how to invest $50-$5,000
by nancy dunnan
(isbn 006008779X)
this was a great idea for a book. ferri’s book is for anyone wanting more details about sound investing practices; this is for anyone just getting started and wanting less. too many people delay getting started investing because they think they need a large amount of money to invest. actually, there are many opportunities for investing quite small amounts, which can be rolled over into higher-earning investments as they accumulate. this book gives you a list of things you can do with $50, then what to do when you have $500, then
$1,000, etc. tobias will tell you the same things, but this is good if you’re hungry to get started doing something today and will ride the high from that into reading more later.
miscellaneous
the complete tightwad gazette
by amy dacyczyn
(isbn 0375752250)
justly famous, the complete tightwad collection is both a reference and source of inspiration for anyone who wants to live cheaply but fully. while offering practical advice on a huge variety of situations, it reinforces the message that the source of frugality is imagination. should be on every bookshelf.
diets don’t work
by bob schwartz
(isbn 0942540166)
reflections on the real causes of weight problems among americans and suggestions on turning the problem around. great advice for anyone who wants to live more mindfully, but beware that you’ll have to get past the writing style, which lies somewhere between sideshow barker and infomercial televangelist. if you can gloss over the fact that “dr. bob schwartz” is followed by “, ph.d.”, you’ll find good substance under the style.
suggestions
12 Aug 2005 2 Comments
in suggestions
this is my short list of things i’ve found to be helpful; take what you will. it’s probably most useful to people who do a lot of sedentary computer work.
take care of your body and mind
go outside
people were built to live out in the world. we originally spent our days out in the open air and just came in at night or to take shelter from a storm. now we’ve turned that on its head, trading the broad sky for a few feet of ceiling and rarely going out.
take a walk every day. thoreau wasn’t happy unless he’d had his daily four hour walk (read his thoughts on it). if you can’t make time for that, at least start with going fifteen minutes out and walking fifteen minutes back. pick different directions. surprise yourself with how far fifteen minutes will take you.
see your neighborhood. hear the birds. get some weather in you. if you just get out of your head for a little while and see the big world, your problems will be much smaller when you get back.
exercise
giving your body some work to do improves the state of your mind and makes a preemptive strike against disease and medical bills. try a form of exercise you can do outside at any time and with no equipment, such as tai chi or qigong. cutting grass and planting a garden are also good.
meditate
if you engage in an an occupation which makes you work with your brain and not the rest of your body, spend some time each day getting out of your head and into the bigger world, practicing just paying attention to everything and giving up the idea that you have to analyze it, criticize it, or do something about it. there are many forms and traditions of meditation you can learn. i practice zen.
don’t eat meat, if you can help it
it’s better for you, better for the animals, and better for the world.
keep the precepts
these are good ideas for anyone. if you’re not buddhist, just skip the last one.
- be reverential and mindful with all life; do not be violent or kill.
- respect others’ property; do not steal.
- be conscious and loving in your relationships; do not give way to lust.
- honor honesty and truth; do not deceive.
- exercise proper care of your body and mind; do not be gluttonous or abuse intoxicants.
- remember that silence is precious; do not engage in frivolous conversation.
- be humble; do not praise yourself or judge others.
- be grateful for your life; do not covet, envy, or be jealous.
- keep your mind always calm and at peace; do not give way to anger.
- esteem the three treasures: buddha, dharma, and sangha; do not defame them.
be financially responsible
“Psychologically I should say that a person becomes an adult at the point when he produces more than he consumes or earns more than he spends. This may be at the age of eighteen, twenty-five, or thirty-five. Some people remain unproductive and dependent children forever and therefore intellectually and emotionally immature.”
— Henry C. Link
learn about money
until i was in my late 20s, i was so wary and defensive against the american curse of materialism that i swung to the opposite extreme and held a pointed and even self-righteous disregard for money and possessions. the unfortunate and ironic result was that i used things up at a needlessly quick pace, consumed more, and produced more waste for the world to deal with.
i eventually found a middle way between greed and neglect: stewardship. during your lifetime, you can cling to the things you have, you can neglect and ruin them, or your can simply care for them and leave them in good shape for the next person. this is as true for money as for shoes and teapots.
ignoring money doesn’t make you morally superior. learn basic accounting and investment skills, and use money as you see best, responsibly. the longer you ignore it, the more anxious you’ll be about it.
be frugal
spend less than you earn. care for the things you have. take the bus. reach the happy point of having enough, and stop taking more.
be blissfully productive
learn to get things done
find out how to stay on top of everything you need to do and enjoy your work. try david allen’s systems.
do one thing at a time
give your attention to everything you do, individually, for as long as you’re doing it. “multitasking” is a path to anxiety, not productivity.
respect music. don’t insult it by making it background noise. if listening to music is what you’re doing, give it your full and close attention.
live simply and wisely
choose a few commitments and do them as well as you can. get rid of all the other clutter in your way.
use your computer well
if a computer is central in your work, learn to use it as sensibly as you can.
change your posture while working
if you work long hours at a computer, don’t leave your body suffering in the same position for the whole time. get a laptop so your computer can go with you, and alternate between standing and sitting. put your laptop on a dresser or filing cabinet and stand in front of it. then, if you can help it, don’t sit in a chair; long stretches in a chair are horrible for your back and legs. learn sitting meditation postures, put your laptop on a coffee table, and sit on cushions in front of it.
take regular breaks
have your computer remind you at regular intervals to stop, get up, go outside, etc. i like workrave for this.
learn unix
an investment in learning unix skills will repay you enormously over a lifetime as you make your computer fit your work and style more and more closely and learn to use the unix toolset to make hard things easy and impossible things hard.
use the dvorak keyboard layout
after i recovered from a hand injury many years ago, one of the steps i took to prevent harming my hands again was learning to type with the dvorak layout. when people used typewriters, there was no reasonable alternative to qwerty, but with computers, it’s trivial to load a different layout. relearning typing is difficult at first, but you’ll find the effort is worth it as you’re soon able to type more quickly, for longer stretches of time, and with far less stress and pain.
