Buying time: why money that saves hours can make us happier
We spend money on things, and often time to save money. A group of researchers asked the opposite question: are we more satisfied when we spend money to gain time?
Practice
Exercises and daily habits that turn knowledge into action.
33 articles
"Save More Tomorrow": how Richard Thaler and Shlomo Benartzi raised savings
Many people want to save more, but not today. Two economists built a plan that takes this weakness as its starting point: saving rises automatically only when pay rises.
The deadlines we set ourselves: what Dan Ariely’s proofreading experiment showed
If you were given the freedom to decide when to hand in three assignments, would you leave them all for the last day? Many people choose intermediate deadlines themselves. But not always the right ones.
The fresh start effect: why Monday and 1 January give us strength
Many decisions start "on Monday", "next month" or "in the new year". This is not just procrastination. Studies show that these dates really do help us begin, if we use them wisely.
Temptation bundling: the audiobook you can only hear at the gym
There are things we want to do but that do not appeal to us, and things that appeal to us but do us no good. A simple idea is to join them: we allow the pleasure only during the task.
The urgent and the important: why we choose the task that ends soon
An email that needs an answer today seems more important than the project that will change your year. A series of experiments showed that we tend to choose the urgent even when the important pays more.
The planning fallacy: why everything takes longer than we think
We know that past projects took longer than expected. Yet when we plan a new one, we are optimistic again. This error has a name and some simple remedies.
The phone on the desk: does it take our attention even when we do not use it?
The phone is silent, face down. You do not touch it. But is it really without effect? A well-known study suggested that its mere presence may reduce our mental capacity.
Spaced repetition: how to beat the forgetting curve
Most of what we learn is forgotten within a few days. But forgetting can be slowed a great deal if we review at the right time, not just many times in one go.
Speed reading: what is possible and what is a myth
Some courses promise that you can read a thousand words a minute without losing any understanding. Reading research shows that this is not possible. But there are real ways to read more efficiently.
Procrastination is not laziness: how to understand it and how to stop it
Most people who put off a task are not lazy. Often they are avoiding a feeling: boredom, uncertainty, fear of failure. That changes how we should deal with it.
Expressive writing: 15 minutes a day for what we do not say aloud
Writing for four days in a row about a difficult experience seems a simple exercise. Studies suggest it may have small but real effects on well-being.