Feed Me Your Problems.
Chronic illness, a brain that runs differently, a work-from-home life nobody wrote a manual for — if the standard advice keeps failing you, you're not the problem.
The Lab is a community for people whose problems don't fit standard advice. With expert guidance from Productivity Coach Kristin Lindsley, you'll learn how to use small, trackable experiments to figure out what actually works for your life.
Join for $8/monthKristin Lindsley
When Multiple Sclerosis throttled my energy in 2018, nobody handed me a manual. Chronic pain, wild energy swings, depression and anxiety — and every piece of general advice I tried just made me feel like I was failing at being sick correctly.
What actually worked was throwing out the rulebook: try stuff, keep what works, measure instead of guess. Couldn't sit in a regular chair? Got an adjustable bed. Couldn't work normal hours? Started working for myself and got radically honest with clients about what I could and couldn't do.
For me, it worked. Now, I want to bring the same sense of clarity and agency that self-help science brought me to you.
Weird Problems, Weird Solutions.
Most advice is built for the average case. But chronic illness, neurodivergence, or running your own show from your own home don't run on averages. If you've done everything "right" and still come up empty, you're not broken — you're a fish being judged by how well you climb a tree.
The Lab is not medical advice, and Kristin is not a medical professional — nor is anyone else in the community. Health-related advice is heavily moderated, and any experiment involving diet, exercise, medication, or other medical changes should be run past your actual doctor first, every time. Be wary of accepting medical advice from other members, too — we're all just comparing notes, not prescribing anything.
Not in the Lab!
Complaining, on its own, brings a multitude of benefits when done in a supportive environment. It's also the first step toward actually solving the problem. Every experiment starts with a Hypothesis: your best guess at what's actually wrong. And most hypotheses start out sounding exactly like a complaint — "my hands hurt," "I can't focus," or "It's 2PM and I'm still in my pajamas."
That's not whining, it's data collection!
"Everything is data, and data is good." When you try something and it doesn't work like you hoped, that's not failure — that's useful information about what the real problem actually is.
The Lab Runs On One Loop
Adapted from the scientific method and John Dewey's century-old Pattern of Inquiry — built for messy, real-life problems instead of sterile environments.
Identify a Problem
Find an area of discomfort in your life through the power of productive complaining.
↓"I'm exhausted! How much sleep do I even need?"
Experiment
Make a single, isolated change, and track what happens over a period of time.
↓"I'll sleep 8 hours a night for 7 days, and log how I feel. Repeat with 9 hours, then 10."
Analysis
Any result is useful. "Didn't work" just means we found what the problem wasn't.
↓"I feel much better when I sleep 10 hours!" OR" "It doesn't matter how long I sleep, I'm still tired."
Optimize & Repeat
Solution= same method, new problem.No solution = tweak experiment & go again.
↓"I feel better when I sleep 9 hours a night." or "Still tired, but during the experiment I realized my dog kicks me all night!"
What You Actually Get
Community, structure, and a place to run the experiment — whichever part of it you need most.
Power Hour Live
60-minute Zoom sessions for group accountability and body doubling — working alongside other people virtually to make starting and finishing things easier. Come do the un-fun task with backup.
- Body Doubling Having someone else "in the room" makes it easier to follow through.
- There's Lots of 'Em Kristin currently hosts about 8 Power Hours a week.
- Can't Make It? Let me know what day and time works for you, and if there's enough interest, I'll make a new weekly session!
What Sucks Today Community
The running thread (and live hangout) built for venting with purpose, with just enough structure to keep it useful:
- Complain, Please. Be clear: do you want advice, or just to be heard?
- Listeners, Listen. Hold the advice unless it's asked for.
- No Sadness Olympics. Every complaint is valid. No medals for Most Miserable.
Is being constantly, instantly reachable driving you nuts? Try this free Experiment to see what being in control of your notifications does for you.
Want something more structured than an experiment-as-you-go pace? Kristin HIGHLY recommends Habit Builder, a 13-week cohort for building habits that actually stick — a sister program, separate from The Lab. It's a great place to conduct experiments. Ask about it when you join →
Lab Rat or Igor?
Lab Rat - Group Work
- ✓ Power Hour body-doubling sessions
- ✓ Full "What Sucks Today" community
- ✓ Free Mad Science skill courses
- ✓ Full community access
Igor - Personal Experiment Coaching
- ✓ Everything in Lab Rat
- ✓ Monthly 1-on-1 Zoom to design bespoke experiments
- ✓ Custom tracking tools, built for your unique data
- ✓ Daily customizable accountability reminders
- ✓ Async direct messaging with Kristin for support
- ✓ Extra 1-on-1s at $65 (normally $100)
What's Your Problem?
Fill this out and you'll get an email with everything you need to join The Lab.