47 Nearly Effortless Ways to be a Better Human Being

September 24, 2017

SMALL ACTS FOR STRANGERS Don't talk on the phone in small enclosed spaces (e.g., crowded elevators or small waiting rooms). If you're on the phone and heading towards an elevator with lots of people in it, tell the person you will call them right back. Don't use your phone during the process of ordering at a coffee shop or restaurant; it's very annoying for staff to be half ignored during your order. If there is a temporary crowd (for instance, trying to get out of a train), wait for t...

Preventable Personal Dangers

September 23, 2017

I don't usually advocate for worrying more. Quite the opposite, in fact, but there are at least a handful of personal dangers to your happiness and life that you may be overlooking. Specifically, the below list of things that may be worth worrying about more because they: (a) could be more likely to impact you than you realize (b) could have severe consequences if they do affect you (c) are at least moderately preventable My hope is that this post will help prevent at least one ...

The Problem with Pseudo Work

September 19, 2017

Pseudo work (PW) is a problem. Pseudo work consists of tasks that feel productive but neither contribute to your goals nor help anyone else to any meaningful degree. PW (pseudo work) is neither fun nor useful but, because it feels like work, we allow ourselves to do it and consider it work time. That means we may not even have it on our radar as something to get rid of (unlike pure procrastination time, which we know we want to reduce). Yet if we remove PW, we can free up time for either real w...

Restaurants I wish Existed

September 14, 2017

Here is a list of ideas for wild and wacky restaurants that I hope someone will create someday. Note: If you're a creator of wacky-concept restaurants, feel free to steal these ideas, just please invite me to the opening! No Spoons (a.k.a. Soup Flight)The entire menu always consists of 30 soups (most hot, some cold, most savory, a few sweet, most classic, a few experimental). They are only served in 1.5 ounce shot glasses, which you sip the soup from; no bowls or spoons. Anyone who brings...

Mind-Bending Probability Questions

September 11, 2017

Watch as your mind is thoroughly broken by these easy to state probability questions. intuiting probabilities = too hard for us mortals Problem 1 - That Tuesday Boy Is Your Bane Ajax has exactly two children. For no reason, in particular, you decide to ask Ajax, "is at least one of your children a male that was born on a Tuesday?" and he truthfully replies, "yes". Given this information you just learned, what's the percentage chance that both of Ajax's children are male (assuming a ran...

Ways to be a Better Friend

September 9, 2017

A list of simple ways you can be a better friend to the people you care about most (including close friends, family members, and romantic partners): INTERACTION - Avoid devices: don't use your phone when with your friends - Give focus: try to focus fully and completely on what your friend is telling you and, if you are momentarily distracted, return your full focus to your friend as soon as you notice that your attention has wandered - Rephrase for understanding: if your friend say...

Useful Methods for Optimizing Space

September 7, 2017

Consider this list of useful methods I aspire to use when organizing, optimizing, and decluttering my home and workspaces: DISCARDING Consider true replacement cost: if an item is rarely used, will never be needed urgently, and is not hard to get (i.e., you can easily order it online or go get it at a store if you ever need it) then the true replacement cost is the probability that you'll need it times the price of rebuying it. If the replacement cost is low, consider giving it away or di...

Vacation Memories

September 5, 2017

Right after you get back from a trip or action-packed vacation, I highly recommend the following: think through each day of the trip, one by one, and write a list of all the things you did. Visualizing each activity as you write it down. To ensure more detail, you can also do this at the end of each day of the trip, rather than waiting until the end. This will greatly improve your memory of your trip and make it a more valuable experience. It also makes it much easier to reminisce, and to co...

Trying New Things – Why to do it and Many Things to Try!

September 4, 2017

On trying new things (plus a list of many possible new things to try):I think it's wise to try things that are substantially new to you nearly every time you have the chance, so long as: The new thing seems likely to be beneficial or enjoyable OR is different enough from things you've done in the past that you don't think you can accurately predict how you'll react to it Trying the new thing doesn't require a substantial investment of time or resources AND is extremely unlikely to cause y...

Design for Non-designers – 39 Principles for Designing Effective Interfaces

August 25, 2017

I’m not a designer or UI/UX person by trade, but I have to think a lot about interfaces and design in my work. Here are the 39 things I’ve learned over the years (including illustrative examples) about how to create nice looking interfaces and an effective user experience. (In my own designs I still have plenty of room for improvement along many of these dimensions.) Keep in mind that even if you don't do design FOR your work, you may still need to do design IN your work, whether you're making ...