Eat Sleep Work Repeat by Bruce Daisley

Eat Sleep Work Repeat by Bruce Daisley
Published by Harper One ISBN 9780062944504
Hardcover, $25.99, 312 pages

Bruce Daisley, Vice President of Twitter Europe and host of the business podcast Eat Sleep Work, puts his expertise on the page in his new book Eat Sleep Work Repeat.

Using advice from experts in psychology, economics and behavioral science, and citing in his extensive bibliography popular books like Susan Cain's Quiet, Atul Gawande's The Checklist Manifesto, and Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In, Daisley has 30 hacks to help people become more productive and happier at work.

The book is divided into three sections- Recharge, which has advice to make you more productive, Sync, which is geared towards team building, and Buzz, which gives the reader tips from successful teams.

Recharge is the section most relevant to individuals at work, and the section that I found most helpful. The first suggestion begins with multiple studies that posits that the popular "open plan" design of offices, where everyone works in cubicles and no one has offices, doesn't work well. Daisley's conclusion is that the noise and constant distractions of the open plan office create massive amounts of wasted time.

Studies show that people who work in open plan offices take "significantly more sick days", and that when they are at work, they are interrupted an average of every three minutes by coworkers with questions. (That reminds me of being a mom of a toddler.)

Younger workers tend to use headphones at work, a habit that older workers find offensive. However, studies show that people wearing headphones actually allow workers to concentrate on their tasks without being interrupted. Daisley suggests that headphones be allowed for part of the day, say in the morning, and then following the lunch break, no headphones are allowed, which encourages people to share ideas more freely.

Contrary to popular belief in many industries, like finance, working more hours doesn't mean that more work gets done. Dailey cites studies that have concluded that the human brain is hardwired to make a certain number of decisions per day and once you reach that limit, you can't make any more.  The quality of decisions made after working more hours decreases significantly.

Daisley has also concluded that we should complete our most complex tasks before lunch, when our minds are freshest. Taking breaks are important, and he suggests taking a walk during lunch or even holding a meeting during a walk with colleagues can be productive. A change of scenery and fresh air can refresh the mind as well as the body.

Some suggestions Daisley has for employers include cutting the number of meetings in half, having dedicated meeting-free days, and hosting an alcohol-free "Happy Hour" in the office at the end of the week with snacks and beverages to encourage people to interact with colleagues (although he does mention that this may be unfair to parents who have to get home to children).

I found Eat Sleep Work Repeat to be an interesting read, both from the viewpoint of employees and employers. Daisley aggregates several studies, and uses his own vast experience, to share ideas that can make our workdays less stressful and more productive.  Everyone can find something useful here and I recommend it.

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on Bruce Daisley's tour. The rest of his tour is here:

Tour Stops

Monday, February 24th: Living My Best Book Life
Tuesday, February 25th: Man of La Book
Wednesday, February 26th: Tabi Thoughts
Thursday, February 27th: Instagram: @books_with_bethany
Friday, February 28th: Write – Read – Life
Monday, March 2nd: A Bookish Affair
Tuesday, March 3rd: Run Wright
Wednesday, March 4th: bookchickdi
Monday, March 9th: PhDiva
Tuesday, March 10th: Wellreadtraveler
Wednesday, March 11th: Orange County Readers
Thursday, March 12th: Palmer’s Page Turners
Friday, March 13th: Amy’s Book-et List

Friday 5ive- February 28, 2020

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post about five things that caught my attention during the week. I can't believe we are at the end of February, the second month of the year. Where has the time gone?


1) It was a beautiful, sunny day on Sunday so my husband and I took a walk through Central Park. At the entrance to the park, we saw this man walking his dogs. He must have a very large apartment on Fifth Ave.

2) Lent began this week and this window display at Scully & Scully is all ready for Easter.

3)  Susan Elia MacNeal's newest Maggie Hope mystery published, The King's Justice, and she had a discussion of the book at The Community Bookstore in Park Slope. A friend and I made the trek to Brooklyn to hear all about this terrific novel in the series (my review here). If you like the Maisie Dobbs or Bess Crawford series, or the Netflix series The Crown, this is for you. I love to hear about the research that goes into historical novels.

Me and author Susan Elia MacNeal

4)  My new TV obsession is the comedy Schitt's Creek. Created by Dan Levy, it tells the story of an obscenely wealthy family, the Roses, who lose their fortune. When the government confiscates everything they own, the only thing they have left is a small town called Schitt's Creek. The four Roses- businessman father Johnny (played by Eugene Levy, Dan's dad), former soap opera actress Moira (Catherine O'Hara), and their adult children David (Dan Levy) and daughter Alexis (Annie Murphy)- reluctantly move to the town and take up residence in the local motel. The small town characters are wonderfully cast as well (Chris Elliot is the town mayor) and the writing and performances are brilliant. I remember Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara from Canadian sketch comedy show SCTV, and it's great to see them back together. If you aren't watching Schitt's Creek, catch up now on Netflix or Pop TV.

Schitt's Creek

5) I read one book and am in the middle of two others this week. Bruce Daisley's East Sleep Work Repeat - 30 Hacks for Bringing Joy to Your Job has some great tips for both employers and employees on getting more out of your job and being happier and less stressed at work. A full review will follow next week.

East Sleep Work Repeat

I'm in the middle of Saint X, a debut novel by Alexis Schaitkin. It tells the story of a young American college woman who is murdered while on vacation with her family in the Caribbean. Years later her younger sister runs into one of the men accused but not charged with the murder and begins to follow him everyday. It's based on the Natalee Holloway case, and so far (about 1/3 of the way through) it's really very good. I can't wait to get to the end.

Saint X

I also just started Alka Joshi's novel, The Henna Artist. Set in India just after their independence from Great Britain, we learn about Lakshmi, henna artist to many wealthy Indian women. Lakshmi wants to become a matchmaker so she can realize her dream of owning her own home and bringing her parents there to live. It's a very atmospheric book, you feel like you have been dropped into India, with all the sights and sounds. You can almost taste the delicious foods described. My review will publish in the next few weeks.

The Henna Artist