BOOKMARK: From Deep Work to The Miracle of Mindfulness, 5 books that shaped PPFAS's Rajeev Thakkar's life

I have listed some of the books that have had a big impact in improving my life.

At a time when the popular culture celebrates uni-dimensional success say in getting rich or being powerful or being good-looking or talented in a particular area, this book guides readers in living a balanced and holistic life.

In a world with smartphones, the internet, tablets and laptops, the ability to focus on one thing and one thing only is a lost art. Offices have also embraced the open-plan layouts to encourage collaboration and to break information barriers. This has had the side effect of increased distractions.

Deep Work is a push back in a distracted world. The book not only preaches but also has plenty of actionable ideas of how to get deep work done in the modern world.

Metabolic disorders (the whole family of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and so on) is a scourge of modern life. The other problem is that there is so much conflicting advice on the right kind of diet, exercise, medication and so on.

As a person who has been diabetic (type 2) for long and one who has managed to get the condition in remission (reduced medication plus better sugar control) and who is hopefully on the way to being medication free, I would highly recommend the books written by Dr. Jason Fung

I will admit this upfront. I have not read this book. Why am I recommending this then? Well, this recommendation is not really a book recommendation. You cannot become a swimmer by reading books on swimming, you have to actually jump into the water. Similarly, you cannot become a meditator just by reading a book, you have to practice.

The practice of meditation has helped me immensely. If you need motivation or guidance to start, you can read the books or if you are convinced, you can just start with someone who can guide you.

We have all heard the term “The Body Clock”. However, most of us do not know how this actually works. The book has a surprising fact that there are multiple body clocks in our system and not just one. The book “The Circadian Code” further illustrates how knowing the working of our body clocks can help us in sleeping better, losing weight, improve health and so on.