Have You Rediscovered Reading?

June 14, 2026Leave a comment

Summertime is the best time to return to the simple joy of reading.

This year the Palm Beach County Library System has launched the Rediscover Reading campaign. No matter where you live, we are encouraging everyone to pick up a book and tap into the many benefits of reading for pleasure. If you have never stopped reading, we invite you to expand your horizons and tap into new authors and genres. With so many choices, there is definitely a novel novel awaiting you!

It might seem counter-intuitive, but sitting in your quiet reading chair actually benefits your neighbors and friends. As our society wrestles with loneliness and separation, pleasure reading offers an affordable, evidence-based path for a better life. In fact, a growing body of research finds that reading leads to reduced stress, better sleep, enhanced empathy and improved well-being. Simultaneously, shared reading like book clubs and read-aloud sessions activate brain regions tied to social cognition and emotional connection. This counters feelings of isolation and distrust.

It’s simple. Reading for pleasure combines the private delight of enjoying a novel with the social lift from shared reflection.

Therefore, I challenge you to spend 15 minutes a day reading for pleasure. Then, once a week share your reading suggestions with others, whether a work, around the dinner table, or in your favorite online space. The more we talk and think about the books, the more engaged our minds become with the material and with others.

If you are not sure where to get your next book, remember that public libraries are ready and waiting to serve you. Not only do we offer traditional print books, but most libraries have a growing collection of eBooks. All of them are available through your library card. Don’t have one? No worries. Plan a trip to your local branch this week to get a card!

Finally, I must put a debate to rest. Yes! Audiobooks count as reading. The act of listening to a book forces our minds to imagine scenes and view the world through the eyes of the characters. This is different from watching a movie or TV show where actors and camera angles guide your interpretation. Any type of read-aloud allows the listener to create the scenes in their mind, deepening the connection to the story.

The challenge is issued. This summer, put down your smartphone, turn off the TV, and step away from your computer. Instead dive into a good book. The benefits are worth it!

It’s Not About Project Management

May 31, 2026Leave a comment

Do you have challenges with project management?

For knowledge workers, projects are the key items that they work on day in and day out. Yet very few people have thought deeply about what constitutes a project and the best way to tackle them. This can create a vague sense that projects can be handled more efficiently and effectively, but it is not obvious where to start.

Thankfully, David Allen of GTD fame has spent his career thinking deeply about how we actually work and the ways to do it better. In a recent blog post titled, You don’t have a project management problem (you have this instead)…and why it’s such a squishy area, he explores the idea that most people don’t have a clear understanding of their projects.

I was often asked by line managers and training people whether I had a good “project management” seminar for their people. My first response is, “what exactly do you mean by ‘project management’?” Very few have an immediately good answer. They’ve often just heard it as a need from their reports or their constituents. “Do you have people who need to know how to lay out a GANTT chart or detailed critical path for complex projects like constructing a building or implementing a new corporate information system? Or do you have people who feel overwhelmed with the sheer load of things to do, many of which can’t be finished in a single action step?” Usually, it’s some combination of the two, but mostly it’s the latter.

Allen has a very clear definition of a project. It is anything that requires more than one action to complete. These means that most workers have anywhere from 20-50 projects on their plate at a given time. Also, he believes stress related to projects does not arise from the tactics of doing them, but instead the overwhelm of all the potential tasks to do. Therefore, Allen sees two problems to solve. The first is that organizational approaches to project management are either too complex for the project or not encompassing enough. As he states in the piece:

Problem #1 – I’ve never seen any two of those projects that needed the same amount of planning or detailing of steps to get them under control. It ranges from three bullet points on the back of an envelope in a coffee shop (usually your most productive thinking) to days of intensive planning with a dozen people, pages of outlined steps, critical path, the works. So, most single “project management” model will either under- or over-plan most of your projects. There’s no one-size-fits-all.

To learn about the second problem and his overall conclusions on the topic, please read the rest of his post.

The Perils of Probability – The Monty Hall Problem

May 24, 2026Leave a comment

Have you ever pondered any of these questions?

Should I buy that airline ticket now or wait to see if the price will drop?
Should I buy the extended warranty on my used car or risk possible repair costs?
Should I buy a ticket for the lottery since the jackpot is very high?

Day after day we have to make decisions based on probabilities. Some choices are as simple as packing an umbrella when it’s an 80% chance of rain. Others are more complicated like how to invest retirement account money amongst many fund options. With the rise of prediction markets, more and more people are putting their money down on sports gambling without fully understanding the odds. Alas, many of those people are losing their bets because humans are very bad at understanding probability.

To learn more about the risks of sport betting, listen to the latest season of the excellent podcast, Against the Rules, from Michael Lewis. (Note – as much as the sports betting commercials try to sell you on it, think twice before betting a parlay!)

I explored the challenges we have with understanding probabilities in an article several years ago called Deal or No Deal, Mr Hall! – How We Misunderstand Probability The centerpiece of the article concerns a much-discussed probability puzzle called The Monty Hall Problem. Here is how the problem is described.

You are a contest on Let’s Make a Deal. Your game is to pick one of three doors. Behind one is a new car and behind the other two are goats. (For purposes of play assume you want the car.) Monty Hall invites you to pick a door, so let’s say you choose Door #1. Monty, who knows what is behind each door, opens Door #3 to reveal a goat. Then he gives you the opportunity to switch your choice to Door #2. The question: Are your chances of winning the car better, worse, or no different if you switch doors?

Monty Hall - Game Show Host, from ABC TV — Monty Hall – Past Host of Let’s Make a Deal.

What is your answer?

To learn the right choice, please read the full article on the Efficient Librarian website. Just know in advance that even the smartest college professors got the logic wrong when they first pondered it!

If you are thinking The Monty Hall Problem is merely a fun little puzzle, know that the ramifications of logic errors in other aspects of our lives are significant. Failing to understand probabilities can lead to poor decisions. As I state in the article:

We face a whole host of probabilistic situations throughout our lives. For example, is it worthwhile to buy extended warranties on appliances? To make an informed decision we have to know the probability that the appliance will fail and the projected cost of an uncovered repair. How about the weather? The accuracy of a five-day forecast is much lower than tomorrow’s forecast. Yet we often treat the two forecasts with the same value. Is it a better investment to buy stock in a single company or purchase a market index fund? The truth is that individual stocks are statistically more volatile than a weighted market index, yet most of business articles focus on finding the next home run stock pick.

If you enjoyed reading about The Monty Hall Problem, then I invite you to explore the follow-up article focusing on the logic behind the game show, Deal or No Deal. In that piece, we learn the important lesson that possibilities are not probabilities!

Enjoy and good luck with your next decision!

Can You Manufacture Your Own Luck?

March 29, 2026Leave a comment

Having experienced St. Patrick’s Day a few weeks ago, you may have heard the phrase “The Luck of the Irish.” Perhaps you know people who say they are naturally lucky or unlucky. Most importantly, do you believe that fortune plays an active role in your life and if so, is there anything you can do to change fate?

Over at Forte Labs, Tiago published a guest post from Nir Eyal, author of the book, Beyond Belief. In the book, Eyal explores whether luck is an actual thing. What he discovered is that it is not a gift or curse from the Gods, but instead a specific way to view and interact with the world. In short, luck is not chance. As he describes in his Forte Labs post.

Dr. Richard Wiseman spent over a decade studying why some people feel perpetually “lucky” while others always feel “unlucky.” His research revealed something startling: so-called lucky individuals don’t actually experience more good fortune. They simply see more of it.

Assuming this is true, Eyal claims there are three specific powers that everyone has to generate their own form of luck. The first one is to increase attention on the world around you by noticing what you see.

Your beliefs act as perceptual filters, determining what information makes it through to your conscious awareness and what gets dismissed as irrelevant.

Lucky people train themselves to look wider. They notice the peripheral. They stay curious about the unexpected.

Beyond the three specific powers (read the post to learn what they are), Eyal lists five practices that will help generate more luck in your life. One of them is to prime your attention daily.

Each morning, ask yourself: What opportunities might I overlook today? This simple question shifts your attentional filter from narrow task-focus to broader opportunity-awareness.

To improve your fortune, learn about the other two powers and the remaining four practices by reading the rest of the post on Forte Labs.

Is It Ever Too Late?

March 8, 2026Leave a comment

Have you ever heard someone say, “It’s too late to pursue that dream.”

When we are young, it seems like there is an abundance of time and energy to complete every goal set, finish every project started, and see the entirety of the world. Then as we grow older, time slips away and those youthful dreams feel unobtainable. And while some avenues may realistically close up as we age (like becoming an Olympic athlete in your fifties) is it really ever too late to chase most dreams?

According to Shola Richards, the answer is an solid “NO!” In a recent post on his website titled It’s Never Too Late, he explores why people give up on goals.

It’s never too late to do anything. So, why do we often think that it is? …

Sure, those dreams can be pushed aside, discouraged or ignored, but if you think that by saying “it’s too late” will succeed in killing those dreams, then I’ve got some really bad news for you.

Our dreams are persistent AF, and as long as you live, …

Shola clearly states that the only time your dreams die is when you do! In other words, so long as there is breath in the body there remains a path forward to obtain the goals that inspire and excite. He says:

Your dreams didn’t come to you so that you could throw your weakest excuses at them. They came to you so that you could literally do the damn thing.

If nothing else, remember this: persistent dreams only visit the souls who have the ability to transform them from imagined reality to actual reality.

With this clarity in mind, why not put this advice into practice.

Take a few minutes to consider the goals, projects, and dreams that have been shelved in your mind. Are you working under the misconception that they are no longer obtainable? Consider them one by one and ask two questions for each:

1/ Does this goal, project, dream, still excite me?

2/ Is there a very specific, undeniable, hard truth, no arguments about, scientifically valid reason this goal, project, dream is no longer obtainable?

If the answer is YES on question one and NO on question two, then I invite you to reengage. Write down exactly what success would look and feel like for this endevour. Then create ONE actionable item that can be done to move it forward in the next 24 hours.

Once that’s complete, decide on the next step and the next one after that. Before you know it, the dream will be realized.

Enjoy the journey!

Temptation Bundling – A Way to Get Things Done

March 1, 2026Leave a comment

One of the biggest struggles in our lives is wanting to do things we enjoy versus the doing the things we resist but are good for us. Some days it feels like we have the proverbial angel on one shoulder and devil on the other. Is there any way to get past this struggle?

In a recent newsletter, Charles Duhigg pointed to a research study titled: “Holding the Hunger Games Hostage at the Gym.” Beneath the playful framing is a serious idea with powerful implications. The study explores a concept called temptation bundling. The study authors define it this way:

“Temptation bundling involves the coupling of instantly gratifying ‘want’ activities… with engagement in a ‘should’ behavior that provides long-term benefits but requires the exertion of willpower.”

The researchers tested this concept at a university gym. Study participants were given access to high quality audiobooks, but only while physically at the gym. If they wanted to hear the next chapter, they had to show up to the gym and exercise

The result? Gym attendance jumped dramatically compared to the control group. Even more telling was that when the experiment ended, a majority of participants were willing to pay to keep the restriction in place. The study points to an intriguing finding. We often frame productivity challenges as moral ones: “I need to be more focused.” “I need to stop procrastinating.” But temptation bundling suggests a different framing. Instead of trying to suppress the “want,” we can strategically attach it to the “should.” Packaging the reward and chore together will maximize results.

The key is exclusivity. The temptation has to be contingent on the productive behavior. If you can binge the audiobook anywhere, the gym loses its leverage. Temptation bundling isn’t about tricking yourself. It’s about acknowledging how motivation actually works and building systems that cooperate with human nature rather than fight it.

Although it is written in a scholarly style that doesn’t make for easy reading, I invite you to view the full article to learn more. Then go ahead and figure out how to use temptation bundling in your own life.

The Wednesday Rule

February 9, 2026Leave a comment

How many times have you looked back on a recent decision and wished you had done something different?

Regret happens far too often. It would be helpful if there was a way to consider the wisdom of your future self before making a decision today without the need for a time machine. However, maybe we can bend time and space after all. Not with a time machine, but instead with the assistance of a little imagination.

The Minimalists have created a simple approach to decision making that anyone can use to avoid future regret. It is called the Wednesday Rule. They explained it in a post on their website.

Here’s how it works…

Before you make a decision, simply ask yourself one question:

Will I be delighted with this decision next Wednesday?

It’s that simple.

They claim this approach can be used for any type of decision. By imagining how your future self will look back on this choice is surprisingly easy to do. The answer you receive will be revealing.

If the answer is yes, then it’s probably a good decision.

However, if the answer is No, I will not be delighted by this decision, then the decision is already made for you:

When in doubt, opt out.

What decision are you facing right now? Consider the options and then think ahead to the future having selected each one in turn. The correct choice may reveal itself immediately.

Read the whole post on the Minimalists website.

The Power of Deep Reading

January 25, 2026Leave a comment

We are a culture of shallow readers.

What does that mean? Nowadays, most people only read short sentences or paragraphs from social media or news stories. While this can keep people abreast of surface level information, it fails to provide a deeper understanding of the world. How bad is the problem? Worse than you think!

In a recent article on the Conversation website, JT Torres and Jeff Saerys-Foy argue that deep reading is important for our wellbeing. They start the article titled Deep reading can boost your critical thinking and help you resist misinformation – here’s how to build the skill, with a clear picture of the challenge.

The average American checks their phone over 140 times a day, clocking an average of 4.5 hours of daily use, with 57% of people admitting they’re “addicted” to their phone. Tech companies, influencers and other content creators compete for all that attention, which has incentivized the rise of misinformation.

Considering this challenging information landscape, strong critical reading skills are as relevant and necessary as they’ve ever been.

The authors go on to explain why they believe that deep reading is a vital skill to master.

As a cognitive scientist and a literacy expert, we research the ways people process information through reading. Based on our work, we believe that deep reading can be an effective way to counter misinformation as well as reduce stress and loneliness. It can be tough to go deeper than a speedy skim, but there are strategies you can use to strengthen important reading skills.

So how does one become a deep reader? The authors suggest a few strategies. One simple approach is to slow down.

Simply being aware of how digital reading practices shape your brain can encourage new attitudes and habits toward how you consume information. Just pausing can reduce susceptibility to misinformation. Taking a few extra seconds to consciously judge information can counteract illusory truth, indicating that intentionally slowing down even just a bit can be beneficial.

Reading deeply means being able to intentionally choose when to read at different speeds, slowing down as needed to wrestle with difficult passages, savor striking prose, critically evaluate information, and reflect on the meaning of a text. It involves entering into a dialogue with the text rather than gleaning information.

To learn more ways to build deep reading skills, please read the rest of their article.

Give Yourself a Gift – Take Time Off!

December 14, 2025Leave a comment

With the holiday season fully upon us, no doubt you have made a gift list for the loved ones in your life. However, what do you plan to gift yourself? While new clothes and fancy toys are always fun, why not give yourself a gift that improves your health and leads to greater connection opportunities. It is the simple act of taking time off.

In an article for Psychology Today titled, The Importance of Taking a Break from Work, clinical psychologist Monica Vermani explores the reasons why taking time off of work is a health care prescription. She starts the article with the sad fact that most Americans fail to take their allotted vacation time.

According to a recent Pew Research survey, 46 percent of employees take less time off than their employer offers. In 2022, according to Qualtrics research, American workers left an average of 9.5 vacation days unused. Recent Canadian statistics paint an even bleaker picture, with just 29 percent of employees taking full advantage of paid time off.

That’s not all. In a 2023 ELVTR poll of 2,300 North American employees, most reported working while on vacation. Many also reported that weekends and nonworking hours are far from off-limits.

This failure to disconnect from work can lead to burn-out and other health issues. Therefore, Vermani advocates for taking a true and complete break from work. She points out that doing this is vital to your mental health.

The value of taking that postponed vacation and setting reasonable boundaries around minimizing communication with work colleagues outside of working hours are many, including stress and burnout prevention, gaining new perspectives on workplace stressors, improving mental and physical health, and improved sleep. Furthermore, vacations can be especially effective at raising levels of happiness, making time to reconnect with family and friends, and exploring locations and activities that foster joy and inspiration. Vacation time is also known to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. Time away from the daily grind also expands our creative abilities.

She then shares why setting heathy boundaries is important to everyone.

Our time and energy are valuable—and finite—assets. At the end of the day, it is our responsibility to build healthy boundaries around our finite resources. Building healthy boundaries is all about prioritizing our mental and physical health, well-being, and needs, and building awareness of the causes and signs of workplace burnout, including trouble concentrating, exhaustion, irritability, a decrease in productivity, and physical symptoms, like headaches, muscle aches, gastrointestinal issues, and changes in sleep routines.

To learn more, including her six steps to creating a healthier work/life balance, please read the rest of the article. In the meantime, it is not too late to schedule that holiday vacation. Whether it is a trip out of town or staying home, either way make sure you enjoy some much-needed downtime.

Efficient Librarian

Exploring the Intersection of Efficiency and Librarianship

Category: Cognative Errors