
The Human Flourishing Project
Hi, I'm Alex Epstein.
I started the Human Flourishing project to tackle the problem I care about most: human beings lack reliable access to the knowledge we need to flourish.
Latest episodes

Jan 18, 2021 • 15min
Episode 89: Productive role models for 2021
Alex Epstein discusses several characteristics that unite his productive role models for 2021, including focus, optimizing for value creation over advertising, and having very little need for short-term feedback.

Jan 4, 2021 • 14min
Episode 88: Lessons from work fortnights
Alex Epstein discusses some lessons that his experimentation with "work fortnights"--11 days on, 3 days off--has reinforced.

Dec 21, 2020 • 35min
Episode 87: 6 kinds of focus
Alex Epstein discusses 6 kinds of focus that make individuals more productive and fulfilled:
1) focusing on a high-value and meaningful market
2) focusing on an area of comparative advantage
3) focusing on the most valuable few projects
4) focusing on performing your core work
5) focusing on inevitably productive processes
6) focusing on your progress

Dec 7, 2020 • 26min
Episode 86: "Performance time" vs. "feedback time"
Alex Epstein discusses one of his biggest productive breakthroughs to date: maximum separation of "performance time" and "feedback time."

Nov 23, 2020 • 40min
Episode 85: How to spend time
Alex Epstein discusses one of life's basic questions--"How do I spend the very limited time I have on Earth?"--and shares three techniques for answering it: life-blocking, ranked lists, and calendar comprehensiveness.

Nov 9, 2020 • 27min
Episode 84: The wisdom of Cal Newport
Alex Epstein discusses the work and new podcast of Cal Newport, his favorite thinker on productivity.

Oct 26, 2020 • 30min
Episode 83: The danger of moral safety
Alex Epstein discusses why he is suspicious of any “morally safe” activity—any easy way to be seen by oneself or others as a good person. Doing the “morally safe” thing, he argues, often involves 1) a lack of critical thinking, 2) wasting time, and 3) acting on unhealthy motives.

Oct 12, 2020 • 24min
Episode 82: The three ingredients of relaxed productivity
Alex Epstein discusses the three ingredients of relaxed productivity—inevitably productive processes, high-altitude planning, and real rejuvenation—along with one poison: focus-destroyers.

Sep 28, 2020 • 17min
Episode 81: Learning from master practitioner-teachers
Alex Epstein discusses why we should seek out the rare phenomenon of the master practitioner-teacher wherever we can find it, using Netflix CEO Reed Hastings' new business book as an example.

Sep 14, 2020 • 20min
Episode 80: Avoiding overwhelm (part 2)
Alex Epstein discusses how to avoid overwhelm when one feels totally overcommitted for the upcoming week. The key is "calendar comprehensiveness," which Alex shares a quick process for achieving.
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