The Real Cost of Late Night Work
A thought-provoking poster from timeday.org: [for a full-size pdf, click here or on the picture] For more on how we push ourselves to work too long: Pondering the American work ethic How sports illustrate the American work ethic

Technical Difficulties…
I've been hacked! This blog and its feed are not at full strength, so please bear with me as my security people get to the bottom of it. Update: Things appear to be working now. Should be posting soon! Unfortunately, all the time I spent means Game Theory Tuesdays will be ...

Why You Want Your Employees to Second-Guess You
It's annoying when someone questions your authority. Naturally, you might want to remind them you're the boss with a threat or punishment. After all, that's what people did to you. As a kid, your parents withheld allowance. As a student, your teachers assigned detention. And when you were an employee, ...

10 Tips for Traveling Safely with Valuables
photo credit: GrooverFW A successful vacation depends as much on safety as it does on activities. The best travel plans can be sabotaged by pickpockets and dishonest hotel staff. Travel risk is inevitable because valuables like money and passports are needed when traveling overseas. So how can you protect yourself? This article ...

My “Secret” to Feeling like a Million Bucks
Update: This article is an editor's pick in the 162nd Carnival of Personal Finance at Taking Charge Some highlights of my "secret:" It costs nothing. Most of us can do it naturally. We willingly ignore it to our own detriment. Though when we occasionally do it, we feel like a million bucks. My "secret" is something ...

Why Moderation Fails
Everyone is in love with moderation. We're told to eat a "balanced meal." Fox News proudly claims it is "fair and balanced." Moderation dates back at least to the ancient Greeks who said "nothing in excess." Today, the same idea holds but with a slightly different wording: "everything in moderation." While ...

Why Patience Pays Off in Negotiations
photo credit: MShades via flickr A family caught my attention in a restaurant. A young kid was keeping his parents busy. He demanded an appetizer because the main course took too long. He then passed time playing video games on his cell phone. Soon he became bored again, so he took ...

Smart People Simplify, Simplify, Simplify
photo from Exfordy Today's advice: don't get too busy. It's foolish to cut back on something as pleasurable or healthful as sleep. It's equally misguided to pack the hours in your waking life. The happiest people I know live very simple lives. Some of them don't use email, if you can believe ...

No Regrets? It’s Possible If You Think About Risks, Not Results
source: andy_c via flickr Earlier this week my car was low on gas, and I pulled into the first station I could find. I filled up the tank, thinking prices would be on the rise. The next day I received an unpleasant surprise. Gas prices dropped about ten cents per gallon. I ...

How to Use Lies for Good, or Why Honesty Isn’t the Best Policy
image source: karindalziel via flickr Whoever said "honesty is the best policy" had to be lying. Lies have saved many messengers from being shot, and many couples from explosive arguments about body image ("Honey, do I look fat in this? Tell me the truth..."). There's certainly much to be said about honesty ...

10 Things about the Working World I Wish I Knew in College
Let's face it--each new stage in life brings dramatic changes that are difficult to anticipate. No matter how smart you can be in college, you will still get surprised by the working world. I faced these surprises myself. I thought the working world would be hard since it lacked the freedom ...

Scientists Use Game Theory to Determine the Importance of Individual Genes
Source: mknowles via flickr How can game theory possibly used in genetics? That's what I thought when reading about new genetics research. I can't say I have a grasp on the biology, but after some investigation, I now have a sense of how game theory comes in. I'll summarize the news and then ...