All Articles & Guides
How the curious, ambitious, and kind are making the most of their minds. Learn faster, think deeper and stress less with these crisp evidence-based articles.
Temptation Bundling: Beating procrastination at its own game
Is there a way to get through the more miserable tasks on my to-do list?
Self-control is overrated and how to play the long game
The importance of using self-control to reign in our impulses is often overstated. Pop psychology has spread this myth by misinterpreting The Marshmallow Test. We’ll debunk The Marshmallow Test by using new research to show how impulse control is relatively unimportant when predicting positive educational outcomes after socioeconomic factors are taken into account.
Untucking Revenge Bedtime Procrastination
How can I stop procrastinating before bed? It’s turning me into a zombie during the day, but breaking the habit is hard.
4:6 Breathing for Focus and Calm
The quality of our feelings affects the quality of our thinking. How we feel, however, based on an increasing wealth of clinical studies, is a skill. We can, far more than we might expect, direct our mood to overcome challenges like procrastination, anxiety, short attention spans and a lack of motivation.
A Strategic Way to Make Sense of New Topics
When problem-solving, how do I make sense of new topics efficiently?
Understand What You’re Reading Faster
When reading heavy academic texts at university, I find myself getting lost trying to follow the author’s argument. Any tips on how to be found?
Breadth and Depth: A Practical Workflow for Efficient Note-taking (Pt 5)
When reading, I move as slow as a snail. I’m paranoid that I’ll miss something important, so I take a lot of (often unnecessary) notes. Do you have a way I can be more efficient?
Evening Pages: Procrastinate Less and Sleep More
Whenever I try to sleep, my mind decides to start solving problems and listing all the things I have to do tomorrow. When I wake up, all that energy is gone and I struggle to get started. Any advice?
Thinking Fast with Jump Notes: Note-taking for Those that Hate Note-taking (Pt 4)
We think fast, and we think slow. Jump Notes, my twist on mind mapping, is for when we need to think fast, as pausing is either impractical or not preferable. When studying or working, that’s most of the time.
Example HQ&A Notes: How to Avoid Climate Disaster (2021) – Bill Gates
These example Highlight, Question and Answer (HQ&A) Notes are a companion to the third article in my Oxford Notes note-taking series, A Technique for Taking More Creative Notes: Up, Down, and Across.
Think Deeper: Upgrade your HQ&A Notes with Up, Down, and Across (Pt 3)
Ask a better question, and you’ll get a better answer.
The value of the Highlight, Question, and Answer (HQ&A) technique comes down to the quality of the questions you ask, so being able to prime a state of mind that surfaces better questions will deepen your understanding of the text and make you a more original thinker.
Get More Value and Joy from Books with Handwritten HQ&A Notes (Pt 2)
Taking notes on physical non-fiction books is best done by hand. While there’s evidence to support we remember handwritten notes best, that’s not why I recommend it.
Thinking Slow With HQ&A: Take Better Notes When Reading Non-Fiction (Pt 1)
The 21st century is an information fire hose. Being able to adjust, filter and turn information into insights has become a basic expectation. We must think deeply on a deadline.
The classic note-taking techniques haven’t caught up with the times. That’s why I’ve created two new techniques: the Highlight, Question and Answer (HQ&A) technique and Jump Notes.
Scoping: Creating Your Exam Success Guide
Exams always make me incredibly nervous because I’m always unsure if what I’ve been revising is actually going to come up. Do you have any advice on how to overcome this? And could you add some hints on how to get 100% in an exam?
Good Stress and Bad Stress: How To Use Them To Your Advantage
Doing things from home has made me an awful procrastinator. Some times I just start at the ceiling and then I panic because I’ve left everything until the deadline. How can I kick this bad habit?
The Pomodoro Technique: Getting Started With Working In Bursts
I keep procrastinating and get anxious about all the work piling up as the days go by. Do you have any recommendations for how to get started instead of feeling stuck?
Time Boxing: A Technique For Balancing Your Time Across Tasks
How do I balance my time across everything I have to work on? I’m currently studying A Level Chemistry, Biology, Maths and Geography. I usually spend too much time on one, so the others suffer.
A Practical Guide To Memorising Anything With Spaced Repetition
Can we talk about memory? I’ve been disheartened by the constant feeling that I have a sieve brain, and wondered how you made things stick at Oxford?
Escaping Your Phone’s Gravity
When trying to not get distracted, do you have a recommend phone setup?
A Practical Guide To Learning Anything Faster With The Feynman Technique
What’s the best way to learn something? I know there are many ways, but if you had to choose one, what would it be?
Motivation Is A Myth: How To Be Disciplined By Design
What’s the best way to stay motivated and not get distracted?
Using Retrospective Revision Timetables
What’s the best way to track and prioritise my revision when learning a new topic?



















