Link to original article

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Introducing Effective Self-Help, published by Ben Williamson on January 6, 2022 on The Effective Altruism Forum. Effective Self-Help (ESH) is a pilot initiative researching the most effective ways people can improve their wellbeing and productivity. This post explains what Effective Self-Help is, what I hope the project can achieve, and why I believe this work may be highly impactful. As this is a long post, I suggest reading the Summary section below and then skipping to whatever sections seem of greatest interest. Based on rough Fermi calculations made using Guesstimate, I estimate a mean impact per Effective Self-Help article of 180 hours of high-impact work and 4.2 QALYs. However, these numbers are very uncertain and best taken as an indication that ESH could be highly impactful and cost-effective, rather than a signal that it will be. Thank you to the many people who have discussed ideas, critiqued drafts, and provided invaluable insights in recent weeks. This project has received initial funding from the EA Infrastructure Fund. Summary Effective Self-Help is currently an ongoing series of articles on relevant topics posted to the EA Forum. I intend to develop the project into a home for the best guidance on how individuals can improve their wellbeing and productivity. The project is currently solely the work of me, Ben Williamson, with feedback, comments, and ideas from lots of other lovely people involved in EA. In the What is Effective Self-Help? section, I discuss how I think ESH can be unique as a self-help resource by combining several key components: Prioritisation: Highlighting the most effective interventions and how effective they are, rather than just listing interventions that may be effective. Research Quality: Providing more rigorous and well-rounded advice that combines the findings of scientific literature with more Bayesian forms of evidence. Presentation: Maximising engagement through curated recommendations and the use of digital media (video, audio, and interactive programmes). Breadth: Covering topics across the full breadth of wellbeing and productivity, rather than just specific domains of expertise. Practicality: A focus on enabling behaviour change by highlighting practical actions and tailoring content to maximise the success of habit adoption. Positive mental health: Looking at how to improve the wellbeing of people who are not struggling with mental health issues as well as those who are. Free Access: Avoiding any influence of paywalls, advertising, or affiliate marketing on the quality of advice provided and full access to advice. Under Why Effective Self-Help could be highly impactful, I envisage three main routes to impact which are discussed in greater depth in the ‘Theory of Change’ sections. These are: Increasing the productivity of people doing high-impact work Helping a large audience make small improvements to their wellbeing Attracting new people to the EA community through an interest in self-improvement. I created Guesstimate models for the first two of these routes to impact, producing best-guess estimates that ESH could add 180 hours of productive work and 4.2 QALYs per article. However, these results are highly uncertain and best interpreted as an indication that ESH has the potential to be highly impactful if things go well, rather than a strong endorsement that it will be. Downside risks and arguments for ESH being ineffective discusses a range of ways in which Effective Self-Help could be of limited value or of active harm. The main downside risks discussed are that ESH could: Give advice that is of net harm by badly accounting for risks and side-effects Serve as a weak introduction to EA Make the EA community more insular. The main ways listed for how that Effective Self-Help could be of limited effectiveness are: S...