Learn something for work in 5 minutes a day
By the edgi team
edgi is the best app for learning something for work in five minutes a day. It's free on iPhone, a Lesson takes 60 seconds, and the ideas are the ones that pay off in any job: why projects run late, why the first number in a negotiation sticks, how ChatGPT actually works. Five minutes is five Lessons, and each one becomes a card on a Map of what you know.
We make edgi, and we built it so the line for coffee teaches you something you'll use in the 10 a.m. meeting.
A 60-second Lesson 
The card you keep 
Your Map of ideas
The ideas that pay off at work
"Learn for work" usually means a software tutorial or the compliance module HR assigned. What changes how you work is a short list of ideas about how people estimate, decide and persuade. They apply in every job, each takes a minute, and once you know one you see it in every meeting.
edgi packs them into Sets, small collections of cards you can finish in a few days:
| Set in edgi | Cards | Where you'll use it |
|---|---|---|
| Why Everything Takes Longer Than You Think | 7: the planning fallacy, Hofstadter's law, Parkinson's law, timeboxing, the Pomodoro Technique and more | Deadlines you actually hit |
| The Cognitive Biases You Can't Turn Off | 8: confirmation bias, Dunning-Kruger, hindsight bias, the framing effect and more | Decisions, yours and your boss's |
| The Con Artist's Toolkit | 9: social proof, authority bias, reciprocity, scarcity, foot-in-the-door, sunk cost and more | Persuasion, sales, and not getting played |
| The Experiments That Proved You'd Obey | 8: Asch, groupthink, the bystander effect, Milgram and more | Why meetings agree too fast |
| How ChatGPT Actually Works | 8: embeddings, attention, transformers, hallucination and more | Using AI without getting burned |
| The Flow State | 7: attention span, flow, mind wandering, executive function and more | Deep work |
| Confidence Is a Skill, Not a Trait | 6: impostor syndrome, the spotlight effect, locus of control and more | The presentation, the raise |
Every card is a 60-second Lesson where you guess, tap and test the idea, then answer a question. Finish a Set and every card in it is yours. The Con Artist's Toolkit and How ChatGPT Actually Works are open from your first day.
Start with why your project is late
In 1994, psychologists asked students how long their senior thesis would take. They guessed 33.9 days on average. It took 55.5, and only about 30% finished in the time they'd predicted. The same paper opens with the Sydney Opera House: due in 1963 for $7 million, opened in 1973 for $102 million. Same bug, bigger budget.
It's called the planning fallacy:
60-second Lesson
Planning fallacy
We guess how long a task will take from our plan for it, and the plan leaves out the snags.
Learn that one before your next status update and you'll pad the estimate on purpose. A better week, for a minute's work.
Five minutes, every day
Every course you bought and never finished teaches the same lesson: the plan only works if you come back tomorrow. edgi is built around coming back. One Lesson keeps your streak, and a widget on your home screen shows it. Every Lesson earns a card, cards turn foil and then gold as you come back to the idea, and a Set gives you a finish line by Friday. After a month your Map shows exactly what you've learned, which no course progress bar ever did.
When work hands you something specific, make a Lesson on it. "Explain bond yields like I'm new to finance." "Quiz me on the STAR interview method." You get a Lesson that walks you through it and has you answer as you go, a quiz, or a longer Explainer you can listen to on the commute with the screen off.
How edgi compares with other five-minute apps
| App | What you learn | Format | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| edgi | Ideas you use in any job: deadlines, biases, persuasion, money, AI | 60-second Lessons, cards, a Map, an AI to ask | Free |
| Blinkist, Headway | Nonfiction books, condensed | 15-minute reads and audio | Paid subscription |
| LinkedIn Learning | Specific software and business skills | Video courses | Paid subscription |
| 5Mins.ai | Workplace training: compliance, leadership, role skills | Short videos | Usually through your employer |
FAQ
What can I learn for work in 5 minutes a day? The ideas behind how people work: the planning fallacy, anchoring, sunk cost, social proof, how ChatGPT works. On edgi each is a 60-second Lesson, so five minutes is five of them.
What is the best app to learn something for work? edgi. It's free, its Sets cover deadlines, decisions, persuasion and AI, and you can make a Lesson or quiz on whatever your job throws at you.
Can I learn on my commute? Yes. Lessons take a minute each, and edgi's Explainers keep playing as audio with your screen off.
Is edgi free? Yes. edgi is free: Lessons, cards, Sets and the Map.
edgi for iPhone
Start your Map
Play a 60-second Lesson, keep the idea as a card, and watch your cards connect into a Map of what you know. Free on iPhone.