Ideas on calm, focus and living well
Practical, unhurried writing on Stoicism, Taoism, ADHD, focus, productivity and the age of AI, from the authors behind our books. Search the journal.
Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria: When a Small No Feels Like the End
Rejection sensitive dysphoria, usually shortened to RSD, is the sudden, overwhelming pain that a lot of people with ADHD feel when they are rejected…
Memento Mori: Why Stoics Kept Death in the Room
Memento mori is Latin for remember you will die. The Stoics carved it into rings and painted it into their still lifes, and for years I took it for…
How to Keep Your Money Safe While Traveling
Almost nobody loses their money to a dramatic robbery. They lose it to a card reader with an extra part, a taxi driver with a rehearsed line, or a…
Is Southeast Asia Safe for First-Time Travelers? An Honest Answer
Yes: for the standard first-timer route through Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore, Southeast Asia is broadly safe, and millions of first-time…
ADHD and Time Blindness: Why Time Feels Different, and What Actually Helps
Time blindness is the ADHD difficulty with sensing time from the inside: estimating how long things take, feeling a deadline before it is on top of…
Why Do I Keep Getting Ghosted? The Real Reasons, and What You Can Change
If you keep getting ghosted, the first thing to know is that the silence is rarely a verdict on you. Ghosting is now the default exit of app dating:…
Taoism vs Stoicism: What Is the Difference, and Which Should You Practice?
Taoism and Stoicism arrive at the same destination by opposite roads. Both teach you to stop fighting what you cannot change. Stoicism gets there by…
Dopamine Detox: What the Science Actually Says (and What Works Instead)
A dopamine detox will not lower your dopamine, because dopamine is not a toxin and does not build up like one. The trend misreads the science, but it…
Common Tourist Scams in Southeast Asia (and How to Spot Them Before They Start)
Most Southeast Asia scams are not new, and that is your advantage: the broken taxi meter, the temple that is suddenly closed, the jet ski that was…