One of the researchers mentioned in the article, Roy Baumeister, wrote a book that I enjoyed (entitled "Willpower"). He gave a talk about willpower and glucose levels which you can see some of here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vefDeoXCBbk

It's not a completely pop-science book, more a translation of his research into an approachable lay-person format. I recommend it.

(edit - link to book: http://www.amazon.com/Willpower-Rediscovering-Greatest-Human... )

I really liked Succeed by Halvorson, as well as Willpower by Baumeister and Tierney. The former covers research on setting goals, the latter covers research on being more disciplined. Both book are a great blend of interesting studies and practical advice.

Amazon links: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0452297710 and http://www.amazon.com/dp/0143122231

Thorough book notes: http://www.quora.com/Leo-Polovets/Exceptionally-long-book-no... and http://www.quora.com/Leo-Polovets/Exceptionally-long-book-no...

That research eventually turned into a great book: http://www.amazon.com/Willpower-Rediscovering-Greatest-Human...

Probably the most useful bit or research (also described much less technically in that book) is this:http://books.google.com/books?id=7CeE67IrVDUC&pg=PA130&#...

I read Willpower (http://www.amazon.com/Willpower-Rediscovering-Greatest-Human...) recently and took extensive book notes. A few of my friends enjoyed the notes and thought they might be of interest to the HN crowd.

Here is what I did. Perhaps it would work for you:

- Create a todo list. Each thing must be specific, measurable and unambiguous. Update it every day, first thing. - Grab a copy of "Will Power": http://www.amazon.com/Willpower-Rediscovering-Greatest-Human... Awesome book. - Find someone to work with, or an accountability group. Working with someone is a great motivator for me. - Track your time. See how much time you're spending on which thing, (or nothing). - If you've been procrastinating on something or more than a month, then maybe you should remove it from your list. - Have a clear understanding of where you're going and why. Perhaps your expectations of yourself are too high?

I use to not eat breakfast everyday for 18+ years. it was something I just didn't do. It wasn't until 2 years ago that I started feeling the effects: chronic fatigue, I was always feeling lethargic, etc. eating breakfast changed everything (a healthy diet really).

Check out this book about Willpower and the role of glucose. http://www.amazon.com/Willpower-Rediscovering-Greatest-Human...

The article was written by one of the coauthors of Willpower (http://www.amazon.com/Willpower-Rediscovering-Greatest-Human...). I read this book last week and it was terrific. A great blend of fascinating studies and practical advice. Also, while many pop psych books rehash the same studies over and over, Willpower featured many results that I had not encountered before, like these findings about parole hearings. Highly recommended book.

A really excellent followup to the study that was linked to around here about 6 months ago that found out "willpower" is an exhaustible resource that needs to be managed throughout your day.

The book[1] this article is reviewing discusses learning to exercise your will power through little mini tasks throughout the day (sit up straight, don't curse, don't eat the whole cake, pickup your desk before going to lunch, etc.) as a means of strengthening that skill.

In their studies they found that employing little tasks like that actually made the willpower muscle (let's call it) stronger, leading to more control over your day.

As to "why do I care?" both studies show that people with more willpower generally end up happier with their lives.

This article does make an interesting point that people with ultimate willpower are not markedly happier than people with nominal amounts of it, so you don't necessarily need to train your willpower muscle to the point of entering the willpower olympics, just slightly stronger than you have now (assuming it is weakened) to enjoy a happier life.

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Willpower-Rediscovering-Greatest-Human...