Tiny Experiments

A transformative guide to rethinking our approach to goals, creativity, and life itself from a neuroscientist and entrepreneur, and the creator of the popular Ness Labs newsletter

Life isn’t linear, and yet we constantly try to mold it around linear goals: four-year college degrees, ten-year career plans, thirty-year mortgages. What if instead we approached life as a giant playground for experimentation? Based on ancestral philosophy and the latest scientific research, Tiny Experiments provides a desperately needed reframing: Uncertainty can be a state of expanded possibility and a space for metamorphosis.

Neuroscientist and entrepreneur Anne-Laure Le Cunff reveals that all you need is an experimental mindset to turn challenges into self-discovery and doubt into opportunity. Readers will replace the old linear model of success with a circular model of growth in which goals are discovered, pursued, and adapted—not in a vacuum, but in conversation with the larger world.

Throughout the book, you will ask hard questions and design simple yet meaningful experiments to find the answers. You will learn how to break free from the invisible cognitive scripts that shape your life, how to harness the power of imperfection, and how to make smarter decisions when the path forward is unclear.

This is a guide to:
• Discover your true ambitions through conducting tiny personal experiments
• Dismantle harmful beliefs about success that have kept you stuck
• Dare to make decisions true to your own aspirations
• Stop trying to find your purpose and start living instead

Tiny Experiments offers not just practical tools to make sure our most vital work gets done, but a guide to reawakening our curiosity and drive in a noisy, busy, disaffected world, so that we can discover and pursue our most authentic ambitions while making a meaningful contribution."Clear, practical, inspiring. This book will change the way you design your goals and live your life."—Nir Eyal, bestselling author of Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life

"One of those books that changes the way you think, over and over again, for the better. This is easily one of the best productivity books that I've read: a rigorously researched, deeply delightful, and powerfully practical solution for turning our work into play. Required reading for anyone who wants to make the most of their life."—Ryder Carroll, creator of the Bullet Journal and New York Times bestselling author of The Bullet Journal Method

"Whether you’re looking to improve your health, career, or creativity, Tiny Experiments is a powerful guide to embracing curiosity and developing an experimental mindset. Instead of big changes, this book encourages testing small tweaks that lead to lasting growth. Perfect for anyone seeking more freedom in how they design their life."—Ali Abdaal, New York Times bestselling author of Feel-Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You
 
"A paradigm-shifting exploration of how to apply the techniques of science—seeking truth and proven answers through systematic experiments—to the often crazy, chaotic, and highly uncertain domain of navigating your career and life in the modern world. Anne-Laure has spent years intensively studying and testing a wide variety of tools, frameworks, and perspectives for making sense of the overwhelming flood of information we are faced with every day. In this book she puts them together into a coherent and actionable toolkit for using that information to craft a life so unique that it could only belong to you."—Tiago Forte, Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Building a Second Brain
 
"Anne-Laure Le Cunff provides a science-backed toolkit for embracing uncertainty as a catalyst for growth rather than a source of anxiety. This book is your permission slip to live life on your own terms, guided by curiosity and meaningful exploration."—Melody Wilding, LMSW, author of Trust Yourself: Stop Overthinking and Channel Your Emotions for Success at Work

“The urge to start experimenting will hit you around page two, and it just builds from there. Tiny Experiments is an inspiring, tangible playbook to break past the status quo of our overwhelmed generation and create a unique, exciting, and aligned path.”—Jo Franco, creator of JoClub and author of Fluentish
 
"One of the first books I’ve read that goes far beyond critiquing the flaws with the modern default path of work. Instead of repeating tropes on the rat race and corporate world, she goes deeper, daring us to imagine a more expansive form of ambition: one built not on what might impress others, but on what will make a life worth living."—Paul Millerd, author of The Pathless Path
 
"An essential handbook for our modern era—an era defined not by linear definitions of success, but by the squiggles and swerves necessary to thrive in a rapidly changing world. Tiny Experiments will fundamentally alter how you think about and live your life."—Simone Stolzoff, author of The Good Enough JobAnne-Laure Le Cunff is a former Googler who decided to go back to university to pursue a PhD in neuroscience. As the founder of Ness Labs and the author of its widely read newsletter, she is the foremost expert on mindful productivity and systematic curiosity. She writes about evidence-based ways for people to navigate uncertainty and make the most of their minds. She lives in London, where she continues to research and teach people how to apply scientific insights to real-world challenges.