AI transcript
0:00:04 Well, this is Tim Ferriss recording from the UK, where I’m trying to blend in.
0:00:10 Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where my usual job is to sit down with
0:00:14 world-class performers of all different types, to interview them and tease out habits, routines,
0:00:20 favorite books, etc. There are 700 plus of those interviews in the back catalog, and we’ll get back
0:00:25 to that shortly. But this time around, we have a different format. In this short and very tactical
0:00:29 episode, I share some of my personal approaches, my personal methods for how to get out of a
0:00:36 rut, get unstuck, re-aim yourself at big outcomes, reset and refocus, and make progress on a daily
0:00:43 basis. Despite the self-defeating tendencies and inner voices that we all have, and that applies to
0:00:49 everyone I’ve met, the top of the top in any given field, we all have those days.
0:00:54 The first story I tell is of a three to four-week period when I was beset by all sorts of personal
0:00:59 challenges, and ultimately the approach that saved my sanity. It does not require any heroic
0:01:05 efforts, any differential calculus. It is beautifully simple. But first, before we get to that,
0:01:10 just a few quick words from today’s sponsors who make this podcast possible. If you want to
0:01:15 support the show, please check them out. I use all of these on a daily or weekly basis, and
0:01:19 given that I’m able to test everything under the sun, I think that is saying something.
0:01:25 Regular listeners probably know I’ve been taking momentous products consistently and testing them
0:01:30 for a long while now. But you may not know that I recently collaborated with them to put together
0:01:35 my top picks. I always aim for a strong body and sharp mind, and neither is possible without
0:01:39 quality sleep. So, I designed my performance stack to check all three boxes, and here it is.
0:01:44 Creap your creatine for muscular and cognitive support, whey protein isolate for muscle mass
0:01:49 recovery, and magnesium 3-in-8 for sleep. All momentous products are NSF and Informed Sports
0:01:54 Certified, which is professional athlete and Olympic-level testing. So, try it out for yourself.
0:02:01 Visit livemomentous.com/tim and use Tim at checkout for 20% off of my performance stack.
0:02:09 I’ll spell it out. It’s a long one, livemomentos.com/tim. So, livemomentous.com/tim for 20% off.
0:02:15 This episode is brought to you by 8Sleep. 8Sleep recently launched their newest generation of the
0:02:20 pod, and I’m excited to test it out. Pod 4 Ultra. Pod 4 Ultra can cool down each side of the bed
0:02:25 as much as 20 degrees Fahrenheit below room temperature. Pod 4 Ultra also introduces an
0:02:29 adjustable base that fits between your mattress and your bed frame and adds reading and sleeping
0:02:34 positions for the best unwinding experience. And for those snore heavy nights, the pod can
0:02:39 detect your snoring and automatically lift your head by a few degrees to improve airflow and stop
0:02:43 you or your partner from snoring. Plus, with Pod 4 Ultra, you can leave your wearables on
0:02:48 the nightstand because these types of metrics are integrated into the Pod 4 Ultra itself.
0:02:56 So, get your best night’s sleep. Head to 8Sleep.com/tim and use Code Tim to get $350 off of the Pod
0:03:01 4 Ultra. They currently ship to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Australia.
0:03:31 A few years ago, a creature died in the walls of my home. It was disgusting.
0:03:36 Now, to be precise, it gave up the ghost in the heating system, so the death fumes were conveniently
0:03:42 pushed directly into my bedroom. My ex-girlfriend and I discovered this around 11pm as we tucked
0:03:48 into bed hoping for a good night’s sleep. We could turn off the heat and freeze, that was one option,
0:03:53 or we could bathe in the stench of what I assumed was a raccoon carcass. And the whole thing
0:03:58 made my eyes itch. It was horrible. I imagined it downing its last meal, pig entrails, moldy socks,
0:04:05 fermented beans, who knows, before defiantly jamming its bloated body into my HVAC. Don’t worry,
0:04:10 we are getting to some kind of lesson here. But the kamikaze raccoon was just the first
0:04:16 surprise guest. The opening act, in short order, my dog then got horribly sick unrelated to raccoon.
0:04:21 Overdue paperwork started piling up, popping out of nowhere, and onboarding a bunch of new
0:04:26 contractors ran into trouble. Then I pulled out of a parking spot and scraped the entire
0:04:31 side of my car, and the car next to me. Later that same afternoon, all these Christmas presents
0:04:36 I had ordered somehow had run out of stock and were auto cancelled, so I was sent scrambling.
0:04:43 And on and on it went more and more clowns piling into the clown car for a shit show that lasted
0:04:51 three to four weeks. It was just a 15 car pile up of nonsense. There are the rare times when I
0:04:56 feel like I’m in the zone. Those are great. Those are fantastic. Then there are times when I ask
0:05:01 myself, how in holy hell have I become the janitor of a mountain of bullshit? That happens more
0:05:06 than you might think. Put another way, sometimes you’re the boxer and sometimes you are the punching
0:05:11 bag. We all get our turn as the punching bag. It doesn’t matter who you are. As far as I can tell,
0:05:16 it doesn’t matter how successful you become, you’ve always grabbed a number at the daily counter of
0:05:22 just wait, eventually you’re going to get your ass kicked by the universe. Now during these periods
0:05:27 of firefighting, let’s just call it when stuff is popping up, this whack-a-mole, I get fidgety
0:05:32 and frustrated. I feel like I’m treading water and patience wears very thin has never been my
0:05:38 strong suit. That’s true, especially with myself. And my instinct is to try to fix things as quickly
0:05:44 as possible. And that’s all well and good. But I’ve realized that from a place of what the fuck,
0:05:50 I often rush and create more problems. This is particularly bad, catastrophic sometimes when
0:05:57 I try to sprint immediately upon waking up. The mantra that has saved me and saved me during
0:06:03 that three to four week period I mentioned was very simple and it’s this. Make before you manage.
0:06:09 Make before you manage, that’s it. What this means is each morning, before plugging holes,
0:06:14 fixing things, calling vets, answering text messages, delegating or yanking out dead raccoons,
0:06:20 answering a million text messages, this mantra was a reminder to make something.
0:06:25 You should read Paul Graham’s essays and listen to Neil Gaiman’s Make Good Art commencement speech
0:06:31 for more on all of this. But back to any given day and make before you manage. Even the most
0:06:38 time sensitive items can usually wait 60 minutes. And by make something, I mean anything. It could
0:06:43 be anything at all. You just need to feel like you’ve pushed a millimeter ahead in some creative
0:06:49 direction. For me personally, even a 90 second video of calligraphy could set a better emotional
0:06:55 tone for the entire day, helping me to be more calm as I handle problems, as I execute all the
0:07:00 rest of the stuff later. Or maybe I attempt to jumpstart my writing with an Instagram caption,
0:07:05 right, or an email to a friend to take the pressure off. It’s practically nothing, but it’s
0:07:12 enough. Even token efforts allow me to reassure myself with, hey pal, don’t worry, you did produce
0:07:18 something today. And the psychological difference between zero acts of creation and one act of
0:07:24 creation, no matter how small, is really impossible to overstate. It’s binary, right? Zero to a little
0:07:29 bit. Those are two different worlds. If you’re lucky, sometimes that one idea, that one sense,
0:07:34 or one shitty first draft can turn into something bigger. And that happens when you catch the wave.
0:07:39 But the point is to be able to say to yourself, even for five minutes, “Hark, I am a creator,
0:07:44 not just a janitor of bullshit. Here’s proof that I can and will do more than just manage
0:07:50 the minutiae of life.” And I think, at least personally, I do need that reinforcement.
0:07:55 We all spend time on the struggle bus, happens to everybody. At the very least,
0:08:00 this mantra has helped me to find a window seat when it’s my turn. So, as a reminder,
0:08:04 when in doubt, try it out, make before you manage.
0:08:13 Okay folks, I’ll be back shortly with another story this time from a birthday crisis. Fun,
0:08:19 fun, fun. Ultimately, it has a happy ending. So, stay tuned. But first, just a few quick words
0:08:25 from one of today’s sponsors. I do get asked a lot what I would take if I could only take
0:08:30 one supplement. And the true answer is invariably AG1. It simply covers a ton of bases. I usually
0:08:35 drink it in the mornings and frequently take their travel packs with me on the road. So,
0:08:40 what is AG1? AG1 is a science-driven formulation of vitamins, probiotics, and whole food-sourced
0:08:46 nutrients. In a single scoop, AG1 gives you support for the brain, gut, and immune system.
0:08:51 So, take ownership of your health and try AG1 today. You will get a free one-year supply of
0:08:56 vitamin D and five free AG1 travel packs with your first subscription purchase.
0:09:07 So, learn more. Go to drinkag1.com/tim. That’s drinkag1, the number one. Drinkag1.com/tim. Check it out.
0:09:15 The moment that you feel that just possibly you’re walking down the street naked,
0:09:19 exposing too much of your heart and your mind and what exists on the inside,
0:09:24 showing too much of yourself, that’s the moment you may be starting to get it right.
0:09:27 This is a quote from Neil Gaiman, one of my favorite fiction writers. It’s from his
0:09:33 University of the Arts commencement speech. But let’s bring it back to my story. A few months ago,
0:09:39 I had a birthday party. It was great. Dozen friends and I gathered for a few days of sun,
0:09:45 beach, barbecue, catching up. We do it every year. And then on the last day, I didn’t get up until
0:09:51 1130. That’s late even for me, knowing full well that the last few remaining friends were leaving
0:09:57 about 30 minutes later, around 12 noon. And the sad reality is I was afraid of being alone.
0:10:03 I was afraid of being lonely. So, like a child, I hid my head under the covers, that’s literally,
0:10:08 and hit snooze until I just couldn’t postpone reality any further. But why am I telling you
0:10:13 this? Why am I being so self-indulgent in telling you this ridiculous story? It’s because we all
0:10:20 like to appear successful, a nebulous term at best, and the media like to portray certain standouts as
0:10:24 superheroes, these people on the magazine covers and so on. And yes, sometimes these dramatic stories
0:10:31 of overcoming the odds are super inspiring. But often, just as often, they lead to an unhealthy
0:10:35 conclusion, maybe an inner monologue, which is something like, well, maybe they, whoever they
0:10:40 happen to be, maybe they can do it because they’re incredible. They have no faults. They’re just
0:10:45 karate chopping the day and winning at all moments. But I’m just a normal person. I can’t do that.
0:10:51 The reality is most superheroes, these superheroes are nothing of the sort. They’re just as weird
0:10:57 and neurotic as we are. They’re strange creatures who do big things, despite lots of self-defeating
0:11:03 habits and self-talk. So, to personalize this, let’s bring it home. I am definitely no superhero.
0:11:08 I’m not even a consistent normal, whatever that is. So, let me give you a little laundry list.
0:11:15 Not too long ago, I cried while watching Rudy on an airplane, and that was cause for concern for a
0:11:20 lot of people around me. I repeatedly hit snooze for one to three hours past my planned wake time
0:11:26 because I simply didn’t want to face the day. I considered giving everything away, moving to
0:11:32 Montreal, Seville, or Iceland. Location kind of depends on what I’m trying to escape. I’ve used
0:11:39 gentlemanly websites to relax during the day when clearly having other urgent and important
0:11:45 shit to do. I wore the same pair of jeans for a week straight, just to have a constant during
0:11:51 weeks of chaos. So, listening to all that, you might think it seems pretty dysfunctional, right?
0:11:58 I assume so. I certainly hear it that way. But, around the same time, especially so the later
0:12:04 few weeks of that, I also was able to increase my passive income 20%, bought my dream house,
0:12:09 got to the point where I was once again meditating twice per day for 20 minutes per session without
0:12:15 fail, so not winning any gold medals in meditation, but incredibly helpful and stabilizing. I cut my
0:12:19 caffeine intake to next to nothing. That usually means poor tea in the morning and maybe a green
0:12:25 tea in the afternoon. I’ve had no more than one cup of really strong coffee per week. There’s a lot
0:12:30 to that, but it’s suffice to say, much improved sleep. Signed one of the most exciting business
0:12:36 deals of the last decade, including working on a collaboration that is first of its kind for me.
0:12:40 Completely transformed my blood work, including a few biomarkers I’ve been working on for years,
0:12:47 and I realized, as the next point, once again, that let’s just call it manic depressive symptoms
0:12:52 are just part of entrepreneurship. And last but not least, I have come to feel closer to all of
0:12:59 my immediate family members. So, where does that leave us? So, personally, I suck at efficiency,
0:13:05 which is doing things quickly or doing things super well, but I have a few tricks. So, here is
0:13:10 my coping mechanism. It is an eight step process for maximizing efficacy, which is doing the right
0:13:16 thing. Number one, wake up at least an hour before you have to be at a computer screen. Email is the
0:13:22 mind-killer, so don’t go immediately into reactive mode. Number two, make a cup of tea. I like puer tea
0:13:28 and sit down with a pen or pencil and paper. I like to do it analog. Number three, write down
0:13:33 three to five things and no more that are making you most anxious or uncomfortable.
0:13:37 They’re often the things that have been punted from one day’s to-do list to the next,
0:13:42 to the next, to the next, and so on. And most important usually means most uncomfortable or
0:13:47 very frequently it does with some chance of rejection or conflict. To find those important,
0:13:51 you can often just look for the most uncomfortable with some chance of rejection or conflict. So,
0:13:56 write down those three to five things. Step four, for each item, ask yourself, if this were the
0:14:01 only thing I accomplished today, would I be satisfied with my day? Also ask, will moving this
0:14:07 forward make all the other to-dos unimportant or easier to knock off later? That’s a nod to Gary
0:14:12 Keller, the one thing. So, thank you for that, Gary. Step number five, look only at the items
0:14:17 you’ve answered yes to for at least one of those. Those are the high-leverage items, if removed.
0:14:23 Number six, block out at least two to three hours to focus on one of them for today. One,
0:14:27 let the rest of the urgent but less important stuff slide. They’ll still be there tomorrow.
0:14:32 Step number seven, and I’m repeating, to be clear, block out at least two to three hours to
0:14:37 focus on one of them for today. This is one block of time, uninterrupted, no distractions,
0:14:43 no social media. Cobbling together, 10 minutes here and there to add up to 120 minutes does not
0:14:48 work. Step number eight, if you get distracted or start procrastinating, have us to everybody,
0:14:53 don’t freak out and downward spiral, just gently come back to your one to-do.
0:15:00 Congratulations. That’s it. That’s the whole thing. This is practically the only way I can
0:15:05 create big outcomes despite my never-ending impulse to procrastinate, nap, otherwise,
0:15:11 fritter away my days with all sorts of bullshit. And it works. Work really, really well. And I’ve
0:15:16 come to learn if I have 10 important things to do in a day, it’s 100% certain that nothing
0:15:20 important will get done that day. So, you got to pick one thing. On the other hand, I can usually
0:15:26 handle one must-do item and block out my lesser behaviors for two to three hours a day in the
0:15:32 beginning of the day. That’s what works for me. It does not take much to seem superhuman and appear
0:15:38 successful to nearly everyone around you if you learn to single-task. Single, single, single,
0:15:45 single task, one. In fact, you just need a simple rule. What you do is more important than how you
0:15:51 do everything else. And doing something well does not make it important. So, material over method,
0:15:56 the what over the how. And if you consistently feel the counterproductive need for volume and
0:16:00 doing tons of stuff, maybe you should put a few things on post-it notes. Put them in your bathroom.
0:16:08 And the first that you can add is being busy is a form of laziness. Lazy thinking and indiscriminate
0:16:14 action does not mean that more equals more in the positive sense. Being busy is most often
0:16:19 used as a guise for avoiding the few critically important but uncomfortable actions you need to
0:16:24 take. And when, despite your best efforts, you feel like you’re losing at the game of life,
0:16:29 just remember, even the best of the best, feel this way sometimes. It happens to everybody.
0:16:34 And when I’m personally in the pit of despair, I recall what iconic writer Kurt Vonnegut said
0:16:38 about his process, highly recommend his books, amazing guy. And here’s the quote,
0:16:45 “When I write, I feel like an armless legless man with a crayon in his mouth.” So, don’t overestimate
0:16:51 the world and underestimate yourself. You’re better than you think and you’re definitely not alone.
0:16:55 We’re all in this together and everyone is fighting a battle that you know nothing about.
0:17:01 Hey guys, this is Tim again, just one more thing before you take off. And that is Five
0:17:05 Bullet Friday. Would you enjoy getting a short email from me every Friday that provides a little
0:17:11 fun before the weekend? Between one and a half and two million people subscribe to my free newsletter,
0:17:17 my super short newsletter called Five Bullet Friday. Easy to sign up, easy to cancel. It is
0:17:22 basically a half page that I send out every Friday to share the coolest things I’ve found
0:17:27 or discovered or have started exploring over that week. It’s kind of like my diary of cool things.
0:17:33 It often includes articles I’m reading, books I’m reading, albums perhaps, gadgets, gizmos,
0:17:38 all sorts of tech tricks and so on that get sent to me by my friends, including a lot of podcast
0:17:45 guests and these strange esoteric things end up in my field and then I test them and then I share
0:17:51 them with you. So, if that sounds fun, again, it’s very short, a little tiny bite of goodness before
0:17:55 you head off for the weekend, something to think about. If you’d like to try it out, just go to
0:18:02 tim.vlog/friday, type that into your browser, tim.vlog/friday, drop in your email and you’ll
0:18:07 get the very next one. Thanks for listening. This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep.
0:18:12 Eight Sleep recently launched their newest generation of the pod and I’m excited to test it out,
0:18:17 Pod 4 Ultra. Pod 4 Ultra can cool down each side of the bed as much as 20 degrees Fahrenheit below
0:18:22 room temperature. Pod 4 Ultra also introduces an adjustable base that fits between your mattress
0:18:26 and your bed frame and adds reading and sleeping positions for the best unwinding experience.
0:18:31 And for those snore heavy nights, the pod can detect your snoring and automatically lift your head
0:18:36 by a few degrees to improve air flow and stop you or your partner from snoring. Plus, with the Pod
0:18:40 4 Ultra, you can leave your wearables on the nightstand because these types of metrics are
0:18:47 integrated into the Pod 4 Ultra itself. So, get your best night’s sleep. Head to eightsleep.com/tim
0:18:53 and use Code Tim to get $350 off of the Pod 4 Ultra. They currently ship to the United States,
0:18:59 Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Australia. Regular listeners probably know I’ve been taking
0:19:04 momentous products consistently and testing them for a long while now. But you may not know that
0:19:09 I recently collaborated with them to put together my top picks. I always aim for a strong body and
0:19:14 sharp mind and neither is possible without quality sleep. So, I designed my performance stack to
0:19:19 check all three boxes. And here it is. Creeapure creatine for muscular and cognitive sport,
0:19:24 whey protein isolate for muscle mass and recovery, and magnesium 3-in-8 for sleep.
0:19:28 All momentous products are NSF and Informed Sports Certified, which is professional athlete and
0:19:36 Olympic level testing. So, try it out for yourself. Visit livemomentous.com/tim and use Tim at checkout
0:19:43 for 20% off of my performance stack. I’ll spell it out. It’s a long one. Livemomentos.com/tim.
0:19:46 Livemomentous.com/tim for 20% off.
0:19:49 (upbeat music)
0:19:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]
0:00:10 Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where my usual job is to sit down with
0:00:14 world-class performers of all different types, to interview them and tease out habits, routines,
0:00:20 favorite books, etc. There are 700 plus of those interviews in the back catalog, and we’ll get back
0:00:25 to that shortly. But this time around, we have a different format. In this short and very tactical
0:00:29 episode, I share some of my personal approaches, my personal methods for how to get out of a
0:00:36 rut, get unstuck, re-aim yourself at big outcomes, reset and refocus, and make progress on a daily
0:00:43 basis. Despite the self-defeating tendencies and inner voices that we all have, and that applies to
0:00:49 everyone I’ve met, the top of the top in any given field, we all have those days.
0:00:54 The first story I tell is of a three to four-week period when I was beset by all sorts of personal
0:00:59 challenges, and ultimately the approach that saved my sanity. It does not require any heroic
0:01:05 efforts, any differential calculus. It is beautifully simple. But first, before we get to that,
0:01:10 just a few quick words from today’s sponsors who make this podcast possible. If you want to
0:01:15 support the show, please check them out. I use all of these on a daily or weekly basis, and
0:01:19 given that I’m able to test everything under the sun, I think that is saying something.
0:01:25 Regular listeners probably know I’ve been taking momentous products consistently and testing them
0:01:30 for a long while now. But you may not know that I recently collaborated with them to put together
0:01:35 my top picks. I always aim for a strong body and sharp mind, and neither is possible without
0:01:39 quality sleep. So, I designed my performance stack to check all three boxes, and here it is.
0:01:44 Creap your creatine for muscular and cognitive support, whey protein isolate for muscle mass
0:01:49 recovery, and magnesium 3-in-8 for sleep. All momentous products are NSF and Informed Sports
0:01:54 Certified, which is professional athlete and Olympic-level testing. So, try it out for yourself.
0:02:01 Visit livemomentous.com/tim and use Tim at checkout for 20% off of my performance stack.
0:02:09 I’ll spell it out. It’s a long one, livemomentos.com/tim. So, livemomentous.com/tim for 20% off.
0:02:15 This episode is brought to you by 8Sleep. 8Sleep recently launched their newest generation of the
0:02:20 pod, and I’m excited to test it out. Pod 4 Ultra. Pod 4 Ultra can cool down each side of the bed
0:02:25 as much as 20 degrees Fahrenheit below room temperature. Pod 4 Ultra also introduces an
0:02:29 adjustable base that fits between your mattress and your bed frame and adds reading and sleeping
0:02:34 positions for the best unwinding experience. And for those snore heavy nights, the pod can
0:02:39 detect your snoring and automatically lift your head by a few degrees to improve airflow and stop
0:02:43 you or your partner from snoring. Plus, with Pod 4 Ultra, you can leave your wearables on
0:02:48 the nightstand because these types of metrics are integrated into the Pod 4 Ultra itself.
0:02:56 So, get your best night’s sleep. Head to 8Sleep.com/tim and use Code Tim to get $350 off of the Pod
0:03:01 4 Ultra. They currently ship to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Australia.
0:03:31 A few years ago, a creature died in the walls of my home. It was disgusting.
0:03:36 Now, to be precise, it gave up the ghost in the heating system, so the death fumes were conveniently
0:03:42 pushed directly into my bedroom. My ex-girlfriend and I discovered this around 11pm as we tucked
0:03:48 into bed hoping for a good night’s sleep. We could turn off the heat and freeze, that was one option,
0:03:53 or we could bathe in the stench of what I assumed was a raccoon carcass. And the whole thing
0:03:58 made my eyes itch. It was horrible. I imagined it downing its last meal, pig entrails, moldy socks,
0:04:05 fermented beans, who knows, before defiantly jamming its bloated body into my HVAC. Don’t worry,
0:04:10 we are getting to some kind of lesson here. But the kamikaze raccoon was just the first
0:04:16 surprise guest. The opening act, in short order, my dog then got horribly sick unrelated to raccoon.
0:04:21 Overdue paperwork started piling up, popping out of nowhere, and onboarding a bunch of new
0:04:26 contractors ran into trouble. Then I pulled out of a parking spot and scraped the entire
0:04:31 side of my car, and the car next to me. Later that same afternoon, all these Christmas presents
0:04:36 I had ordered somehow had run out of stock and were auto cancelled, so I was sent scrambling.
0:04:43 And on and on it went more and more clowns piling into the clown car for a shit show that lasted
0:04:51 three to four weeks. It was just a 15 car pile up of nonsense. There are the rare times when I
0:04:56 feel like I’m in the zone. Those are great. Those are fantastic. Then there are times when I ask
0:05:01 myself, how in holy hell have I become the janitor of a mountain of bullshit? That happens more
0:05:06 than you might think. Put another way, sometimes you’re the boxer and sometimes you are the punching
0:05:11 bag. We all get our turn as the punching bag. It doesn’t matter who you are. As far as I can tell,
0:05:16 it doesn’t matter how successful you become, you’ve always grabbed a number at the daily counter of
0:05:22 just wait, eventually you’re going to get your ass kicked by the universe. Now during these periods
0:05:27 of firefighting, let’s just call it when stuff is popping up, this whack-a-mole, I get fidgety
0:05:32 and frustrated. I feel like I’m treading water and patience wears very thin has never been my
0:05:38 strong suit. That’s true, especially with myself. And my instinct is to try to fix things as quickly
0:05:44 as possible. And that’s all well and good. But I’ve realized that from a place of what the fuck,
0:05:50 I often rush and create more problems. This is particularly bad, catastrophic sometimes when
0:05:57 I try to sprint immediately upon waking up. The mantra that has saved me and saved me during
0:06:03 that three to four week period I mentioned was very simple and it’s this. Make before you manage.
0:06:09 Make before you manage, that’s it. What this means is each morning, before plugging holes,
0:06:14 fixing things, calling vets, answering text messages, delegating or yanking out dead raccoons,
0:06:20 answering a million text messages, this mantra was a reminder to make something.
0:06:25 You should read Paul Graham’s essays and listen to Neil Gaiman’s Make Good Art commencement speech
0:06:31 for more on all of this. But back to any given day and make before you manage. Even the most
0:06:38 time sensitive items can usually wait 60 minutes. And by make something, I mean anything. It could
0:06:43 be anything at all. You just need to feel like you’ve pushed a millimeter ahead in some creative
0:06:49 direction. For me personally, even a 90 second video of calligraphy could set a better emotional
0:06:55 tone for the entire day, helping me to be more calm as I handle problems, as I execute all the
0:07:00 rest of the stuff later. Or maybe I attempt to jumpstart my writing with an Instagram caption,
0:07:05 right, or an email to a friend to take the pressure off. It’s practically nothing, but it’s
0:07:12 enough. Even token efforts allow me to reassure myself with, hey pal, don’t worry, you did produce
0:07:18 something today. And the psychological difference between zero acts of creation and one act of
0:07:24 creation, no matter how small, is really impossible to overstate. It’s binary, right? Zero to a little
0:07:29 bit. Those are two different worlds. If you’re lucky, sometimes that one idea, that one sense,
0:07:34 or one shitty first draft can turn into something bigger. And that happens when you catch the wave.
0:07:39 But the point is to be able to say to yourself, even for five minutes, “Hark, I am a creator,
0:07:44 not just a janitor of bullshit. Here’s proof that I can and will do more than just manage
0:07:50 the minutiae of life.” And I think, at least personally, I do need that reinforcement.
0:07:55 We all spend time on the struggle bus, happens to everybody. At the very least,
0:08:00 this mantra has helped me to find a window seat when it’s my turn. So, as a reminder,
0:08:04 when in doubt, try it out, make before you manage.
0:08:13 Okay folks, I’ll be back shortly with another story this time from a birthday crisis. Fun,
0:08:19 fun, fun. Ultimately, it has a happy ending. So, stay tuned. But first, just a few quick words
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0:09:15 The moment that you feel that just possibly you’re walking down the street naked,
0:09:19 exposing too much of your heart and your mind and what exists on the inside,
0:09:24 showing too much of yourself, that’s the moment you may be starting to get it right.
0:09:27 This is a quote from Neil Gaiman, one of my favorite fiction writers. It’s from his
0:09:33 University of the Arts commencement speech. But let’s bring it back to my story. A few months ago,
0:09:39 I had a birthday party. It was great. Dozen friends and I gathered for a few days of sun,
0:09:45 beach, barbecue, catching up. We do it every year. And then on the last day, I didn’t get up until
0:09:51 1130. That’s late even for me, knowing full well that the last few remaining friends were leaving
0:09:57 about 30 minutes later, around 12 noon. And the sad reality is I was afraid of being alone.
0:10:03 I was afraid of being lonely. So, like a child, I hid my head under the covers, that’s literally,
0:10:08 and hit snooze until I just couldn’t postpone reality any further. But why am I telling you
0:10:13 this? Why am I being so self-indulgent in telling you this ridiculous story? It’s because we all
0:10:20 like to appear successful, a nebulous term at best, and the media like to portray certain standouts as
0:10:24 superheroes, these people on the magazine covers and so on. And yes, sometimes these dramatic stories
0:10:31 of overcoming the odds are super inspiring. But often, just as often, they lead to an unhealthy
0:10:35 conclusion, maybe an inner monologue, which is something like, well, maybe they, whoever they
0:10:40 happen to be, maybe they can do it because they’re incredible. They have no faults. They’re just
0:10:45 karate chopping the day and winning at all moments. But I’m just a normal person. I can’t do that.
0:10:51 The reality is most superheroes, these superheroes are nothing of the sort. They’re just as weird
0:10:57 and neurotic as we are. They’re strange creatures who do big things, despite lots of self-defeating
0:11:03 habits and self-talk. So, to personalize this, let’s bring it home. I am definitely no superhero.
0:11:08 I’m not even a consistent normal, whatever that is. So, let me give you a little laundry list.
0:11:15 Not too long ago, I cried while watching Rudy on an airplane, and that was cause for concern for a
0:11:20 lot of people around me. I repeatedly hit snooze for one to three hours past my planned wake time
0:11:26 because I simply didn’t want to face the day. I considered giving everything away, moving to
0:11:32 Montreal, Seville, or Iceland. Location kind of depends on what I’m trying to escape. I’ve used
0:11:39 gentlemanly websites to relax during the day when clearly having other urgent and important
0:11:45 shit to do. I wore the same pair of jeans for a week straight, just to have a constant during
0:11:51 weeks of chaos. So, listening to all that, you might think it seems pretty dysfunctional, right?
0:11:58 I assume so. I certainly hear it that way. But, around the same time, especially so the later
0:12:04 few weeks of that, I also was able to increase my passive income 20%, bought my dream house,
0:12:09 got to the point where I was once again meditating twice per day for 20 minutes per session without
0:12:15 fail, so not winning any gold medals in meditation, but incredibly helpful and stabilizing. I cut my
0:12:19 caffeine intake to next to nothing. That usually means poor tea in the morning and maybe a green
0:12:25 tea in the afternoon. I’ve had no more than one cup of really strong coffee per week. There’s a lot
0:12:30 to that, but it’s suffice to say, much improved sleep. Signed one of the most exciting business
0:12:36 deals of the last decade, including working on a collaboration that is first of its kind for me.
0:12:40 Completely transformed my blood work, including a few biomarkers I’ve been working on for years,
0:12:47 and I realized, as the next point, once again, that let’s just call it manic depressive symptoms
0:12:52 are just part of entrepreneurship. And last but not least, I have come to feel closer to all of
0:12:59 my immediate family members. So, where does that leave us? So, personally, I suck at efficiency,
0:13:05 which is doing things quickly or doing things super well, but I have a few tricks. So, here is
0:13:10 my coping mechanism. It is an eight step process for maximizing efficacy, which is doing the right
0:13:16 thing. Number one, wake up at least an hour before you have to be at a computer screen. Email is the
0:13:22 mind-killer, so don’t go immediately into reactive mode. Number two, make a cup of tea. I like puer tea
0:13:28 and sit down with a pen or pencil and paper. I like to do it analog. Number three, write down
0:13:33 three to five things and no more that are making you most anxious or uncomfortable.
0:13:37 They’re often the things that have been punted from one day’s to-do list to the next,
0:13:42 to the next, to the next, and so on. And most important usually means most uncomfortable or
0:13:47 very frequently it does with some chance of rejection or conflict. To find those important,
0:13:51 you can often just look for the most uncomfortable with some chance of rejection or conflict. So,
0:13:56 write down those three to five things. Step four, for each item, ask yourself, if this were the
0:14:01 only thing I accomplished today, would I be satisfied with my day? Also ask, will moving this
0:14:07 forward make all the other to-dos unimportant or easier to knock off later? That’s a nod to Gary
0:14:12 Keller, the one thing. So, thank you for that, Gary. Step number five, look only at the items
0:14:17 you’ve answered yes to for at least one of those. Those are the high-leverage items, if removed.
0:14:23 Number six, block out at least two to three hours to focus on one of them for today. One,
0:14:27 let the rest of the urgent but less important stuff slide. They’ll still be there tomorrow.
0:14:32 Step number seven, and I’m repeating, to be clear, block out at least two to three hours to
0:14:37 focus on one of them for today. This is one block of time, uninterrupted, no distractions,
0:14:43 no social media. Cobbling together, 10 minutes here and there to add up to 120 minutes does not
0:14:48 work. Step number eight, if you get distracted or start procrastinating, have us to everybody,
0:14:53 don’t freak out and downward spiral, just gently come back to your one to-do.
0:15:00 Congratulations. That’s it. That’s the whole thing. This is practically the only way I can
0:15:05 create big outcomes despite my never-ending impulse to procrastinate, nap, otherwise,
0:15:11 fritter away my days with all sorts of bullshit. And it works. Work really, really well. And I’ve
0:15:16 come to learn if I have 10 important things to do in a day, it’s 100% certain that nothing
0:15:20 important will get done that day. So, you got to pick one thing. On the other hand, I can usually
0:15:26 handle one must-do item and block out my lesser behaviors for two to three hours a day in the
0:15:32 beginning of the day. That’s what works for me. It does not take much to seem superhuman and appear
0:15:38 successful to nearly everyone around you if you learn to single-task. Single, single, single,
0:15:45 single task, one. In fact, you just need a simple rule. What you do is more important than how you
0:15:51 do everything else. And doing something well does not make it important. So, material over method,
0:15:56 the what over the how. And if you consistently feel the counterproductive need for volume and
0:16:00 doing tons of stuff, maybe you should put a few things on post-it notes. Put them in your bathroom.
0:16:08 And the first that you can add is being busy is a form of laziness. Lazy thinking and indiscriminate
0:16:14 action does not mean that more equals more in the positive sense. Being busy is most often
0:16:19 used as a guise for avoiding the few critically important but uncomfortable actions you need to
0:16:24 take. And when, despite your best efforts, you feel like you’re losing at the game of life,
0:16:29 just remember, even the best of the best, feel this way sometimes. It happens to everybody.
0:16:34 And when I’m personally in the pit of despair, I recall what iconic writer Kurt Vonnegut said
0:16:38 about his process, highly recommend his books, amazing guy. And here’s the quote,
0:16:45 “When I write, I feel like an armless legless man with a crayon in his mouth.” So, don’t overestimate
0:16:51 the world and underestimate yourself. You’re better than you think and you’re definitely not alone.
0:16:55 We’re all in this together and everyone is fighting a battle that you know nothing about.
0:17:01 Hey guys, this is Tim again, just one more thing before you take off. And that is Five
0:17:05 Bullet Friday. Would you enjoy getting a short email from me every Friday that provides a little
0:17:11 fun before the weekend? Between one and a half and two million people subscribe to my free newsletter,
0:17:17 my super short newsletter called Five Bullet Friday. Easy to sign up, easy to cancel. It is
0:17:22 basically a half page that I send out every Friday to share the coolest things I’ve found
0:17:27 or discovered or have started exploring over that week. It’s kind of like my diary of cool things.
0:17:33 It often includes articles I’m reading, books I’m reading, albums perhaps, gadgets, gizmos,
0:17:38 all sorts of tech tricks and so on that get sent to me by my friends, including a lot of podcast
0:17:45 guests and these strange esoteric things end up in my field and then I test them and then I share
0:17:51 them with you. So, if that sounds fun, again, it’s very short, a little tiny bite of goodness before
0:17:55 you head off for the weekend, something to think about. If you’d like to try it out, just go to
0:18:02 tim.vlog/friday, type that into your browser, tim.vlog/friday, drop in your email and you’ll
0:18:07 get the very next one. Thanks for listening. This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep.
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0:19:49 (upbeat music)
0:19:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]
In this short and very tactical episode, I share some of my personal methods for how to get out of a rut, re-aim yourself at big outcomes, and make progress on a daily basis, despite the self-defeating tendencies that we all have.
This episode is brought to you by:
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