Month: February 2024

Categories
Books Productivity

Slow Productivity – in Retirement

Computer science professor Cal Newport has authored a new book titled “Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment without Burnout“.

In a New Yorker article a couple of months ago, Newport wrote of a climate of “Great Exhaustion” in the workplace – a “vibe of weary disappointment”. He talks about a side effect of the covid pandemic being a greater quantity of digital communication (email, chat, video, etc.) and goes on to relate how recent research correlates an increase in this kind of digital communication with decreased satisfaction.

A big part of the problem seems to be the endless context switching these digital tools can create generating significant fatigue and feelings of overload. Our “work becomes inescapable” to use his words.

Of course, this has its worst impact on us while we’re still working and has its least impact after we are retired. Retirement may introduce other stresses – often creating feelings of guilt from not bringing in an income or grief from a work life left behind. But even in retirement we can become overwhelmed and might benefit from his recommendations on dealing with the issue.

His primary prescription in this article for this problem is to take steps to dramatically reduce these digital communication intrusions into our lives by using techniques as simple as scheduling office hours for dealing in bulk with needed interactions between individuals or small teams. In other words, slow down the impact of the interruptions and batch them up for efficiency. In other words, “slow productivity”. That slowness helping to improve our efficiency thereby producing better outcomes and increase satisfaction.

Of course, even small steps like these require cooperation and common understanding among the participants to make an impact. One of the challenges with email in particular is how someone else can insert themselves into your train of thought completely without your agreement.

As Newport reminds us, “Achievement is most satisfying when it arises from a sense of control and purpose, not from the pressure of constant busyness.” It’s time to reclaim our time and rediscover the joy of getting things done, not just being busy doing them or, worse, constantly having to shift our focus in reaction to the tools in our digital lives.

Categories
Business Luxury Podcasts

Dive into Luxury with Acquired: LVMH & Hermès

Continuing my exploration of fascinating podcasts, I’m thrilled to share two episodes from the exceptional “Acquired” – one delving into the world of LVMH (a year ago) and the other, their recent deep dive into Hermès. Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal, the podcast’s hosts, consistently deliver high-quality content, investing significant time into each episode, resulting in captivating audio experiences that often exceed four hours (yes, you read that right!).

But fear not, length does not equate to tedium! Ben and David’s infectious enthusiasm and insightful analysis make each episode a joy to listen to. You’ll finish each one brimming with new knowledge and ideas to explore further. I also appreciate that they make transcripts of each episode available on their website.

While I can’t recall how I discovered “Acquired,” I’m truly glad I did, and these episodes on the French luxury giants offer a fascinating contrast in history and strategy.

Here’s what you can expect:

  • LVMH: Learn the captivating story of Bernard Arnault’s journey from a $15 million investment in a troubled textile company to building the world’s largest luxury conglomerate. Gain insights into LVMH’s unique acquisition strategy and their vision for the future of luxury.
  • Hermès: Discover the secrets behind the iconic Birkin bag and how Hermès,under the stewardship of one family for six generations, has defied convention by prioritizing craftsmanship over mass production and celebrity endorsements.Witness the company’s remarkable transformation into a luxury giant.

Why you should listen:

  • Dive deep: Immerse yourself in the rich history and intricate strategies of these two luxury powerhouses.
  • Learn from the best: Gain valuable insights from Ben and David’s insightful analysis.
  • Be entertained: Enjoy the engaging and informative presentation style.

Ready to embark on your luxury adventure? Head over to “Acquired” and start listening! You won’t be disappointed.

Categories
AI AI: Large Language Models ChatGPT Writing YouTube

Boost Your Craft: Exploring Interviews with Top Writers and AI Tools

As a writer, I’m always looking for new ways to improve my craft and learn from others. Recently, I’ve been enjoying watching interviews with creative people about their processes and the tools they use. Continuing in my series of articles about what has captured my interest recently, today I’m highlighting two video series that you might also enjoy.

Although I’ve never taken David Perell’s online course “Write of Passage”, I’ve admired his online writing for a long time. Recently he began a series of videos on YouTube titled “How I Write“. In each video he interviews some great writers about their writing process and takes the time to really understand what they’re saying. I admire his questioning style – he asks a great question and then gets out of the way and lets the answer flow.

Perell’s now shared quite a collection of these interviews – including a recent one with fiction author Amor Towles, writer of “A Gentleman in Moscow” among other books. But I’d recommend starting first viewing this series with this one: I Spent 50 Hours With 20 Master Writers as it’s a great introduction to some of the key takeaways he got from many of his first group of interviews.

In addition to his Amor Towles interview, let me also recommend his interview of writer Steven Johnson: The Expert Behind Google’s Secret A.I. Writing Tool who has recently been spending much of his time working for Google on the NotebookLM product.

Do enjoy these interviews that Perell has shared – they’re very enjoyable to watch. Bridging into my second recommendation, Dan Shipper of Every.to recently did his own interview of David Perell: How David Perell Uses ChatGPT to Write for Millions. This is part of a series of interviews that Shipper has conducted about how ChatGPT is being used in some very interesting ways.

Another in Shipper’s series that quite fascinating to watch is his interview of Steph Smith: How to Find Your Next Big Idea Hiding on the Internet in which she shares some of her tricks and techniques for doing Internet research.

I really enjoyed these videos – they provide great perspectives on how creative minds work and how some of the best tools currently available can assist.

Categories
Productivity

A Productivity Field Guide that’s all about Living

Recently, blogger, podcaster and teacher David Sparks (aka MacSparky) introduced the latest in his series of Field Guides – the Productivity Field Guide. This one comes in two flavors: a standard edition ($49) and plus edition ($99) – both include a combination of a PDF and extensive videos that walk you through his process.

The plus edition includes an additional twelve part webinar series doing a deeper dive on many of the topics in the course. I signed up for the Plus edition and have been working my way through the course content and attending the Plus edition webinars as they’re being held.

Although I’m retired and wasn’t looking for the latest and greatest set of tips and tricks to maximize my productivity – like I’d be wanting desperately in my younger years! – I’ve really been enjoying this field guide. The reason is that I find it’s less about productivity – although that’s still the focus – and much more about an approach to living that MacSparky has developed over years and years.

In fact, he’s described how he set out to write this field guide years ago but held off on completing and publishing it until he felt comfortable he had fully thought through and could articulate this approach to living.

The foundation for MacSparky’s approach is to orient life around a series of roles – the many different “hats” that one wears as we live day to day. In his case, his roles (which evolve from time to time) include: husband, father, brother/uncle, friend, MacSparky, ex-lawyer, learner, creative human, spiritual human, responsible human, and altruistic human.

These roles are really foundational to living for him and the rest of the field guide builds on them. As a next step after clarifying your roles, he recommends applying a bit of Greek philosophy – specifically the notion of “arete” or excellence and using that to help define living up to one’s potential. (“Arete” is pronounced “ah-reh-tay”.) So for each role, he spends time defining what the notion of arete means to each role. He then uses those refined definitions to help manage everything he has to do in life – including the inevitable prioritizing required to juggle too many tasks.

MacSparky’s approach to productivity is refreshing – and a whole different approach from almost all of the many other productivity approaches I’ve come across. If this kind of approach sounds attractive to you, I’d recommend you explore what he had to say in his introductory video. I really like the way he’s approaching this and recommend this field guide.

If you’d like to learn even more, be sure to check out several recent blog posts by Jim Eager on his blog OriginalMacGuy.com:

Jim does an excellent job in each of these articles walking through how he is applying the lessons and techniques that MacSparky teaches in the PFG.

Categories
Audio Books Podcasts Reading

Reading Along: The Power Broker

Robert Moses: visionary architect or power-hungry titan? This question haunted me for years as his massive biography stared me down. Audiobooks? Paperback? Neither held my attention. Then, like a serendipitous twist, a 99% Invisible episode announced a year-long group read. Suddenly, Moses’ life unfolded with new depth, illuminated by expert insights and shared discussions. Now, I’m finally engrossed in the audiobook, captivated by his complex legacy.

For years, I’ve had the paperback edition of this tome on my bookshelf (Amazon tells me I purchased it on September 11, 2002 – over twenty years ago). I’ve also had the audiobook version in my Audible library for several years. But I’m sort of chagrined to admit that, while I’ve started both versions from time to time, I’ve never seriously gotten into reading it.

That changed back in early December when I came across an episode of the 99% Invisible podcast during which they (and their guest Conan O’Brien) announced their plan to do a group read through The Power Broker over the course of 2024. After listening to that episode, I started over listening to the audiobook version of this biography of New York’s Robert Moses and have enjoyed finally getting into it.

The 99% Invisible podcast has now published the first two episodes discussion reading the book: PB 01 (which includes a conversation with author Robert Caro himself!) and PB 02 with more to come through the rest of 2024. If you’ve also wanted to read this early work of the great writer Robert Caro, listening to this podcast might provide you with the motivation to get back into it – like it did for me!

Are you also looking to tackle “The Power Broker“? Join the podcast-led group read and let’s explore Moses’ world together!

Categories
iOS iOS Shortcuts iPad iPadOS iPhone YouTube

Capturing Ideas

Have the winter blues got you yearning for something more?

As winter rains descend upon Northern California once again, I find myself embracing the cozy ambiance indoors while embarking on a journey of discovery amidst the inclement weather. Instead of succumbing to the lull of hibernation, I’ve delved into a world of newfound inspiration and innovation, primarily through the vast expanse of online resources.

Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing some of my recent discoveries here. Perhaps you’ll find something of value from what I’ve found! Included is a nifty tip below for quickly capturing fleeting ideas during the day, creative uses of ChatGPT, a series on how some great authors actually write, a field guide on personal productivity, an online course of developing your PKM (Personal Knowledge Management) system, and more. Let’s get started…

A couple of years ago, I was hardly aware of YouTube. Once in a while I’d see a video returned in one of my Google searches – often for help in fixing something or another. Somewhere along the way, I discovered all of the content on YouTube – and, in particular, the value of YouTube Premium which enables uninterrupted and background YouTube video playback..

Now, YouTube is my spare time enjoyment channel – where I discover new creators sharing new ideas and stimulating conversations. Have you discovered any hidden gems online during your rainy days? Share your discoveries in the comments below! Here are a couple of my recent delights:

Have you ever lost a great idea in a blink? Rich Bowlin has a great YouTube channel that is a goldmine with down-to-earth, straightforward how-to videos about using iPhones and iPads.

Inspired by one of his videos on the use of shortcuts, I built one that captures fleeting ideas with just two taps on the back of my iPhone! Imagine never losing another one of my brilliant thoughts again! I can quickly enter text about the idea which it appends to a daily note for today – or creates a daily note for today if it hasn’t already been created. Later, when I have time, I can open that note and be immediately reminded of my fleeting ideas from early that day. Here’s Rich’s video where he describes his approach.