Nir’s Note: Noah Kagan is the Chief Sumo at AppSumo and runs a YouTube Channel with over 1 million subscribers. His new book, Million Dollar Weekend , is out now. Airbnb began as a weekend project when the founders sent an email offering their living-room air mattress to hotelless attendees of a major design conference. Facebook started when Mark Zuckerberg built a clone of ConnectU over the weekend and told everyone in his dorm about it. Even Microsoft began with Bill Gates making software quic...
Mar 11, 2024•8 min
How can we become more discerning buyers in a world that encourages us to spend? We have to stop falling for subtle sales psychology tactics. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: Sales Psychology: Why You Make Terrible Buying Choices https://www.nirandfar.com/sales-psychology/ Nir And Far, a podcast about business, behaviour and the brain by Nir Eyal. If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe on iTunes and leave an iTunes review. It will greatly help new listeners discover the show. Plea...
Mar 05, 2024•10 min
Hindsight bias occurs when people feel that they “knew it all along” – when they believe that an event is more predictable after it becomes known than it was before it became known 2 . In other words, when we’re looking back at an event after it already happened, knowing that outcome influences our perception of the events leading up to it. Nir And Far, a podcast about business, behaviour and the brain by Nir Eyal. If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe on iTunes and leave an iTunes review....
Feb 26, 2024•25 min
You could feel the excitement buzzing through the WhatsApp channel. An A-list fitness guru reportedly spending millions of dollars yearly to reverse aging was in town to hold an in-person workout. Without hesitating, I signed up. I was interested in seeing Mr. Guru in action and eager to be inspired by his approach. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: Listening to Fitness Gurus is Making You Fat https://www.nirandfar.com/fitness-guru-myth/ Nir And Far, a podcast about business, behaviour ...
Feb 19, 2024•11 min
Whenever you have a disagreement with someone you care about and who cares about you, pose this straightforward question: “How important is this to you on a scale of 1 to 10?” The size of the disagreement doesn’t matter. Whether it’s about dinner choices or naming your first-born child, this method helps avoid unnecessary disagreements and keeps relationships strong (most of the time, see exceptions below). You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: Score Your Spats: How to Stop Arguing and Enha...
Feb 05, 2024•14 min
Understanding the distinction is the first step to managing your time Because I write about distraction and how to avoid it , I often get asked the question “Aren’t distractions sometimes a good thing? Don’t we all need some distraction in our lives?” Nope! You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: The Crucial Difference Between Distraction and Diversion https://www.nirandfar.com/distraction-vs-diversion/...
Jan 29, 2024•5 min
End boring, useless meetings once and for all. We’ve all been in a dumb meeting—one that makes you think, “This doesn’t even apply to me,” “I’m learning nothing from this,” or, worst of all, “ This meeting could have been an email .” I’m sure you’ve commiserated with colleagues over what a time suck dumb meetings can be. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: This Meeting Could have Been an Email: From Time Suck to Unstuck https://www.nirandfar.com/meeting-could-be-an-email/ Nir And Far, a p...
Jan 15, 2024•15 min
Some days, the world seems intent on sabotaging your timeboxed calendar . A meeting goes longer than expected. The daycare center calls to say that your child is ill and has to be picked up ASAP. A project you thought would take an hour to complete instead took three. Before you know it, the end of the day arrives, and you’ve barely given time to the tasks you had wanted to do. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: Scheduling for Life’s Surprises: When Timeboxing is Toast: https://www.niran...
Dec 18, 2023•14 min
I sit down and chat with author, Devorah Heitner about her latest book, Growing Up in Public. Nir And Far, a podcast about business, behaviour and the brain by Nir Eyal. If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe on iTunes and leave an iTunes review. It will greatly help new listeners discover the show. Please visit my website Nir and Far for other info about my writing, books and teaching: http://www.nirandfar.com/
Dec 04, 2023•42 min
Venture capital (VC) is a great opportunity for new entrepreneurs seeking to bring a product to life—but the funding is incredibly difficult to secure. A 2021 Harvard Business Review survey of almost 900 VC firms found that they consider 101 opportunities on average for every deal they close. Still, the benefits of VC funding are clear. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: How to Build an Irresistible Product for VC Investors https://www.nirandfar.com/irresistible-for-vc/ Nir And Far, a po...
Oct 16, 2023•15 min
Embrace doing something for just a little while Numerous articles detail the routines of the most successful people in the world: Apple CEO Tim Cook wakes up at 3:45 a.m. and exercises. Actor and producer Reese Witherspoon eats the same healthy breakfast every day. Oprah meditates early . Author Tim Ferriss journals daily . Society has become so focused on productivity hacks and packing the most into every day that we think of long-term, consistent routines as the gold standard for spending our ...
Oct 09, 2023•18 min
Dreaming of retirement helps you fantasize about your ideal life—and potentially have it now Imagine your retirement. Are you picturing long, lazy days on a tropical beach under coconut trees? Maybe you’ve opted for a life of adventure, traveling to all the places you haven’t been to yet. Perhaps the science fiction novel you’ve always wanted to write is finally pouring out of you. You might spend all your time volunteering for a social or political cause. Or maybe you even go back to work, but ...
Sep 25, 2023•16 min
I sit down with Peter Atwater to find out more about how social mood affects decision making, the economy and the markets. Nir And Far, a podcast about business, behaviour and the brain by Nir Eyal. If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe on iTunes and leave an iTunes review. It will greatly help new listeners discover the show. Please visit my website Nir and Far for other info about my writing, books and teaching: http://www.nirandfar.com/...
Aug 21, 2023•38 min
I sit down and chat with Nick Allen, founder of the mindful drinking app, Sunnyside.
Jul 31, 2023•31 min
Help them make the most of it by becoming “indistractable” The end of the school year is a magical time. Kids have made it through a grueling year of groggy early mornings, rigid class schedules, piles of homework, and endless extracurriculars. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: How to Craft an ‘Indistractable’ Summer Schedule for Your Kids https://www.nirandfar.com/summer-schedule-for-kids/ Nir And Far, a podcast about business, behaviour and the brain by Nir Eyal. If you enjoy this pod...
Jul 10, 2023•28 min
Become Indistractable to conquer the paradigm shift What would it look like if the world moved toward a four-day workweek? The organization, 4 Day Week Global , did a 6-month study of 900 employees across 33 U.S. and Irish businesses in 2022. The study was based on the 100-80-100 model: Employees received 100 percent of their pay for working 80 percent of the time at 100 percent of the productivity. Participating employees rated the four-day workweek a 9.1 out of 10, claiming it reduced their bu...
Jul 03, 2023•18 min
Summary. The rise of remote work has made corporate leaders paranoid, thinking they must monitor their employees’ every digital move in order to maintain productivity. But while people often zero in on Facebook, TikTok, or Netflix as potential sources of employee distraction , in truth, we’re often more distracted by the ways in which we work today. Here are four strategies to help managers get to the root causes of what’s distracting their employees: 1) Open a dialogue about distractions; 2) Sc...
Jun 26, 2023•20 min
I sit down with Adam Alter to discuss his new book, Anatomy of a Breakdown. Nir And Far, a podcast about business, behaviour and the brain by Nir Eyal. If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe on iTunes and leave an iTunes review. It will greatly help new listeners discover the show. Please visit my website Nir and Far for other info about my writing, books and teaching: http://www.nirandfar.com/
May 22, 2023•29 min
We get by with a little help from our friends Now, more than ever, we have to be smart with our money. Consumer prices at one point increased 9.1 percent from June 2021 to 2022, and financial experts are wary of an economic recession. Yet navigating our personal finances and adhering to a budget can be a daunting task. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: Money Buddies: Don’t Go It Alone with Your Wallet https://www.nirandfar.com/money-buddy/ Nir And Far, a podcast about business, behaviou...
May 08, 2023•29 min
Busting these myths will set you free from productivity woes Every time I hear a productivity myth described as fact, I cringe as if listening to a snake oil salesman peddle his cures. Let me tell you, when I was writing my second book, Indistractable , I endlessly researched productivity and time management. I tried a lot of recommended methods and techniques myself. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: 5 Productivity Myths Ruining Your Life https://www.nirandfar.com/productivity-myths/ N...
May 01, 2023•24 min
I discuss the overall impact of AI with Robert Glazer, founder and CEO of Acceleration Partners. Nir And Far, a podcast about business, behaviour and the brain by Nir Eyal. If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe on iTunes and leave an iTunes review. It will greatly help new listeners discover the show. Please visit my website Nir and Far for other info about my writing, books and teaching: http://www.nirandfar.com/...
Apr 28, 2023•33 min
Uncover the real sources behind six habits secretly causing misery and learn simple ways to break them for a happier life. You wake up in the morning irritable and groggy but determined to be productive. Yesterday didn’t go well. It always seems as if there are not enough hours in the day . You didn’t complete even the one big priority project that would have taken just a couple of hours if you’d focused. Still, you spent all day on the computer, even leaving your partner to handle dinnertime al...
Apr 17, 2023•24 min
The German writer and philosopher Goethe believed he could predict someone’s future based on one simple fact. “If I know how you spend your time,” he wrote, “then I know what might become of you.” Seeing how you spend your time reveals your values and, thus, shows where your investment of time, attention, and effort will lead you. The trouble is that too many of us spend too much time distracted rather than focused on the things that matter. Wasting time on distractions , which we’ll later regre...
Apr 10, 2023•12 min
I visit with John Wolford about how he has utilized my tips for fighting distraction in my book Indistractable. Nir And Far, a podcast about business, behaviour and the brain by Nir Eyal. If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe on iTunes and leave an iTunes review. It will greatly help new listeners discover the show. Please visit my website Nir and Far for other info about my writing, books and teaching: http://www.nirandfar.com/...
Apr 03, 2023•41 min
I visit with Jonah Berger about what is inspiration was behind his new book Magic Words . Nir And Far, a podcast about business, behaviour and the brain by Nir Eyal. If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe on iTunes and leave an iTunes review. It will greatly help new listeners discover the show. Please visit my website Nir and Far for other info about my writing, books and teaching: http://www.nirandfar.com/
Mar 27, 2023•25 min
I visit with Angela Duckworth, author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance and podcaster behind Grit and Beyond about her secret behind not procrastinating when she is at work. Nir And Far, a podcast about business, behaviour and the brain by Nir Eyal. If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe on iTunes and leave an iTunes review. It will greatly help new listeners discover the show. Please visit my website Nir and Far for other info about my writing, books and teaching: http://www.n...
Mar 20, 2023•23 min
I visit with Dr. Mike Rucker about his new book, The Fun Habit. Links mentioned in the interview: The Epidemic of Mental Disorders in Business—How Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Spread across Organizations through Employee Mobility https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/00018392211014819 Hedonism and the choice of everyday activities https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5024602 https://michaelrucker.com/thought-leader-interviews/max-taquet-hedonic-flexibility-principle The Life-C...
Mar 13, 2023•27 min
Nick Gray and Nir Eyal discuss why most parties suck and how you can make the most out of a party and make friends. Nir And Far, a podcast about business, behaviour and the brain by Nir Eyal. If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe on iTunes and leave an iTunes review. It will greatly help new listeners discover the show. Please visit my website Nir and Far for other info about my writing, books and teaching: http://www.nirandfar.com/...
Feb 27, 2023•32 min
A Question and Answer Session with Nir Eyal and Nick Grey. Nir And Far, a podcast about business, behaviour and the brain by Nir Eyal. If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe on iTunes and leave an iTunes review. It will greatly help new listeners discover the show. Please visit my website Nir and Far for other info about my writing, books and teaching: http://www.nirandfar.com/
Feb 20, 2023•29 min
Nir’s Note: This guest post is by Bryan Gentry who writes at Idea Link about finding productivity and satisfaction in life and work. Follow him on Twitter at @brygentry for more insights and occasional dad jokes. If you haven’t finalized your New Year’s resolutions, consider committing to binge-watch a show on a regular basis. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: Make Time for Procrastination in 2023 https://www.nirandfar.com/make-time-for-procrastination/ Nir And Far, a podcast about busi...
Feb 13, 2023•22 min