5-Bullet Monday #21 (01/06/2020)

Happy Monday!

Here’s your weekly dose of awesomeness.

On digital minimalism –
No new articles this week (I’m focused on the course) so bringing a piece I enjoyed writing. Digital Minimalism is being intentional on how you use technology. In this essay, I share practical advice on how to simplify your online life and develop a better relationship with your computer, files, phone, email, and internet.

On the best productivity hacks – 
I spent 2 years researching, testing, and documenting the “best of the best” productivity hacks. The result? My Productivity Vault, which contains 300+ short and actionable productivity hacks that you can apply right now (in 1 minute or less). Achieve your goals, prioritize your time, and focus better.

On book summaries –
This week I added 2 summaries to my book notes: “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl and “Superhuman by Habit” by Tynan. Is there a specific book you would like to read a summary of? Hit reply and let me know ;)

On how to help your brain – 
Last week I got stuck while recording my new course. I hit record but just couldn’t deliver my message in a clear and actionable way. So I moved to another lesson to unblock myself. But the same thing happened. So I stopped. And I realized that I had a weak picture of what I wanted to deliver. To gain clarity, I did a brain dump. I wrote down everything that was on my mind. Moving things from your head to paper is extremely helpful. David Allen sums it best in Getting Things Done: “Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.” This exercise was all I needed to regain clarity. The end result: a 1-page summary of the entire course. What happened after this exercise can only be described as magical: recording new lessons was… easy. So here’s the productivity lesson: when you feel overwhelmed or lack clarity, a brain dump can do wonders to organize your ideas. Give this strategy a try by doing a brain dump of all your tasks. And then proceed to organize them in a way that makes sense to you. Trust me: it will be magical.

On how to choose and make time for your highlight –
Your “Highlight” is a single activity your prioritize and protect in your calendar every day. In this twitter thread, I share 7 tactics to help you choose your single activity and 8 tactics to make time for your highlight. Ideas are taken from “Make Time” by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky, an excellent book on time management.
 

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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 ;)