
Not Overthinking
The weekly podcast about happiness, creativity, and the human condition. It's us, Ali and Taimur Abdaal, occasionally joined by guests, talking about things to help us think, do, and be better.
Things like social interaction, lifestyle design, mental models... Things that are hard to examine, but important to explore. And hopefully, things that make for a fun and interesting chat every week.
We'd love for you to join us.
Latest episodes

Oct 25, 2021 • 47min
Critiquing Ali's life choices
In this episode we discuss angel investing and going back to school. Taimur analyzes my life choices and offers some insight on my future plans. Enjoy!Leave us a ReviewIf you enjoy listening to the podcast, we'd love for you to leave us a review on iTunes / Apple Podcasts. Here's a link that works even if you're not on an iPhone :) Send us an Audio MessageWe really want to include more listener comments and questions in our episodes. If you've got any thoughts on this episode, or if you've got a conundrum or question you'd like us to discuss, send an audio file / voice note to hi@notoverthinking.com. For any non-audio comments, drop us a tweet or DM on Twitter - https://twitter.com/noverthinkingSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

7 snips
Oct 18, 2021 • 40min
How can we find peace in our lives?
In this episode, Taimur shares his continuing woes about his calendar. We discuss the zen, peaceful nature of Benjamin Franklin’s calendar, and Ali attempts to coach Taimur through finding more peace in his life. Enjoy!Leave us a ReviewIf you enjoy listening to the podcast, we'd love for you to leave us a review on iTunes / Apple Podcasts. Here's a link that works even if you're not on an iPhone :) Send us an Audio MessageWe really want to include more listener comments and questions in our episodes. If you've got any thoughts on this episode, or if you've got a conundrum or question you'd like us to discuss, send an audio file / voice note to hi@notoverthinking.com. For any non-audio comments, drop us a tweet or DM on Twitter - https://twitter.com/noverthinkingSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Oct 11, 2021 • 45min
The Asymmetry of Cringe
In this episode, we discuss the philosophy of “cringe”, and opine about the shrinking of the “cringe” overton window, especially amongst the youth of today. Enjoy!Leave us a ReviewIf you enjoy listening to the podcast, we'd love for you to leave us a review on iTunes / Apple Podcasts. Here's a link that works even if you're not on an iPhone :) Send us an Audio MessageWe really want to include more listener comments and questions in our episodes. If you've got any thoughts on this episode, or if you've got a conundrum or question you'd like us to discuss, send an audio file / voice note to hi@notoverthinking.com. For any non-audio comments, drop us a tweet or DM on Twitter - https://twitter.com/noverthinkingSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sep 27, 2021 • 53min
Why are we running these businesses?
We get back from a low optionality trip to Croatia and talk about how it went. This leads us to talk about why we’re doing what we’re doing with our lives.Leave us a ReviewIf you enjoy listening to the podcast, we'd love for you to leave us a review on iTunes / Apple Podcasts. Here's a link that works even if you're not on an iPhone :) Send us an Audio MessageWe really want to include more listener comments and questions in our episodes. If you've got any thoughts on this episode, or if you've got a conundrum or question you'd like us to discuss, send an audio file / voice note to hi@notoverthinking.com. For any non-audio comments, drop us a tweet or DM on Twitter - https://twitter.com/noverthinkingSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

17 snips
Aug 23, 2021 • 50min
How to Setup a New Social Life
The hosts discuss setting up a social life in London, transitioning to a big city, the power of calendars, and self-acceptance. They also explore team sports challenges, structured leadership, ideal weekly schedules, and authenticity in public discourse.

Aug 18, 2021 • 60min
What is the purpose of group holidays?
For the first time in the history of the podcast we have a six people on this episode - a new record for Not Overthinking. Given that we're on a group holiday in the Cotswolds, we discuss the purpose of group holidays, why they're different to socialising in everyday life as well as whether we should be doing work in these settings and how this might affect the experience of others in the group. Enjoy :)Leave us a ReviewIf you enjoy listening to the podcast, we'd love for you to leave us a review on iTunes / Apple Podcasts. Here's a link that works even if you're not on an iPhone :) Send us an Audio MessageWe really want to include more listener comments and questions in our episodes. If you've got any thoughts on this episode, or if you've got a conundrum or question you'd like us to discuss, send an audio file / voice note to hi@notoverthinking.com. For any non-audio comments, drop us a tweet or DM on Twitter - https://twitter.com/noverthinkingSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Aug 8, 2021 • 43min
Do we have a specific personality type?
After discussing why we've become consistently inconsistent in publishing episodes (sorry, not sorry), we spend the rest of this episode discussing the Enneagram - a model of the human psyche made up of nine interconnected personality types. Ali is fairly certain of his own type and so we move onto to trying to figure out which type best describes Taimur and ask how much can we really trust these types of test. Enjoy Leave us a ReviewIf you enjoy listening to the podcast, we'd love for you to leave us a review on iTunes / Apple Podcasts. Here's a link that works even if you're not on an iPhone :) Send us an Audio MessageWe really want to include more listener comments and questions in our episodes. If you've got any thoughts on this episode, or if you've got a conundrum or question you'd like us to discuss, send an audio file / voice note to hi@notoverthinking.com. For any non-audio comments, drop us a tweet or DM on Twitter - https://twitter.com/noverthinkingSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jul 12, 2021 • 54min
Why is agency a precious resource?
We're back into our weekly schedule and in this episode, after diving into why Taimur has signed up to do a triathlon and why Ali suddenly wants a dog, we discuss thoughts on autonomy sparked by an interesting article by Simon Sarris which describes why agency is the most precious resource. Enjoy :)LinksThe Most Precious Resource is AgencyLeave us a ReviewIf you enjoy listening to the podcast, we'd love for you to leave us a review on iTunes / Apple Podcasts. Here's a link that works even if you're not on an iPhone :) Send us an Audio MessageWe really want to include more listener comments and questions in our episodes. If you've got any thoughts on this episode, or if you've got a conundrum or question you'd like us to discuss, send an audio file / voice note to hi@notoverthinking.com. For any non-audio comments, drop us a tweet or DM on Twitter - https://twitter.com/noverthinkingSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jul 5, 2021 • 49min
Why are childhood memories so varied?
In this episode of the podcast, after Ali explains the revelations he’s had about his business, we take a trip down memory lane. Following a family trip to the area where we grew up, we reflect on our emotional experience of revisiting the sites of our early childhood as well as the memories we have of that time. From lying on the floor to kiss chase to running away from home, we each seem to have certain moments that stand out from those early years. We talk about why certain experiences seem to lodge themselves firmly in our memory and the different factors that could affect which memories we keep and those we forget.We’ll try to get back into the groove of publishing every week moving forward. Enjoy.Leave us a ReviewIf you enjoy listening to the podcast, we'd love for you to leave us a review on iTunes / Apple Podcasts. Here's a link that works even if you're not on an iPhone :) Send us an Audio MessageWe really want to include more listener comments and questions in our episodes. If you've got any thoughts on this episode, or if you've got a conundrum or question you'd like us to discuss, send an audio file / voice note to hi@notoverthinking.com. For any non-audio comments, drop us a tweet or DM on Twitter - https://twitter.com/noverthinkingSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jun 21, 2021 • 57min
What do debates on Twitter reveal about identity?
After a short sabbatical from recording, we’re back once again. In this episode, we catch up with what’s been going on in our lives over the past few weeks before discussing why certain tweets end up becoming more contentious than intended and how identities can be revealed through how people respond to certain tweets. We also debate some of Taimur's recent book suggestions which Ali has found to be surprisingly good.Leave us a ReviewIf you enjoy listening to the podcast, we'd love for you to leave us a review on iTunes / Apple Podcasts. Here's a link that works even if you're not on an iPhone :) Send us an Audio MessageWe really want to include more listener comments and questions in our episodes. If you've got any thoughts on this episode, or if you've got a conundrum or question you'd like us to discuss, send an audio file / voice note to hi@notoverthinking.com. For any non-audio comments, drop us a tweet or DM on Twitter - https://twitter.com/noverthinkingSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.