Episodes

Takeaway:All of the information you consume—what you read, watch, and learn—can be divided into three categories: useful information, balanced information, and entertaining information. To think smarter, more clearly, and more intelligently, consume more valuable information—while throwing in some entertaining information, lest you turn yourself into an information-munching robot. Estimated Reading Time:3 minutes, 10s. Podcast Length28 minutes, 44s (link to play podcast at bottom of post). The...

Takeaway:A while back I spent seven days in Jamaica conducting a “think week.” This time in the sun was loosely modeled on Bill Gates’ annual think week ritual. I learned five key things: the more time we spend keeping up the less time we spend getting ahead; that we need to strike a balance between reflecting and doing; that stepping back from our daily grind helps us to be grateful of the lives we lead; that our lives need more solitude; and finally, that we all need to take more think breaks,...

Takeaway: When you consume caffeine habitually, you’ll need to consume more and more to experience the same energy boost. This makes occasionally resetting your caffeine tolerance worth the effort and the struggle. To do this, slowly lower the amount of caffeine you consume each day, or go “cold turkey” if you don’t consume a lot to begin with. Invest in your energy at the same time to counterbalance withdrawal symptoms. Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes, 59s. Podcast Length29 minutes, 49s (link...

Takeaway:You have a lot in your life to be grateful for. Make sure to recall these things as the year draws to a close. Estimated Reading Time:1 minutes, 17s. Podcast Length4 minutes, 58 s. Each New Year, I look back on the year that went by to recall a few things I’m grateful for. Today, I look back at 2019 with gratitude for all that happened in my personal life—getting married to an awesome lady, going on some cool trips, and hitting some other personal goals—but I also can’t help but feel...

Takeaway:There are countless ways you can lose weight, all backed by science, as Dr. Michael Greger covers in his new book How Not to Diet. A few that I’ve expanded upon below: eat way more fiber, consume foods that contain a lot of water (like vegetables and fruit), and consume most of your calories in the morning. Estimated Reading Time:8 minutes, 27s. Podcast Length24 minutes, 15s (link to play podcast at bottom of post). How Not to Diet Let me get this out of the way: I am not a fan of wei...

Takeaway:There are countless ways to form a new habit, which James Clear covers in Atomic Habits (and in our interview). A few of my favorites: sort your habits by how much they’ll help you out in the long-run; become more thoughtful about your environment; question habits that provide immediate enjoyment; make new habits take less than two minutes of your time; develop “home court” and “away court” habits; and focus on developing your identify, not your goals. Estimated Reading Time:3 minutes, ...

Takeaway:When we have a bit of time to relax, we tend to spend time on activities that provide us with a quick dopamine hit. This is especially the case when we spend our downtime in the digital world. The key to relaxation is to invest in strategies that make your mind less stimulated. Usually this means spending more time in the analog world. Estimated Reading Time:2 minutes, 53s. Podcast Length23 minutes, 38s (link to play podcast at bottom of post). How to Relax For the past few months, I...

Takeaway:There are things you can reflect on each day that will make you more resilient. It’s worth beginning each morning by reflecting on what you’re grateful for, what you intend to focus on, and what you want to let go of. Estimated Reading Time:1 minute, 37s. Podcast Length32 minutes, 31s (link to play podcast at bottom of post). I read Neil Pasricha’s latest book, You Are Awesome, in two sittings. I’ll cut right to the chase: this book is one of the best (and most vulnerable and entertai...

Takeaway:Over the next 13 weeks I plan on losing 20 pounds by doing three things: making myself more accountable, tracking my weight and food intake, and anticipating any weekly obstacles that might arise. Want to join me? Estimated Reading Time:2 minutes, 30s. Podcast Length25 minutes, 27s (link to play podcast at bottom of post). Between now and January 14th (the next 13 weeks), I plan on losing 20 pounds, going from 190lbs to 170 lbs. Of course, a 13-month weight loss challenge is anything ...

Takeaway: Drinking alcohol can drain your energy the next day and leads to many negative health effects, but it can also lead you to loosen up, have more fun, and generate more creative ideas. It’s worth consuming alcohol strategically and with intent, rather than out of habit. Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes, 11s. Podcast Length26 minutes, 2s (link to play podcast at bottom of post). Obligatory disclaimer: you should consult with your physician before taking any advice from the internet—part...

Takeaway:Some experts are worth listening to, and others aren’t. To find the good ones, look for those who have dug deeply into a topic, aren’t afraid to be vulnerable about where they fail, don’t speak from a pedestal, and are further along in exploring a topic than you are. Estimated Reading Time:3 minutes, 47s. Podcast Length28 minutes, 14s (link to play podcast at bottom of post). There are a lot of people out there who call themselves experts—and as someone who writes books, gives speeche...

Takeaway:For the greatest performance benefits, drink caffeine strategically, instead of habitually. Estimated Reading Time:2 minutes, 50s. Podcast Length24 minutes, 35s (link to play podcast at bottom of post). This week on Becoming Better, we dig into the science behind how you can extract as much energy—and productivity—out of caffeine as possible. I write about caffeine quite a bit on ALOP, and for good reason: it can give us a great boost of productivity and focus, if we consume it delib...

Takeaway:The paperback version of Hyperfocus comes out today! It looks awesome. Estimated Reading Time:1 minute, 12s. One year ago, my second book, Hyperfocus: How to Manage Your Attention in a World of Distraction, hit store shelves! I consider the book to be the best thing I’ve created to date. It’s about how to take advantage of the science behind how our attention works. Today, a new version of the book hits store shelves, as a paperback published by Penguin Books! Same book, but with nice...

Takeaway:Three ways to hold yourself accountable for doing aversive tasks: get a deadline (however you can); fire up Focusmate; and get an accountability partner. Estimated Reading Time:2 minutes, 2s. Podcast Length16 minutes, 33s (link to play podcast at bottom of post). Research shows that the more unstructured a task is, the more likely you are to procrastinate on it. One of the best ways to combat this? Get other people to hold you accountable for getting your most aversive tasks and proje...

Takeaway:Meditation saves you time because it allows you to work more efficiently. Five practical benefits of having a meditation ritual: you’ll be happier (which makes you more productive); you’ll have greater clarity of what’s important as you work; you’ll develop deeper relationships; you’ll focus deeper; and you’ll become less dependent on your addictive devices. Estimated Reading Time:4 minutes, 8s. Podcast Length34 minutes, 12s (link to play podcast at bottom of post). For a simple, acce...

Takeaway:Keeping a log of how you spend your time, even if just for a few days, makes you aware of whether you’re spending time on what’s actually important to you. Keeping a time log sounds like a hassle, but it takes less time and attention than you might think. Plus, doing so lets you discover how many hours you actually work, step back from the stories you tell yourself, makes time feel richer, and may end up being the push you need to change how you spend your time. Estimated Reading Time:3...

Takeaway:You should work around your energy levels; working on more important tasks when you have the most energy, and less productive tasks when your energy dips. Below is how to calculate when your energy peaks (your “biological prime time”), and a few suggestions for working around your energy levels. Estimated Reading Time:3 minutes, 11s. Podcast Length22 minutes, 25s. Our energy-per-hour isn’t consistent, and because of this, neither is our focus nor productivity. Luckily, though, there a...

Takeaway:The trick to traveling smarter is to prepare ahead of time, and develop strong traveling habits. Some ideas covered below: creating a default packing list; preparing things to consume and work on while you’re offline; leaning into how tired you are while traveling; and making your trip feel more like home. Estimated Reading Time:5 minutes, 46s. Podcast Length29 minutes, 22s. Whether you’re traveling for a business trip, for fun, or something in between, here are some strategies to man...

Takeaway:Apps can be distracting and lead you to waste a ton of time, but the best apps make you more knowledgeable, organized, and productive. The 10 apps below—selected by myself and Ardyn on our podcast—all will help you do this. Estimated Reading Time:4 minutes, 4s. Podcast length26 minutes, 45s. At their worst, apps are distracting and lead you to waste an ungodly amount of time. But at their best, they can make you quite a bit more efficient and productive. So which ones are worth your t...

Takeaway: Some productivity rituals worth trying out: setting three intentions every day; reviewing and mapping out your week (and day); having an accountability partner that keeps you on track; and maintaining an “accomplishments list” throughout the week. Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes, 1s. Podcast length:26 minutes, 0s. Great productivity rituals allow you to become more productive without much thought; once you make a habit out of them, you become more productive every day, automaticall...

Takeaway:For this week’s episode of Becoming Better, I interviewed David Allen, the author of Getting Things Done. A few of my favorite nuggets from our interview (expanded upon below): our heads are for having ideas (not holding them); mental clarity comes when we store fewer commitments in our head; we should capture every single commitment we have on our plate; that we need mental space as much as we need more time; and that we should be listening to the “still small voice” in our mind throug...

Takeaway:Doing a digital declutter helps you step back from your digital life, so you can see what parts of your digital world make your life better, and which parts you waste too much time on and have become addicted to. To conduct one, choose what apps/services/websites to not use for a month, what digital things you want to use less, and what analog things you plan on doing in place of these digital habits. Article Reading Time3 minutes, 5s. Podcast Length29 minutes, 58s. On this week’s epis...

Takeaway:I chatted with Cal Newport, the author of Digital Minimalism, on the latest episode of Becoming Better. A few things you’ll take away from the chat: why digital technologies can be so addictive; that we should question the “constant companion” mode of using our phone; that we need more time for solitude; that distraction will always creep back in; and that we should try out a “digital declutter.” Estimated Reading Time:2 minutes, 43s. Cal Newport is the author of six books—including De...

Note: I’m currently submitting the podcast to various podcasts hosts, including Apple Podcasts. It should be up there in the next day or two. There are a lot of podcasts out there. So why should you subscribe to this one? I’m a big fan of podcasts—in my podcast app, I just counted 13 that I listen to on a regular basis. For years I’ve wanted to start one myself, but haven’t, for a simple reason: I wasn’t sure what would make my show different from all the others. But finally, a few months back...