The Inforium

We once promised an episode on life skills, and here it is. These ten skills will give you the foundation you need to tackle almost anything. Full show notes Things mentioned in this episode: Listen Money Matters How to Budget Your Money Without Cutting Coffee (Ep. 174) OkDork (Noah Kagan’s website) 8 Habits of Highly Successful Students Use The Corson Technique When Asking Professors For Help The Ultimate Networking Guide for Introverts Collegetopia - How to Approach Anyone with the 3 Second Rule The Art of Manliness How to Learn Any Skill in Under 20 Hours Google Calendar (iOS) (Android) Want more cool stuff? You can find all sorts of great tools at my Resources page. You can also get a free copy of my book, 10 Steps to Earning Awesome Grades (While Studying Less), by staying up to date with the College Info Geek newsletter. Timestamps: 0:01:39 - Starting and keeping a conversation going 0:09:26 - Bringing friends into conversations and events 0:13:08 - Showing some interest on the new people you wanna talk with 0:15:06 - Getting better at problem solving 0:20:13 - Learning from your mistakes 0:24:55 - Differentiating and dealing with constructive and poor criticism 0:27:06 - Being able to respect and listen to what others have to say 0:29:03 - Paying attention to body language and avoiding distractions 0:35:36 - Learning how to cook and creating a good cooking environment 0:43:31 - Acquiring DIY (Do It Yourself) skills 0:51:26 - Learning new skills by practicing consistently and taking on challenges 0:57:15 - The 4 steps of "The First 20 Hours" 1:00:40 - Promoting yourself and your interests the right way 1:13:18 - Thinking progressively about your future 1:18:08 - Being a better romantic partner 1:28:04 - Conclusion If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! It's easy, you'll get new episodes automatically, and it also helps the show gain exposure :) You can also leave a review! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Money may be the root of all evil, but it's certainly much easier to do good if you've got it. We talk a bit about budgeting and how we handle our finances. Full show notes Things mentioned in this episode: Mint The Ultimate Guide To Budgeting In College Daily Budget for iOS Daily Budget alternative for Android Tom's net worth tracker Tom's budget modeler Ku Cha House of Tea Listen Money Matters Credit Karma Nerdwallet Nerdwallet - Best College Student Credit Cards of 2017 A Crash Course on How to Start Investing (Even If You’re in Debt) (Ep. 168) How One Recent College Grad Intends to Retire at 40 Mr. Money Mustache Want more cool stuff? You can find all sorts of great tools at my Resources page. You can also get a free copy of my book, 10 Steps to Earning Awesome Grades (While Studying Less), by staying up to date with the College Info Geek newsletter. Timestamps: 0:00:28 – Some info about the tea 0:02:12 – Defining your financial goals and retiring like Mr. Money Mustache 0:12:44 – Automating payments and finances in general 0:16:50 – Visualizing your finances through the money pipeline analogy 0:18:03 – Filling up the essential money pipeline “buckets” 0:26:57 – Managing the remaining “buckets” based on your personal needs 0:35:15 – Dealing with non-monthly, yet predictable expenses 0:37:43 – Sacrificing fun and happiness in favor of important expenses 0:43:32 – Sponsor: FreshBooks (Working as a freelancer) 0:46:17 – Martin’s budgeting method 0:55:08 – Keeping track of expenses and more on trading happiness for money 1:06:32 – Tips and benefits of using credit cards 1:15:55 – Being a deadbeat vs having a lot of credit card debt 1:22:36 – Recap and conclusion If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! It's easy, you'll get new episodes automatically, and it also helps the show gain exposure :) You can also leave a review! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You've got questions, and we've got answers: in this 5 questions episode, we talk about early networking, cold showers, morning routines, and more. Full show notes Things mentioned in this episode: The College Info Geek Community Thomas and Martin on Twitter Thomas and Martin on Goodreads Essentialism: How to Do More by Doing Less (Ep. 171) Wizarding World Book Club The Science Behind How Fast Humans Can Read 3 Speed Reading Techniques Examined: Do They Actually Work? 5 Ways You Can ACTUALLY Increase Your Reading Speed WaniKani Kindle Fire 7 Kindle Fire 7 case Evernote Kindle Paperwhite Lapsang souchong tea Imposter syndrome Codecademy TechRepublic Overclock Moo Strava LastPass How To Not Be Dumb On The Internet (Ep. 3) How to Use the Feynman Technique to Learn Faster (With Examples) LinkedIn How to Build Self Discipline - My #1 Exercise Stanford marshmallow experiment Forest Thomas on Instagram Want more cool stuff? You can find all sorts of great tools at my Resources page. You can also get a free copy of my book, 10 Steps to Earning Awesome Grades (While Studying Less), by staying up to date with the College Info Geek newsletter. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! It's easy, you'll get new episodes automatically, and it also helps the show gain exposure :) You can also leave a review! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The new semester is upon us! We talk about a few ways to get ready and start things off on the right foot. Full show notes Things mentioned in this episode: Reading Assignments: Crash Course Study Skills #2 Google Calendar Rate My Professors FAFSA Stay Organized and Motivated All Semester with Weekly Productivity Reviews Asana Google Drive Dropbox FreshBooks Model–view–controller Tom's resume Tom's personal website Essentialism: How to Do More by Doing Less (Ep. 171) The Path to College, Pt. 3: Becoming College-Ready (Ep. 111) The Ultimate College Packing Checklist What's In My Backpack? - Fall 2017 Edition Want more cool stuff? You can find all sorts of great tools at my Resources page. You can also get a free copy of my book, 10 Steps to Earning Awesome Grades (While Studying Less), by staying up to date with the College Info Geek newsletter. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! It's easy, you'll get new episodes automatically, and it also helps the show gain exposure :) You can also leave a review! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When the internet makes us painfully aware of every opportunity we have, it's easy to be overwhelmed. We talk about how to do less, but better. Full show notes Things mentioned in this episode: Essentialism, by Greg McKeown What We Learned from Reading “Deep Work” (Ep. 140) How to Boost Your Happiness and Hirability with Extracurriculars (Ep. 170) James Clear - Avoid the Second Mistake Martin's tablet (Kindle Fire 7) CGP Grey American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road Thomas on Goodreads Martin on Goodreads Thomas on Instagram Want more cool stuff? You can find all sorts of great tools at my Resources page. You can also get a free copy of my book, 10 Steps to Earning Awesome Grades (While Studying Less), by staying up to date with the College Info Geek newsletter. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! It's easy, you'll get new episodes automatically, and it also helps the show gain exposure :) You can also leave a review! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Friends, fun, networking, resumes: what can't be improved by the right club or side-project? We talk about extracurriculars and how to choose them. Full show notes Things mentioned in this episode: Scintillation From CEOs to Opera Singers – How to Harness the "Superstar Effect" Luciano Pavarotti performing Nessun Dorma Juan Diego Flórez performing Granada Toastmasters FreshBooks Powlyglot (Martin's old language blog) Want more cool stuff? You can find all sorts of great tools at my Resources page. You can also get a free copy of my book, 10 Steps to Earning Awesome Grades (While Studying Less), by staying up to date with the College Info Geek newsletter. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! It's easy, you'll get new episodes automatically, and it also helps the show gain exposure :) You can also leave a review! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We talk a lot about nonfiction, but is that all we read? We go over why fiction's worth taking seriously, along with a few of our favorite books. Full show notes Things mentioned in this episode: Tom's Books: American Gods, by Neil Gaiman The Diamond Age, by Neal Stephenson Logicomix, by Apostolos Doxiadis The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, by Eliezer Yudkowsky Martin's Books: The Sirens of Titan, by Kurt Vonnegut The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, by David Mitchell The Buried Giant, by Kazuo Ishiguro The Slow Regard of Silent Things, by Patrick Rothfuss Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Lost Adventures, by Gene Yang, Michael DiMartino, and Bryan Konietzko (also see The Promise, which takes place after the series) Other links: Tom on Goodreads Martin on Goodreads Crash Course Tom's Impossible List How Ben Franklin Structured His Day The Procrastination Equation: An In-Depth Breakdown (Ep. 167) How to Make Consistent Progress on Your Goals (Even If You're Lazy) Man's Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl Buffer - The Surprising Power of Reading Fiction Cuckoo's Egg, by Clifford Stoll Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor, by Gabriel García-Márquez (Spanish version) How to Remember More of What You Learn with Spaced Repetition 9 Life-Changing Books (Ep. 96) Neuromancer, by William Gibson The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne Valente Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, by Lewis Carroll A Crash Course on How to Start Investing (Even If You’re in Debt) (Ep. 168) Listen Money Matters Cryptonomicon Tom's Top 10 Favorite Fiction Books! The Name of the Wind, and The Wise Man's Fear, by Patrick Rothfuss Rogues, by George R. R. Martin, Neil Gaiman, Patrick Rothfuss, and more (the anthology with a story about one of the characters from The Kingkiller Chronicle) Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card Rationality: From AI to Zombies, by Eliezer Yudkowsky Predictably Irrational, by Dan Ariely Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson Marvel Unlimited Mistborn: The Final Empire, by Brandon Sanderson The Metropolitan Man, by Alexander Wales Want more cool stuff? You can find all sorts of great tools at my Resources page. You can also get a free copy of my book, 10 Steps to Earning Awesome Grades (While Studying Less), by staying up to date with the College Info Geek newsletter. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! It's easy, you'll get new episodes automatically, and it also helps the show gain exposure :) You can also leave a review! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The secret to investing is: start now. But obviously it’s not that easy. We go over different kinds of investments and how to get started sooner. Full show notes Things mentioned in this episode: Listen Money Matters Betterment Why Dollar-Cost Averaging Is a Lousy Retirement Investing Strategy Does Dollar Cost Averaging Make Sense For Investors? How a 1% Fee Could Cost Millennials $590,000 in Retirement Savings This is how many fund managers actually beat index funds Compound Interest Calculator FreshBooks Want more cool stuff? You can find all sorts of great tools at my Resources page. You can also get a free copy of my book, 10 Steps to Earning Awesome Grades (While Studying Less), by staying up to date with the College Info Geek newsletter. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! It's easy, you'll get new episodes automatically, and it also helps the show gain exposure :) You can also leave a review! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Banish your procrastination habits, one variable at a time. Here are our thoughts on "The Procrastination Equation" and how to apply it to your own life. Full show notes Things mentioned in this episode: The Procrastination Equation, by Piers Steel Quiz - How much of a procrastinator are you? Quiz - Which motivation variables affect you most? (If Expectancy <= 24, it's a likely problem area. If Value or Delay >= 24, they're what you should probably be looking at.) 10-Step Anti-Procrastination Checklist Focus app Cold Turkey app Magnet app Learned helplessness dog study Learned Helplessness (Ep. 99) What We Learned from Reading “Deep Work” (Ep. 140) Just 6 Weeks app (iOS | Android) Habitica Beeminder Want more cool stuff? You can find all sorts of great tools at my Resources page. You can also get a free copy of my book, 10 Steps to Earning Awesome Grades (While Studying Less), by staying up to date with the College Info Geek newsletter. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! It's easy, you'll get new episodes automatically, and it also helps the show gain exposure :) You can also leave a review! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, we talk about six lessons we took from "The Personal MBA", by Josh Kaufman. Full show notes Things mentioned in this episode: The College Info Geek Podcast on YouTube The Personal MBA, by Josh Kaufman Chalkboard/whiteboard laptop stickers Derek Sivers' book reviews Derek Sivers' review of The Personal MBA CDBaby Zappos Suit Supply Debt: The First 5,000 Years, by David Graeber Cold Turkey Writer What We Learned from Reading “Deep Work” (Ep. 140) Charisma on Command FreshBooks Crackbook Chrome extension Tom's Instagram Tube Buddy Want more cool stuff? You can find all sorts of great tools at my Resources page. You can also get a free copy of my book, 10 Steps to Earning Awesome Grades (While Studying Less), by staying up to date with the College Info Geek newsletter. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! It's easy, you'll get new episodes automatically, and it also helps the show gain exposure :) You can also leave a review! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.