Nir Eyal

Absolutely. So first of all, you do have time. I hear this all the time. We do have time. We all have the same 24 hours in the day and you can do it all. You really can do it all. You just can't do it all at the same time. So one of the problems with the self-help community is that we use a lot of research that doesn't have very good backing. So it turns out that this technique that

Everybody uses, I used to use it, is the to-do list. And to-do lists are one of the worst things you can do for your personal productivity because to-do lists have no constraints. You can always add more to a to-do list. So here's what invariably happens. You add more and more things to a to-do list. You come home from work every day. You're exhausted.

Everybody uses, I used to use it, is the to-do list. And to-do lists are one of the worst things you can do for your personal productivity because to-do lists have no constraints. You can always add more to a to-do list. So here's what invariably happens. You add more and more things to a to-do list. You come home from work every day. You're exhausted.

Everybody uses, I used to use it, is the to-do list. And to-do lists are one of the worst things you can do for your personal productivity because to-do lists have no constraints. You can always add more to a to-do list. So here's what invariably happens. You add more and more things to a to-do list. You come home from work every day. You're exhausted.

You look at the to-do list and here's all these things you still didn't get done. So what does that do to your psyche if day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, you're looking at this list of things that you said you were going to do and you didn't? Loser.

You look at the to-do list and here's all these things you still didn't get done. So what does that do to your psyche if day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, you're looking at this list of things that you said you were going to do and you didn't? Loser.

You look at the to-do list and here's all these things you still didn't get done. So what does that do to your psyche if day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, you're looking at this list of things that you said you were going to do and you didn't? Loser.

And so that's why people get this terrible dialogue, these limiting beliefs in their heads that says, oh, I'm no good. I don't know how to manage my time. Maybe I have undiagnosed something or another, and they think that there's something wrong with them. There's nothing wrong with them. Again, it's this stupid technique that has very little scientific backing.

And so that's why people get this terrible dialogue, these limiting beliefs in their heads that says, oh, I'm no good. I don't know how to manage my time. Maybe I have undiagnosed something or another, and they think that there's something wrong with them. There's nothing wrong with them. Again, it's this stupid technique that has very little scientific backing.

And so that's why people get this terrible dialogue, these limiting beliefs in their heads that says, oh, I'm no good. I don't know how to manage my time. Maybe I have undiagnosed something or another, and they think that there's something wrong with them. There's nothing wrong with them. Again, it's this stupid technique that has very little scientific backing.

that to-do lists are not the best personal productivity technique. The best personal productivity technique used, and this has been studied thousands of times. I didn't invent it. It was around before I was born. It's called setting an implementation intention. It is the best technique that few people use. And that is simply saying what you're going to do and when you're going to do it.

that to-do lists are not the best personal productivity technique. The best personal productivity technique used, and this has been studied thousands of times. I didn't invent it. It was around before I was born. It's called setting an implementation intention. It is the best technique that few people use. And that is simply saying what you're going to do and when you're going to do it.

that to-do lists are not the best personal productivity technique. The best personal productivity technique used, and this has been studied thousands of times. I didn't invent it. It was around before I was born. It's called setting an implementation intention. It is the best technique that few people use. And that is simply saying what you're going to do and when you're going to do it.

And people don't do it. Those who don't do it, either they don't know about it or they don't do it because they're scared that if they did it, they would do the work. And so they had this little saboteur that says, ooh, if I actually schedule the workout, I might have to actually go work out. And I don't want to. So again, this is step two. Back to step one, the most important step.

And people don't do it. Those who don't do it, either they don't know about it or they don't do it because they're scared that if they did it, they would do the work. And so they had this little saboteur that says, ooh, if I actually schedule the workout, I might have to actually go work out. And I don't want to. So again, this is step two. Back to step one, the most important step.

And people don't do it. Those who don't do it, either they don't know about it or they don't do it because they're scared that if they did it, they would do the work. And so they had this little saboteur that says, ooh, if I actually schedule the workout, I might have to actually go work out. And I don't want to. So again, this is step two. Back to step one, the most important step.

If you don't deal with those mind goblins in your head that are telling you, this hurts, I don't want to do it, this sucks, let me escape. If you don't deal with those internal triggers, none of the other techniques will work. You have to tackle step one first, to have arrows in your quiver ready to go that will kill those mind goblins telling you how terrible the behavior is.

If you don't deal with those mind goblins in your head that are telling you, this hurts, I don't want to do it, this sucks, let me escape. If you don't deal with those internal triggers, none of the other techniques will work. You have to tackle step one first, to have arrows in your quiver ready to go that will kill those mind goblins telling you how terrible the behavior is.

If you don't deal with those mind goblins in your head that are telling you, this hurts, I don't want to do it, this sucks, let me escape. If you don't deal with those internal triggers, none of the other techniques will work. You have to tackle step one first, to have arrows in your quiver ready to go that will kill those mind goblins telling you how terrible the behavior is.

So that's step number one. Step number two is then planning when you're going to do the behavior. Because unlike with a to-do list, a time box calendar where you say, here's what I'm going to do and when I'm going to do it, now you have a constraint. And that constraint is 24 hours in a day. Unlike a to-do list that can go on and on, a time box calendar only gives you 24 hours in a day.