University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
Feel-Good Productivity
A review of

Feel-Good Productivity

How to Do More of What Matters to You

Ali Abdaal • Cornerstone Press • 2023

Strong Feelings

by Patricia Sanders

Humans are emotional creatures — even when they’re working. Productivity expert Ali Abdaal argues that emotions are a source of energy and part of a cycle that fuels motivation and achievement.

In 2018, Ali Abdaal was working as a junior doctor in the UK’s National Health Service while also running a popular YouTube channel to help people pass the entrance exams for medical school. When he found himself teetering on the brink of burnout, he began researching ways to work more sustainably, without sacrificing his productivity. His studies revealed a positive correlation between productivity and emotional well-being. This epiphany led Abdaal to develop his “feel-good productivity” framework.

Since then, Abdaal has become something of a productivity guru, teaching millions how to get energized, overcome procrastination, and avoid burnout. He has interviewed more than one hundred entrepreneurs on his podcast, Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal, and his YouTube channel has nearly six million subscribers.

Comment on this review