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Category: Being Productive

Don’t Fight Yourself

Published on November 7, 2022

Not every awake moment is created equal.

  • In some we’re more focused, in others we’re more playful.
  • In some we’re more creative, in others we’re more bland.
  • In some we’re more gritty, in others we’re more lax.

The trick, is aligning the ideal tasks with the matching naturally occurring state. Some examples:

  • Plan your workouts when you’re feeling gritty/focused. For me, this is usually first thing in the morning at around 7-9am.
  • Plan your deep work when you’re most focused/creative. For me, this is usually 1-3pm each day.
  • Plan social interaction/family time when you’re most playful. For me, this is 4-7pm each day.
  • Plan mindless, low barrier tasks when you’re most bland/lax like dog walking or reading a book. For me, this is at the end of the day 9pm – 11pm.

If I tried to do my social interaction in the morning and my workouts at night—there would be an extra layer of resistance in both.

Flipping them works significantly better for me—which means not only am I in a better state for both, but I’m much more likely to continue doing them because the resistance is significantly less.

The opposite might be true for you. Self-awareness is required and that’s not something I can give you.

The bottom line is this: don’t fight yourself. Align with your natural rhythms and reduce resistance in every way you can.

P.s. I asked: What’s one small thing you’ve done that has had a big impact on your mental health? I received a ton of great answers. I hope they inspire you to start doing something small for yourself.

Information Swimming

Published on October 28, 2022

Information is an ocean—and most of us are drowning.

Those who get ahead, are the ones who learn to swim.

They take the ocean seriously and never mindlessly wander into its depths.

They learn how to float; how to tread; how to stroke; how to dive; how to navigate.

Similarly, proficient swimmers in today’s information-based world learn how to:

  • Focus. So they don’t recklessly flap, twist, turn, and click with every distraction (i.e. Turning on an ad-blocker or putting notifications on silent).
  • Refine. So that each stroke/ click gets them better at future swimming (clicking)—not worse (i.e. Utilizing the Unfollow/ Mute/ Block buttons and more mindfully choosing who to follow and where to click).
  • Reflect. Because sometimes the ocean gets the best of even great swimmers. And maybe they take in a bunch of salt water through the nose or get caught under a big crashing wave (sucked into a YouTube rabbit hole). It’s in those moments that you have to figure out how you might handle the same situation from repeating in the future. Those who don’t reflect—don’t improve.

Being in an ocean when you don’t know how to swim is terrifying because the water is in control (and can lead to drowning).

Being in an ocean when you do know how to swim is incredibly refreshing and rewarding—because you are in control (and you get to swim in the ocean).

…And what a beautiful opportunity it truly is to swim confidently in the ocean.

P.s. Here’s an article I wrote on better managing your information diet: How to Upgrade the Quality of Your Life in 1 Hour.

Selective Tension and Relaxation

Published on September 15, 2022

In Martial Arts, one of the goals is to learn how to maximize the creation of power while minimizing the expenditure of energy.

Essentially, it’s the practice of learning how to fully press the “gas pedal” while fully releasing the “brake pedal.”

Pressing the gas and brake pedal at the same time is wildly inefficient for driving. And so is it for moving the body. Yet, this is the default when it comes to moving the body with any degree of intensity.

Both the protagonist and antagonist muscle groups tense which, in effect, slows down the attempt to speed up all at once.

…And wastes a bunch of energy in the process.

The art then becomes learning how to selectively tense certain muscles while selective relaxing others in real time. And the challenge, of course, is that there isn’t only one gas and one brake pedal—there are hundreds.

And so it is for life.

The question to consider is this: in each task that you’re trying to complete, what resistance could you simultaneously reduce?

Sometimes we focus so much on the doing that we forget about the un-doing. Because while a 10% increase in speed for “doing” is good, a 20% decrease in resistance is better.

And this isn’t a question that’s asked and answered only once—it’s an ongoing awareness.

We’ll never get this perfect—for our bodies or for life. But, progress—any progress—makes the effort undoubtedly worth it.

P.s. This became the introduction for: 23 Greg McKeown Quotes from Essentialism and How To Live Better Via Less

When Talk Is Gold and Action Is Cheap

Published on August 22, 2022

Talk is cheap.

Unless you’re talking to:

  • Wisdom-bearers
  • Deep-thinkers
  • Action-takers
  • Go-getters
  • Initiators
  • 1%ers

Then, talk is gold.

Action is gold.

Unless you’re taking action without:

  • Focus
  • Thought
  • Connection
  • Reflection
  • Alignment
  • Intent

Then, action is cheap.

Be careful not to apply a cliché to your life without careful and deliberate consideration.

All action and no thought can be just as bad as all thought and no action.

The real gold lies in the beautiful, deliberate balance of the two.

P.s. Today is my birthday! I asked: “(If you’re older) What’s ONE thing you’d tell your 33 year old self now? (If you’re younger) What’s ONE thing you’d love to see your 33 year old self doing/ having done?” Here are the answers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have!

Hold Less; Have More

Published on June 10, 2022

The brain is for having ideas—not holding ideas.

Find an app or a paper to do the holding.

And allow your brain to keep firing.

Getting Ahead

Published on June 8, 2022

One of the greatest time and energy killers is in-the-moment self-negotiation.

  • I shouldn’t eat the donut. Buttt, I have been pretty good lately…
  • I should workout. Buttt, I do have a ton to do today…
  • I should read. Buttt, that new TV series though…

Those who plan their day ahead—get ahead.

Not necessarily because of what they plan (we all have a pretty good grasp on what we should be doing daily) but because of the fact that they planned and there will be less time/ energy wasted on figuring things out as they go.

As trivial as this might sound—even one good decision and a couple of minutes saved every day adds up! …I’ll take 365 minutes of my time back per year thank you very much.

Never leave your important decision making to the moment—it’s an awful time and energy sucking guide.

Do your figuring out ahead of time and focus all of your time/ energy on executing what’s ahead.

…And get ahead.

Keep Refining

Published on April 18, 2022

New rule I’m toying with: no work past 10pm (not even side-hustle work).

Here’s why: nothing past that time (for me) seems to give a higher ROI than sleep.

By that point my focus, energy, and creativity has been generally depleted to the point where the time I invest produces diminished returns—at best.

I’m better off going to sleep and doing the work in the morning when I’m replenished.

This might only save me 5 – 20 minutes.

…But, multiply that by the number of days I have left in my life?

THAT is the power of refinement.