Hello hello!

If you're a regular reader, you're probably here for the science-backed productivity tips, wellbeing hacks, and lately, my deep dives into GenAI (don't worry - more of those are coming soon).

But today, I'm sharing something a bit different. When Holly Wainwright from Mamamia's MID podcast invited me to chat about love, I couldn't resist. After all, what's more fascinating than applying behavioural science to matters of the heart?

A bit over five years ago, I got divorced. As someone who studies human behaviour for a living, I knew two things with certainty: first, that life's adventures are better shared, and second, that if I wanted to find love again, I needed a system.

So, I did what any self-respecting organisational psychologist would do - I turned dating into a properly controlled experiment. During Melbourne's lockdowns of 2020 and 2021, I became a dating app power user, developing decision-making frameworks that would make even the most rigorous researcher proud. The sample size? Approximately 50 first dates.

When two years of methodical app-based dating yielded no statistically significant results, I pivoted my strategy. I applied crowdsourcing principles to dating (because why not?). Spoiler alert: this approach also failed to produce the desired outcome.

But then, just when I'd exhausted my systematic approaches, I met Neo. And while it might have felt like a random occurrence, I'd argue that luck favours the prepared mind (and heart). And after three years of wonderfulness, we're getting married next month.

Curious about how a productivity obsessive tackles the dating world? Holly and I unpacked it all in our conversation:

​Listen here.

P.S. I may or may not have created spreadsheets.

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