Weekly Mix #275 - How we should all be working

Working Like a Lion, Society's Problems, Unlearning & Fixed/Growth Mindsets

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Happy Monday!

I spent much of my weekend building my new bike.

I'd waited ~5 months for the frameset to arrive, after painstakingly assembling all the specific parts I wanted through the winter.

It was incredibly frustrating.

Not because it went poorly; in fact, most of it went well.

But I realized I've become accustomed to having everything I need to finish something at my fingertips. No doubt a consequence of doing all my work on the computer.

It stresses me out to have unclosed loops, or to be waiting for a part, or needing to take a step backwards to go forwards.

I think it's a side effect of the modern hustle culture too, where you need to always be on, always be producing something, always be productive.

I've clearly fallen into the trap, and it's part of why I've also found myself trying to multi-task and being distracted lately.

So I'm refocusing on what Naval Ravikant calls "working like a lion":

"The way people tend to work most effectively, especially in knowledge work, is to sprint as hard as they can while they feel inspired to work, and then rest. They take long breaks.

It’s more like a lion hunting and less like a marathoner running. You sprint and then you rest. You reassess and then you try again. You end up building a marathon of sprints."

It means being fully focused on one thing.

It means being okay with periods of rest, of tinkering, of "wasting" time.

And it means creating clearer lines between when I'm "working" (sprinting) and when I'm resting.

Have a great week!

Graham

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Links

📚 What's Our Problem?: A Self-Help Book for Societies - Tim Urban - Tim Urban is the author of the blog Wait But Why, which I've referenced often in this newsletter, and is the source of many of my favourite writing on the internet.

I listened to his new book driving in the car from Halifax to Montreal, and it didn't disappoint.

The two main takeaways:

Be wary of anything that is dogmatic/does not tolerate dissent

Being able to speak openly is the key to a healthy society

I have yet to take notes, but there will be lots of them. Highly recommend.

📖 The Lesson to Unlearn - Paul Graham - I have a new realization every time I read this piece: this time, it was a better understanding of the description of how we overcomplicate things (particularly in the startup sense).

How do you make a startup successful? Build a great product. We overcomplicate things so often.

Of course, I was also one of the students who was focused on doing well on tests. Ironically, I felt I never had time to do "fun" or "real" learning—like working on design teams—because of the time I needed to spend studying for tests.

📖 Carol Dweck: A Summary of Growth and Fixed Mindsets - Farnam Street - On a related note, the idea of growth vs. fixed mindset is one of the biggest differentiators of the high performers I work with. It's also one of the characteristics I like most in the people I spend time with.

It's also very relevant for parents: "Our kids become obsessed with getting A’s – they dream of the next test to prove themselves instead of dreaming big like Elon Musk."

10 Tweets

​9 lessons for giving better presentations​

​Unconventional principles from Palantir​

​Checklist for building businesses​

​The secret to all-team communication​

​Basic visual templates for presentations, graphics, etc.​

Photo of the Week

The final product of the bike build:

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