People who’ve never done a timelog before often grossly overestimate the amount of time they are actually working. Years ago I had a friend who was launching a software company and earnestly told me that he was putting in 12-hour work days to achieve this. Despite that, I could see him making dozens of online […]
How Much Harder is Learning Chinese Than Spanish?
A big question I had in my mind before starting this trip was how much harder is learning an Asian language like Chinese than a European one like Spanish? Obviously Chinese is harder, but how much? Is it just a little harder than Spanish or is it several times more difficult? My experience with both […]
The Three-Step Strategy to Study Hard Without Burning Out
Most of the time I talk about learning better, I try to focus on long-term habits. Build good habits over months and years, and they’ll serve you for the rest of your life. Even if you fall off the wagon, it’s easier to rebuild old habits than construct fresh ones. Sometimes, however, you won’t have […]
My Plan for Learning Chinese Over Three Months
Normally I share my learning experiences after the fact. I’ve written before about tackling MIT’s calculus, Spanish, linear algebra, finance and other non-academic learning tasks. This time, however, I wanted to do things a little differently. I want to share my thinking process before going to learn Chinese. Then, once we land and the three […]
I'm a Wall Street Journal bestselling author, podcast host, computer programmer and an avid reader. Since 2006, I've published weekly essays on this website to help people like you learn and think better. My work has been featured in The New York Times, BBC, TEDx, Pocket, Business Insider and more. I don't promise I have all the answers, just a place to start.