Article Archives
Here you’ll find all of our articles on topics on personal behavior design and consumer psychology. Whether designing customer behaviors or your own habits, you’ll benefit from understanding the research I share from user experience design, behavioral economics, and neuroscience.
I Changed My Mind About Saying “Merry Christmas,” and You Should Too
In fifth grade, I was the only Jewish kid in my elementary school class. This was the 1980’s in Central Florida and even though it was a public school, unaffiliated with any church and funded with taxpayer dollars, my teacher taped a poster to the wall in her...
How the Ancient Greeks Beat Distraction
Distractions seem ubiquitous today, but they’ve always been a part of human life. Here’s how to resist them. Do you know where the word “tantalize” comes from? Thank the guy in the photo above. His name was Tantalus, and he was banished to the underworld by his...
Habits Are Overrated
Trying to build a habit can backfire if you fall for this trapThese days, when someone says they want to form a “habit,” what they often mean is that they want to make drudgery effortless. That is, they don’t want to actually do the work, rather they want to have done...
Need Motivation? Make a Price Pact
This highly effective technique harnesses our distaste for loss to help you reach your goalsProbably the only research paper I’ll ever call “delicious” is one called, “A Tale of Two Pizzas.” In the study, researchers offered one group of people plain pizzas, plus the...
Researchers Say We’re Trapped in a “Cycle of Distraction.” Here’s How to Break Free.
Abstinence can often backfire. There’s a better way. Let’s say you’re on a diet. You’ve cut calories and avoided junk food like a champ. But now you’re faced with a powerful adversary: chocolate cake. You somehow muster the strength to resist, but as you exit the...
The Pinky Promise: Stick To It – Or Shed Some Blood
A pinky promise is a surefire way to make you do what you say you’ll do.People have a long history of breaking promises, to themselves and to others. It’s not lying, per se—rather, it’s a lack of follow-through. We say we’re going to exercise four times a week, or...
Tame Daily Distractions With a ‘Precommitment Pact’
From Homer to Franzen, productive people lean on precommitments as a proven way to stick to their goals.Famed director Quentin Tarantino “never use[s] a typewriter or computer.” He prefers to write screenplays by hand in a notebook. Pulitzer Prize-winning author...
“Digital Body Language” Is Everything: Interview with Erica Dhawan
Nir’s Note: Erica Dhawan is the author of the new book “Digital Body Language: How to Build Trust and Connection, No Matter the Distance.” She is an entrepreneur, WSJ best-selling author, and award-winning speaker. Erica is a globally recognized authority on digital...
Good News! Your Willpower Isn’t Limited–Don’t Believe the “Ego Depletion” Theory
Contrary to the “ego depletion” theory, willpower is not a depletable resource if you know how to use it wisely. It’s common to hear people complain about feeling “burned out” or “spent” these days. However, these terms conjure a completely incorrect view of...
Getting Over FOMO, the Fear of Missing Out
Illustrations by Joanna Mugaska Nir’s Note: This post is co-authored with Stuart Luman, a science, technology, business writer, and occasional FOMO victim who has worked at Wired Magazine, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and IBM.“I wish that I could be like the...
Choice Architecture: Your Decisions Aren’t Entirely Yours (Interview with Eric Johnson)
Nir’s Note: Eric Johnson teaches at the Columbia Business School where he is the Director of the Center for Decision Sciences. He has authored some of the most influential research on decision-making, with papers published in leading scientific journals and articles...
The New Norms of Business: Interview with Nathalie Nahai
Nir’s Note: Author, speaker, and host of “The Hive Podcast,” Nathalie Nahai’s work explores the intersection between persuasive technology, ethics, and the psychology of online behavior. Following her best-selling book, Webs of Influence: The Psychology of Online...
How to Play The Long Game: Interview with Dorie Clark
Nir’s Note: Entrepreneur, speaker and consultant, Dorie Clark is a recognized leader in the field of executive education, a topic she teaches at Duke University Fuqua School of Business and Columbia Business School. She has developed over 20 LinkedIn Learning courses...
Here Are The 4 Simple Introspection Steps That Will Boost Self Awareness
When faced with a challenge, where do you find the insight to move your life forward? Last year, over fifteen million books were sold in the self-help genre.[footnote]“Unit sales of adult nonfiction books in the United States in 2017, by category (in millions),”...
Can’t Seem to Stick With Your Commitments? Try Making a Pact.
You’ve surely heard the protest chant: “What do we want? “[Insert social change here.]” “When do we want it?” “NOW!” But imagine walking by a protest and hearing this: “What do we want?” “We’re not really sure!” “When do we want it?” “Whenever you get around to it is...
The Real Reason Why You Sabotage Your Own Goals
Recently, as I was clearing the dinner table, I asked my daughter if she could wash the dishes. “I was going to, Dad,” she said. “But now that you’ve asked me to, I don’t want to anymore.” I should have known better. This was a classic example of psychological...
How to Stay on Schedule Even When You Go Off Track
Don’t let one distraction keep you from what you intended to spend your time on. Here’s how to stay on schedule.To-do lists are supposed to keep us on task. It turns out they do the opposite. I’ve written about the many reasons why. To regain focus and be more...
Stop Thinking About Your Bad Habits! [Do This Instead.]
There’s a much more effective way to conquer your vices.In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, there’s a scene where a magical plant called Devil’s Snare captures Harry, Ron, and Hermoine. The vines wrap around their bodies like hungry pythons as they struggle...
Steal These 3 Advertising Secrets–To Use As Motivation Hacks
You can create some powerful motivation hacks by learning techniques from the persuasion business.The reason why you hate being micromanaged by your boss is the same reason why, as a kid, you refused to put your coat on when your mom told you to bundle up. We’re all...
How to Escape the Vicious Cycle of Distraction
You have time for everything, even if it doesn’t feel that way.People are always saying “there aren’t enough hours in the day” to get stuff done. And yet research suggests that the average working American has four hours of leisure per day. If we have so many hours to...
A List of 20 Values [and Why People Can’t Agree On More]
What would be your list of values? When you replace the typical definition of ‘values’ with a better one, it suddenly becomes clearer.When I recently came across the headline “The World’s Most Influential Values, In One Graphic,” I couldn’t help but click—a good data...
Can We Please Stop Calling Everyone “Addicted”?
It’s disrespectful, degrading, and disempowering. In my review of The Social Dilemma, I challenged the filmmakers’ rather extreme view that huge swaths of people are “addicted to technology,” that social media is like a dangerous drug that’s hijacking people’s brains,...
Why Do People Believe the ‘Social Media is Mind Control’ Myth?
In our search for easy answers, we give up control.The evidence is overwhelming: we are far more powerful than the technology that is supposedly mind-controlling us. It’s not even close. As I’ve discussed in other articles, we need to give ourselves more credit....
Timeboxing: Why It Works and How to Get Started in 2024
Timeboxing (AKA "the time boxing technique" or"time blocking") is the nearest thing we have to productivity magic, yet most people don’t utilize it. Here’s how to overcome the top 3 reasons why. “I can’t seem to get important tasks done.” “I’m always distracted.” “Why...
Children and Technology: 3 Things Parents Need To Know
Whatever your view of tech’s impact on our children, here are three common sense rules we can all follow.Nir's Note: This article is a collaboration between Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist at New York University’s Stern School of Business, and me. He researches...
The Influencers Dinner: An Interview with Jon Levy
Nir’s Note: What do Bill Nye, break dancer Crazy Legs, cyber illusionist Marco Tempest, and economist Nouriel Roubini have in common? They’ve all been guests at a little-known "Influencers dinner" regularly hosted by behavioral scientist Jon Levy at his New York...
What Is Motivation? You’ve Probably Been Thinking About It All Wrong
What is motivation: Understanding the relationship between motivation and discomfortIt took me five years to write my last book, which was a lot longer than it should have taken. The problem wasn’t that I didn’t know what to do–I did. I just didn’t do it. I wasn’t...
“Just Say No” Is Bad Productivity Advice
Try schedule-syncing instead.You’ve probably read this advice before: “The best thing you can do for your productivity is to say no more often.” By freeing yourself from unnecessary tasks, the thinking goes, you can spend more time working on the things that really...
The New York Times Uses the Very Dark Patterns it Derides
‘Dark patterns’ aren’t always malicious mind control. They’re often a symptom of disjointed company culture. Will the Times change?'A recent New York Times op-ed, titled “Stopping the Manipulation Machines,” derided the use of dark patterns: design tricks that push...
Can We Regulate Social Networks To Curb Addiction—Without Making Them Suck?
Social networks can help addicted users while leaving the rest of us alone. If they wanted to. About five years ago, I sat down in a series of meetings with leaders from Reddit, Snapchat, Facebook, and other social media networks. My goal was to discuss social media...
So, You Want To Become a Great Product Manager? [Q&A with Jackie Bavaro]
Nir’s Note: Recently, I had the pleasure of chatting with Jackie Bavaro about her latest book, Cracking the PM Career—a complete guide to the skills, frameworks, and practices you need to become a great product manager. Jackie serves as the Head of Product Management...
Why the Illusion of Control Is Hurting Your Goals
A classic survivor test shows us how the illusion of control can sidetrack us from our mission when things get uncomfortableLet’s try something. Imagine you’ve just crash-landed somewhere in the Sonoran Desert, deep in the American Southwest. Though the aircraft is...
Are You a Wage Slave?
Can we create a future where people no longer have to work at jobs they hate?In 100 years, some things we consider normal today will make people say, “Wow, how barbaric—I can’t believe people did that! How were they okay with that?” Wage slavery, I hope, will be one...
What is the Opposite of “Distraction?” The Single Word that Will Change Your Life This Year
In my research and consulting work, I’ve heard countless people tell me how difficult it is to manage their time. Yet, when I ask them what they got distracted from, that is, what they planned to do with any given moment in time, they have trouble answering the...
Don’t Fall for This Excuse Trap: Why “That Won’t Work for Me” is Self-Sabotaging
To find your focus, learn to resist this self-sabotaging excuse.Imagine this: You’ve been diagnosed with a rare and serious disease. In hopes of keeping you alive, the doctor recommends a new, experimental course of treatment. It works for some people—maybe 60%. But...
Maybe Social Media Isn’t Making Teens Depressed, After All. And Here’s What Likely Is.
Here’s what the Covid-19 lockdowns have revealed about teen depression.What do bicycles and social media have in common? Soon after being adopted, each of these technologies brought on a tsunami of unjustified moral panic. Let’s start with bikes. When bicycles burst...
Will Clubhouse be a Habit or Has-Been?
Photo by William Krause on UnsplashNir’s Note: This article is part of a series on “The Hooked Model in Action.” Previous analyses have included Slack, Fortnite, Amazon’s Echo, Tinder, and The Bible App. I never take compensation from any company profiled.Maybe you’ve...
How to “Listen Like you Mean It”
Ximena Vengoechea says we need to “Reclaim the Lost Art of True Connection.” Ximena (pronounced “hee-men-ah“) is a writer and illustrator best known for her Life Audit project. Her work has appeared in Fast Company, Inc., The Washington Post, The Muse, and Newsweek....
Smartphone Too Distracting? Here’s How to Reclaim Your Focus
In 2017, I decided I’d had enough of my smartphone and the companies that make the apps that were robbing me of my time and attention. I thought I found the perfect solution: the card phone. The card phone is what it sounds like: It’s a $18 tiny phone with no social...
“Tech Addiction” Is the New Reefer Madness
By promoting the idea that technology is hijacking our brains and getting all of us addicted to our devices, techno-fearmongers elevate the exception rather than the rule.Josh Hawley, a Republican senator from Missouri, introduced the Social Media Addiction Reduction...
