Thanks to everyone who voted and left comments on the poll I put up last week asking about the accessibility of PsyBlog. I asked whether you find that PsyBlog is pitched at the right level of complexity for you.

Well, 305 of you voted and here's what you said:

• 1%: Usually too complicated for me, please make it simpler!
• 5%: Sometimes too complicated, it would be better if you explained things more.
• 7%: Sometimes too complicated, but that's fine with me.
• 51%: Almost always at the right level for me.
• 24%: Sometimes too simplistic, but that's fine with me.
• 5%: Sometimes too simplistic, it would be better if you skipped the easy stuff.
• 7%: Usually too simple for me, please increase the complexity!

I'm happy to see that the majority of respondents (just!) are finding PsyBlog is at about the right level for them. But, 36% of you find, at least some of the time, that PsyBlog's content is too simplistic for you; as opposed to 13% finding it too complex. Overall, then, your message as a group seems to be that including a little more complexity wouldn't hurt. I'm mindful, though, of not excluding readers.

It's worth pointing out that this poll is exactly what you would expect since the complexity of the content will tend to attract people who are happy at, or around, that level. And so we go around in a circle...

Still, it's nice to see you arrange yourselves into a fair approximation of a bell-curve type normal distribution. Well done!

[Image credit: Lumaxart]

Making Habits, Breaking Habits

In his new book, Jeremy Dean--psychologist and author of PsyBlog--looks at how habits work, why they are so hard to change, and how to break bad old cycles and develop new healthy, creative, happy habits.

→ "Making Habits, Breaking Habits", is available now on Amazon.

Reviews
The Bookseller, “Editor’s Pick,” 10/12/12 “Sensible and very readable…By far the most useful of this month’s New You offerings.”

Kirkus Reviews, 1/1/13 “Making changes does take longer than we may expect—no 30-day, 30-pounds-lighter quick fix—but by following the guidelines laid out by Dean, readers have a decent chance at establishing fulfilling, new patterns.”

Publishers Weekly, 12/10/12 “An accessible and informative guide for readers to take control of their lives.”

→ You can dip into the first chapter, or check it out on Amazon.com.