The Best of Ness Labs

Since we are born, a set of defaults influences our goals, our relationships, our tastes. From fashion to friendship, many of the choices we make in life are imperceptibly constrained by default…

«The aim of deliberate questions is not to turn your life upside down. It’s to have a more mindful approach to your goals in life.»

In a circular model of growth, nobody is more advanced than anyone. There is no “up” or “down.” People are at a particular point of their own, unique growth loop. Everyone only competes against one’s…

What happens in liminal spaces? Doubt, discomfort, unfamiliarity, anxiety. But also growth, change, and discovery. Liminal spaces offer all of the ingredients for creativity.

«What happens in liminal spaces? Doubt, discomfort, unfamiliarity, anxiety. But also growth, change, and discovery. Liminal spaces offer all of the ingredients for creativity.»

Racing pulse, tense muscles, dry mouth, restlessness, irritability, difficulty concentrating… The symptoms of anxiety are many, but sometimes we can’t pinpoint why exactly we experience this panicky…

Meaningfulness is associated with greater well-being, and scientists have even devised ways to measure meaning in life.

«However, one of the strongest predictors of how meaningful people perceive their lives to be is… Being reminded of valued sources of meaning.»

JOMO—the joy of missing out—is a way to live an intentional life. It’s realising that FOMO is distracting you from your life’s purpose.

«Associated with a fear of regret, FOMO is the apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which you are absent.»

Fear setting involves identifying and defining your fears so that you can overcome them. It's a process of reflection to step away from the everyday grind to gain perspective on your fears.

«The good news is that if you can identify which fears are rational, and which are irrational, you can exert some level of control over them.»

Self-reflection should not be reserved for our personal lives only. It can also be richly rewarding for our professional careers.

Many of us would like to have more time to read, but life can get in the way of picking up a book. What are strategies that actually work?

«However, speed reading limits your comprehension of the novel, reducing the accuracy of what you read and hindering how much you retain of the story»

Our brain is wired to reduce uncertainty. The unknown is synonymous with threats that pose risks to our survival. The more we know, the more we can make accurate predictions and shape our future. The…

«Put simply, their results suggest that our brain redirects its energy towards resolving uncertainty, at the expense of other cognitive tasks.»

The present bias is our tendency to seize short-term opportunities, settling for a small present reward rather than waiting for a larger future reward.

«staying mindful of your long-term goals so you don’t fall prey to the dangers of instant gratification»

Learn how to think better with a guide on decision-making frameworks, cognitive biases, mental models, and tools for thought.

«metacognitive skills allow people to bring their thought processes to the foreground, so they can be analysed, and potentially improved.»

When reading a book, taking notes interrupts our reading flow. There is a fine balance between taking too many notes and taking too few notes.

«Importing these ideas into my note-taking system is a way to create a dialogue between the authors whose work I have read.»

There's a note-taking app for everyone. The challenge: it's hard to decide which one's the best for your use case and your note-taking style.

When facing a difficult dilemma, Creative Problem Solving offers a structured method to help you find an innovative and effective solution.

«With brainstorming, Osborn suggested that it’s better to bring every idea you have to the table, including the wildest ones, because with just a little modification, the outrageous ideas may later become the most plausible solutions. In his own words: “It is easier to tone down a wild idea than to think up a new one.”»

When talking about creativity, many people will tell you: “Think outside the box!” The catchphrase is so common in management consulting and business environments, it has become a bit of a cliché.…

«Thinking inside the box often provokes resistance as it runs counter to some of the most ubiquitous intuitions about innovation. However, it’s a formidable creative thinking tool which is actually fun to use.»

Unfinished tasks can overwhelm us or motivate us. These contradictory experiences are due to the Zeigarnik and the Ovsiankina effects.

«compared to a task that has not yet been started, individuals have a stronger urge to complete interrupted or unfinished assignments.»

Temptation bundling is a productivity technique that involves combining an activity that gives you instant gratification, such as watching TV, with one that is beneficial but has a delayed reward,…

«trying to reply to important work emails while watching one of your favourite TV shows may not be the best combination, as your concentration levels are likely to be affected.»

When negative thinking becomes the norm, it can contribute to mental health problems including social anxiety, low self-esteem, and even depression. To avoid falling into that pattern, let’s explore…

«when you’re already feeling anxious or depressed, succumbing to negative thought patterns is unfortunately likely to worsen the way you feel.»

Motivation only starts to build again once we have taken the first steps and gained some momentum in our task. It's all about getting started and consistently taking action, making sure we get back on…

«three innate psychological needs which must be satisfied to enhance self-motivation and mental health: competence, autonomy and relatedness.»

Our search for purpose can be associated with psychological distress, such as worry, fear, stress, frustration, and even jealousy. But we can make the search a lot less excruciating by applying simple…

«purpose has become a choice instead of a calling, we are no longer provided with a map outlining what it looks like to live “the good life”.»

A digital detox is a period in which a person voluntarily refrains from using digital devices including smartphones, computers and social media platforms. However, recent research has shown that…

«The internet has made it possible to talk at length with strangers who share your passion for any subject—make the most of it»

The need for cognitive closure is the motivation to find an answer to ambiguous situations — any answer that aligns with our existing knowledge. Not only can it lead us to make mistakes based on…

«we should seek knowledge to resolve questions regardless of whether that new knowledge points to an answer that aligns with what we believe or what we want»

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom,” once said Aristotle. Introspection is the act of looking inwards to examine one’s own conscious thoughts and feelings.

«Reflecting on past experiences may help us to recall similar situations in which we either solved an issue or found our attempts fell short.»

Trying to multitask can not only hurt our productivity, but also our ability to learn. Fortunately, there is an alternative way to boost your efficiency: single-tasking.

«That’s why multitasking leads to decrements in performance when compared to performing tasks one at a time.»