On this episode, I chat with author and writer Scott Young about his new book, Get Better at Anything: 12 Maxims for Mastery. I hope you enjoy the conversation—about learning, mastery, and how to get better at pretty much anything. Listen (and subscribe) to the podcast below! The post Podcast: How to Learn Anything appeared first on Chris Bailey ..read more

Takeaway: If time blocking hasn’t stuck for you, become less rigid with it. Trying jotting down how many hours you’ll want to have worked on tasks by day’s end to take a looser approach to time blocking. Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes, 39s.   I’ve never been a big fan of time blocking—defining ahead of time what I’ll do for every hour of the workday. The technique has always felt robotic to me. But my biggest issue with it (which likely holds only for me) is that I always feel an odd urge to rebel against my previous self and work on almost anything other than my time block. Screw thi ..read more

On this episode, we chat about the science behind meetings—and how to get more value out of them. Topics covered include: The four helpful roles meetings have; Questioning your recurring meetings; Considering relationship dynamics in meetings; Becoming a good steward of other peoples time; Designating a meeting leader; Not attending meetings without an agenda; “Modalities” for meetings; Making meetings more interesting (and actually enjoyable); Whether asynchronous “meetings” are worthwhile; Ending zoom fatigue through oddly-timed meetings. Links mentioned in this episode: Research paper ..read more

On this episode, we chat about the science behind meetings—along with the value and annoyances they bring. Topics covered include: Chris’s review of the Staples coworking space; What makes meetings so draining; The four main purposes of meetings; How many meetings we have a week; Collaborative versus focused work; The incremental cost of meetings; Links mentioned in this episode: Paper: Do We Really Need Another Meeting? The Science of Workplace Meetings (Mroz; Allen; Verhoeven; Shuffler) Paper: Virtual Work Meetings During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Good, Bad, and Ugly (Karll; Peluchette ..read more

Takeaway: Material purchases that scream “look at me” are usually a waste of money and don’t make you any happier. Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes, 12s.   As a total nerd, one of the things I love reading each year is Warren Buffet’s annual letter to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway. In 2022’s letter (PDF), he offhandedly mentioned a phrase I’ve been thinking about since reading it. I’ve bolded the bit that got me thinking, and here’s also the rest of the paragraph for context: The disposition of money unmasks humans. Charlie [Munger] and I watch with pleasure the vast flow of ..read more

On this episode, we chat about strategies for time blocking your day—including the ones we use. Topics covered include: The benefits of time blocking; The “rolling” time blocking method; How long our blocks are; How autonomy interacts with time blocking; Making time blocking sustainable. You can listen (and subscribe) to the podcast below! The post Podcast: How We Time Block appeared first on Chris Bailey ..read more

Takeaway: To add “seasonality” to your work, try temporarily adopting “quiet quitting”—defining stronger boundaries around your work—so you can recharge and find time to slow down and become more deliberate. This can lead you to become more productive while improving your work-life balance. Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes, 12s. Recently, I had the pleasure of hosting author Cal Newport on the podcast to talk about his terrific new book, Slow Productivity. This is Cal’s third time on the show—the previous two times he joined to talk about his books Digital Minimalism and A World Without ..read more

On this episode, Cal Newport hops back on the show to talk about his great new book, Slow Productivity. It’s a great, fascinating new book (and interview!), both full of actionable insights on how to slow down in order to become more productive. Topics covered include: How “slow productivity” came into being; The three ingredients of slow productivity; “Engineering simplicity” at work; The idea of “administrative overhead”; Narrowing the “missions” you have in your work; Avoiding “task engines”; Why the pace of knowledge work has become so frenetic; Cal’s unique spin on “quiet quitting”; Stu ..read more

Takeaway: Artificial intelligence will let us accomplish significantly more with our time. To best take advantage of these tools,  identify the highest-leverage ways you could spend your time and carefully navigate how to “abstract” your work. Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes, 52s. What artificial intelligence will do to our productivity For each minute you spend on a task, how much do you accomplish? One of the fundamental truths about productivity is that not all tasks are created equal. With some, we accomplish hardly anything despite the minutes they drain. Watching YouTube videos ..read more

On this episode, we chat about how we use and think about social media. We cover what the problem is with social media (if there even is one), how the “novelty bias” hijacks our attention as we use it, and tactics to use to keep social media contained. Topics covered include: The books we’re reading (and loving); Impulsiveness and procrastination; How social media algorithms come down to “bodies and comparing lifestyles”; Ardyn’s incredibly wholesome Instagram feed; “Stimulation loops” and the “novelty bias”; Crowding out social media; Extracting more meaning out of social media; Putting gua ..read more