Welcome back!

Today’s letter will be a little different.

I’ll be talking about things that stood out to me in the past week or so and tie it into some concept or mental model you can use for your own development journey.

This is experimental, so bare with me!

Let’s call it, The Experimentarium.

Any feedback is appreciated.

3-minute read

Productivity traps to watch out for.

This month has been a big struggle.

I’ve been seeking ways to improve my productivity while keeping things as simple as possible.

The result?

More confusion, more overwhelm, and more things to manage.

The complete opposite of my goal!

I’ve been on a Notion template craze lately.

IDK about you but when I get momentum on something I’m curious about, I become a heat-seeking laser until I’ve realized 3+ hours flew by.

This is the multi-passionate problem or maybe I just have undiagnosed ADHD.

The most recent example:

Notion templates for Productivity

This is my biggest one.

I had become obsessed with the aesthetics of notion templates and the possibility of having a “perfect” system for organizing my entire life.

• Daily tasks

• Projects

• Content ecosystem

• Habit tracking

You name it.

The problem was that there was still too much friction between managing the system and actually getting things done.

The opposite of productivity.

I ended up realizing that I was just researching, editing, and adding new features that weren’t actually helping me with my most important tasks.

After the big realization, I’ve been having great success with a classic pen and notebook with minimal app usage for my content system.

Shiny object syndrome is a kryptonite for the value creator.

I found it best to lean towards simplicity vs. optimizing productivity.

You may just find yourself moving away from your true goal.

I didn’t even mention my attempt to integrate Obsidian as a secondary platform for “connecting my thoughts.”

I won’t get too far into that here but this video basically squashed my productivity app binge.

The second brain will have to come via iteration and more experimentation but NEVER at the expense of my highest priorities.

Productivity “trick” that you aren’t doing enough of.

Another big mistake I made was trying to cram every second of the day with tasks.

Man did that fail quickly.

Because of that flawed strategy, I’ve burnt out more times than I care to admit.

Pro tip: plan your breaks and make them an essential part of your daily schedule.

All productivity gurus will mention time blocking, Pomodoro, deep work, and endless new apps that are supposed to automate your thinking, but few of them emphasis the energetic benefits of planning your rest periods.

Just like exercising to build muscle, you can’t just work out twice a day and 7 times a week to build more.

You need to recover.

Rest is where the muscle is built, not during the workout.

• You learn new material when resting.

• You get creative ideas when resting.

• You gain new skills when resting.

So why do we put so much attention on doing, doing, doing?

I get it, we need to execute to move forward, but rest allows us to not only do the work but do our best work sustainably.

Here’s my daily outline (to experiment with):

AM:

• Do my warm-up routine

• Get into deep work for 90 min

• Break

• Do my 9-5 work for 90 min

PM:

• Walk, rest, eat

• Experimentation, learning, or maintenance stuff for 90 min

• Review the day

• Free time

• Night routine (in bed by 10 pm)

I’ve learned to be more flexible with my schedule after the morning.  

You cannot work yourself to the bone. It’s counterproductive.

The lessons:

• Use a productivity system that’s immediately available to you at this moment – like pen and paper.

• Don’t use a new app unless you need a specific piece of functionality or automation (i.e. Notion databases for idea ranking).

• Test 1 app for at least a month before adding a new one (reduce overload).

• Plan your rest periods (5-15 min) in a time-blocked schedule.

• Allow more flexibility after your high-priority tasks are done.

What did you think of this type of letter?

Was it helpful?

Let me know!

See you next week!

Resources:

Communities:

• Modern Mastery: Join a like-minded group of individuals committed to self-mastery, building an online business, and gaining financial freedom.

• Dad’s Online Business Toolbox: Join a community of men who are building families, online businesses, and legacies. Free modules are added every month!

Content Mastery:

• Speechify: Emails, articles, ebooks, and more are read to you at up to 4.5x speed. ($60 off link).

• 2-Hour Writer: Learn a marketable skill writing 1-2 hours per day that translates to a promotion, a business, or bringing clarity to your overactive mind.

• Content OS: Set up a content creation machine to systemize your weekly workflow.

• Hypefury: Schedule unlimited tweets and save your ideas in a clean dashboard while saving 4 hours per week.