Lucas Miller, Productivity Researcher & Lecturer – Helping Haasies Become Superhumans

Paulina Lee interviews Lucas Miller,a human performance researcher and the youngest faculty at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. A best-selling author on the science of learning and behavior change, he co-designed one of the most popular MBA courses at UC Berkeley called "Becoming Superhuman: The Science of Productivity and Performance" and has been featured in Wired and The Wall Street Journal. 

Episode Quotes: 

On student takeaways from the course

“I've even seen grown men cry and then get into a very personal reveal of how (their phone has) ruined their marriage or it's made them way less effective and way less intelligent than they used to be in their forties or thirties. They realize that these habits have been completely reinforced over time and they can choose to fight back and take control...if they're willing to make that trade-off.”

On the importance of focus

“It's not really about time management. It's more about getting the right things done. It's one thing to talk about being a faster runner or a better performer or getting more things done in fewer hours. It's another to make sure you're doing the right stuff because it doesn't matter how hard you're working. If you're not focusing on what matters, then you won't get the results you want.”

On maximizing your day

"That's one concept that sticks with folks, that it's okay to not be a hundred percent the entire day. I mean, we're not machines. We're not like laptops where if we simply have power, we can just run at a hundred percent capacity and run multiple programs at the same time. We have peaks and we have troughs, and if we don't manage our energy over the course of the day, we have long periods where we're just burned out and can't do anything.”

On finding your strengths

“I think something that's really, really important for folks to learn as they try different careers and potentially go down rabbit holes that may serve them or may not serve them, is to keep a keen eye on what gives them energy and what drains them. Because ultimately, it gives you real insights into what's going on on a daily basis; and will help make you fulfilled and feel like you're growing.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn: Lucas Miller
• Stoa Partners
• Beyond Brilliance: The Blueprint for Learning Anything by Lucas Miller
• The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
• Berkeley Free Ventures