In my opinion, the highest value delivered per word on the topic of good writing is @ScottAdamsSays's blog post "The Day You Became A Better Writer" (2007)
Short 280 words, barely a minute read; but on-point.
I am surprised people don't know this.
Here are my takeaways 👇
1/ I first came across this in a @tferriss@naval podcast - (#97) The Person I Call Most for Startup Advice
Naval mentioned that he still pulls up this blog post from time to time when writing anything important.
I’ve always found the life advice “step out of your comfort zone” to be -
• Too hand-wavy
• Anxiety-inducing without being effective
Instead, ask these questions👇 and act accordingly; they will inevitably lead you down a path out of your comfort zone w/o coercion. #tweet100
To find a path that leads you out of your comfort zone, start by asking:
• Where do I feel friction/pain? Solve it.
• Where do I feel curiosity? Lean in.
• If I'm already the person I want to be, how will I act? do that.
Then to take it to the next level…
You can super charge the impact by asking/acting on -
1. Where do I feel friction/pain? Solve it then scale it. 2. Where do I feel curiosity? Lean in to the pull and ship consistently. 3. If I'm already the person I want to be, how will I act/make decisions? Do it right now.
1. GTD concepts that drove my approach in Roam 2. Daily page setup x GTD walkthrough 3. My capture toolkit: @NotionHQ x iOS shortcuts 4. Tips and tricks 5. Closing notes on #TfT
1. Generalized GTD philosophy I internalized when I built my Roam graph(~1 min):
• Your brain is a crappy office
• Externalize your thoughts
• Close the open loops (for tasks running in your head)
• Be deliberate w/ planning and clarifying your work
2. Daily page setup x GTD walkthrough; broken down into the following topics(~12 min):
(a) My Daily Pages
(b) My GTD System (sprinkled w/ some Roam42 + workBench(wB) + Alfred automation magic dust)
(c) My Daily Workflow (how to switch context quickly)
I've spent an obscene amount of time trying to figure out the right TfT (Tools for Thoughts) stack for ME.
My curiosity led me to explore 10+ TfT tools, but at the end of the day, I was just trying to solve 3 major pain points.
And here is where I landed as of TODAY.
🧵👇
A little bit about what is important for me -
• I'm looking for a "functional minimum structure" that helps me to get shit done
• I have a hectic schedule and a fragmented mind, so having a powerful quick-capture tool is important
I choose my tools to solve 3 of my main pain points -
1. Quick capture + shallow processing 2. Deep thinking + facilitate connections between unstructured data/ideas 3. Structured workflow to collaborate with my future self or a team
"Why would I pay for a course if I can find them for free?" This used to puzzle me.
(h/t) to @tferriss DiSSS rapid learning framework(deconstruct-selection-sequencing-stake) I think people underestimate the importance and time investment needed for Selection and Sequencing...👇
1/ Selection - When I first learn something, everything feels like a signal and I don't have the mental scaffold to decide what to keep and what to toss.
Being guided through a structure course helps to focus on the 20% that yields 80% of the result.
2/ Sequence - I don't think learners pay enough attention to this; there are skills/knowledge that serve as foundational blocks where the right sequence enables
maximum output.
And as an amateur learner, I do not have this knowledge.
Ever wonder if GTD had an app, what that'd look like?
Turns out David Allen (@gtdguy) had a clear idea in 1994, tried to build it twice but never got to where he wanted.
I stumbled on this and decided to prototype it out in Roam.
Took me about ~5h. 🧵👇
1/ Prototype progress: 65% done, but 100% functional.
I want to test drive this for ~2 weeks to tinker with the automation and smooth out some wrinkles.
Also still trying to read David’s hand-writing to decipher some of his feature requests lol
But damn. This is exciting.
2/ "What would David Allen’s tool for thoughts (TfT) look like?" I asked; I was so curious.
With the prototype, I deviated ~20% from David's original design (mainly to adapt the GTD principles to fit the digital context I work in) and 15% blocked by Roam's limitations.
Stumbled upon this gem from @tferriss; on fear, self-love & writing.
TL;DR
•Ask - what might this look like if it were easy?
•On writing - write atomically, have a routine, know thyself
•On marketing - good content has marketing built-in, write the book you wish you had
🧵👇
1/⏰26:24
•What might this look like if it were easy?
This is a really deceptively leveraged question.
BC you start to look for elegance and ease instead of the path of complexity that allows you to absorb and tolerate the most pain.
2/⏰40:15
Fear setting - this something Tim still does.
•Define - what are your specific fear?
•Prevent - what are the things you can do to decrease the likelihood?
•Repair - what are the things I can do to repair the damage or get back on my feet?