Research shows that spending less time on your phone can lead to a healthier and happier life. By reducing your phone usage, you become more aware of your habits and make more conscious choices. This can lead to better management of technology. A study indicates that even reducing your phone usage by just one hour a day can make you feel significantly better. You then have more time for activities that make you happy, such as exercising and meeting friends.

Interestingly, using your phone less sometimes works better than completely stopping the use of digital devices. This is likely because by completely stopping, you don’t learn how to manage and control your phone usage.

Related:

• Our go-to approach for problem-solving is to incorporate something new, rather than eliminate something existing
• Link the desired behavior to a clear signal
• Blue light from screens has little effect on how quickly you fall asleep
• Hiding your phone doesn’t help you concentrate better
• Interruptions aren’t intrinsically distinct from other events, they’re just events most professionals don’t want around. The distinction is in our head.

Research shows that not all interruptions during your work have the same effect. There is an important difference between work-related and non-work-related interruptions.

Work-related interruptions (such as your manager stopping by to ask about a task, or a colleague messaging you about a project you’re working on together) actually have a positive effect on how engaged you feel during your workday. This goes against the common belief that all interruptions are bad for your productivity. Work-related interruptions don’t break your concentration; instead, they help you stay more connected to your work and colleagues.

Non-work-related interruptions (just chatting about the weather, sports, or what you’re going to eat tonight) do have the negative effect you might expect: they make you less engaged and disrupt your work rhythm so much that it really gets in the way of your work.

Related:

• Interruptions aren’t intrinsically distinct from other events, they’re just events most professionals don’t want around. The distinction is in our head.
• Messy work environments have no effect on either creativity or executive functions

When you create a podcast and want to publish extra content related to a specific episode, this bonus content receives the same episode number as the original episode. This means that both episodes, the main episode and the bonus episode, are published under the same number in your podcast feed.

Picture this: you’re drafting an important email and want to make sure your tone is just right. Today, that means copying your draft, opening ChatGPT in a new tab, pasting the text, waiting for suggestions, then copying those back to your email and fixing the formatting of the text. All that tab-switching and copying/pasting just to get some quick feedback. It’s clunky, and it breaks your flow.

The future of AI isn’t about jumping between chatbots and specialized tools, it’s about having AI seamlessly woven into the fabric of our existing workflows. Think about how we use spell checkers today: they’re just there, quietly helping us write better without any fuss.

The Current Reality

I’ve experienced this seamless integration firsthand through my note-taking app, Tana. Instead of copying text to ChatGPT and back, I can just ask questions and get help right where I’m working. Whether I’m journaling or crafting an email, AI assistance is right there at my fingertips.

Microsoft is moving in this direction too with Copilot, embedding AI directly into their Office suite. This isn’t just convenient, it’s transformative for how we work.

The real magic happens when AI becomes invisible, operating in the background like spell check does for non-native languages. No more context switching, no more lost trains of thought. Just fluid, uninterrupted work with AI enhancement when you need it.

Looking Forward

Today’s standalone AI tools are just the beginning, stepping stones to something much more powerful. The real revolution will come when AI is so deeply integrated into our daily tools that we barely notice it’s there.

What excites me most is how this shift will boost our productivity. Not through flashy new apps, but through subtle, contextual assistance that enhances our existing workflows without disrupting them.

This is my vision for AI’s future: not as a separate destination we visit for help, but as an invisible assistant embedded in every tool we use, making us more capable without getting in the way.

“Revenge bedtime procrastination” is a phenomenon where you deliberately delay your bedtime to regain a sense of control over your life. This often occurs in people who have little personal time during the day due to busy schedules or demanding jobs. By staying up later at night, you try to reclaim some personal time, even if it comes at the expense of your sleep.

Although the term is relatively new, the behavior it describes has been known for a longer time. After a long day, you want to relax, for example by watching TV or scrolling on your phone, even though you know you have to get up early the next day.

While it’s understandable that you want this time for yourself, delaying your bedtime can have negative consequences for your health. Lack of sleep can lead to fatigue, reduced concentration, and even long-term health issues. Therefore, it’s important to find a balance between your personal time and getting enough sleep.

Related:

• Good sleepers are more productive and earn more
• Well-rested people are more positive
• The optimal amount of free time seems to be between 2 and 4 hours per day
• Hard work

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the learning process offers a unique opportunity to reduce unnecessary difficulties. For example, AI can help you by providing clear explanations, offering useful examples, and giving you quick feedback. This can eliminate frustrating obstacles that you often encounter while learning, such as unclear sources or insufficient practice material. By reducing this unnecessary hassle, you can better focus on truly understanding the material and developing your skills.

But beware: AI is not meant to avoid the essential efforts you need for effective learning. Essential efforts include activities like active practice, retrieving information from memory, and consciously working towards a good understanding of the subject matter. These activities are important for building knowledge that sticks. While AI can make your learning process easier, it should not replace the core activities you need to truly learn.

The danger exists that you might use AI to avoid the necessary effort, for example, by simply copying answers without understanding the underlying ideas. This can lead to superficial knowledge that does not last long. Therefore, it is important to find the balance between reducing unnecessary hassle and maintaining the essential effort needed to truly learn. By using AI wisely, you can reap its benefits without jeopardizing the real learning process.

Related:

• Working slower promotes deeper thinking processes and better results
• Motivation

Moderna’s merger of HR and technology isn’t just another reorganization — it’s a glimpse into the future of work. Have you ever wondered what HR departments will look like when AI becomes part of our daily routine? Well, this is exactly what they’re exploring.

Picture a space where human talent and technology don’t compete, but dance together. This is how Moderna is rethinking resource management. It no longer makes sense to keep those who manage people separate from those who handle the technology we use every day.

The reality is that AI is taking on more and more tasks that humans used to do. But instead of seeing this as a threat, Moderna sees it as an opportunity to create something better: a department that understands both people and technology.

It’s like learning to cook: having good ingredients on one side and good utensils on the other isn’t enough. You need to know how to use both in harmony to create something extraordinary.

This move shows us that the future isn’t about “humans vs. machines,” but about finding the best way to work together. And perhaps, very soon, more companies will follow this path.

In communication, it’s important to adapt your style to that of your conversation partner. This can be challenging if your partner speaks quickly and you struggle to keep up. Instead of speeding up your own speech, which can lead to stumbling over words and confusion, it’s better to use non-verbal cues. Hand gestures and head movements are super helpful in this regard. By subtly moving your hand or nodding, you can encourage your partner to continue talking without having to speak faster yourself.

Non-verbal communication is a powerful tool in conversations. With hand gestures, you can hold your partner’s attention and encourage them to speak faster. By nodding your head, you show that you understand and that they can continue. These tricks ensure that your partner feels understood and can tell their story at their own pace, while you can think and respond calmly.

By smartly using non-verbal signals, you can communicate better without having to speak faster yourself. This is especially useful in work situations where it’s important that you both understand each other well. If you adjust your non-verbal communication to your partner’s pace, your conversations become more effective, and you both feel better understood.

A day without electricity can be an unexpected challenge, especially when it not only affects the power but also the internet goes down. This was precisely the case during a general outage throughout Spain, which not only cut off electricity but also the ability to communicate via the internet. This situation forced many, including myself, to creatively adapt to the sudden change in our daily routine.

Phase 1: Doing nothing

The initial reaction to the power outage was one of passivity. Without electricity, I couldn’t continue my work, leading to a feeling of helplessness. In this phase, I decided to pass the time by reading and taking a walk. It was a moment of surrender to the situation, where I accepted that there was nothing else to do but wait.

Phase 2: Preparation

As the hours passed and it became clear that the power outage would last longer than a few hours, I shifted to a more proactive approach. It was time to prepare for a longer period without power. This meant going to the market to buy food that required no preparation, such as salad and fruit, since cooking was not an option. I also made sure there were enough candles for the evening. This phase was about ensuring basic needs and creating a sense of control over the situation.

Phase 3: Creative approach

Once the basic needs were secured, I began to see the situation as an opportunity. Without the usual distractions of phone calls and digital notifications, there was a rare chance to think deeply and reflect. I picked up my notebooks and started a brain dump on ongoing projects and future plans. This unusual silence provided the perfect setting for introspection and strategic thinking. Additionally, I used the time to do small household chores that usually get neglected.

These three phases—doing nothing, preparing, and creatively utilizing—reflect the different ways people can respond to a sudden change like a power outage. It is a reminder of the resilience and adaptability we can show in unexpected situations. The question I pose to you is: which of these modes have you experienced during the power outage?