Recommended Books

These books form the basis of my methodology. (Also, they’re really good reads.)

How to Be a Brighter Student

How students can start to use some of the most important ideas from these other books.

Mindset (Dweck)

It’s better to view your mind as an improvable tool rather than as an immutable extension of your identity.

How to Solve It (Polya)

The seminal work on creative problem-solving heuristics: what to do when you don’t know what you’re doing.

Study is Hard Work (Armstrong)

A prescription for constant improvement, and a reminder that it’s necessary.

The Price of Privilege (Levine)

How achievement and perfectionism can go wrong, and what to do about it.

"There's no speed limit." (Sivers, blog post)

How “the standard speed is for chumps,” and what to do about it.

The Art and Craft of Problem-Solving (Zeitz)

A detailed work-at-your-own-pace tour of the mind of a modern-day master.

The Power of Habit (Duhigg)

How to get yourself to follow through on your well-meaning promises to do better work.