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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast When faced with a challenge, where do you find the insight to move your life forward? Last year, over fifteen million books were sold in the self-help genre.1 That doesn’t account for the videos, courses, and workshops that fuel this multibillion-dollar industry. Include business and diet books, and that number balloons to over $1.7 billion spent on advice-seeking books.2 But there’s a secret the gurus don’t want you to know—many of the answers to life’s most important questions can be found ins...
Oct 18, 2021•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast You’ve surely heard the protest chant: “What do we want? “[Insert social change here.]” “When do we want it?” “NOW!” But imagine walking by a protest and hearing this: “What do we want?” “We’re not really sure!” “When do we want it?” “Whenever you get around to it is fine! Thank you!” Doesn’t have the same ring to it. You can read the NirAndFar blog post on: Can’t Seem to Stick With Your Commitments? Try Making a Pact. https://www.nirandfar.com/making-accountability-pacts/ Nir & Far, a podca...
Oct 11, 2021•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Recently, as I was clearing the dinner table, I asked my daughter if she could wash the dishes. “I was going to, Dad,” she said. “But now that you’ve asked me to, I don’t want to anymore.” I should have known better. This was a classic example of psychological reactance. You can read the NirAndFar blog post on: The Real Reason Why You Sabotage Your Own Goals https://www.nirandfar.com/psychological-reactance/ Nir & Far, a podcast about business, behaviour and the brain by Nir Eyal. If you enj...
Oct 04, 2021•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast To-do lists are supposed to keep us on task. It turns out they do the opposite. I’ve written about the many reasons why . To regain focus and be more productive, it’s far better to create a weekly schedule using a technique called “ timeboxing “. You can’t say you got distracted unless you know what you got distracted from. That is, without knowing how you want to spend your time, there’s no way you’ll spend it intentionally. You can read the NirAndFar blog post on: How to Stay on Schedule Even ...
Sep 27, 2021•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast There’s a much more effective way to conquer your vices. In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone , there’s a scene where a magical plant called Devil’s Snare captures Harry, Ron, and Hermoine. The vines wrap around their bodies like hungry pythons as they struggle to escape. “You have to relax,” Hermione tells the other two. “If you don’t, it’ll only kill you faster.” “Kill us faster?!” shouts Ron, suddenly struggling even more. “Now I can relax!!” Kudos to J.K. Rowling for this brilliant il...
Sep 20, 2021•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast You can create some powerful motivation hacks by learning techniques from the persuasion business. The reason why you hate being micromanaged by your boss is the same reason why, as a kid, you refused to put your coat on when your mom told you to bundle up. We’re all wired with a knee-jerk “don’t tell me what to do!” response called psychological reactance —and it can kick in even when it’s you telling yourself what to do or trying to motivate yourself. You can read the NirAndFar blog post on: S...
Sep 13, 2021•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast I interview psychologist Jocelyn Brewer, founder of Digital Nutrition.™
Sep 06, 2021•46 min•Transcript available on Metacast In my review of The Social Dilemma , I challenged the filmmakers’ rather extreme view that huge swaths of people are “addicted to technology,” that social media is like a dangerous drug that’s hijacking people’s brains, and that big tech companies are trapping people in something akin to The Matrix movie. In response, I got some colorful comments, such as (paraphrasing): “Nir, check your intellectual privilege: you and I are smart enough to escape the trap of social media, but everyone is addict...
Aug 30, 2021•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast When I recently came across the headline “ The World’s Most Influential Values, In One Graphic, ” I couldn’t help but click–a good data visualization is like catnip for me. The chart, compiled by global research company Valuegraphics, shows the results of 500,000 surveys, across 152 languages, about what people think are common values. A few of the answers on the list: freedom of speech, leisure, financial security. I was disappointed. Not because any of those things are bad, but because they ar...
Aug 23, 2021•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
