Not Overthinking

The weekly podcast about happiness, creativity, and the human condition. It's us, Ali and Taimur Abdaal, occasionally joined by guests, talking about things to help us think, do, and be better. Things like social interaction, lifestyle design, mental models... Things that are hard to examine, but important to explore. And hopefully, things that make for a fun and interesting chat every week. We'd love for you to join us.

Last refreshed: March 2nd, 2026 at 12:38 AM ⓘ

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Episodes

What makes an awkward silence?

In this episode, we talk about awkward silences, why we think they happen, how we can stop them happening and whether we should stop them happening at all. We try and understand why we're more comfortable with some people than others, and why car journeys and sleepovers are a great source of deep conversation and human connection. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

May 12, 2019•51 min•Ep. 9

Time management, motivation, productivity etc [Inbetweenasode]

In this Inbetweenasode, Ali answers various questions relating to motivation, productivity, time management and that sort of stuff. It's a bit cheeky because we didn't record a proper episode, but given the need for consistency, we thought we'd repurpose one of his old YouTube videos (50k Q&A) to get a podcast episode out this week. Enjoy! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

May 05, 2019•23 min•Ep. 8

How should we take advice?

We all love getting advice from our audience, our mentors, our seniors, our listeners. In this episode, we discuss some of the feedback we've got about the podcast so far and wonder to what extent we should change things up based on advice. We then generalise this to general life - how should we take advice effectively without over-correcting our internal models based on individual pieces of advice? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.co...

Apr 28, 2019•33 min•Ep. 7

Why do we love our jobs?

This is the first episode that features a guest! Paul Tern, a Cambridge-grad junior doctor who works in London, joins the discussion about why we love our jobs. We start off with some meandering around the history of the 'I want to enjoy my job' mentality, and then share our personal experiences and philosophies about what it means to have fun at work. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Apr 21, 2019•41 min•Ep. 6

Why should you invest in a good kitchen bin?

In this episode, we explore "Measure" — a mental model for spending time and money more effectively. Based on this framework, we conclude that everyone should get a good kitchen bin and a voice coach, and that Ali probably shouldn't get a Tesla. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Apr 14, 2019•43 min•Ep. 5

Why do we struggle with consistency?

In this episode we discuss how consistency in almost every domain is a super power, and come to a few conclusions about what helps us be more consistent with things like morning routines, gym workouts and writing practices. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Apr 07, 2019•38 min•Ep. 4

Why do we hate networking events?

In this episode, we discuss why we hate networking events but love group holidays, and we try and figure out how to better connect with our fellow human beings. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mar 31, 2019•50 min•Ep. 3

Why are we scared to put ourselves out there?

In this episode, we discuss why we were (once) scared to put ourselves out there and how we overcame that fear. Send us your thoughts — hi@notoverthinking.com! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mar 24, 2019•44 min•Ep. 2

Why do we like to be correct?

In this pilot episode of Not Overthinking, we discuss our reasons for starting the podcast, and then have a chat about why we feel the urge to be correct in everyday conversation. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mar 17, 2019•40 min•Ep. 1

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