Leadership & Management Skills
What Is Leadership? Definitions That Actually Help You Lead
What is leadership? Nearly every definition centers on influence, and a 2011 meta-analysis found behaviors tend to explain more of effectiveness than traits.
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Decision Making & Critical Thinking
How We Make Decisions: The Psychology in Plain English
How we make decisions: fast impressions, slower checks and mental shortcuts, plus which classic findings held up across 36 samples and which did not.
Networking & Personal Branding
Why Networking Works: Granovetter's Weak Ties Explained
In Granovetter's job study, over 4 in 5 who found work via a contact saw that person only occasionally or rarely. Why weak ties work and when strong ties win.
Money Mindset & Financial Psychology
What Is a Money Mindset? Separating Psychology From Pop Slogans
What is a money mindset? What psychologists actually measure, the 4 money scripts in Klontz's research, and how to test your beliefs against your numbers.
Procrastination & Motivation
Why Do We Procrastinate? The Psychology Explained
Why do we procrastinate? A 2007 meta-analysis of 691 correlations points to unpleasant tasks, distant rewards, self-doubt and impulsiveness.
Employee Engagement & Company Culture
What Is Employee Engagement? A Plain-English Definition
Researchers define employee engagement as vigor, dedication and absorption; Gallup's Q12, given to nearly 64 million employees, measures work conditions.
Job Search, Resume & Interviews
How to Start a Job Search: A Step-by-Step Plan
How to start a job search in 7 steps, built on a 2014 meta-analysis of 47 job search programs, a LinkedIn experiment and US labor data.
Creativity & Problem Solving
What Is Creativity? How Psychologists Define and Measure It
What is creativity? Psychologists define it as work that is both original and effective. How it is measured, what tests miss, and 3 myths to drop.
Habits & Routines
How Habits Work: The Cue–Routine–Reward Loop Explained
How habits work: repetition links a setting to an action until the setting starts it. Why the reward matters less than the loop says, and what 66 days means.
Mindfulness & Meditation
What Is Mindfulness? A Plain-English Definition Without the Mysticism
What is mindfulness? A plain definition, what 47 randomized trials found it does and doesn't do, the side effects, and who should check with a clinician first.
Goal Setting & Planning
How to Set Goals You'll Actually Achieve
How to set goals in 5 steps. In a 2017 meta-analysis of 384 randomized tests, difficult goals had larger effects than easy or moderate ones.
AI for Personal Productivity
AI Assistants for Beginners: What They Can and Can't Do for You
AI assistants for beginners: in a 758-consultant experiment, AI help improved work on 18 tasks but cut correct answers on another. What they do well and badly.
Focus & Concentration
How to Focus: A Research-Backed Guide to Concentrating on What Matters
How to focus: 6 steps ranked by evidence, from if-then plans (642 experimental tests) to batched alerts, plus signs poor focus needs a doctor.
Investing for Beginners
Investing for Beginners: How It Works and Where to Start
Investing for beginners: how stocks, bonds and funds work, what 126 years of US returns show, and 7 steps based on US and UK regulators' guidance.
Focus & Concentration
Attention Residue: Why Switching Tasks Leaves You Foggy
Switching tasks leaves part of your mind behind. What research since 2009 shows about attention residue, and a 3-line plan that reduces it.
AI at Work & AI Literacy
AI Literacy Explained: What Every Employee Needs to Understand
How EU law, the OECD and the US Labor Department define AI literacy, the 5 things every employee should understand, and what the EU asks of employers.
Emotional Intelligence & Workplace Relationships
What Is Emotional Intelligence? A Clear Guide to a Fuzzy Term
Emotional intelligence names two ideas; in a 2010 meta-analysis, ability EI tests explained an extra 0.2% of job-performance variance beyond IQ and personality.
Energy, Nutrition & Exercise
Why Am I Always Tired? Common Causes and When to See a Doctor
Why am I always tired? In a review of 26 primary-care studies, depression was found in about 1 in 5 tired patients, serious physical disease in about 4 in 100.
Digital Minimalism & Screen Time
Digital Minimalism: A Beginner's Guide
Digital minimalism explained: Cal Newport's idea, what randomized trials found about cutting back on social media, and a 5-step plan to start.
Debt & Credit
How Debt Works: Principal, Interest, and Why Time Matters So Much
How debt works: principal, interest and time. In a Canadian regulator's example, paying C$60 instead of C$160 a month cost C$793 in interest, against C$231.
Communication Skills
What Are Communication Skills? A Plain-English Guide to the Core Set
Communication skills explained: the core six, the two tests they are judged on, and why email senders in a 2005 study expected 78 percent accuracy but got 56.