Reading Time: 2 minOne of the big challenges of productivity is determining what meta work (the work around your work) is worth your time. For me, a big one is playing with productivity tools; while I might find some gains in new tools, I also tend to spend a lot of time tinkering with them. I internally consider […]
Learning
Benjamin Franklin’s self-doubt led to the signing of the Constitution
Reading Time: 2 minOn September 17, 1787, Benjamin Franklin gave a speech at the Constitutional Convention which led to the signing of the Constitution. Franklin wasn’t convinced that the document was perfect, but he also knew that maybe he was wrong and he encouraged everyone to move forward. Here’s part of what he said: “I confess that I […]
Movie tickets are sunk costs
Reading Time: 2 minThe idea of a “sunk cost” has always been interesting to me. I understand it rather well, but it often feels counter-intuitive. As a result, I love finding new ways to explain it to help me widen my understanding. If you’re not familiar with the term, Wikipedia defines it as “a cost that has already […]
Multiplexity
Reading Time: 2 minI know a lot of people through my personal life and a lot of people through my work life, but there’s an important third group — people that are in both. In the book “Friend of Friend“, author David Burkus calls this “multiplexity”. He explains: “While we may want to categorize people into just work […]
Change your defaults
Reading Time: < 1 minOne of the biggest problems people face on their phones is getting sucked into a bout of “doomscrolling” — just mindlessly going through never-ending social media feeds. Most of us open social media apps with a bit of purpose in mind, but it’s easy to get sucked into the feed for longer than we intended. […]
Writing down an idea feels like a detour
Reading Time: < 1 minAt first glance, writing down ideas or thoughts seems like a waste of time. If you have an idea, act on it. If you have something to do, do it! When it comes to to-do lists, we’ve all learned the value of them (and the satisfaction of crossing off items), and the same should be […]
Three ways of learning
Reading Time: < 1 minI was recently listening to a great podcast about the life of Alexander Hamilton on “How To Take Over the World”. I encourage you to listen the full show yourself, but one piece that stuck out to me was a section about the three ways that Hamilton learned. From the show: If you can learn […]
It can be good to doubt yourself
Reading Time: < 1 minI often struggle with a bit of imposter syndrome (“a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their skills, talents or accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud“), as do many people. It can feel like a bad thing, but I find that it has quite a bit of […]
Time traveling through your notes
Reading Time: 2 minI’ve only been taking solid daily notes for about four years now; that may sound like a lot, but compared to many folks it’s not much at all. One of those that has been doing this far longer than I have is Ryan Holiday, some of whose books you’ve likely read. He recently shared how […]
What is the desired outcome?
Reading Time: < 1 minI’ve shared a few times on here how good decisions can have bad outcomes, and vice-versa, but that only really counts if you know what your desired outcome is. In that post above, the desired outcome was clear — the Seahawks wanted to score a touchdown. At other times, though, the outcome can be a […]