For generations, hard skills have been prioritized over soft skills. Today, engineering and computer science education still places a strong emphasis on building technical expertise through math, science, and programming courses, with little attention paid to fostering interpersonal abilities. Many parents and educators still operate under the assumption that academic achievement and hard skills should … Read More
By most standards, I work a lot. Between running a company, pursuing a Ph.D., speaking at events, and writing a book, my days are filled with work. My friends sometimes comment that I work too much. But it doesn’t feel this way. I do work a lot, but not too much. I know because I … Read More
So many things to do, so little time. When you juggle work, personal projects, and are hoping to have any sort of social life, managing your time can feel like an impossible endeavor. There are many tips out there—the most common one being to focus on the most important task first—but few address the systemic … Read More
You are probably all too familiar with the dreaded creative block: sitting in front of your computer, your mind as blank as the page you are staring at, hoping that some miraculous burst of inspiration will suddenly rush through your fingers so you can finally get back into the flow. You also know of the … Read More
It seems obvious that the amount of time you spend on a task is a terrible indicator of how productive you are. And yet, a lot of our work culture is fixated on time. We often feel pressure to prove our productivity by working long hours or responding to emails outside of regular work hours.
The conventional path of accumulating optionality gives you reassuring but fragile options. In contrast, the best options — which involve lots of experimenting and tinkering — may feel riskier in the short term but will help you thrive through uncertainty.
If you add up the number of hours at your disposal during a given week, the total will be the same for every single living human being on the planet, whatever their occupation: 168 hours per week. Remove the weekends, and that’s 120 hours. Get some sleep, and you’re left with at most 90 hours … Read More
We live in a society where speed has become a measure of performance. We try to quickly go through our to-do lists, keep up with fast-evolving market demands, and rapidly ship product updates. Sure, we’re productive, in the oldest sense of the term — from Latin producere, which means “to bring forth”. But it somehow … Read More
Unless you’re a developer, you might seldom consider the code that breathes life into your online experiences. In a nutshell, two main parts work together to shape what you see on your screen whenever you visit a website. One part is the front-end, which is everything you interact with directly, like the layout and the … Read More
In the past, workplaces were filled with experts who each knew a lot about one specific area. The changing scope of businesses, with more fluidity between roles and responsibilities, later led to the rise of generalists — individuals who are capable across a lot of areas but do not need in-depth knowledge of any of … Read More