Nir And Far: Business, Behaviour and the Brain

Latest Episodes:

How to Finally Find the Motivation You’ve Been Missing-Nir&Far Mar 15, 2021

Show notes

Nir’s Note: This guest post was written by Cheryl Maguire

The laundry hamper was overflowing with dirty clothes. Lacking the motivation to throw it into the wash, I pushed the clothes down deeper into the bin so I could fit more clothes. This occurs almost every other day. When you are married and the mother of three kids, the laundry is a never-ending task especially since we are all active in sports or working out that often require multiple clothing changes in one day.

You can read the NirAndFar blog post on: How to Finally Find the Motivation You’ve Been Missing https://www.nirandfar.com/how-to-find-motivation/

Nir & 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/

Hypocrites: How to Survive in a World that’s Full of Them-Nir&Far Mar 08, 2021

Show notes

I once worked with a person we’ll call “Dick.” Dick always told me he’d get things back to me “today or tomorrow,” but he seldom did.

Dick didn’t have to tell me he’d get things to me that soon. He could have said, “next week” or “as soon as I can,” and I would have been fine with that. Instead, Dick had a habit of promising to deliver by a certain date, but he wouldn’t follow through.

You can read the NirAndFar blog post on: Hypocrites: How to Survive in a World that’s Full of Them https://www.nirandfar.com/hypocrite/

Here’s My Review of The Social Dilemma: No, Social Media Is Not “Hijacking” Your Brain-Nir&Far Mar 01, 2021

Show notes

Over the past few weeks, people have asked me for my review of the Netflix documentary, The Social Dilemma. It’s no surprise. One of the film’s central themes is that social media is like an addictive drug, and I wrote the book on habit-forming technologies: Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products. I also have a personal connection to the film.

In August of 2018, I sat with the filmmakers for a three-hour interview. We discussed everything from the subject matter of Hooked and my second book, Indistractable, to the ethics of social-media use and how we can learn to live with the digital tools that pervade our lives. I was glad to share my perspective; it was a rich and engaging discussion.

You can read the NirAndFar blog post on: Here’s My Review of The Social Dilemma: No, Social Media Is Not “Hijacking” Your Brain https://www.nirandfar.com/social-dilemma-review/

Screen Time for Kids: Give Them What They Need-Nir&Far Feb 22, 2021

Show notes

Society’s fear of technology destroying our children’s future has reached a fever pitch and many parents have resorted to extreme measures.

A quick search on YouTube reveals thousands of videos of parents storming into their kids’ rooms, unplugging the computers or gaming consoles, and destroying their devices.

You can read the NirAndFar blog post on: Screen Time for Kids: Give Them What They Need https://www.nirandfar.com/screen-time-for-kids/

Be a Schedule Builder, Not a To-Do List Maker-Nir&Far Feb 15, 2021

Show notes

Imagine you bought a new phone, but at the end of each day, every day, the operating system crashed. Would you keep using the faulty phone? Of course not. You’d take it back to the store, complain, and get a new one.

And yet, many people run their entire lives on a faulty operating system. It’s called the to-do list. Have you ever met someone who runs their day using a to-do list and actually finishes everything they said they’d do? Me neither.

You can read the NirAndFar blog post on: Be a Schedule Builder, Not a To-Do List Maker https://www.nirandfar.com/todo-vs-schedule-builder/

Hindsight Bias: Why You Make Terrible Life Choices-Nir&Far Feb 08, 2021

Show notes

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 known2.

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.

You can read the NirAndFar blog post on: Hindsight Bias: Why You Make Terrible Lie Choices https://www.nirandfar.com/hindsight-bias/

How to Turn Off Harmful Stress Like a Switch-Nir&Far Feb 01, 2021

Show notes

What stresses you out? How do you deal with that dreaded feeling? And did you know there’s a bullet-proof method for disarming stress?

You can read the NirAndFar blog post on: How to Turn Off Harmful Stress Like a Switch https://www.nirandfar.com/handling-stress/

This is How the Media is Misleading You on “Technology Addiction”-Nir&Far Dec 14, 2020

Show notes

Which of the following is true?

A. Screen time is the leading cause of anxiety and depression amongst teenagers

B. Studies have found that screen time shrinks people’s attention span to less than that of a goldfish

C. Studies show screen time causes addiction

D. None of the above

The correct answer: D.

You can read the NirAndFar blog post on: This is How the Media is Misleading You on “Technology Addiction”

Screen Time for Kids: Give Them What They Need-Nir&Far Dec 07, 2020

Show notes

Society’s fear of technology destroying our children's future has reached a fever pitch and many parents have resorted to extreme measures.

A quick search on YouTube reveals thousands of videos of parents storming into their kids’ rooms, unplugging the computers or gaming consoles, and destroying their devices.

You can read the NirAndFar blog post on: Screen Time for Kids: Give Them What They Need https://www.nirandfar.com/screen-time-for-kids/