3 Minute Monday
Hi friend,
For a long time when I first started Modern Wisdom I was focussed on productivity and optimising my life.
Strategies, tools, apps, books and biases that would improve daily efficiency.
My presumption was that pretty much everything would be fixed if I just got more focussed and applied more effective effort.
Upon reflection, I see it as an important period to go through.
I think everyone needs to spend a year or two obsessing over Deep Work, monotasking, the Pomodoro Technique, Spaced Repetition for the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve, the Eisenhower Matrix, Parkinson’s Law and everything else.
Kind of like how you need to learn what progressive overload and good macros are for making strength gains – these are the physics of a productive and efficient life.
But it’s incomplete for a number of reasons, one of which I want to focus on today – having hardcore routines makes you fragile.
“For the record—I’ve never made my bed and I’ve still made money.” — Alex Hormozi
Understanding the optimal way to start your day or plan your deep work session or have your keyboard shortcuts set up is a good thing, but it’s not necessary or sufficient to be effective.
“Everyone can agree that they feel better if they sleep well.
But the issue is if you then create the story that you MUST sleep well in order to perform.
If you make it a requirement to function, then that is where you get more negative ramifications from the belief that you must have it.
It makes you fragile.
You need to view all of your optimal approaches as preferences.
I prefer to sleep more, but if I don’t, I’m still going to show up, because winners win.” — Alex Hormozi
This is where I’m at now.
I focus as much as I can on just getting the task done, however I can.
I’m not spending any more time obsessing over time tracking or efficiency strategies, I’m out of Productivity School and into the big wide world of making shit happen.
The goal is to make stuff, not to have an effective productivity routine.
Productivity is in service OF the goal, not the goal itself.
Learn when it’s time to let go of your productivity obsession.
Perfectionism is procrastination masquerading as quality control.
MODERN WISDOM
I do a podcast which has had 90 million+ downloads. You should subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
This week’s upcoming episodes:
Monday.
Destiny – one of the OG’s of the streaming world discusses the problems with the manosphere and men’s advice, why it treats women like adversaries, Sneako & Andrew Tate’s cancellation and more. Very good.
Thursday.
Ryan Holiday – finally sat down with Ryan in person in Austin to discuss Stoicism’s advice for a disciplined life. Tons of examples from history about how to be more disciplined and love the process.
Saturday.
Randy Nesse – Evolutionary Psychiatry is an emerging field which uses evolutionary psychology to understand why we have particular, unwelcome mental states like depression, anxiety and such. Fascinating.
THINGS I’VE LEARNED
1.
Male depression is not female depression.
“Male depression is nearly always a result of learned helplessness, but health providers treat it like female depression and try to make men feel loved instead of powerful.” — Adam Lane Smith
2.
What are you earning for?
“If more money wouldn’t change how you spend your time, you’re already rich.” — Jack Butcher
3.
Men are gonna men.
“A man is more than twice as likely as a woman to have a car accident.
And almost three times more likely to have two car accidents.
Even when not driving, men are more careless; twice as many men are killed simply crossing the street.
More men volunteer for medical research, expose themselves to potentially toxic chemicals, engage in unsafe sexual practices, swim far away from shore, explore and unknown locale or chase a bear out of a campground.
Girls and women just don’t engage in such stupid behaviour – stupid, that is, if one is really concerned about staying alive.” — Joyce Benenson
LIFE HACK
30 Underrated Reasons To Be Thankful.
Dynomight listed some fascinating reasons we should all be grateful on a daily basis and you’ve probably never thought of any of them.
Tell all your friends to stop complaining so much.
https://dynomight.net/thanks/
Big love,
Chris x
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PS
Overripe bananas are still king.
