Take time to clearly define what you are optimizing for in life and work (e.g., wealth, impact, happiness, sustainability), as this clarity is essential for making informed decisions.
Cultivate the ability to say ’no,’ especially to future commitments, as saying ‘yes’ too easily can lead to an overloaded schedule, increased stress, and regret later on.
Reduce anxiety by shortening your scheduling horizon, aiming to schedule only a month out rather than a year, to maintain flexibility and avoid the stress of long-term commitments.
Allow yourself to be bored and daydream at work, as this provides mental rest and can foster new ideas, rather than feeling compelled to constantly fill every moment with tasks.
Cultivate a norm where immediate responses are not expected, allowing individuals to focus on their current tasks and respond to messages when they are ready, not instantly.
For important decisions, especially those arising in the latter half of the day, practice delaying them until the next morning to approach them with a fresh mind and avoid rushed choices.
Allocate mornings for making important decisions when cognitive function is typically at its best, and defer significant choices that arise in the afternoon until the following day.
Institute a personal practice of reclaiming equivalent hours during the workday for life-specific activities (e.g., gym, daydreaming) whenever you work outside of designated work hours.
Intentionally make your home office less convenient to access or use, creating a physical barrier that discourages slipping into work outside of designated hours.
Utilize software features or personal settings (like ‘Work Can Wait’ in Basecamp) to prevent work notifications from reaching you outside of your set work hours, creating a physical separation from work tools.
Assess your situation to distinguish between what you can control (e.g., your own behavior, local team environment) and what you cannot, to focus your efforts effectively.
Reflect on your own behavior, such as constant interruptions, and consider how changing your actions can positively influence those around you and reduce perpetuating negative workplace patterns.
Focus on implementing the changes you wish to see in your environment within your own local sphere of influence, rather than trying to change things you cannot.
Instead of constantly striving for maximization (e.g., revenue, employees), focus on finding the ‘right amount’ or ’enough’ that feels balanced and sustainable for your goals and well-being.
Regularly evaluate your job satisfaction by asking if you enjoy your daily work, like your colleagues, and feel intellectually and creatively challenged, as these are key indicators of success beyond financial metrics.
Ensure that your designated work hours are spent productively on tasks that align with your personal definition of success, rather than solely chasing financial gains.
Recognize that true work-life balance requires flexibility from both sides; intentionally allow personal life activities to take precedence over work from time to time, as work often dominates by default.
Step away from projects to gain perspective, allowing your mind to rest and approach the work with a fresh outlook the next morning, rather than pushing through.
Prioritize cutting scope to release projects sooner and iterate later, rather than continuously adding features, to avoid complications and delays.
Set a fixed time limit for projects (e.g., six weeks) and then adjust the scope to fit within that constraint, forcing prioritization of what is truly important and necessary.
Actively use a ‘scope hammer’ to break down large projects into smaller, manageable pieces that can be fully comprehended and completed within defined timeframes.
Allow projects to finish and provide a break or reprieve before starting new ones, preventing scope creep and team burnout.
Approach work with an ‘infinite game’ mindset, optimizing for long-term sustainability, team well-being, and the ability to continue doing projects with passion, rather than just short-term project outcomes.
If you must push a team hard for an exceptional, urgent project, clearly communicate that this is an unusual circumstance and not the new norm, to maintain trust and prevent burnout.
Shift focus from solely outcome-driven work to prioritizing a sustainable and humane process, recognizing that achieving results at the cost of team morale and well-being is ultimately not worth it in the long run.
Integrate structured breaks (e.g., two weeks) between intense work cycles (e.g., six weeks) for internal freelancing, refining existing work, or exploring new ideas, allowing for recharge and creative freedom.
Encourage a mindset that emphasizes the process and methods of doing work, not just the final outcome, to ensure sustainable practices and prevent internal damage to teams or codebases.
Redefine failure not as a product or project not meeting expectations, but as continuing to invest effort into something you know is not going to succeed, or lying to yourself about its true potential.
Develop the discipline to cut losses on underperforming projects or ventures at an appropriate point, as this is a healthy practice that prevents wasted effort and resources.
During critical situations or emergencies, adhere to strict communication guidelines: be extremely honest, clear, coherent, brief yet detailed, and avoid emotional language or jargon to keep stakeholders informed without adding stress.
Regardless of beliefs about luck or free will, concentrate on consistently doing your best work and don’t overly worry about the ultimate reasons for success or failure, as these are often unknowable.
Cultivate humility by recognizing the numerous factors (upbringing, opportunities, luck) that contribute to success, and avoid taking excessive personal credit for achievements.
Prioritize achieving goals and making an impact without concern for who receives credit, as this mindset can foster greater collaboration and effectiveness.
Develop and prioritize strong writing skills, as they are often indicative of clear thinking and are highly valued in many professional environments, leading to better performance.
Believe that writing, like any skill, can be significantly improved through dedicated practice and learning, rather than viewing it as an innate talent.
Improve your writing by regularly reading the work of great communicators like Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, and Jeff Bezos (for business writing), or Annie Dillard (for short stories), to learn from their clarity and style.
Improve writing by practicing editing: start with a longer piece (e.g., three pages), then condense it into progressively shorter versions (one page, three paragraphs, one paragraph, one sentence) to master conciseness.
Strive for conciseness in writing by using the fewest words necessary to convey your message effectively, avoiding unnecessary verbiage.
Read your written work aloud to assess its rhythm, flow, and clarity, helping you identify awkward phrasing, repetitive sentence structures, and areas for improvement in texture and sound.
Recognize that forcing people (or children) to do things against their will is ineffective; instead, focus on finding ways to make them feel invested and good about what they are doing to achieve better outcomes.
Approach parenting with a long-term perspective, understanding that individual failures or bad moments are less significant than consistent effort over time, and avoid excessive self-recrimination.
Practice transparency with your children (or team members) about your own mistakes, acknowledging your faults and committing to improvement, which can diffuse shame and model ownership.
Restrict your social media engagement by deleting apps from your phone and only checking messages via a web interface occasionally, to reduce passive consumption and constant distraction.
If possible, utilize or advocate for social media features that allow you to broadcast content without seeing replies, creating a ‘cone of silence’ to protect yourself from negative interactions and abuse.
Take control over your email response times, especially for non-critical communications, as this is an area where you likely have more autonomy and can reduce personal stress.
Create an autoresponder or a resource library (e.g., FAQs, top 10 resources) to automatically address frequently asked questions, deflecting common inquiries and saving time.
Identify signs of burnout in your hobbies or work by noticing if activities you once loved no longer hold the same interest or ‘hook,’ similar to overplaying a favorite album.
Pay attention to a persistent lack of motivation or a general disinterest in starting tasks you once enjoyed, as this can be an early and subtle sign of burnout.
View increased procrastination, especially for tasks you previously tackled eagerly, as a strong indicator that you might be experiencing burnout.
If your hobby is similar to your work (e.g., coding), diversify your side projects to explore different aspects or applications of the skill, preventing monotony and burnout.
Consider implementing seasonal shorter workweeks (e.g., 32-hour, four-day weeks during summer) to provide employees with a break and enhance well-being, similar to childhood summer breaks.
Recognize the value of seasonal shifts in work schedules (e.g., four-day weeks only in summer) to maintain their special quality and prevent them from becoming mundane.
Understand that true company culture is defined by consistent actions and behaviors, not by stated values or written policies, so observe what a company does rather than what it says.
To understand a company’s true culture and work environment, directly speak with current employees, as they can provide authentic insights into daily life there.
Call a company’s customer service line to assess their customer values and, if comfortable, ask the representative directly about their experience working there to gain insight into the culture.
Reach out to current or former employees on platforms like LinkedIn and politely request a brief phone call to learn about their experiences working at a company you’re considering.
Examine public company policies (e.g., terms of service, privacy policy) to gauge their commitment to clarity and user-friendliness, as this reflects their underlying values and how they communicate with people.
During an interview, ask what the company would say ’no’ to, as the answer can reveal their priorities, boundaries, and what they truly value.
Inquire about company policies and support for personal challenges like mental health days or family bereavement, as a thoughtful response indicates a more human-centered culture.
Be wary of companies that describe themselves as ‘a big family,’ as this often implies an expectation of personal sacrifice and long hours rather than respecting individual boundaries and family time.
Understand that truly good companies demonstrate respect for employees’ families by actively supporting time away from work and personal boundaries.
Prioritize seeking employment with companies that pay at the top of the market (e.g., 90th percentile rates), as this reduces financial stress and the need to constantly worry about salary.
Look for companies with transparent, role-based salary structures that eliminate negotiation and bias, providing clarity and reducing stress related to compensation.
Be realistic about incentive programs; if a system consistently raises hopes but doesn’t deliver, it’s healthier to discontinue it rather than prolonging false expectations and disappointment.
Always set clear expectations at the beginning of any agreement or project, including potential exit strategies, to allow for graceful disengagement if things don’t work out as planned.
Recognize that companies can offer alternatives to traditional equity, such as a percentage of sale price distributed to current employees, to share windfalls without the stress of stock options.
Be aware that equity compensation, particularly in private companies, can be a significant source of financial stress and anxiety due to its unpredictable value and inability to plan life around it.
When transitioning to a new environment, especially from a large or rigid organization, be patient with yourself and others, allowing ample time to unlearn old habits and adapt to new ways of working.
Actively coach new hires on the company’s cultural norms, especially regarding work-life balance, by explicitly stating what is not expected (e.g., working weekends) and offering support to break old habits.
Recognize that simply putting in more time does not guarantee a better outcome; evaluate if extended hours are truly productive or just adding more work.
Adopt a practice of writing shorter, one or two-page proposals focusing on price and timeline, as this can significantly reduce work without negatively impacting success rates.
View limited time as an advantage, as it can force simplification and faster execution, preventing projects from becoming overly complicated and delayed.
If you are in a leadership position, actively protect your team from excessive demands and unrealistic expectations coming from higher up to maintain their productivity and well-being.
Acknowledge that technology, despite being pitched as universally good, comes with significant negative impacts and trade-offs, especially concerning relationships and mental well-being.
Recognize and embrace the sense of relief that comes from saying ’no’ to commitments you genuinely don’t want to do, reinforcing the positive impact of setting boundaries.
To improve writing, read ‘Revising Prose’ (author not specified in transcript) which focuses on teaching how to construct effective sentences, the fundamental building blocks of good writing.
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