Self-Hacking: The One Habit Separates The Successful From The Rest

My flatmates say I live like a robot. After waking up at my usual time, I take a cold shower and put on my one set of clothes (of which I own multiple copies, of course). What I eat and when I socialize, exercise, do my laundry and my groceries is similarly predetermined. And everything that’s left — studying and writing — happens according to standardized structures of place, […]

Studying History Is More Important Than Ever

“We’re entering a revolution of ideas while producing a generation that wants instructions instead.” — Seth Godin Albert Einstein is supposed to have said: “Never memorize what you can look up in a book”. In Einstein’s days, books were unequaled as source of information. We, on the other hand, live in an age where nearly everything can be accessed through […]

Process Goals, Because To-Do Lists Are Broken

Fact: goals increase performance. Setting a goal forces you to specify what exactly it is that you want to achieve and approaching your activities with the end in mind yields multiple advantages. Here are two of the most important ones: · Studies show that goals increase motivation. If you, for example, bought a new bike and would like to be able to […]

Why I stopped being busy

“I’m fine! Busy!” The standard reply from 21st-century Westerners when asked how they’re doing. Notice the add-on: mentioning busyness is a mandatory part of answering this ostensibly innocent question. Being busy is a social norm. “Yes, mum and dad, I’ve already cleaned my bed least once this year, passed some of my exams and on top […]