The Way We Work Isn’t Working by Tony Schwartz ($19 @ Amazon) is a holistic approach to work and a work life balance. It covers exercise, nutrition, sleep, recharging in good detail, drawing lessons from a lot of deeper studies to support the recommendations in the book. The most interesting part, the one that resonated with me, is that success is often built on rituals (patterns). I’ve definitely seen that as I take the time to put stuff on my calendar that I’m a lot more likely to stick to my plan. I’ve also seen that as I get tired I tend to fall into non-productive rhythms and I need the structure that patterns give.
No magic bullet, but some compelling reasons to work on balance in order to maintain productivity and sustainability. Definitely worth reading.