Summary of Sendhil Mullainathan & Eldar Shafir's Scarcity

By IRB Media

Get the Summary of Sendhil Mullainathan & Eldar Shafir's Scarcity in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. Original book introduction: Busy people fail to manage their time efficiently for the same reasons the poor and those maxed out on credit cards fail to manage their money. The dynamics of scarcity reveal why dieters find it hard to resist temptation, why students and busy executives mismanage their time, and why the same sugarcane farmers are smarter after harvest than before.

Once we start thinking in terms of scarcity, the problems of modern life come into sharper focus, and Scarcity reveals not only how it leads us astray but also how individuals and organizations can better manage scarcity for greater satisfaction and success.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Nov 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9781638159636

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

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Insights on Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir's Scarcity

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

Scarcity can make us more efficient. It forces us to use what we have most effectively, whether that’s a pen or a computer.

#2

Scarcity, or the feeling of limited time, affects us deeply. It makes us focus and work harder, even when working alone.

#3

Deadlines have the ability to increase productivity because they create a sense of urgency, which forces people to focus on the task at hand.

#4

We all have our limits. When those limits are reached, we enter a state of flow. In this state of flow, we become so absorbed in what we’re doing that we enter a state of awareness where we are completely present and focused on the task at hand.

#5

The focus dividend is the result of our natural tendency to focus when faced with a deadline or the accuracy advantage of the poor.

#6

Scarcity has an effect on people at all levels of cognition, from the subconscious to the deliberate.

#7

Firefighters rush to fires, which forces them to prioritize and make quick decisions. But this also makes them susceptible to making fatal mistakes when they’re distracted by other tasks.

#8

Focusing on just one thing means disregarding other important matters. Scarcity causes us to focus intently on what’s important at the moment, disregarding other matters.

#9

When we are under a deadline, we choose