About GonzoLabs
Learning doesn't have to be ordinary.
Whether you’re picking up a new language, improving study habits or rediscovering your creativity – how you learn is just as important as what you learn.
This isn’t your traditional classroom. It’s a field lab. A test kitchen. A notebook full of highlights, experiments, failures and breakthroughs.
Because here’s the truth: the education system trains us to pass tests.
It doesn’t train us to actually learn. Certainly not in a way that sticks. And not in a way that adapts to who we are or what we want from life.
"For a fair selection, everybody has to take the same exam: please climb that tree"
What is GonzoLabs?
GonzoLabs is part research project, part creative lab and part community hub. We help learners and educators explore the stories and science behind better learning.
We run social experiments (we call them Labs), deep-dive articles and a biweekly podcast that gets under the skin of how people learn, grow and stay curious in a noisy, fast-moving world. It’s a place where you’re encouraged to try things, break things, questions things, and walk your own path with more confidence and clarity.
About Jamie Hylands
Hi, I’m Jamie – Author, Podcaster and Chief Gonzo Researcher.
For the past twenty years, I've dedicated myself to the ephemeral pursuit of curious creativity. It has taken me from dive bars to boardrooms and everywhere else in between.
Throughout this time, I've invested thousands of hours in personal and professional development with one goal in mind – to be a little bit better than the day before.
What came from necessity to make ends meet, soon became a superpower. I've designed and launched tech products used by millions, sang to audiences in Thai beach bars and wrote a best-selling memoir that shifted the dial in how we perceive the stigma of mental health in men for the better.
When I looked back, I was immensely proud of the things I had achieved yet something still rankled.
In all that time, my approach to learning had remained the same: pig-headed stubbornness and a resolve to not stop until everything made sense or drove me mad (sometimes both).
With Japanese I hit a wall. So out came my trusty sledgehammer once again: more hours, more tutorials, more brute force. And it worked – until it didn't, and I ended up in hospital for an emergency brain scan. Bloody Kanji!
In the months that followed, I realised that if I wanted to reach my goals, regardless of the subject, I needed to find a way to study smarter not harder but had no idea where to begin.
That's when I knew that learning to learn would become my greatest project yet. And in true Hunter S. Thompson style, I needed to be the one to document every single step.
Why “Gonzo”?
Gonzo is personal. Immersive.
It’s about being both the subject and the storyteller.
We don’t just report on learning strategies from a distance – we live them, test them, fail with them, and then try again. That’s what GonzoLabs is: a space where experimentation isn’t just encouraged – it’s the whole point.
What We Believe
Learning is personal. Everyone comes with a different background, pace and purpose.
Progress beats perfection. Curiosity counts for more than credentials.
Smarter systems > more hours. Brute force burns people out. Good design gets people results.
Real life is the test. If your learning doesn’t help you live better, what’s the point?
How to Get Involved
Explore the Labs
We run ongoing experiments you can join – test your habits, study smarter and track your own learning breakthroughs.
Subscribe to the newsletter
Weekly insights on memory, focus and skill acquisition. Plus early access to new labs.
Tune into the Podcast (launching Summer 2025)
Jamie Goes Gonzo features personal experiments, behind-the-scenes field notes, and interviews with leading minds in learning, motivation, and mindset.
Grab the Book
The Middle is a best-selling memoir about falling apart and learning how to stitch yourself back together.
Let’s Connect
Want to collaborate, chat, or invite me to speak? Say hello: [email protected]