NOTES ON
MODERN LIFE
Thoughtful books about attention, behaviour, and how intelligent people navigate a world that never slows down.
Notes on Modern Life is a connected series of short books exploring the hidden patterns shaping how we live and work today.
Rather than offering productivity hacks or motivational advice, each book reframes a familiar struggle such as procrastination, overwhelm, self‑doubt, and distraction, and explains what’s actually going on beneath the surface.
These books are designed to reduce friction, not add pressure. To offer clarity, not commandments. And to help capable people stop misdiagnosing themselves.
COMING JANUARY 2027
THE GLASS MASK
Imposter Syndrome And The Illusion Of Not Being Good Enough
Imposter syndrome is usually treated as a confidence problem.
It isn’t.
Feeling like a fraud is often the by-product of growth, self-awareness, and high standards, not incompetence. It’s a predictable psychological response, not a personal failing.
This book explains why capable people doubt themselves, why reassurance rarely works, and why discomfort is so often misread as evidence that you don’t belong.
This isn’t about “believing in yourself more”.
It’s about understanding the mechanism and refusing to let it run the show.
ABOUT THE SERIES
Each book in Notes on Modern Life stands alone, but they’re designed to work together.
The series builds a clearer picture of how attention, identity, and behaviour interact, and why so many people feel stuck despite knowing what matters to them.
Written in a calm, conversational voice, these books aim to be reassuring rather than prescriptive, offering perspective, not pressure.
The books below will be released in 2027 and 2028.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ian Child is a writer and entrepreneur with a long-standing interest in behaviour, attention, identity and the pressures of modern life.
Over the years, his work has explored the gap between what people intend to do and what they actually do. From consistency and execution to overwhelm, distraction and the growing sense that modern life often moves faster than we were designed for.
The Notes on Modern Life series emerged from a simple observation: many of the struggles people experience today are not personal failings, but understandable responses to an increasingly noisy, demanding and fragmented world.
Alongside Notes on Modern Life, Ian is also the author of Ten & Done and Your Own Personal Time Machine, both of which explore similar themes through different lenses.
He lives in the UK.
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