Well, folks, we’ve reached the end of the line. Today, we’re pleased to share our most popular book bite of 2021, as chosen by the ravenously curious users of the Next Big Idea app: “Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortal” by Oliver Burkeman. It’s a book that urges us to resist the siren song of pointless busyness and embrace life’s finitude.

The Next Big Idea returns on February 24th with a big batch of new interview episodes featuring Jill Lepore, Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Ray Dalio, David Chalmers, and other brilliant thinkers.

Special thanks to Mike Toda, who mixed, mastered, scored, and worked magic on every episode in this miniseries.

Want to satisfy your ravenous curiosity? Download the Next Big Idea app today: www.nextbigideaclub.com/app

Does life really have to be so hard? Not according to Greg McKeown it doesn’t. In “Effortless,” he says the path of least resistance is the one we should be on.

Episode Recommendation:

EFFORTLESS: Embrace the Easy Option

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Today, at #3 in our countdown, “How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be” by Katy Milkman. It’s a deeply researched primer on how to defeat temptation, procrastination, and all the other little demons that stand between you and your best possible self.

Episode Recommendation:

HOW TO CHANGE: Science-Backed Tips for Becoming Your Best Self (Katy Milkman & Daniel Pink)

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Today, at #4 in our countdown of last year’s most popular book bites, “The Child in You” by Stefanie Stahl.

Is your inner child your truest self? Clinical psychologist Stefanie Stahl thinks so, as do the one-and-a-half million readers who have snapped up her book. But sometimes childhood traumas, big and small, can keep us from becoming happy, fulfilled adults. In this book, Stefanie uses examples and exercises to guide readers through a process of working through past injuries to become more alive — and childlike — in the present.

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There’s only one place in the world where you can hear hundreds of bestselling authors summarize their books in their own words. Download our app today: www.nextbigideaclub.com/app

Adam Grant needs no introduction, but we’ll give him one anyway. He’s an organizational psychologist at Wharton. He hosts the chart-topping “WorkLife” podcast. And to top it all off, he is one of our curators here at the Next Big Idea Club. In his latest book, Think Again , Adam makes a nuanced case for the power of rethinking things. If you can learn how to check your ego, question your opinions, admit to being wrong, and demilitarize your dinner-table debates, then you’ll be on the way to a healthy, joyous, more enlightened life.

Check out Adam’s full interview with Rufus:

THINK AGAIN: Adam Grant on the Power of Changing Your Mind

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Keeping up with the cognitive demands of modern life has pushed our brains to their limits. But if the world around us won’t change, then we have to. And to do that, according to science writer Annie Murphy Paul, we need to stop being so brain-bound.

Episode Recommendation:

EXTENDED MIND: Want to Get Smarter? Try Thinking Outside of Your Brain

Bonus: Adam Grant and Annie Murphy Paul

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Today, at #7 in our countdown of last year’s best Book Bites, “Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It” by Ethan Kross.

The voice in your head can speak at a rate of 4,000 words per minute. When it gets going like that, not everything it says is particularly helpful. Luckily, there are tools you can use to change the conversation.

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CHATTER: Learning to Love the Voice in Your Head

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We tell ourselves lies in order to live. We believe our marriages will last, even though we know half of them end in divorce. We trick ourselves into thinking our children are extraordinary, because if we saw them for who they really are — average, disobedient, smelly — the body blows of parenting would be more than we could bear. But here’s the thing: these wide-eyed delusions aren’t bad for us. In Useful Delusions, Shankar Vedantam says that the occasional self-deception can actually contribute to your overall well-being. Turns out lying to yourself is part of being a well-adjusted human.

Episode Recommendation:

DELUSIONS: How Self-Deception Can Help You Flourish (Shankar Vedantam & Daniel Pink)

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In her new book, “Smarter Tomorrow,” neuroscientist Elizabeth Ricker says just 15 minutes of neurohacking a day can sharpen your mental skills, supercharge your creativity, and improve your life. You’re probably thinking, “Sounds great. But what’s neurohacking?” Listen and you’ll find out!

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