Why long-brewing physical and mental breakdowns feel so sudden
As a neurosurgeon and a son, I’ve come to see the parallel processes underlying growing tumours and stressed-out minds
by Sasi S Senga
Understand
The inner workings of the mind: emotions, memory, decision-making and more
When you feel moral disgust, what’s the emotion telling you?
Some actions and words provoke instant revulsion. To know if we can trust that gut feeling, we should probe why we have it
by Brandon Yip
Maxxing treats life as a problem when it’s a mystery
The philosopher Gabriel Marcel offers the antidote to a grotesque new ideology: don’t fix existence, be open to it
by Håkon Evjemo
Why you should try living without free will for two weeks
Set aside the philosophical debates and act as if there is no free will. It leads to less blaming and better questions
by Tara-Lyn Camilleri
Guides
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How to imagine a better future for yourself
Feeling unclear or pessimistic about what’s ahead? Your ‘best possible self’ is a tool for seeing things differently
by Dan Tomasulo
How to become the person you want to be
Close the intention-action gap and live the way you want, using insights from the cognitive neuroscience of habits
by Eike Buabang
How to enter a state of flow
That moment of sweet immersion in the task at hand: that’s flow. With some strategy, you can experience it more often
by Susan A Jackson
How to rediscover the joy of drawing
As a child, you knew the thrill of conjuring with a pencil. Reclaim that pleasure with these activities (no talent needed)
by Andrea Kantrowitz
Why you should try living without free will for two weeks
Set aside the philosophical debates and act as if there is no free will. It leads to less blaming and better questions
by Tara-Lyn Camilleri
Your deepest regrets help you see yourself more clearly
Far from being a waste of time, the regrets that haunt you reveal more about who you are than your successes ever could
by Joshua Halberstam
Popular
View allHow to imagine a better future for yourself
Feeling unclear or pessimistic about what’s ahead? Your ‘best possible self’ is a tool for seeing things differently
by Dan Tomasulo
How to become the person you want to be
Close the intention-action gap and live the way you want, using insights from the cognitive neuroscience of habits
by Eike Buabang
How to enter a state of flow
That moment of sweet immersion in the task at hand: that’s flow. With some strategy, you can experience it more often
by Susan A Jackson
Notes to self
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Videos
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Step into the joyful world of Annabel, a performer with Down syndrome
To make better memories, prioritise high peaks and happy endings
Five research-backed strategies for living fully with anxiety
Jacques recalls the odd calm of marching into battle in wartime France
Why major life decisions should be approached with ‘epistemic humility’
How to reclaim your attention from the distraction economy
Can he teach the teachers?
The neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene wants to bring four decades of findings on how the brain learns into the classroom. But evidence alone can’t overcome the politics in education
by Nancy Averett
Logistics underpins power – and logistics is female
A women’s history of logistics from the battlefields of 19th-century Europe to middle-class households and sex trafficking
by Susan Zieger
Glass eggs
When the future I’d been planning lay shattered at my feet, freezing my eggs offered a fragile hope
by Matilda Hay
Why do crowds make our emotional experiences more intense?
Being in a crowd amps up excitement, fear and other feelings. But there’s more to the phenomenon than ‘mob mentality’
by John Drury
How to enter a state of flow
That moment of sweet immersion in the task at hand: that’s flow. With some strategy, you can experience it more often
by Susan A Jackson
Free-range fraud
An animal rights group offered a rare job opportunity. How hard could it be to play along?
by Evan E Lambert
Your deepest regrets help you see yourself more clearly
Far from being a waste of time, the regrets that haunt you reveal more about who you are than your successes ever could
by Joshua Halberstam
How to become the person you want to be
Close the intention-action gap and live the way you want, using insights from the cognitive neuroscience of habits
by Eike Buabang
How to rediscover the joy of drawing
As a child, you knew the thrill of conjuring with a pencil. Reclaim that pleasure with these activities (no talent needed)
by Andrea Kantrowitz
How to imagine a better future for yourself
Feeling unclear or pessimistic about what’s ahead? Your ‘best possible self’ is a tool for seeing things differently
by Dan Tomasulo
Tips and tools for navigating hearing loss
At home, at work and out having fun, these are the supportive tools, apps and services that have helped me and many others
by Faith Davis
The hidden ‘rules of the game’ that dictate how we navigate the world
Video by Then & Now
Mary McLeod Bethune reminds us: education must be fought for
When they snatched a book from her hands, she pushed back, passing the gift of literacy to generations of Black children
by Salwa Mbarouk
Struggling with creative work doesn’t mean you’re failing
It’s easy to feel lost when you’re working on something new. But that rough patch is actually an encouraging signal
by Chris Smith
Why older people are happier and what we can learn from them
Around the world, happiness tends to peak later in life. It has more to do with balancing priorities than elderly wisdom
by Xianmin Gong & Natalie Wong