Level 1: NOT BUSY My schedule is wide open. I can choose infinite paths. Zero commitments. The weekend. I sleep like a baby. Life is good, but am I living my best life?
Level 2: STUFF TO DO I have a few commitments wandering around my brain. They are reasonable, knowable, and not deadline-based. I
SIX at 6: Pixar Movies Suck, Kobe Bryant, The Grapes of Wrath, Anti-Comedy, Starting With Shit, and Daring To Suck - Billy Oppenheimer
From Suck To Not Suck In 1995, Pixar released Toy Story, the first feature film animated entirely on a computer. Since, Pixar has produced hit after hit: A Bug's Life, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Inside out, Monsters, Inc., and on and on. Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull writes in Creativity, Inc., “Early on,
“Twitter Algo Hack #001:
I know that 9pm-1am is my best time to tweet.
So I purposely create 2 tweets.
Post #1 at 9pm
Post #2 at 11pm
If #1 goes really well, I don’t post #2.
Don’t interrupt #1, let it compound!
Ask me how I know my best time to tweet LOL (happy to answer)”
SIX at 6: Restriction, Aaron Burr, Narrowing Down, The Puppy Brain, Washing Machines, and The Most Miserable Humans - Billy Oppenheimer
The Defining Feature of Language Language is one of humanity’s greatest inventions. And one of the defining features of language is restriction. The English alphabet restricts us to 26 letters. Bounded by these 26 letters, we can write an unlimited number of books, screenplays, poems, scientific theories, computer code, and on and on and on.
TA #125: 📦 A gratitude inventory (even without Taylor Swift tickets)
Hey, you. You're doing great. Click here to read this on the web. Source: Getty Welcome to the 125th issue of Total Annarchy, a fortnightly newsletter…
“"But how do you brainstorm remotely? Or riff remotely? Or collaborate creatively remotely? Isn't it better when you're in a room, tossing ideas back and forth?"” I hear some version of this fairly often from people who aren't used to making things with others from far away. There's an assumption that four walls, a whiteboard, a table,...
In your own way Back when I was researching my book The Antidote, about the pitfalls of positive thinking, I found myself in a giant sports arena in Texas, participating i...
The Virtue of Owning Books You Haven’t Read: Why Umberto Eco Kept an “Antilibrary”
When considering whether to buy yet another book, you might well ask yourself when you'll get around to reading it. But perhaps there are other, even more important considerations, such as the intellectual value of the book in its still-unread state.
Dear readers, it is with troublesome news I break my three months of silence. The statistics all point towards the same conclusion: we have a global outbreak of fuckarounditis. Fuckarounditis is a behavioral disorder characterized by a mediocre physique and complete lack of progress, despite significant amounts of time spent in the gym. Fuckarounditis most commonly manifests […]
Lesson of the Week: Types of Modules Last week, we introduced the concept of the Minimum Viable Newsletter. The idea is to fit the newsletter to your lifestyle, not the other way around, so you can stick with it. The best way we have found to create the minimum newsletter is to break it down into parts. Each part of your newsletter you can think of as a module.
What Are Sanderson’s Laws Of Magic? | Brandon Sanderson
Introduction To Sanderson’s Laws I like magic systems. That’s probably evident to those of you who have read my work. A solid, interesting and innovative system of magic in a book is something that really appeals to me. True, characters are what make a story narratively powerful—but magic is a l ...
Share your calendar(s), and the world will know what you (and your company) values. Where does your time go? How much time do you spend: Talking to customers? Sharing your insights? Reflecting on what you’ve learned recently? “Managing” stakeholders? In 1:1s without your manager? Planning for things far off into the future? Chats with no clear resolution or progress?
You should start a blog. Having your own little corner of the internet is good for the soul! But what should you write about? It’s easy to get hung up …