Blog
Notes on breath meditation, attention, and doing it for real.
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What Does Meditation Actually Do for You? The Developer of True Meditation Answers
Eight years of meditation didn't stop the anger, worry, or overthinking. What changed is how long I keep replaying things after they're over — answered on video.
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Why You Keep Scrolling Even When You’re Exhausted
Why you keep scrolling at night even when exhausted — what bedtime procrastination research shows, when scrolling is fine, and a three-line evening plan.
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How to Get More Second Dates — and Yes, It's a Harvard Study
In a Harvard speed-dating study, people who asked more follow-up questions got more yeses to seeing them again. Why it's hard to do, and one thing to try.
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Harvard Set People's Phones Buzzing at Random. Nearly Half the Time, Their Minds Were Somewhere Else
A Harvard study set phones buzzing at random and asked what people were thinking. Their minds were elsewhere 46.9% of the time, and they felt worse then.
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You Beat Yourself Up for Procrastinating. Why Put It Off Again the Next Day?
Research on procrastination and self-blame: escaping uncomfortable feelings, a self-compassion note that led to longer study, and one way to start.
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Smart but Zoning Out in Class? Have Them Write One Thing in Their Notebook
Some smart kids get bad grades because they chase their own questions in class and miss what comes next. One notebook habit keeps the curiosity without losing the lesson.
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The One Question to Ask When Small Things Stress You Out
Is this a problem, or an inconvenience? A coworker who had survived Auschwitz said it to a young Robert Fulghum, and Fulghum used it for thirty years. How to apply it, and what to ask when something still won't let go of you.
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How to Distance Yourself From Your Thoughts — and What It Actually Does
Stepping back from your thoughts means the same thought can show up without pulling you along. Here's how it works and what a 2025 meta-analysis of 29 trials and 2,535 people found.
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Mindfulness Meditation Isn't About Getting Rid of Thoughts
Close your eyes to meditate and the thoughts keep coming. Mindfulness isn't about stopping them — it's about noticing when your mind has wandered and coming back to your breath. Here's how to do it, and the part that's actually hard.
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Why Your Best Ideas Come in the Shower, Not at Your Desk — It Has Nothing to Do With How Smart You Are
Good ideas come in the shower and on walks, not at the desk, and it isn't about IQ. Two habits explain it, a moderately busy mind and noticing an idea the moment it surfaces.
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Why Online Lectures Don't Sink In — It's Not About How Smart You Are
If online lectures don't make sense, don't blame your brain. Harvard students who watched the same lecture ended up 22 points apart, and those who zoned out more scored lower.
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Can't Sleep Before a Big Day? How to Come Back From Racing Thoughts
The night before something important, tomorrow can start playing on a loop in your head. Here's a simple way to count your breaths, notice when you've wandered, and come back, and why noticing is a skill you train.
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Anxious for No Reason? How to Get Out of Your Head
Some days you're anxious for no real reason, one worry pulling the next. The way out isn't getting rid of the thought — it's noticing you're in it. Here's the catch, and how to train it.
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There Was a War Going On in My Head. I Only Found Out After I Started Meditating.
Stress ran my head in three directions — back over what happened, forward into worst cases, sideways into what others thought. I saw the shape only after meditating.
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How to Stop Procrastinating
You don't skip because you have reasons. The reasons show up because you weren't going to go. The order is backwards, and the order is the part you can't see.
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When Your Mind Won't Stop Racing, Emptying It Is the Wrong Move
The harder you try to empty your mind, the louder the racing thoughts get. People who handle this well don’t erase thoughts — they notice them. Here’s what that changes.
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What's Going On in Your Head When You're Trying to Impress
Trying to look impressive and cringing later happens in four steps. What you know only arrives at the last one — so what changes things is when you notice.
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One Thing I Realized Through Mindfulness Meditation That Genuinely Changed My Life: I Stopped Caring How Other People See It, or How Other People Do It
"How does everyone else handle this?" Once thoughts like that fill your head, nothing gets done properly. After I started meditating I could catch them coming.
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I Learned to Meditate From a Book
Every meditation app I downloaded was something to listen to. The part I was stuck on — noticing my mind had wandered — wasn’t in any of them. So I built it.
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You Rested Your Whole Lunch Break. Why Are You More Tired?
You rested all lunch break and came back more tired. Here's what your head was actually doing while you scrolled — and the three quiet minutes that stop it.
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I Quit Meditation Three Times — at the Exact Same Point
A few months in, your mind feels louder than when you started. You’re not doing it wrong — here’s what’s actually happening, from someone who quit three times.