Edition #177 – Feb 9th, 2023

The Introspection Trap

There's plenty of evidence that it's worth expanding your self-awareness. People with more self-awareness have greater well-being, stronger relationships, a clearer sense of purpose, better, self-acceptance, and are overall happier.

And of course, we all know that introspection is the one of the best ways to expand our self-awareness. The more time we invest into reflecting on our thoughts and emotions, the more self-awareness we will have... Right?

Well, as often when it comes to psychology, the answer is not that simple. Researchers have actually conducted studies that show that introspection can lead to many unintended consequences. This is called the introspection trap.

As someone who journals regularly and has spent quite some time researching the benefits of metacognition, I was surprised to learn about the introspection trap, and I hope you'll also enjoy learning all about it – how it works, why it happens, and what we can do about it.

Beyond self-awareness, introspection can also impact our well-being. We can end up overthinking everything and making ourselves anxious instead of productively explore potential paths forward.

So in this edition, you'll also learn about the art and science of worrying well and how to turn your worries into wisdom.

Enjoy your weekly dose of mindful productivity!
Anne-Laure.

P.S. I'm working on an article about our relationship with goals and ambition, and I would love to include data from this wonderful community. Please take a minute to fill this anonymous survey, and I'll share the results back in the newsletter.

🧠 Brain Food

​The Introspection Trap (7 min)​
​Written by Anne-Laure Le Cunff​
Most spiritual traditions throughout the ages and across the world include some form of introspection. Today, journaling and other methods of introspection are commonly encouraged by mental health practitioners to help people manage their thoughts and emotions, better understand their actions, and make more deliberate decisions. Which bears the question: is introspection always good?

​Worrying Well (5 min)​
​Written by Anne-Laure Le Cunff​
Worry is traditionally seen as a negative emotion. But is it possible worry has a positive function, and that we just don’t tend to use it well? Physician and researcher Martin L. Rossman argues that worry is actually an adaptive function to better solve problems and imagine creative solutions. And worrying well is a skill anyone can learn.

​How to switch from Roam to Obsidian (9 min)​
​Written by Haikal Kushahrin​
A popular alternative to Roam is Obsidian, which is local-first and plain text. Obsidian is incredibly extensible, with many plugins to make your knowledge base truly personal. If you are considering switching from Roam to Obsidian, read this tutorial to explore key considerations and steps to ensure the transition goes smoothly.

🍬 Brain Candy

Little nuggets from my Twitter bookmarks this week. Click on the card to read the full tweet.

✨ Brain Picks

• Want to stay on top of work trends and news? Refind picks five links from around the web that make you smarter, tailored to your interests. Loved by 100k+ curious minds.

• See recent docs, filter by app, or search by title or content. eesel filters your browser history to show the links you need for work, right in your new tab. It's free and runs fully locally.

(huge thanks to our partners for making this edition possible!)

🤝 Brain Trust

• ​Americas/Europe Virtual Co-Working – 4pm UTC on Thu, Feb 9th
• ​Virtual Meetup: Psychedelics – 3pm UTC on Tue, Feb 14th
• ​Digital Wellbeing 101 – 4pm UTC on Tue, Feb 14th
• ​Asia/Oceania Co-Working – 6am UTC on Thu, Feb 16th

Invest in your productivity and your mental health. Join the Ness Labs learning community for unlimited access to our online courses and workshops. Join the community

🌊 Brain Waves

If you enjoyed this edition, please share the love with fellow curious minds on Twitter or Whatsapp.

Until next week, take care!