We know that our minds are capable of great things because, every now and then, they come out with a very brilliant idea or two. However, our minds are also tantilisingly unpredictable, spending worryingly large stretches of time idling or distracting themselves.

This is a book about how to optimise these beautiful yet fitful instruments so that they can more regularly and generously produce the sort of insights and ideas we need to fulfill our potential - and achieve the contentment we deserve. We learn - among other things - how to grasp fragile and flighty thoughts before they disappear through anxiety and fear, at what times of day to try to work and for how long, how to make use of our boredom and instincts - and how to overcome timid and predictable approaches to the largest problems. The result is nothing less than an operating manual to that most wondrous though intermittent and always baffling organ, the human mind.