Food for thought

So much productivity is fueled by negative emotions. You're afraid of getting a bad grade as a teen, so you study for tomorrow's big test late into the night, mostly out of fear and with the knowledge that you'll be exhausted tomorrow. There's no joy in it, just a fear of not being good enough, of disappointing someone, of ruining your future.

As an... See more

River Kenna • Soul-Making Productivity: A Process Manifesto

The problem with ‘productivity’ is that it is concerned with managing and increasing output: producing widgets, quarterly reports, the next release of the software, yet another research report, and meanwhile, always aspiring to do more with less. Less waste, less idle time on the assembly line, and fewer workers. The end game is to speed up the mac... See more

Stowe Boyd • The Problem of Productivity

Persuasion isn’t about coercing your audience to do what you want. Rather, it’s about attracting them to a particular conclusion, and letting them get there on their own. Being pulled is always preferable to being pushed.

Jason Harris • The Soulful Art of Persuasion: The 11 Habits That Will Make Anyone a Master Influencer

Negotiate in their world. Persuasion is not about how bright or smooth or forceful you are. It’s about the other party convincing themselves that the solution you want is their own idea. So don’t beat them with logic or brute force. Ask them questions that open paths to your goals. It’s not about you.

Tahl Raz • Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It

The idea of research as leisure activity has stayed with me because it seems to describe a kind of intellectual inquiry that comes from idiosyncratic passion and interest. It’s not about the formal credentials. It’s fundamentally about play.

If you remember anything, remember this. You need a challenging end goal that you want to achieve, clarity on how to get there, and a simplified first step to reduce the friction of getting started.

Dan Koe • The Art of Focus: Find Meaning, Reinvent Yourself and Create Your Ideal Future

Books you read are sending you input. Your friends modeling behaviors for you. Newspapers. Tools. People you follow on Twitter. The architecture of a Gothic church beaming serenity into you—that is input too.

At the same time, you are also sending output to other nodes. Now, I am sending these ideas into my pocket notebook, which will send them to m... See more