Caroline Webb

In How to Have a Good Day, economist and former McKinsey partner Caroline Webb shows readers how to use recent findings from behavioral economics, psychology, and neuroscience to transform our approach to everyday working life.

Advances in these behavioral sciences are giving us ever better understanding of how our brains work, why we make the choices we do, and what it takes for us to be smart and savvy. But it's not always been easy to see how to apply these insights in the workplace – until now.

In How to Have a Good Day, Webb explains how three big scientific ideas can help us be at our best every day. She shows us exactly how to apply this science to our plans, tasks and conversations, in step-by-step guidance that allows us to:

– Set better priorities
– Make the hours go further
– Turn every interaction into a success
– Strengthen our personal impact
– Be resilient in the face of setbacks
– Sustain our energy over the course of the day

Webb teaches us how to be at our best under pressure, and gives us specific tools to tackle common work challenges – from conflict with colleagues, to dull meetings and packed inboxes.

Filled with stories of people who have used Webb's insights to boost their job satisfaction and performance at work, How to Have a Good Day is the book so many people wanted when they finished Nudge, Blink and Thinking Fast and Slow, and were looking for practical ways to apply this fascinating science to their own lives and careers.

A remarkable and much needed book, How to Have a Good Day firmly delivers on its promise, showing us all how to have a lifetime of good days.

Harness the Power of Behavioral Science to Transform Your Working Life

How to Have A Good Day

Fabian Beiner

At its heart, economics is the study of the way people make choices: how we weigh the costs and benefits of different options, and what we decide to do as a result.

In short, the deliberate system is responsible for putting us on our best behavior. […] But our deliberate system isn't actually doing anything in parallel at all; it's switching from one task to another and back again.

Our goals are usually frame din one of two ways. Either they're about doing more of something good, or they're about doing less of something bad. A wide range of research suggests that the first type (known as “approach” goals) are better than the second (“avoidance” goals) at encouraging high performance—even if they're pursuing the same broad outcome. 

Ask yourself: “What positive outcome am I seeking? And what do I need to start doing, or do more, to get that ideal outcome?”

If any of your goals are about avoiding something, turn them around and ask what good thing you'd need to do more of to achieve the same outcome.

Science tells us that we're more likely to get something done if we take a moment to think about why it matters to us personally.

It's usually better to break your big audacious goals into a series of small step-by-step goals that are withing your reach.

An excellent way to reinforce your positive intentions, strangely enough, is to make sure you spend a little time on the negatives. By this, I mean thinking honestly about what's likely to get in the way of achieving your goals, so you can address those obstacles head-on.

A phenomenon known to scientists as the spreading activation effect:

So, if you once spent an afternoon cranking out great work while settled into that window seat, your “window seat” neural network might be connected with the one representing “extremely productive and focused behavior.” 

As a result, you might find yourself getting a subtle efficiency boost whenever you sit there.

(You'll notice I'm saying all these connections might get made. They're not guaranteed.)

Research unequivocally shows that multitasking damages our productivity. 

How to Have A Good Day quotes

Join the club