Taking a hard look at how we socialize helps us spend time the way we truly want. The coronavirus pandemic gave us a pause to ask ourselves if we really should go back to the old way of doing things. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: Are We Really Having Fun at Bars or Just Escaping Reality? https://www.nirandfar.com/why-do-people-go-to-bars/?swcfpc=1 Nir And Far, a podcast about business, behaviour and the brain by Nir Eyal. If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe on iTunes and lea...
May 23, 2022•9 min
Books are like stepping stones through a stream — they can help us through obstacles on our path. However, it’s only in retrospect that we realize which books were critical and which were superfluous. I’m surprised I ended up an author. I’m dyslexic, English is not my first language, and writing was always my worst subject in school. Just as surprising as my unlikely path are the mix of books that got me here. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: The 6 Books That Paved My Career as a Behav...
May 16, 2022•13 min
Every building needs a sturdy foundation. Your daily habits are a foundation on which you are building who you are—your values , goals, personality, etc. If you track your daily habits , you may be surprised to find a collection of suboptimal habits: you may not be reaching your full potential. One of those suboptimal habits is being easily distracted. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: The 4 Steps to Becoming Indistractable https://www.nirandfar.com/how-to-be-indistractable/ Nir And Far...
May 09, 2022•9 min
The surprising psychology of why dissatisfaction is hardwired … a good thing! Why are we perpetually restless and unsatisfied? We live in the safest, healthiest, most well-educated, most democratic time in history—and yet, some part of the human psyche causes us to constantly look for an escape from things stirring inside us. As the eighteenth-century poet Samuel Johnson said, “My life is one long escape from myself.” Me too, brother. Me too. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: Why You’re...
May 02, 2022•7 min
Overcoming the fear of being unavailable is essential to making timeboxing stick Too often, people eschew a method of bettering their life by naming the reasons it won’t work for them. “I can’t adhere to that diet because…” “Using an app to find love just isn’t for me because…” People regularly give me similar excuses about timeboxing , a powerful technique I recommend in my bestselling book, Indistractable . You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: The Time Management Technique That Can Work ...
Apr 25, 2022•8 min
Even when something is weighing on your mind, taking a minute to write it out can help you get the most out of your day. Here’s how… Though we may strive in vain to be productive machines all day every day, unexpected life events inevitably get in our way. Maybe you had an argument with a close friend or loved one. Or perhaps you’re figuring out how to care for aging parents, or your child care fell through. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: How a Morning Brain Dump Helps You Stay on Tr...
Apr 18, 2022•7 min
Use the psychology of self-image to transform your habits for good. One of the most effective ways to change your behavior is to change your identity. I don’t mean joining the CIA or a witness protection program, or adopting an alter ego. I mean, rather, changing the way you see yourself. Our perception of who we are—our identity or self-image—has a dramatic effect on our future actions. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: The Key to Behavior Change is Identity Change https://www.nirandfa...
Apr 11, 2022•5 min
In this episode, I sit down for a discussion with certified ADHD and Life Coach, Caitlin O'Brient Bauer. We talk about how people with ADHD can utilize the techniques I share in my book, Indistractable , to fit their specific needs. Links mentioned in the podcast: SF ADHD Coach www.sfadhdcoach.com CHADD - Children & Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder ADDA - Attention Deficit Disorder Association ACO - ADHD Coaches Organization - Coach Directory ADDCA - ADD Coach Academ...
Apr 04, 2022•54 min
When large swaths of the U.S. population transitioned to work from home in March 2020, they lost that critical physical boundary between their work domain and other life domains. As a result, those facets of life have bled into each other, with work often taking precedence. A September 2021 study showed Americans’ work week has gotten 10 percent longer; it determined the length of a workday based on when employees sent their first and last messages each day. What does that mean? You can read the...
Mar 28, 2022•6 min
It may seem counterintuitive, but spontaneity often can’t happen without a bit of advanced planning In a 2020 study , 72% of people said they feel happier after a spontaneous act. Those who described themselves as a “spontaneous person” were 40% more likely to consider themselves a “happy person.” Of course, free time for spontaneity is hard to come by. That’s why I say the key to spontaneity is timeboxing , a powerful method for getting things done that involves planning out periods of time eac...
Mar 21, 2022•6 min
Do you play pool? I sure don’t. But I know enough about the game to use it as a metaphor for the hidden reasons we don’t do what we say we will. The object is to get balls into pockets using a big stick. However, you can’t just hit the balls into the pockets with the stick directly, you first have to get a white cue ball to smack the right ball in just the right way. So here’s the question: What causes the balls to go into the pocket? You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: To Fix Your Proble...
Mar 14, 2022•5 min
It was 9 a.m. and Wendy, a freelance marketing consultant, knew exactly what she needed to do for the next hour: be in her office chair to write new client proposals, the most important task of her day. She fired up her laptop and opened the client’s file on her screen, eager to win new business. As she held her coffee mug with both hands and took a sip, a fantastic addition to the proposal entered her head. “This is going to be great!” she thought to herself. But before she had a chance to writ...
Mar 07, 2022•8 min
That magical zone is great when you can find it. But what happens when you can’t? The idea of flow is considered by many to be the epitome of productivity. Also known as “being in the zone” or “hitting your stride,” flow captivates us with its promise of becoming so absorbed in what we’re doing that we tackle tasks effortlessly. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: The Pursuit of ‘Flow’ Is Overrated https://www.nirandfar.com/the-pursuit-of-flow-is-overrated/ Nir And Far, a podcast about bu...
Feb 28, 2022•7 min
Pursuing knowledge is great until it becomes a distraction We live in a world of too much information, and it’s nothing less than a blessing. Throughout most of human history, access to knowledge was limited. Power equated to how much information you had access to. Kings built great libraries, and texts were rare and valuable things. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: How to Survive in a World of Information Overload https://www.nirandfar.com/dealing-with-information-overload/ Nir & ...
Feb 21, 2022•8 min
Digital distractions can get in the way of being fully present with the people we love. Here’s how to (politely) do something about it. Are we ever exclusively in our friends’ company? Our phones are almost assuredly present and ready to interrupt us with a poorly timed notification. Who hasn’t seen a friend divert their attention, mid-conversation, to reflexively check their phone? Most of us simply accept these interruptions as a consequence of our times. You can read the Nir And Far blog post...
Feb 14, 2022•6 min
Researchers believe that when a task isn’t sufficiently rewarding, our brains search for something more interesting to think about. You have a big deadline looming, and it’s time to hunker down. But every time you start working, you find that, for some reason, your mind drifts off before you can get any real work done. What gives? What is this cruel trick our brains play on us, and what do we do about it? You can read the NirAndFar blog post on: How to Tame Your Wandering Mind and Actually Get S...
Feb 07, 2022•9 min
Most people are stingy with their money and generous with their time. Here’s why that’s backward. Have you noticed how we use the same words to describe our relationship to time as we do our relationship to money? We spend time, just as we spend money. We make time, just as we make money. We pay attention, just as we pay with dollars and cents. You can read the NirAndFar blog post on: If You Don’t Plan Your Time, Someone Else Will https://www.nirandfar.com/plan-your-time-or-someone-else-will/ Ni...
Jan 31, 2022•7 min
Finding an accountability buddy is a simple and highly effective way to keep yourself going. When you’re struggling to achieve your personal or professional goals, do you ever wish you could speak with a famous mentor? If only you could connect with a super successful business leader like Jeff Bezos or Meg Whitman, then you’d have the answers you’re looking for. Surely they’d point you in the right direction, right? Think again. You can read the NirAndFar blog post on: You Don’t Need a Mentor. Y...
Jan 24, 2022•7 min
How I Stopped Letting Tech Ruin My Love Life Every night, my wife and I engaged in the same routine: She put our daughter to bed, brushed her teeth, and freshened up. We both slipped under the covers, exchanged knowing glances, and started doing what comes naturally to a couple in bed: we began to lovingly caress our gadgets—she fondled her cell phone, while I tenderly stroked the screen of my iPad. Ooh, it felt so good! We were having a love affair—with our gadgets instead of each other. You ca...
Jan 17, 2022•6 min
There’s nothing wrong with some device time. Just use these tips to make sure your kids don’t overdo it. It’s that time of year when kids have a long break from school and parents and guardians likely have some time off work. What will we do with all that free time? You can read the NirAndFar blog post on: Here’s How to Ensure Your Kids Don’t Spend the Entire Break Staring at Screens https://www.nirandfar.com/kids-on-screens-during-break/ Nir & Far, a podcast about business, behaviour and th...
Jan 10, 2022•10 min
By Annie Graham Many people strive to improve themselves in one way or another. Whether it’s getting more sleep and exercise, or spending more time doing the things we love, our ideal selves drive us to be better. They symbolize our belief in our own potential to live in alignment with our values . The drive to improve is also why strategies and tools that enable us to track our behaviors are so potentially gratifying. It feels good to see ourselves moving closer to our goals. You can read the N...
Jan 03, 2022•8 min
In fifth grade, I was the only Jewish kid in my elementary school class. This was the 1980’s in Central Florida and even though it was a public school, unaffiliated with any church and funded with taxpayer dollars, my teacher taped a poster to the wall in her classroom that read, “ Jesus Is The Reason For The Season .” I wasn’t offended per se. I’m pretty sure at ten, I didn’t know what that word meant. But I could tell the teacher was sending a message to anyone in her class who might have diff...
Dec 27, 2021•7 min
Distractions seem ubiquitous today, but they’ve always been a part of human life. Here’s how to resist them. Distractions impede us from making progress toward the life we want for ourselves. To visualize this, imagine a line that represents the value of everything you do throughout your day. To the right, the actions are positive; to the left, they are negative. The positive actions represent traction: they draw or pull us toward what we want in life. The word “traction,” in fact, comes from th...
Dec 20, 2021•8 min
Trying to build a habit can backfire if you fall for this trap These days, when someone says they want to form a “habit,” what they often mean is that they want to make drudgery effortless. That is, they don’t want to actually do the work, rather they want to have done it—past tense. You can read the NirAndFar blog post on: Habits Are Overrated https://www.nirandfar.com/habit-trap/ Nir & Far, a podcast about business, behaviour and the brain by Nir Eyal. If you enjoy this podcast, ple...
Dec 13, 2021•4 min
This highly effective technique harnesses the power of “loss aversion” to help you reach your goals Probably the only research paper I’ll ever call “delicious” is one called, “ A Tale of Two Pizzas .” In the study, researchers offered one group of people plain pizzas, plus the option to add ingredients for an additional charge. To a second group, they offered topping-loaded pizzas, with the chance to remove ingredients and pay less. Same thing, right? You can read the NirAndFar blog post on: Nee...
Nov 29, 2021•10 min
A pinky promise is a surefire way to make you do what you say you’ll do. People have a long history of breaking promises, to themselves and to others. It’s not lying , per se—rather, it’s a lack of follow-through. We say we’re going to exercise four times a week, or finish that big project, or finally write that blog post, or whatever. But when it comes down to it, we don’t do it. We get distracted and procrastinate . You can read the NirAndFar blog post on: The Pinky Promise: Stick To your Goal...
Nov 22, 2021•5 min
From Homer to Franzen, productive people lean on precommitments as a proven way to stick to their goals. Famed director Quentin Tarantino “never use[s] a typewriter or computer.” He prefers to write screenplays by hand in a notebook. These methods may seem extreme, but desperate times call for desperate measures. These luminaries understand that focus requires not only keeping distraction out, but also keeping ourselves in—learning to practice self-restraint when we would otherwise fall off trac...
Nov 15, 2021•10 min
Contrary to the “ego depletion” theory, willpower is not a depletable resource if you know how to use it wisely. It’s common to hear people complain about feeling “burned out” or “spent” these days. However, these terms conjure a completely incorrect view of willpower–based on a theory psychologists call “ ego depletion .” You can read the NirAndFar blog post on: Good News! Your Willpower Isn’t Limited–Don’t Believe the “Ego Depletion” Theory https://www.nirandfar.com/ego-depletion Nir & Far...
Nov 08, 2021•7 min
Nir’s Note: Author, speaker, and host of “ The Hive Podcast, ” Nathalie Nahai’s work explores the intersection between persuasive technology, ethics, and the psychology of online behavior. Following her best-selling book, Webs of Influence: The Psychology of Online Persuasion , Nathalie’s next book, Business Unusual: Values, Uncertainty and the Psychology of Brand Resilience , is about the psychology behind recent changes in expectations from employees and customers about businesses and their pr...
Nov 01, 2021•9 min
Nir’s Note: Entrepreneur, speaker and consultant, Dorie Clark is a recognized leader in the field of executive education, a topic she teaches at Duke University Fuqua School of Business and Columbia Business School. She has developed over 20 LinkedIn Learning courses on executive education, viewed by hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Dorie is the author of Entrepreneurial You , Reinventing You , and Stand Out , which was named the top leadership book by Inc. magazine and one of the top 10 bu...
Oct 25, 2021•7 min
