Nir And Far: Business, Behaviour and the Brain

Since writing Indistractable , I’m often asked what tools and apps I personally use to get the most out of my day. But after years of research into the psychology of productivity , focus , and the causes of distraction , I’ve learned that there is no one magic, best productivity tool. Rather, the best tool is the one you’ll actually use ,which is why I only rely on a few to be at my best. You can...

The internet is inundated with articles that have titles like “The Best Productivity Tools of the Year” and “Productivity Apps That Will Make Your Life Easier.” Dozens if not hundreds of apps claim to help people focus, manage their time, and stick to healthy habits. The productivity app market is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 13.8% from 2022 to 2030. If you’re not careful...

This essay is adapted from the book Build For Tomorrow , in which Entrepreneur magazine editor in chief Jason Feifer shows how to thrive by harnessing the power of change. The loudest voices in our culture today say yes. During a conversation about technology on his mega-popular podcast, Joe Rogan said, “We’ve got a real addiction problem in this country.” In a congressional hearing in 2021, U.S....

My daughter had just pulled the caramel corn out of the oven, and the sticky-sweet smell was almost irresistible. Despite knowing it wasn’t going to help my diet, I was gnawing for a taste. But instead of kindly asking for a small bite, as I should have, I barked, “Damn this caramel corn!” Cursing my daughter’s hard work earned me a scowl and, if I’m honest with myself, didn’t set a good example f...

If we can’t focus, we can’t do our best work. It seems we’re all checking our phones constantly these days. But all that time spent on our phones leaves little time for anything else. We need time to think in order to come up with novel solutions to our business challenges. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: Distraction at work is a symptom of dysfunction. Here’s how to fix it. https://www...

They’re part of the secret of becoming Indistractable. Got a few minutes? Then why not use them to implement these quick fixes that cut distraction and aid productivity? I uncovered these productivity fixes while researching how to combat distraction and increase productivity for my book Indistractable , and I’ve relied on them ever since. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: 8 Productivity...

You don’t have to agree on everything, but you do have to align values in a relationship. Divorce sucks. My friend is going through one right now. The worst part is that he saw it coming. And he’s not the first of my friends to tell me they ignored the warning signs of an eventual breakup. Although there isn’t a surefire way to predict which relationships will last, there are some guidelines anyon...

Our baseline dissatisfaction is what motivates us, but we must harness it correctly. Do you often experience a strange malaise, that feeling of blah-ness you can’t quite explain? The good news is you’re not alone. You may be surprised to learn that, although people don’t often admit it, everyone’s default state is dissatisfaction; it’s how we evolved. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: Why...

When it comes to friendships, quality matters more than quantity. Thirty-six percent of Americans say they are “seriously lonely.” For many people, the solution may seem to be to go out and get more friends. Yet one study shows that when it comes to friendships, less is more. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: 3 Ways to Filter Your Friends https://www.nirandfar.com/quality-over-quantity-of...

Are you afraid of being alone? Well, you’re not alone in that. In a 2014 survey  of 2,000 adults, one in three said they fear being alone: 40% of women and 35% of men. The world is riddled with distractions that prevent us from having to feel alone even when we aren’t in the physical presence of another person. While no study pinpoints social media as a cause of depression and feelings of iso...

When I first started using Strava ( Android / iOS ), my weekly running mileage skyrocketed. Nothing had changed other than my perception of how much running was “enough.” Lots of people in my feed were clocking 40 to 60 miles a week, and suddenly my 20-mile weekly average seemed negligible. The products we use can shape our perception of reality and, as a result, change our actions and lives—all b...

We’re facing a burnout epidemic that goes beyond work. Understanding its causes can help us fix it. A 2021 Indeed survey shows 52% of 1,500 American respondents say they feel burned out, compared with 43% the year prior; 67% believe that burnout worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s not surprising. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on How to Prevent Burnout Using Timeboxing https://ww...

Stepping outside your comfort zone seriously improves your life. Humans have an evolutionary need to be challenged—to feel discomfort. That’s the main revelation of journalist Michael Easter’s The Comfort Crisis , a book about embracing discomfort to “reclaim your wild, happy, healthy self.” You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable https://www.nirandfar.c...

Here’s how to get more out of your day without overtaxing your brain. Everyone knows that multitasking destroys productivity , right? Haven’t we all seen studies and read articles telling us that it’s impossible to do two things at once? In some ways, that’s true. The evidence is pretty clear that humans are awful at performing two complex tasks simultaneously. You can read the Nir And Far blog po...

Anyone can use the Indistractable Model, and it can be especially helpful for those with ADHD Does my book Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life work for the ADHD brain? It’s a question I’ve been getting a lot lately. Though I didn’t specifically write the book for people with ADHD, I wanted to get an honest opinion from an expert. I reached out to Caitlin O’Brient Bau...

Get the most out of your vacation—and life—with just a little planning. When I was 13, my parents and I went to Europe on vacation. It was miserable. My father wanted to hit all the major sites, while my mother just wanted to relax. Because they couldn’t agree on what to do, none of us got the vacation we’d hoped for. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: Planning a Vacation Is Practice for a...

Good or bad, our feelings color how we see people. In psychology, a “trapped prior” is a perception of reality that’s colored, or trapped , by past experiences. If not treated, trapped priors can turn into debilitating phobias. For instance, someone might have an overwhelming fear of dogs because they were bitten as a child. Though not nearly as extreme, our trapped priors can shape how we perceiv...

Many authors write what they know. I don’t. I am writing to learn about what I don’t know. For me, writing is a wonderful way to go deep on a problem I’m struggling with. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: Don’t Write About What You Already Know — Instead, I’m “Writing To Learn” https://www.nirandfar.com/writing-to-learn/ Nir And Far, a podcast about business, behaviour and the brain by Ni...

Taking a hard look at how we socialize helps us spend time the way we truly want. The coronavirus pandemic gave us a pause to ask ourselves if we really should go back to the old way of doing things. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: Are We Really Having Fun at Bars or Just Escaping Reality? https://www.nirandfar.com/why-do-people-go-to-bars/?swcfpc=1 Nir And Far, a podcast about business...

Books are like stepping stones through a stream — they can help us through obstacles on our path. However, it’s only in retrospect that we realize which books were critical and which were superfluous. I’m surprised I ended up an author. I’m dyslexic, English is not my first language, and writing was always my worst subject in school. Just as surprising as my unlikely path are the mix of books that...

Every building needs a sturdy foundation. Your daily habits are a foundation on which you are building who you are—your values , goals, personality, etc. If you track your daily habits , you may be surprised to find a collection of suboptimal habits: you may not be reaching your full potential. One of those suboptimal habits is being easily distracted. You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: Th...

The surprising psychology of why dissatisfaction is hardwired … a good thing! Why are we perpetually restless and unsatisfied? We live in the safest, healthiest, most well-educated, most democratic time in history—and yet, some part of the human psyche causes us to constantly look for an escape from things stirring inside us. As the eighteenth-century poet Samuel Johnson said, “My life is one long...

Overcoming the fear of being unavailable is essential to making timeboxing stick Too often, people eschew a method of bettering their life by naming the reasons it won’t work for them. “I can’t adhere to that diet because…” “Using an app to find love just isn’t for me because…” People regularly give me similar excuses about timeboxing , a powerful technique I recommend in my bestselling book, Indi...

Even when something is weighing on your mind, taking a minute to write it out can help you get the most out of your day. Here’s how… Though we may strive in vain to be productive machines all day every day, unexpected life events inevitably get in our way. Maybe you had an argument with a close friend or loved one. Or perhaps you’re figuring out how to care for aging parents, or your child care fe...

Use the psychology of self-image to transform your habits for good. One of the most effective ways to change your behavior is to change your identity. I don’t mean joining the CIA or a witness protection program, or adopting an alter ego. I mean, rather, changing the way you see yourself. Our perception of who we are—our identity or self-image—has a dramatic effect on our future actions. You can r...