There’s a small, but significant, online population devoted to waking up early. As a former convert, I can say it’s easy to understand the appeal. Whenever I made the habit to wake up early, I’d end up getting a lot more done. The problem is that if you’re young, your peers probably won’t be joining […]
The Danger of Easy Skepticism
I remember taking a class in business school, where we had to evaluate the financial prospects of startups. The startups were real, but the names were changed and in industries obscure enough that we rarely could guess the true identity without cheating. Given limited information and numbers, we were each given one company and asked […]
How Well Did the No-English Rule Work for Learning Chinese?
Readers familiar with Vat and my current project of attempting to learn four languages in one year, will note that the big focus has been on one method: not speaking English. Today I want to talk about the failures and successes in applying that philosophy to learning Chinese. My Chinese After Three Months (+100 Hours […]
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 […]
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.