5-Bullet Monday #45 (16/11/2020)
Happy Monday!
This week I published:Chronic Procrastination: How to Get Rid of It and Overcome It for Good
How many times have you googled chronic procrastination? Too many, right? And even with billions of good advice online, you still struggle.
Chronic procrastination can affect your quality of life on a daily basis. But here are the good news: According to some psychologists, procrastination is a learned habit—more nurture than nature.
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I also published on YouTube:
The Scientific Way to Build Good Habits in 4 Easy Steps (Atomic Habits by James Clear)
Understanding how to build new habits (and how your current ones work) is essential for making progress in your productivity, happiness, and life in general. In this video, we’re going to distill the lessons from the best book on building Habits: “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. You’re going to learn a proven 4-step framework you can use to easily develop new habits.
If you like the videos, please consider subscribing to the channel. It would mean the world to me ;)
In case you missed it, here are my 2 previous videos:
- Deep Work by Cal Newport: Summary and Key Lessons
- How to Make Change Easier and Effective – Switch by Chip and Dan Heath: Summary and Key Lessons
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Finally, I added 2 new book summaries:
- “The Magic of Thinking Big” by David Schwartz
- “The End of Jobs” by Taylor Pearson
If you want to follow me on Medium click here.
Right, on to the Medley ;)
Here is your weekly dose of “5-Bullet Monday,” a list of what I’m pondering and exploring.
What I’m pondering—
How do you find great ideas? And where do they come from? And how can you do it in a systematic way?
As a creator (and someone who’s naturally curious), this is something that I’ve been pondering for a long time.
I guess the process can be divided into 4 parts:
- Discover: finding ideas
- Distill: summarizing ideas to its most atomic form
- Organize:connecting ideas in novel ways
- Create: make something new based on connecting good ideas in a novel way
For 2 and 3, I use a commonplace book (covered in last week’s email) and Roam.
I publish 4 on the blog and YouTube mainly as well as other platforms.
But I guess the hardest problem lies in 1, discovering ideas. It’s also the step that makes the difference. If you’re able to find amazing ideas (hopefully) you’ll be able to create something better (which is the end goal). Because it’s a sequence and so the quality of the outputs depends on the quality of the inputs.
So I come back to my original question: “How do you find great ideas?”
A few that work for me:
- Books (obviously)
- Documentaries
- Twitter: following a few people who are connecting ideas
- A few blogs and newsletters
Now I ask you, friend: How do you find great ideas?
Hit reply and let me know ;)
What I’m reading—
I finished “Time Warrior” by Steve Chandler. As I said last week: great little about how to manage your time, energy, and focus. It’s the sort of book you can read a chapter every day for inspiration.
I’m now reading “Factfulness” by Hans Rosling. This one has been on my reading list for a while. And 2 chapters in, it hasn’t disappointed.
In short:
When asked simple questions about global trends―what percentage of the world’s population live in poverty; why the world’s population is increasing; how many girls finish school―we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently outguess teachers, journalists, Nobel laureates, and investment bankers.
The book offers a radical new explanation of why this happens. It reveals the ten instincts that distort our perspective―from our tendency to divide the world into two camps (usually some version of us and them) to the way we consume media (where fear rules) to how we perceive progress (believing that most things are getting worse).
You can get started by watching Hans Rosling’s TED Talk: “The best stats you’ve ever seen”
Bill Gates said about this book: “One of the most important books I’ve ever read―an indispensable guide to thinking clearly about the world.”
I agree, Bill ;)
What I’m researching—
Why do we procrastinate? Why do we fail to follow up on what we said we were going to do? And does everyone procrastinate in the same way?
These are some of the questions I’ve been trying to find answers to in the last months. I’ve been deep-diving into books and studies trying to find the solution for procrastination.
It’s inevitable to procrastinate on some things. But I’m specifically interested in getting into the action item when it comes to our most important projects and tasks.
How do you stop procrastinating? Hit reply and let me know ;)
What I’m watching—
Maniac (on Netflix), with Emma Stone and Jonah Hill. It follows two strangers who connect during a mind-bending pharmaceutical trial.
I would say it’s part futuristic, part psychological drama. And 100% good fun.
Be more productive—
In my Productivity Vault, you can find 300+ proven productivity hacks. These are all the productivity hacks I’ve spent years collecting and testing.
Everything that works with simple step-by-step instructions on how to apply to your work and life.
Get immediate access by clicking here.
Please give me feedback on Twitter. Which bullet above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Other suggestions? Please let me know. Just send a tweet to @dansilvestrecom and put #5BulletMonday at the end so I can find it.
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Have a great week ;)
Dan
P.s. don’t forget to subscribe to the channel ;)
