Hannah Aster

SEO Team Lead

Hannah is a seasoned writer and editor who started her journey with Shortform nearly five years ago. She grew up reading mostly fiction books but transitioned to non-fiction writing when she started her travel website in 2018. When she's not writing or traveling, you can find Hannah working on home reno projects, crafting, or taking care of plants.

Expertise

Graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in English and minors in professional and creative writing

Purposeful Practice Is More Than Just Repetition

What is purposeful practice? How can it help you break through your natural limits? Why is the phrase, “practice makes perfect” incorrect? Purposeful practice has four distinct components that distinguish it from merely repetitive practice: it has well-defined, specific goals, it demands complete focus, it involves feedback, and it requires you to push beyond your comfort zone. Continue on to learn more about purposeful practice and how you can improve how you practice.

Death by Meeting: The Problematic Employee Meeting

How bad were Casey’s employee meetings in Death by Meeting? How did Will try to salvage Casey’s meeting format? Was it good enough to impress J.T.? In Death by Meeting, Yip Software’s CEO Casey is notoriously bad at running employee meetings. His new assistant Will sits in to assess the situation and is shocked by what he sees. If they don’t improve their meetings, Casey could lose his job. Keep reading to find out why Casey’s employee meetings are so bad and what Will had to say about them.

How to Be a CEO During the Bad Times: The Struggle

When your company isn’t doing well, how can you be a good CEO? How do you get through the hard times without giving up? What is The Struggle? In his book The Hard Thing About Hard Things, Ben Horowitz talks about the hard parts of starting a business and being a CEO. He discuses The Struggle that almost every CEO will go through and gives advice on how to get through it. Keep reading for advice on how to be a good CEO and get through The Struggle.

What Colton Told Pastor Todd Burpo About Angels

What does Colton tell his father, Pastor Todd Burpo, about his trip to Heaven? Who did Colton meet while in Heaven? Why doesn’t Pastor Todd think his son is making it all up? In Heaven Is for Real, young Colton tells his father, Pastor Todd Burpo, about his experiences in Heaven. Colton claims to have met his grandfather, “Pop” and his unborn sister who had passed away in the womb. Todd hadn’t told Colton about either of these relatives. Continue on to learn what Colton told Pastor Todd Burpo about his meetings in Heaven.

Deep Work vs. Shallow Work: Reduce Shallow Work

What is deep work vs. shallow work? How can you reduce shallow work time from your schedule? “Deep work” is focused, uninterrupted, undistracted work on a task that pushes your cognitive abilities to their limit. In contrast, “shallow work” describes tasks that aren’t cognitively demanding – like answering email, filling out paperwork, and attending unproductive meetings. Keep reading to learn how you can take steps to reduce your time spent on shallow work.

Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp: Lale’s Secret

In The Tattooist of Auschwitz, how did Lale set up an outside connection from Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp? How did his smuggling service come in handy? Although Lale was afraid of getting caught, he found an outside connection and set up a small smuggling service inside Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. It was thanks to this connection that he was able to procure Penicillin and save Gita’s life Keep reading to learn about Lale’s secret, smuggling enterprise in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

Lale’s Concentration Camp Escape Meant More Danger

How did Lale make his concentration camp escape? How did he jump out of the pot and into the fire? In Heather Morris’ historical fiction novel, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Lale escapes a concentration camp in Vienna. He ran into Russian soldiers who he thought might help him, but quickly realized he was forced into another dangerous situation. Continue reading about Lale’s concentration camp escape.

Breaking Out of Homeostasis: Reach New Levels

How can breaking out of homeostasis help you reach new mental and physical levels? Is it possible to push yourself beyond your limits without burning yourself out? By pushing your body or mind hard enough and long enough, you can “trick” it into using its desire for homeostasis to your advantage. Over time, your body will change in ways that enable you to run that extra mile or lift that extra 50 pounds. The more you push yourself, the more the structure and chemistry of your brain will adapt to breaking out of homeostasis. Keep reading to learn how breaking

The Death by Meeting Book Backstory: Casey and Yip

In Patrick Lencioni’s book, Death by Meeting, how did Yip CEO Casey go from a PGA golfer to making videogames? What factors halted Yip’s potential growth? Patrick Lencioni’s book Death by Meeting is a business parable about a CEO named Casey who doesn’t know how to lead a productive team meeting. Casey gave up his golf career after a case of the yips and decided to turn his passion for golf into a videogame. Continue reading to learn more about how Casey started Yip Software in the Death by Meeting book.

Build a Company Process to Avoid Corporate Politics

How do you know when it’s time to start building an official process at your company? How can well-defined processes help minimize company politics? When adding new employees feels harder than adding more work to your current employees and it’s hindering growth, it’s time to build processes. Processes may seem tedious, but without processes, workplace politics develop and make it a bad place to work. Continue on to learn how to build a company process.