Problem Solving: Embracing Stuckness and Thinking Productively with Ben Orlin

I don't personally think that a productivity tool can change your entire life, but I do think tools can lower friction and Brain FM falls in that category. It's a functional music app designed for things like focus, relaxation, meditation, and sleep, and it's definitely worth testing out like I did and got hooked on it years ago. What I did was I chose to try it during one real focused session of work just to see if it would help me focus my attention better while I did that work. And the time flew by, I got the work done, and I've been using it ever since. for that mode and all the others I mentioned. And you can too. Try it out. Go to beyondthe-do list.com slash brainfm and get 20% off or go to the link in the show notes of this episode. Again, try it out by going to beyondthe list.com slash brainfm and you'll get 20% off and support the show. And welcome back to Beyond the To-do list, a podcast about productivity. I'm your host, Eric Fisher. And in this episode, I'm excited to welcome Ben Orlin, author of Math for English Majors. a human take on the universal language. He's an educator, a writer, and has a book series that makes math more accessible, humorous, and relatable. And in this conversation, we are talking about how to understand math as a language, as a form of communication.

and getting over some of the stigma and negative experiences that, like me, you may have had. with math in school. But Ben reframes it through storytelling and humor and makes math more engaging and approachable. And then how that relates to productivity is this concept of stuckness. We've all been stuck at a point in a math problem. Sometimes, as you'll hear in this conversation, mathematicians will get stuck. for over seven years. And then some. But it's all about what you do in that stuckness, insights into how to flip and frame that problem solving moment you're stuck in, as well as making better decisions because of it. So even if you love math, I think you're still gonna get a lot out of this conversation. With Ben Orland.

Well, this week it is my privilege to welcome to the show Ben Orlin. Ben, welcome to Beyond the To-do list. Thanks so much, Eric. Okay, I'm really excited to chat with you. I never thought we'd be talking about math. Almost ep almost everywhere I go, I got that. Including in class. Did not expect we'd have to do math today. Why are we talking about math in our math class today? The student said. Uh but you've got book out called Math for English Majors, a human take on the universal language and I'm very curious. You I mean you're describing math as a language, so

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