A few good takeaways, a mess of ancillary

There are some good practical tips in here about organizing thought, to-do lists, information, and physical environment, but I was distinctly bothered by the many chapters that did not seem to belong in this book at all and were shallow repeats of topics in many other pop-science books.

Do we really need another chapter on probability theory and our failures in understanding it? Or about information theory?

The sections about memory were deep and interesting, those about social relationships, business, and ethics, regrettably shallow.

maybe read chap 1 and 3...maybe read something else.

20 people found this helpful

Finally a book about productivity that delivers!

This is one crazy interesting book! It's long yes. And some reviewers find it way too long.

Me? I find it amazingly well-written, well-edited and deep. Daniel explores various concepts and elegantly connects them in a brilliant fashion.

This is one of those book I hope will never end. Each minute is packed full of info. No fluff in this book.

Beware though: the book does talk a lot about the various regions of the human brain, their interconnectedness and role in various situations related to procrastination, productivity, organisation, etc. So if you'd rather like a lighter read, this book probably isn't for you.

But if you like books with more substance, ones that challenge you, and have perhaps read and enjoyed Your Brain at Work: this book will be a surprisingly good listen for you.

77 people found this helpful

An Amazing Insight to Our Mind and How to Look at the World Around Us

This was one of the most enjoyable books I have listened to in a long time.

To start with I learned more about the human brain and how it works in this book than anyone that I have ever listen or read before. More importantly, the way the author presents the parts of the brain and how they function makes them far more comprehensible than others that I have tried to read. I found myself retaining and actually using the information in my every day life when I was thinking about something I would reflect and think "oh this is happening so I must be using this portion of my brain." The result of that increased understanding

12 people found this helpful

Pretentious and pedantic - Not helpful at all

Coming to this book, I thought I was going to get something that explained how one could organize their mind better in an age of information overload. Ironically, the book itself was information overload. It's like being handed a book on combustion engines when you ask how to turn a car on. I got the feeling like this guy is a self-important academic who likes the sound of his own voice and thinks that word count equals intelligence.

9 people found this helpful

Ironically Disorganized Book

The opening chapter got me very excited. And then I steadily grew more and more frustrated. This is a well-written book, but instead of staying focused on the mind or organization or similar topics, it frequently sidetracks into rants on topics as diverse as alternative science, education methods, generational differences, and prostate cancer. Each piece was okay, but the scattered topics and occasional bias (for example, he's clearly not a digital native) left me very disappointed.

27 people found this helpful

A great book on how you mind & how to be organized

What did you love best about The Organized Mind?

The book explains how you mind tricks you and what you need to do to be organized. With this information I've been able to more effectively use organizational systems I was already familiar with and adapt them to my own traits.

What other book might you compare The Organized Mind to and why?

The closest book I've read was "Your Deceptive Mind: A Scientific Guide to Critical Thinking Skills", but this focuses more on the effect of some of the same issues with thinking on science.

Which scene was your favorite?

When the author talks about how highly organized people organize their mail.

What insight do you think you’ll apply from The Organized Mind?

I have been able to organize my email more effectively using the principles in this book.

Any additional comments?

I would recommend anyone who's job revolves around email to read this book and most others.

8 people found this helpful

Excellent reas for any professional

Where does The Organized Mind rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is an excellent book to understand how the mind works. The things we are taught to believe about how to learn or how memory works is so wrong. This Levitin does an excellent job at debunking some of those misconceptions. But the real value is in helping you organize your thoughts and your daily life.

Any additional comments?

Two criticisms I would make, and this happens in audio books all the time; reading the text without pause from the chapter heading on through, and speaking our URLs. Reading without pause makes it sound like the chapter heading is part of the chapter text and is confusing. Spelling out a URL, especially a long one is ridiculous. I am hearing an audio book, what value is it to read that to me? Just put that in the book page where the reviews are.

26 people found this helpful

An intelligence journey

Simply put, I just feel smarter after listening to this book. The range is vast and most topics I found interesting to fascinating.

7 people found this helpful

Great companion to Deep Work

Extremely useful book. Just like breathing for a swimmer, this teaches you the ways of the brain in your life. It was enlightening to learn about the cave-men era legacy still shaping our view(s) of the world.

5 people found this helpful

Yikes! This is LONG!!!

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I would probably change most everything about this book. I felt SO incredibly blessed this evening when I heard the "Audible hopes you have enjoyed this program." There's a LOT of really great information in this book, which kept me listening, but I didn't feel that it was true to its title or that it was organized around much of anything other than how the mind itself organizes things.

What was most disappointing about Daniel J. Levitin’s story?

The most disappointing thing about this story is that I expected this book to be about how I can keep myself better organized in a world where information is coming from all directions. This book is about the science and research around how our mind organizes information. If you are or were a psych major, you've likely heard most of this before.

What about Luke Daniels’s performance did you like?

Luke Daniels's performance is good. He attempts to change tone and inflection at times to signify other speakers in the book. It's overdone and a little odd in places, but I overall appreciate the effort. His speech is clear and easy to understand, and his voice is not monotone.

Did The Organized Mind inspire you to do anything?

Yes. To make phone calls so that I would have an excuse not to listen to the book. I did try to look up a couple of examples of research in the book, but that was about it.

Any additional comments?

I think this book has SO much potential, but it feels more like a literature review from a doctoral dissertation than a nonfiction book. Even at that, I had serious problems understanding how all the material was connected. It didn't logically flow together for me.

5 people found this helpful