Here’s a useful tip next time you go to a restaurant: The best dish on the menu is often the first dish you ever ordered while eating at that place. Why? Well if you live in a big enough city, with enough locations to eat out, you end up going to a lot of places. […]

I recently finished reading an advance copy of Nir Eyal’s new book, Indistractable. Even as someone who has written extensively about focus and productivity, the book was densely packed with useful advice. The obvious comparison to Indistractable is Cal Newport’s, Deep Work and Digital Minimalism. Heck, the book even has the same yellow cover. (I […]

Last week, I wrote about getting better at something you’ve done for decades. In my case, writing. But what does it mean for your work to be “better”? Especially something creative like writing. Is the better author the one who sold more books? Won more awards? Or is it a personal question about the meaning […]

Today is my thirty-first birthday. Every year on this blog, since I was 18, I’ve written a birthday post, sharing some of what I’ve done in the past year, as well as my plans for the future. In some ways, this tradition itself feels strange. When you’re in your early twenties, each year feels like […]