Nir And Far: Business, Behaviour and the Brain

If we think life is over in old age, it will be. There is no shortage of supposed methods for increasing lifespan. Typing in “longevity” into Amazon reveals over 40,000 books on the topic. Each author purports their own cure, typically involving a special diet, miracle supplement, or painful practice. What’s usually left out is how much extra life one can expect to gain by following these often di...

Experiencing fear without harm lessens feelings of anxiety. Nir’s Note: The following essay is adapted from a chapter in  Get Better at Anything: 12 Maxims for Mastery  by Scott Young. Scott is the author of  Ultralearning  and a TedX speaker renowned for his “ MIT Challenge ,” where he learned 4 year’s worth of college-level computer science in just 12 months.. You can read the Nir And Far blog p...

Referent power is considered the most potent because it doesn’t require that a leader  micromanage , use coercion, or reward to influence others. People follow a leader with referent power based on who the leader is and how they behave. According to French and Raven, referent power has the broadest range of influence of any power, allowing it to be leveraged on a large scale. You can read the Nir...

I visit with Mike Norton about his new book, The Ritual Effect. Nir And Far, a podcast about business, behaviour and the brain by Nir Eyal. If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe on iTunes and leave an iTunes review. It will greatly help new listeners discover the show. Please visit my website Nir and Far for other info about my writing, books and teaching: http://www.nirandfar.com/

“There are a whole lot of ways to be perfect, and not one of them is attained through punishment.” —science fiction author Ursula K. Le Guin Pushing ourselves and holding ourselves accountable are how we achieve success. Unfortunately, many of us mistake harsh self-criticism and self-castigation for “pushing ourselves.” And that has the opposite of the desired effect. You can read the Nir And Far...

Nir’s Note: This article is a collaboration between Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist at New York University’s Stern School of Business, and me. He researches moral and political psychology and business ethics. He has delivered  four TED  Talks and written two best-selling books. We’ve been friends for years, and our daughters often played together when I lived in New York City. You can read t...

Can virtual meetings be as effective as in-person ones? It’s one thing to eliminate distractions in meetings. It’s another to do the same in virtual meetings. Now that virtual teams are becoming a norm, many coworkers have never met each other in person. Yet, they’re expected to work every day toward a shared goal. Rapport and trust become even more crucial in virtual workplaces but also may be tr...

You’re probably not going to fulfill all your goals this year. And if you don’t, it likely won’t be because you’re incapable; it will be because you got in your own way. A slew of limiting beliefs will distract you from your goals and New Year’s resolutions . Below are four ways you’re likely to shoot yourself in the foot with self-limiting beliefs, plus how to get rid of them. You can read the Ni...

Nir’s Note: Noah Kagan is the Chief Sumo at AppSumo and runs a YouTube Channel with over 1 million subscribers. His new book,  Million Dollar Weekend , is out now. Airbnb began as a weekend project when the founders sent an email offering their living-room air mattress to hotelless attendees of a major design conference. Facebook started when Mark Zuckerberg built a clone of  ConnectU  over the we...

How can we become more discerning buyers in a world that encourages us to spend? We have to stop falling for subtle sales psychology tactics. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: Sales Psychology: Why You Make Terrible Buying Choices https://www.nirandfar.com/sales-psychology/ Nir And Far, a podcast about business, behaviour and the brain by Nir Eyal. If you enjoy this podcast, please subscr...

Hindsight bias occurs when people feel that they “knew it all along” – when they believe that an event is more predictable after it becomes known than it was before it became known 2  . In other words, when we’re looking back at an event after it already happened, knowing that outcome influences our perception of the events leading up to it. Nir And Far, a podcast about business, behaviour and the...

You could feel the excitement buzzing through the WhatsApp channel. An A-list fitness guru reportedly spending millions of dollars yearly to reverse aging was in town to hold an in-person workout. Without hesitating, I signed up. I was interested in seeing Mr. Guru in action and eager to be inspired by his approach. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: Listening to Fitness Gurus is Making Yo...

Whenever you have a disagreement with someone you care about and who cares about you, pose this straightforward question: “How important is this to you on a scale of 1 to 10?” The size of the disagreement doesn’t matter. Whether it’s about dinner choices or naming your first-born child, this method helps avoid unnecessary disagreements and keeps relationships strong (most of the time, see exceptio...

Understanding the distinction is the first step to managing your time Because I write about distraction and  how to avoid it , I often get asked the question “Aren’t distractions sometimes a good thing? Don’t we all need some distraction in our lives?” Nope! You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: The Crucial Difference Between Distraction and Diversion https://www.nirandfar.com/distraction-vs-...

End boring, useless meetings once and for all. We’ve all been in a dumb meeting—one that makes you think, “This doesn’t even apply to me,” “I’m learning nothing from this,” or, worst of all, “ This meeting could have been an email .” I’m sure you’ve commiserated with colleagues over what a time suck dumb meetings can be. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: This Meeting Could have Been an Em...

Some days, the world seems intent on sabotaging your  timeboxed calendar . A meeting goes longer than expected. The daycare center calls to say that your child is ill and has to be picked up ASAP. A project you thought would take an hour to complete instead took three. Before you know it, the end of the day arrives, and you’ve barely given time to the tasks you had wanted to do. You can read the N...

I sit down and chat with author, Devorah Heitner about her latest book, Growing Up in Public. Nir And Far, a podcast about business, behaviour and the brain by Nir Eyal. If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe on iTunes and leave an iTunes review. It will greatly help new listeners discover the show. Please visit my website Nir and Far for other info about my writing, books and teaching: http:...

Venture capital (VC) is a great opportunity for new entrepreneurs seeking to bring a product to life—but the funding is incredibly difficult to secure. A 2021 Harvard Business Review survey of almost 900 VC firms found that they consider 101 opportunities on average for every deal they close. Still, the benefits of VC funding are clear. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: How to Build an Ir...

Embrace doing something for just a little while Numerous articles detail the  routines  of the most successful people in the world: Apple CEO Tim Cook  wakes up at 3:45 a.m.  and exercises. Actor and producer Reese Witherspoon eats  the same healthy breakfast  every day.  Oprah meditates early . Author Tim Ferriss  journals daily . Society has become so focused on  productivity hacks  and packing...

Dreaming of retirement helps you fantasize about your ideal life—and potentially have it now Imagine your retirement. Are you picturing long, lazy days on a tropical beach under coconut trees? Maybe you’ve opted for a life of adventure, traveling to all the places you haven’t been to yet. Perhaps the science fiction novel you’ve always wanted to write is finally pouring out of you. You might spend...

I sit down with Peter Atwater to find out more about how social mood affects decision making, the economy and the markets. Nir And Far, a podcast about business, behaviour and the brain by Nir Eyal. If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe on iTunes and leave an iTunes review. It will greatly help new listeners discover the show. Please visit my website Nir and Far for other info about my writi...

I sit down and chat with Nick Allen, founder of the mindful drinking app, Sunnyside.

Help them make the most of it by becoming “indistractable” The end of the school year is a magical time. Kids have made it through a grueling year of groggy early mornings, rigid class schedules, piles of homework, and endless extracurriculars. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: How to Craft an ‘Indistractable’ Summer Schedule for Your Kids https://www.nirandfar.com/summer-schedule-for-kid...

Become Indistractable to conquer the paradigm shift What would it look like if the world moved toward a four-day workweek? The organization,  4 Day Week Global , did a 6-month  study  of 900 employees across 33 U.S. and Irish businesses in 2022. The study was based on the 100-80-100 model: Employees received 100 percent of their pay for working 80 percent of the time at 100 percent of the producti...

Summary.  The rise of remote work has made corporate leaders paranoid, thinking they must monitor their employees’ every digital move in order to maintain productivity. But while people often zero in on Facebook, TikTok, or Netflix as potential sources of employee  distraction , in truth, we’re often more distracted by the ways in which we work today. Here are four strategies to help managers get...