University of Pennsylvania alumnus Alex Soojung-Kim Pang has been studying the relationship between sleep, work, and distraction for decades. From that research, he has learned that working long, hard hours does not lead to greater productivity. He has thrown himself into sharing that message widely.

He first laid out these ideas in his book “Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less.” If you like that book, then you will probably want to read the sequel, “Shorter: Work Better, Smarter, and Less—Here’s How.” Arianna Huffington has lauded his work for providing tools that society needs to do better.

Pang spent his early adulthood working in Silicon Valley think tanks. He knows what it is like to work past the point of exhaustion and have little more to show for it than otherwise. For that reason, he studies the work habits of the world’s most creative, productive people, such as Charles Darwin and Stephen King.