Woolgathering #139: "Habit Drafting"
Also: Giving your work away for free, inside David Allen's office, and what comes after minimalism.
What can cycling and aerodynamics teach us about building habits and achieving goals more easily?
One word: drag. It’s a well-known term in aerodynamics, but one we also encounter when we try to build habits or overcome procrastination and get things done.
The faster an object tries to move, the more it encounters drag — the resistance of the air around it. If you’re trying to get somewhere quickly while expending the least amount of energy, drag becomes increasingly important to think about. Drag needs to be overcome and minimized.
But overcoming drag is not just a physical undertaking. We encounter other kinds of drag — namely when we try to form new habits or undertake new or difficult tasks we’ve been avoiding. Call it mental drag, if you like. But whatever you call it, it’s real. It’s what keeps us procrastinating and what keeps us from growing in the ways we’d like to.
But there’s good news. There are ways to overcome and minimize physical drag, that allow you to travel fast while expending less energy. And very similar principles can be applied when overcoming mental drag as well. But as with overcoming physical drag, it’s all about learning how to do it correctly.
Need something on your phone or tablet with quick bites of insight and motivation?
That kind of sounds like my first collection of essays—Be, Think, Do. Pick up a copy now for about the price of a fancy drink from your local coffee joint.
Video: A Rare Video Tour Inside David Allen's Office
It's rare to see inside the actual office of a productivity guru. Even more rare to see how they organize and use things. This is a great peek inside the mind of one of the great productivity thinkers and teachers: David Allen.
The Process and Math Behind Prioritization
Over at the Asana blog, I found this deep dive into how prioritization works. They start with a great look at how the concept of a priority has been distorted, and move on to how to prioritize better.
Adopting a macro view helps clarify what to work on, and when. It shows that most projects aren’t worth pursuing at all, and illuminates which other seemingly inconsequential tasks are critical for your mission. As Sam Altman puts it, “Most people waste most of their time, especially in business.
David Perell on What Might Come After Minimalism
In this handsomely-written essay on the style of our times, David Perell bemoans what minimalism-run-amuck has done to us. Being an appreciator of minimalism, I at first reeled at his analysis. Then quotes like this one grabbed my attention:
A friend once told me that depression isn’t feeling negative things; it’s feeling nothing at all. If that’s true, we shouldn’t be surprised that minimalism is the aesthetic of our age of depression.
Cue my favorite question: how might I be wrong about this?
A Question
If you’re a creator, or you’re in sales or marketing, you’ve likely found yourself in a tug-of-war. On one side, there’s the pull of ensuring you’re compensated for what you provide—that free riders aren’t taking advantage of your work. On the other side, there’s the pull of minimizing the friction for prospective customers, and letting them see what you’re all about. Usually, that means eliminating upfront costs.
So the question becomes: should I give my stuff away for free? I think the answer is yes much more than it isn’t—at least for a longer time than most of us think. But it’s something you most definitely have to decide for yourself.
The Today Card Group Is Having Some Great Discussions…
A few weeks ago, I opened up a testing group for the new productivity system I’ve created. I initially intended on keeping the group closed, but letting others in has proven helpful.
We’ve engaged in some great discussions about structuring your day, prioritizing on the fly, and being stern but fair in your self-evaluations.
Come learn the system, join the forum, and see what it’s all about.
A Quote
“Only by giving are you able to receive more than you already have.”
- Jim Rohn