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.
Library
23 articles
The helmet with a goat’s head: what we know about Skanderbeg’s arms in Vienna
Vienna holds a helmet with a gilded goat’s head attributed to Gjergj Kastrioti. Here is what the museum says, what scholars say and what remains uncertain.
The wandering mind: half the day somewhere else
For about 47% of our waking time we are thinking about something other than what we are doing. And in those moments we are usually less happy.
The League of Prizren (1878–1881): when Albanians gathered so as not to be divided
In June 1878 about 80 delegates gathered in Prizren, fearing that Albanian lands would be divided among neighbouring states. What they asked for, what they achieved and how it ended.
Gjon Buzuku’s Meshari: the oldest printed book in Albanian
In 1555 a Catholic priest from northern Albania completed a translation of the main parts of the liturgy. It is the oldest known book printed in the Albanian language.
How long does a habit take? Not 21 days
On average 66 days, but with a range from 18 to 254. And a comforting finding: one missed day does not wipe out progress.
Teuta: the Illyrian queen Rome saw as a threat
In 229 BC Rome crossed the Adriatic with an army for the first time. Facing it was an Illyrian queen. Her story reaches us mainly through her enemies.
What is up to us: the first lesson of Epictetus
"Some things are up to us, others are not." With this sentence begins the Handbook of Epictetus, one of the most practical books of ancient philosophy.
Seven hours: why sleep is not wasted time
Adults need at least seven hours of sleep on a regular basis. Here is why, and what we can do to make sleep come more easily.
Five minutes of breathing: what a Stanford study showed
Breathing is the only automatic function of the body we can steer at will. Five minutes a day was enough to change mood.
It is not things that trouble us, but how we see them
Between what happens and what we feel there is a thought. Once we notice it, we gain a little room to choose.