Alexandra Carmichael

January 7, 2012

Here is another taste of what we’re reading at QS Labs. Hope you enjoy!

• A thought-provoking post from Less Wrong on Pleasure vs. Desire, or why we want things we don’t like and like things we don’t want.
• J Paul Neeley’s pretty amazing story of optimizing many areas of his life, and turning his discoveries into a project called Masamichi Souzou.
• A 9-step, very QS approach to managing your money and achieving financial independence. It emphasizes tracking without judgment, increasing awareness, setting intentions – all good QS principles. [PDF here]
• The best data visualization projects of 2011, from our friends at Flowing Data.
• Nicholas Feltron’s annual report [podcast].
• Navigating love and autism – an insightful story in the New York Times exploring emotion and communication in a background of neurodiversity.
• Tim Hartford on Trial and Error – a great TED talk on the importance of experimentation.
• An interesting research article outlining “what works” for physical activity and diet behavior change – self tracking is #1! [PDF here]
• A template and explanation of a daily mood tracking chart based on the National Institute for Mental Health’s prospective Life Chart Method for bipolar disorder. [PDF]