5-Bullet Monday #20 (25/05/2020)

Hey,

Here’s your weekly dose of awesomeness.

On blocking your time – 
Some of the most productive people in the world swear by a technique called time blocking. Ever heard of Elon Musk, Bill Gates, or Cal Newport? Yep – all time-blockers. And they’re not doing it because they like coloring in their bullet journals. They’re squeezing every drop of productivity from their days. It’s simple and it works. And I’m going to show you how. 

On book summaries –
I’ve added 3 new book summaries this week: “The Effective Executive” by Peter Drucker, “Make Time” by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky, and “Hyperfocus” by Chris Bailey. I hope you’re enjoying these. I still have a backlog of 50+ books to summarize. Is there a specific book you would like to read a summary of? Hit reply and let me know ;)

On 80/20 your work – 
Here’s a Twitter thread with the 6 questions you need to ask to 80/20 your work and discover your highest-leveraging activities. This was inspired by Tim Ferriss’ excellent book “The 4-Hour Workweek”. Every day, I share insights from books as well as on productivity and personal management. If that’s something you think you would enjoy, make sure you follow me on Twitter ;)

On how to write usefully –
I recently re-read Paul Graham’s essay on “How to Write Usefully”. Here are my favorite parts: “I write the first draft of an essay fast, trying out all kinds of ideas. Then I spend days rewriting it very carefully.”  and“I believe the formula I’ve given you, importance + novelty + correctness + strength, is the recipe for a good essay. But I should warn you that it’s also a recipe for making people mad.”If you enjoy this one, you will also enjoy “Write Like you Talk”.

On doing the real thing –
I enjoyed reading Scott H. Young’s essay “Do the Real Thing”. Excerpts: “Success largely boils down to a simple distinction. It’s glaringly obvious once you see it, but also easy to find ingenious ways of ignoring it: do the real thing and stop doing fake alternatives.” and “Days wasted on fake activity may keep you busy, but they never seem to go anywhere. A life spent on real work may not always be the easiest or most entertaining, but it’s the one that adds up in the end.”
 

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Have a great week ;)

Dan

P.s. This newsletter was longer than normal. Do you prefer this longer format or the shorter one? Hit reply and let me know. I reply to every single email ;)