Devon Zuegel

Oh, such a fun question. I think it came from realizing just how much environments shape the way I think, the way I feel and the way I behave.

Oh, such a fun question. I think it came from realizing just how much environments shape the way I think, the way I feel and the way I behave.

Even from small things like the shape of the floor plan of an office can make a huge difference in the way that team members interact and the weather outside affects how much I go outside and the layout of streets ends up affecting whether I walk somewhere or I take a car and realizing I'm kind of obsessed with trying to make my life better and make better decisions.

Even from small things like the shape of the floor plan of an office can make a huge difference in the way that team members interact and the weather outside affects how much I go outside and the layout of streets ends up affecting whether I walk somewhere or I take a car and realizing I'm kind of obsessed with trying to make my life better and make better decisions.

And I realized that it's way easier to make better decisions if your environment supports and enables it. And so I've gotten really interested in the question of how do I shape my environment so that it shapes me in the ways that I want.

And I realized that it's way easier to make better decisions if your environment supports and enables it. And so I've gotten really interested in the question of how do I shape my environment so that it shapes me in the ways that I want.

So here's a silly one, but it's so true is if I have my phone next to me as it is right now versus behind my computer screen where I can't see it, I will not use my phone if it's behind the screen and I'll just forget that it even exists versus if it's next to me, I'll check it every few minutes and see if I have notifications. And so actually I'm going to hide it behind my screen right now.

So here's a silly one, but it's so true is if I have my phone next to me as it is right now versus behind my computer screen where I can't see it, I will not use my phone if it's behind the screen and I'll just forget that it even exists versus if it's next to me, I'll check it every few minutes and see if I have notifications. And so actually I'm going to hide it behind my screen right now.

And at a more macro scale, I think how close you live near a friend makes a huge difference in how likely it is that you'll see them and the context in which you see them. So if you live on the same block, you might go just knock on their door and say, hey, what are you up to this Saturday? Let's go do something. But if you live a 10 minute walk away, you might text them before you go.

And at a more macro scale, I think how close you live near a friend makes a huge difference in how likely it is that you'll see them and the context in which you see them. So if you live on the same block, you might go just knock on their door and say, hey, what are you up to this Saturday? Let's go do something. But if you live a 10 minute walk away, you might text them before you go.

And if you live 20 minutes away, you're going to probably plan ahead and you're going to say, let's meet at this time on Friday night. And so just realizing how much we are shaped by the distance of different things in our environments has been a huge unlock for me.

And if you live 20 minutes away, you're going to probably plan ahead and you're going to say, let's meet at this time on Friday night. And so just realizing how much we are shaped by the distance of different things in our environments has been a huge unlock for me.

And so I've tried shaping my own life such that the people that I want to spend the most time with are ideally as close to me as possible and the types of food that I want to eat and the types of activities I want to do. And I think it really makes a huge difference.

And so I've tried shaping my own life such that the people that I want to spend the most time with are ideally as close to me as possible and the types of food that I want to eat and the types of activities I want to do. And I think it really makes a huge difference.

I think another really interesting one is cost of space. And you see this play out in just the way the restaurant might treat you. If you're in a restaurant in Manhattan, you can tell that the restaurant wants you to eat your food, get out, pay the check so that they can turn over the tables because that seat is expensive for them.

I think another really interesting one is cost of space. And you see this play out in just the way the restaurant might treat you. If you're in a restaurant in Manhattan, you can tell that the restaurant wants you to eat your food, get out, pay the check so that they can turn over the tables because that seat is expensive for them.

Versus if you're in a lower cost city where the real estate isn't so expensive, there's often a little bit more of a, it's okay if you sit there for three hours and chit chat with your friends or at coffee shops in Manhattan. I think they often will glare at you if you have your computer out because they know that you're going to be sitting there forever.

Versus if you're in a lower cost city where the real estate isn't so expensive, there's often a little bit more of a, it's okay if you sit there for three hours and chit chat with your friends or at coffee shops in Manhattan. I think they often will glare at you if you have your computer out because they know that you're going to be sitting there forever.

Whereas if you're in a diner in the middle of Nebraska, they're probably going to let you sit there for a while longer. So I think cost is really interesting. And it also shapes the types of activities that people do. One theory that I've heard, I don't know, it's hard to test this.

Whereas if you're in a diner in the middle of Nebraska, they're probably going to let you sit there for a while longer. So I think cost is really interesting. And it also shapes the types of activities that people do. One theory that I've heard, I don't know, it's hard to test this.