The simplicity of the structure allows complexity to build up where we want it: on the content level.

We only need to combine two well-known and proven ideas. The first idea lies at the heart of this book and is the technique of the simple slip-box.

complexity is to keep things as simple as possible and to follow a few basic principles.

1.1 Good Solutions are Simple – and Unexpected

The challenge is to structure one’s workflow in a way that insight and new ideas can become the driving forces that push us forward.

A good structure is something you can trust. It relieves you from the burden of remembering and keeping track of everything. If you can trust the system, you can let go of the attempt to hold everything together in your head and you can start focusing on what is important: The content, the argument and the ideas.

every time. Not having willpower, but not having to use willpower indicates that you set yourself up for success. This is where the organisation of writing and note-taking comes into play.

It is not so important who you are, but what you do. Doing the work required and doing it in a smart way leads, somehow unsurprisingly, to success.

What does make a significant difference along the whole intelligence spectrum is something else: how much self-discipline or self-control one uses to approach the tasks at hand (Duckworth and Seligman, 2005; Tangney, Baumeister, and Boone, 2004).