Actionable Wisdom Newsletter Feb 19-24/2024
Spend more time implementing wisdom, not collecting it.
Tim Ferris Show with Cal Newport
Episode - How to embrace slow productivity, build a deep life, and defend your time.
Obsess over quality. Spend time choosing what you should work on. Big rocks you need to put in the jar before pouring the sand in.
Don’t jump from one half-baked project/idea to another. Only start ideas you feel committed to and you have workshopped thoroughly. Create a mechanism to test your ideas. Twitter ‘threads’ is a good place for this. In addition, choose projects that help gain new skills or markets. Even if the project ends up being a failure, you still win. Craft is what matters. Respecting, developing, and gaining craft.
Test via writing blogs, conversations, or with live audiences.
Hustle culture can be detrimental. Test your ideas, start working, and then let them incubate. The goal is to paint the Sistine Chapel not make sand castles.
Pull vs. Push system. Pull a new project or task onto your plate (you choose) rather than others pushing work on your plate (no control). Control your time. Say No more often. The goal is to work on selective few ideas and do quality work.
Create a maximum quota for a task per quarter or year. Enforce it before you say yes to new projects. Control over workload.
Define productivity, correctly. Busy does not equal productive.
Cal’s definition of productivity is committing time and attention to get incredibly good at something you find interesting. This has tremendous long-term ROI.
Use this test - Ask for money/investment from someone for your project/idea. This is a great indicator of how much value someone sees in a product, a service, or an idea.
If you’re rushing to compete then you don’t have a sustainable (long-term) competitive advantage. This is a problem.
Compress your overall availability into a time slot. Example: You only do meetings between 11 am-1 pm. Publish a Zoom waiting room link or a calendly link so anyone can book time during that slot. Everything outside of those times is an automatic no.
GTD - Getting Things Done Podcast
Episode 247 - David Allen talks with Kevin Kelly
AI (artificial intelligence) is a universal Intern. It takes a lot of effort upfront but can be very skilled and helpful in the long run.
AI whisperers are people who are skilled in prompting AI to create high-quality outcomes. This will be one of the most desirable skills in the future.
Beyond the To-Do list Podcast + A bit of Optimism by Simon Sinek + The Greg Mckeown Podcast with Charles Duhigg
Episode - Charles Duhigg on the superpower of communication at home and work
Become a super-communicator by focusing on connection.
Who is a person you call that always makes you feel better? That person is a super communicator. Model them.
3 types of conversations. 1. Emotional - People want their problems to be heard, not solved. 2. Practical - People want problems solved 3. Social - discussions around what makes us who we are, our background, beliefs, etc. Social conversations help reveal the real characters.
Knowing what type of conversation you are in is a game changer.
Supercommunicators ask more questions, especially deep questions. Deep questions create trust i.e. asking a lawyer, - what made you go to law school.
Ask someone you are talking to if they want to be ‘Helped, Hugged or Heard.’
Authenticity and vulnerability create trust and deep connection.
Before entering a conversation, take half a second to work out what you want out of this conversation
Show the other person that you want to connect. Laughter is a great tool for this as laughter tells the other person that you like them.
Repeat what you heard and ask if you got it right. This shows the other person that you want them to be heard and understood.
Before Breakfast Podcast
Episode - Frame it
Print and frame some pictures of your family. It may brighten your day or one of your loved ones.
Grill in the rain. Don’t let bad weather steal your joy. Go to the zoo in the rain - probably less crowds.
The Greg McKeown Podcast
Episode - Cultivate mindful relationships and creative growth with Leo Babauta
Habits are old grooves in our brains. It’s hard to quit old habits because old grooves have a lot of gravity and it takes time to build new grooves.
Each habit has a deeper meaning and emotion attached to it. For example- a common precursor to smoking is either an incident causing stress or an incident that warrants a reward. Being aware of and documenting these precursors can help modify the habit. Knowing what happens right before the old habit is critical.
Control the moment when you feel the urge. Install a new belief in that moment. Example. Yes, one puff of a cigarette won’t hurt but (Insert new belief) - I don’t need even one puff because I am not a smoker.
Deep dive with Ali Abdaal
Episode - People power to boost productivity
Find your scene. This promotes cohesive collaboration. Ensure your scene promotes healthy competition and looks for a ‘getting better together’ mindset.
Asian Productivity Podcast
Episode - batching
Batching is the skill of grouping things that are similar in location or nature.
The goal of batching is to go from reactive to proactive.
Playing catch-up is the definition of inefficiency. Remedy- look at your day tomorrow and see what you can batch together. Test it for efficiency first then, optimize it.
Focus Filter: how do you choose what you work on? Use a Focus Filter to identify what’s critical. Focus on 1-3 (max) items that will equate to a productive day. Complete these tasks first, with urgency and focus.
Huberman Lab Podcast
Episode - Dr Mark D’Esposito: How to optimize cognitive function and brain health
The frontal lobe is for registering and storing rules. Loss of function in the frontal lobe can mean that we know the rule but cannot follow it ie. Answer someone else’s phone even if you know it’s not normal.
There are safe pharmaceutical drugs to improve working memory. However, sleep is the best optimizer of cognitive health.
Concussion is the tearing of axons when the brain moves violently. Luckily we have billions of them so if a few thousand are torn, the brain will recover. The risk is that the most common place of these tears is in the frontal lobe.
Use ‘Brain HQ games’ to improve cognitive function.
Why does our annual health check not include a cognitive test? ‘Brain Health Index’ is working on a framework to remedy this.
A daily habit of acquiring knowledge helps exercise and maintain cognitive function. Reading fiction books can be helpful. Improvisation or breaking down complex things is great for brain health.
Estrogen is correlated to and can boost dopamine in both men and women. Estrogen isn’t evil.
Aerobic exercise and mindfulness/meditation practices help overall neurology and reduce the chances of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.
Hope you found this useful.
Tell us how we can do better by commenting.
Thank you.
PM