Your basket is currently empty!
Understanding your audience: Write what the reader needs
Great writing requires you to position your idea in a way that will resonate with the reader. Average writers start with what they want to say without considering how it will land with the reader. Great writers understand the journey starts with what the reader desires. Farnam Street. Why write. I’m not suggesting that I’m…
Learning something new takes a lot of effort
Learning a new city and institution requires a lot of effort and puts a lot of cumulative strain on our brains. Our brains are forced to create new patterns of familiarity by the simple act of navigating a new learning management system or new city. Those small tasks add up quickly. When setting research and…
It’s not your job to read everything
To return to information overload: this means treating your “to read” pile like a river (a stream that flows past you, and from which you pluck a few choice items, here and there) instead of a bucket (which demands that you empty it). After all, you presumably don’t feel overwhelmed by all the unread books…
Lazy productivity
A productivity approach where you tailor your environment so that the easiest, most natural action aligns with your goals. By doing so, even when taking the path of least resistance, it contributes to your overall objectives.
When information is cheap, attention is expensive
When information is cheap, attention becomes expensive. James Gleick (2011). The Information. We work in an information-rich environment but this abundance isn’t useful when it mainly serves to distract us.
Attention is your most valuable resource
Your attention is your most valuable resource. Choose carefully how, where and when you will allocate it. Too often, we let ourselves get pulled in a thousand different directions, switching constantly between tasks and modes of thinking. The cognitive costs of this context switching are significant, and it can take a while to fully regain…
Writing regularly changes what you pay attention to
I often find my attention being hijacked by whatever happens to show up in my feed. And in the moment, that content may very well be interesting. The problem is that so much information can be interesting while still having relatively little value. When I’ve set aside 1-2 hours of writing time every day, my attention…
Device ‘notifications’ are really ‘interruptions’
Instead of trying to manage “notifications”, the better approach is to manage “interruptions”. Start by taking an audit of the notifications on your devices and ruthlessly eliminate anything that isn’t essential. Then be intentional about setting boundaries around when and how you’ll allow your focus to be interrupted.