Focus, Flow & Taking Time to Think
What I Learned at School this Week
Howdy Y’all*,
[*brushing up on my Texas phrases so that I’m ready when I arrive to Texas this week… to get married! Yeehaw!]
The last few weeks I’ve had more tasks needing to get done, than usual. I was getting frustrated with how many hours it was taking to do them all. So I’ve started to track what is/isn’t working, to help me be at maximum productivity. Even though I know that tracking things takes extra bandwidth, it’s worth it. Because if I can learn how to be more efficient — and what works specifically for me — then I will have more time. And time is the asset I value more than anything, including any {apple/tesla/zoom stock price spike joke}.
I’ve been tracking things like: diet throughout the day, posture, sleep, breaks, workday structure, distractions, etc. Ultimately, I just keep coming back to the over-arching concept of: working within an environment of Proactivity versus Reactivity.
Two key (re)learnings from the week:
Build systems that don’t need to be “managed” on an on-going basis (but, be okay with taking the time to “measure twice, cut once”).
Avoid distractions (looking at you, social media and chat apps!).
Below, I’ll share some of the resources I am learning from.
Focus & Flow
While I was reading this article, I was implementing systems to precisely replicate the exact workflow being described. The workflow was simple, proactive, and best of all, prioritized freedom over “productivity-at-all-costs”. Productivity should give you more time (and freedom), not less.
Admittedly, I’m filing this article away in the “productivity bro” folder. But hey, after all, I do like Tim Ferriss. So sue me.
How the Head of Growth at Superhuman Does His Email
The best way to work is to be in flow as much as possible. And the best way to be in flow is to minimize distractions, and create large blocks of time to do similar tasks all at once — so that you minimize context switching.
It’s worth the read. And if you do read it, be sure to dedicate enough time while doing so, because I assure you: you’ll be taking notes and building these systems into your workflow, as you read the article.
Taking Time to Think
Along these same lines, I believe that taking time to “think” is underrated.
At least for me, it’s not something I do organically. But making a point to “just think” — according to many folks far smarter than I’ll ever be — seem to make this one of their top priorities.
There are two things Warren and I have done. One is that we spend a lot of time thinking. Our schedules are not that crowded, and we sit around and think constantly. In a way, we look more like academics than businessmen. My system has always been to sit quietly for a few hours. I don’t mind if there are long periods where nothing happens. Warren’s the same way. He’s sitting on top of an empire now. Sometimes he clears his schedule for a haircut. His calendar will say Tuesday: Haircut day.
-Charlie Munger
Here are some more quick thoughts on the subject, from David Cancel, CEO and Founder of Drift.
Bezos on: Focus
Continuing in this same vein, a friend shared with me a script of a great interview with Jeff Bezos. Here are the links to the script and video. This excerpt in particular, points back, yet again, to single-tasking.
When I have dinner, whether it’s with friends or with my family, I like to be talking to the people I'm with. I like to do whatever I'm doing, I don't like to multitask. It bothers me. If I'm reading my email, I want to be really reading my email. My Mom tells a story about me being in Montessori School. They couldn’t get me to switch tasks, so the Montessori School teacher would literally have to pick up my chair and move me to the next task stations.
-Jeff Bezos
I used to do an exercise where, at the end of each day, I would write down 1-3 things I needed to accomplish tomorrow. Could be work or personal tasks. Then each morning I would sit down, open my notebook, and voila: those are the tasks I would knock out first. Using my fresh morning energy. Unclouded focus. Before any meetings, emails/chats, etc. That was a great way to be proactive in my day. Note to self: start doing that again.
TikTok Parents
The latest news is that Walmart and Microsoft will buy TikTok, together. Oracle has also put in a bid.
Walmart has $12B cash-on-hand, and Microsoft has $140B. So in their combined “piggy bank”, they have $152B, which makes the $10B-$30B target acquisition price look reasonable. Using 5-20% of their liquid assets on a single bet is big. Really big. But not insane.
ICYMI - Public Market Moves
Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend.
-Theophrastus
I’m grateful for every one of you who continue to read this newsletter. Please share it with anyone you think may enjoy reading it. And please share feedback with me, if you have any.
I hope you block off some time to “just think” over the long weekend. And I’ll see you fine folks next Friday!
Cheers,
Brendan J Short