Recently, I reached a milestone that I had been working on for a long time: bench pressing more than 200 pounds. There’s nothing particularly remarkable about that. Many people can lift a lot more than I can. What I thought was more interesting was how long it took. I started lifting weights when I was […]

There are plenty of different standardized tests: SAT, LSAT, GMAT, MCAT as well as hundreds more for specific classes, fields and specialties. In many cases, the thought of preparing for big tests like this can fill you with anxiety, as you imagine going up against hundreds or thousands of other students in a high-pressure environment. […]

Immersion is the best way to learn a language. You can learn much faster than sitting in class. It feels exciting and useful, not just a stale list of grammatical rules and vocabulary words. However, most people make some key mistakes when trying to learn a language while traveling. I’ve made these mistakes, so I […]

A common piece of productivity advice is to wake up early. This can make sense. Waking up early lets you capture more of the quiet morning hours. There’s fewer social distractions. Combined with starting work right away, it can be a powerful ritual to get stuff done. However, waking up early also has its downsides. […]