Oliver Burkeman's last column: the eight secrets to a (fairly) fulfilled life
After more than a decade of writing life-changing advice, I know when to move on. Here’s what else I learned.
How can we develop transformative tools for thought?
Part of the origin myth of modern computing is the story of a golden age in the 1960s and 1970s. In this story, visionary pioneers pursued a dream in which computers enabled powerful tools for thought, that is, tools to augment human intelligence.
Seven tricky work situations, and how to respond to them
You know the moment: a mood-veering, thought-steering, pressure-packed interaction with a colleague, boss, or client where the right thing to say is stuck in a verbal traffic jam between your brain and your mouth.
The power of flexible consistency
Rather than a specific framework, flexible consistency is a mindset. Instead of having an “all-or-nothing” approach to life, where each failure or unexpected event can derail a routine, flexible consistency offers a set of principles to bounce back and keep on making progress.
What is it like to be a smartphone?
What is it like to be a smartphone? In all the chatter about the future of artificial intelligence, the question has been glossed over or, worse, treated as settled. The longstanding assumption, a reflection of the anthropomorphic romanticism of computer scientists, science fiction writers, and internet entrepreneurs, has been that a self-aware computer would have a mind, and hence a consciousness, similar to our own. We, supreme programmers, would create machine consciousness in our own image.
Latest posts on Better Human
Deep dive: How I manage my tasks with P.A.R.A. and Notion
Jakub asked me after reading my article about how I manage my tasks, to share more about my process.
Why you should make your bed every morning (Free article)
Making your bed seems like a chore that consumes time but which has no significant impact on your life. So why is it that in special forces training around the world, properly making your bed is something of the first things a soldier will learn?
How I found a more mindful way to manage my todos
Research shows us that people with anxiety tend to be poorly organised. Organising your life is something you can learn. In my career, I helped individuals to get better in self-managing their workload. Sharing what worked for me and discovering what does not work for others helped to improve the way I manage my own tasks.
Are you feeling like an imposter at work?
The feeling that your accomplishments are never enough and that your skills don't live up to the expectations of others is known as the impostor syndrome.