Sharp by Therese Huston Book Review

About the Book:

What if your best days weren’t left to chance, but something you could control and activate at will? Most of us want to be a little happier, a little more focused, and a lot less stressed. We want simple approaches that are easy to fold into our everyday lives.

In Sharp, you’ll discover dozens of evidence-backed strategies to help you unlock your potential and enhance your performance—whether at work, school, home, or in relationships.

Cognitive scientist Therese Huston unpacks the latest neuroscience research to deliver a gold mine of techniques to help you feel your sharpest including:

• How a calming deep breathing technique improves decision-making

• Exactly what kind of exercise helps you think on your feet

• What brain science says you should look for in a doctor, and

• How to get focused on your most unfocused days.

Sharp dives into more innovative, actionable tips that can make a difference in your daily routine. Best of all, many of them take five minutes or less.

Whether you want to make fewer mistakes, support your partner through life’s challenges, or simply learn faster, Sharp gives you the tools to do it all, without having to overhaul your entire lifestyle. It’s time to take charge of your mental and emotional well-being with science.

My Review:

I am a septuagenarian and keeping my brain sharp is important to me. Huston offers the latest findings and uses them to create practical actions so I can use my brain better. While she divides her book into ideas for work and for personal life, I found the work ideas good for general use too. I appreciate that individual topics could be read as needed. I really liked her practices at the end of each chapter. She also provides her website where I can find the latest discoveries and insights.

While I knew some of what Huston covers, I really appreciate the information in this is book and will be using the practices she recommends.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

About the Author:

Therese Huston, Ph.D., is a cognitive scientist at Seattle University, where she transforms good science into great strategies. She was the founding director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Seattle University and is now a consultant for their Center for Faculty Development. She is the author of Let’s Talk: Make Effective Feedback Your Superpower; How Women Decide; and Teaching What You Don’t Know and has written for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, TIME, The Guardian, and Harvard Business Review. Therese has led workshops and delivered presentations to Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, and universities across the globe. She lives in Seattle with her husband and their dog, who insists on being the real boss of the household.

Mayo Clinic Press, 320 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)