Best known for The Art of Thinking Clearly, Rolf Dobelli has helped millions of readers sharpen their thinking and sidestep the traps that cloud our judgment. In his latest book The Not-To-Do List, he flips traditional self-help on its head; arguing that the key to a good life isn’t doing more, but doing less of what doesn’t serve us.
In this candid conversation, Rolf shares practical ways to reclaim your attention and energy: how to stop overcommitting, why reliability matters more than talent, when to quit (and why it’s not a failure), and what he’s learned from consciously stepping away from the news cycle.
This episode is a must-listen for anyone feeling stretched thin, trapped in a productivity loop, or simply ready to cut through the noise.
00:00 Introduction
01:04 Rolf Dobelli’s Not-To-Do Habit: Overconfidence
02:44 Rolf’s Study on Cognitive Biases
05:14 The Sunk-Cost Fallacy’s Impact on Our Decisions
07:22 How to Avoid the Manipulation of Reciprocity
10:12 Rolf’s Inspiration Behind ‘The Not-To-Do List’
12:44 Why Reliability Outweighs Brilliance
14:46 Knowing When to Quit or Persevere
18:33 Why To-Do-Lists Don’t Work
20:12 The Magic of Setting Low Expectations
23:54 Why Rolf Stopped Reading the News
27:25 Rolf Dobelli’s Mission to Sharpen the Quality of Our Thoughts
29:15 The Billboard Question: Rolf Dobelli’s Message
30:22 Episode Closing
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Stay up to date with Rolf Dobelli here: https://www.dobelli.com/en/
Purchase 'The Art of Thinking Clearly: Better Thinking, Better Decisions' online here.Purchase 'The Not to Do List: The Surprisingly Simple Art of Success' online here.
