Drew Barontini • Blog

Know Thyself

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT

While meditating, I was struck by a phrase:

If you don’t know who you are, you won’t know who you can become.

Know thyself. Many a philosopher has ruminated on this mantra and proffered views of its meaning. It’s inscribed at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, Greece. In philosophy, “know thyself” is a call for self-examination and introspection. Understanding your own nature is how you achieve virtue and wisdom.

While I’m no philosopher, I’d like to provide my own interpretation, which expands on the concept in a novel way (I think).

Know thyself has a two-fold meaning:

To know thyself is to understand who you are, what you believe in, and what your purpose is. This is the internal understanding of the Self; and it’s aligned with most philosophical interpretations.
But to know thyself is also about understanding the external nature that affects the Self. To seek understanding, we must experience first-hand what we attempt to learn. Knowledge is achieved through direct and tangible contact with the objective goal. If you want to know for yourself, you learn by doing.

Therefore, we create the formula:

Know Thyself = Inner Truth × Outer Truth

The Inner Truth is about perception.

The Outer Truth is about connection.

But something is missing in the formula—the element that makes the inner and outer layers come to life. I call it texture.

With it, the formula becomes:

Know Thyself = Inner Truth × Outer Truth × Texture

Inner Truth

The Inner Truth is what you know and understand about yourself. In my experience, the most effective practices for finding your Inner Truth are:

Meditation: Sitting in silence and peace as you train yourself to focus and release.
Journaling: Externalizing your inner monologue through the written word.
Reading: Engaging with someone else’s words and ideas in a thought exchange.

Meditation

I tried meditation off and on again for years before settling into a real practice. I started with guided meditation, where a calming voice talks as you close your eyes and focus on your breath. I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t a real habit yet. And then the pandemic hit in 2020. Along with everyone else, I wrestled with a lot of turmoil, uncertainty, and anxiety. Finding outlets of release became about survival more than mental hygiene. I needed it like food, water, or shelter. So what better time to commit to a real practice?

I read Stress Less, Accomplish More and Elastic Habits around the same time. The former gave me a foundational meditation practice; the latter gave me a framework for creating habits without the unnecessary rigidity. Together, they helped me build a daily meditation practice, starting at 5 minutes per day and working up to 30 minutes. Like anything, I found my own style. The books provided a mental model, and I adapted it to fit me. I’ve been meditating every day for 5 years. And it’s one of the most important things I do each day. It’s a keystone habit.

Don’t overthink it. It’s natural for your mind to wander. Just close your eyes, focus on your breath, and bring your focus back anytime it shifts. That shift is where the power is. You can use mantras or other techniques, but the power is in creating space for yourself to be quiet, calm, and in your inner peace. That’s it. The more you do it, the easier it gets. 30 minutes blinks by for me. If I could do an hour, I would. But alas, the kids and my (current) schedule won’t allow it.

Journaling

I started journaling consistently in 2016 when I felt big feelings and needed an outlet to understand them. If you want to interrogate your thoughts and clarify your thinking, writing is the way. It’s good friction. You slow down to externalize your thoughts; you form words, sentences, and paragraphs into a coherent whole; you create shapes that let you mold ambiguity into clarity.

Like meditation, there are countless ways to journal. And I’ve tried them all:

Bullet journaling
Productivity journaling
Prompt-based journaling

But I’ve found the most success with interstitial journaling, where you write throughout the day. I write when I need to, not on a schedule. Worst case, I spend time at the end of the day writing. But my best days are when I create space throughout the day to write and understand my thoughts in real-time. A good walk always stimulates deep thoughts I can express and clarify through writing.

Reading

I always have a physical book near me and an audiobook loaded up on my phone. I mostly stick with nonfiction because I get my fictional release from TV and movies. But I’m not demeaning fiction. It’s a genre full of wonderful stories and powerful lessons. I just prefer to read psychology, sociology, history, philosophy, and biographies. I’ll read anything that is full of diverse perspectives and eternal principles. I especially love meditations on experiences in life. Finding the lessons embedded in what we go through is a powerful conduit of wisdom.

That’s why reading is so wonderful. You can instantly tap into the knowledge of all recorded history. You can go deep on any subject, consuming information in hours what took years to compile and concentrate. But even more than that, you engage in conversation with the authors. You see the world through their eyes, and reflect it back into your own worldview. It’s a dialogue.

To stay within the confines of your own narrative and perspective is to limit your understanding of yourself. Open yourself to new possibilities and perspectives. Seek out books you don’t agree with. Challenge yourself. And always keep reading.

Outer Truth

This is where my interpretation diverges from the standard definition. Knowing thyself isn’t only an act of seeking internal truth, but one of engaging with the outside world. It’s through the interaction with the external that we begin to understand the feel of things. In that understanding is where a truth emerges, like sunlight shimmering through the branches.

The Outer Truth is what becomes true about you only when you engage with reality.

The practices for finding Outer Truth are:

Contact: Placing yourself in the environment where truth already exists.
Sampling: Testing in small doses to encounter reality in progressive ways.
Feedback: Respond to the environment and tune into the signals that emerge.

Contact

I started drawing more consistently recently. I’ve always doodled and enjoyed sketching, but I’d consider myself only slightly above average at it. I started by sketching on the newspaper once we were done with the crossword puzzle. And then I sketched on paper since my kids always have computer paper lying around. I watched a few YouTube videos to try out different techniques.

Then I relearned the same lesson with so many things, but especially so with drawing: there’s no substitute for just doing it.

If you want to get better at drawing, then you draw—a lot. And you keep doing it, trying new things, and failing repeatedly until you tease out moments of progress. Those moments stimulate motivation to keep you going. And you do, getting better—even in the smallest of ways—with each line you sketch on paper.

But you need to do the thing. You need to hold the pencil, make the motions, and see the drawing come into existence. Make contact with the work.

Sampling

Life is an experiment. We try things to see what we like and don’t like. Knowing what we don’t like is often a better indicator than sticking with the knowns. You have to explore, take risks, and be brave. But it’s not as risky when you try before you buy. Take a sample.

If you’re interested in drawing, draw for 30 minutes for 7 days straight.

Any activity, done repeatedly, will show you how much you like it. Because the only way to really judge something is to understand it. And the only way to understand it is by doing it.

Start small, working outwards in larger concentric circles.

Feedback

One of my favorite parts of writing code is the speed of the feedback loop. You write code, save the file, and run it. If there’s an error, you see it immediately. Then you change the code, address the error, and try again. Doing this over and over creates an iterative feedback loop.

When you try something, find the feedback loop. Establish the fastest path to learn what works and what doesn’t work. And then try again.

Drawing is another example with fast feedback loops. When I draw something, I immediately see whether or not it’s representative of what I’m trying to achieve. If it’s not, I sketch again.

Slow feedback loops kill iteration speed. Slow iteration speed kills quality.

Texture

Our world is becoming more and more synthetic, artificial, and digitized. We spend days on video calls, talking to people in chat interfaces, and automating anything we don’t like. Part of the reason I gravitated to drawing is to reintroduce texture back in my life.

What even is “texture”?

the feel, appearance, or consistency of a surface or substance

That’s the accepted definition of texture, but I think of texture as the feel of something (the first part of the definition). When you run your hand over a fabric, a surface, an object. The properties of something come to life when you make contact with them.

Embrace Friction

Friction is a powerful force. But every change in technology feels like it’s designed to remove it from our lives. I remember waiting 2-3 weeks (or more!) for an online package to arrive. And you never really knew when it was going to show up. Now you can order something on your phone and have it delivered the same day while tracking the truck on a map in real-time.

AI is the ultimate remover of friction. Why write something AI can write for me? Because the process where friction occurs is the process where learning takes place. Knowledge is a compound motion. You don’t immediately notice its effects until it grows over time, little by little. The same thing happens in the opposite direction if you remove friction. You chip away at learning, at growth, at critical thinking, little by little. And the effects are disastrous.

Embrace friction. Find space where intentional friction forces you to think and to learn.

My wife and I were talking about accidental discoveries and I mentioned the discovery of Penicillin as an example of accidental discovery. But I couldn’t remember the name of the scientist who discovered it. Instead of rushing to Google for the answer, I waited. And guess what? It came to me while I was brushing my teeth (Alexander Fleming!). The name is sticking with me now while I’m writing this. It should because I even featured him in Paradox of Speed.

There are countless ways to embrace friction. Write by hand, take walks, have hard conversations. Do the things that, when done slowly, compound growth.

Prefer the Physical

We started getting the New York Times print edition delivered daily. We read the paper and do crossroad puzzles by hand. There’s something about the feel of a newspaper you can’t beat—something special about engaging with the words physically. I’m also reading more physical books and writing by hand more. As AI permeates more cognitive work, I’m starting to gravitate to the physical over the digital (artificial).

Reading physical books.
Doing crossword puzzles by hand.
Sketching ideas and drawing on paper.

There’s a reason the phrase “touch grass” is permeating culture. We spend more and more time inside, on screens, away from the natural world.

Prefer the physical. Get outside, write by hand, read physical books. The physical also introduces more friction, making it mentally stickier and more enjoyable.

Invite Unfiltered Feedback

Years ago, I wrote a piece called Active Analysis on the 2020 version of my website. In it, I explored the idea of actively seeking out information rather than passively ingesting it. Human nature is to gravitate toward entropy. We crave acceptance. The paradox is that the things we most avoid are the same things that help us grow.

Feedback is one of those things.

Seek out feedback. About everything. Building software products revolves almost entirely on capturing feedback. Most of the feedback I read every day is negative. Humans crave acceptance, yet skew negative in our reaction to others. When you speak to someone through a screen, there isn’t someone to look in the eyes when you say it. Providing unfiltered feedback over the internet, it’s easy to forget the human on the other side when you’re not looking at them.

Invite unfiltered feedback. Engage with it directly. Talk to people, think out loud, and take part in a constructive conversation focused on making it better.

Perception Meets Connection

The Inner Truth is about perception. The Outer Truth is about connection. Together, they form a philosophy of Know Thyself set in context of the world we live in today.

Experience the Inner Truth through meditation, journaling, and reading.

Experience the Outer Truth through contact, sampling, and feedback.

To know thyself fully, step outside the artificial and introduce more texture in your life.

Feel things to know yourself more fully. The human experience is a lived experience.

How are you living it?

Constructive Catalyst

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT

A lot of people instinctively react negatively. They come from a defensive posture, no matter how the work is presented. This poses a challenge because it can also put you, the presenter, in the defensive posture. Now you’re reacting negatively in response in order to protect your ego and defend your ideas (or the ideas of the team for which you’re presenting).

But this backfires. You can’t fight fire with fire. You have to shift the reactive feedback into something more constructive. Reactive feedback, by its nature, is intangible—there are no properties by which you can work with it. So, like a chemist, you have to change its properties in order to work with it. You need to catalyze the conversation into something useable.

But how do you do this?

Don’t engage in the reaction, and stay curious to learn more.
Acknowledge their position to truly understand them.
Reframe in a new way to catalyze the conversion.

Don’t engage, stay curious

It starts with curiosity. Don’t get defensive. Be like water and approach the feedback with curiosity. Your first reaction should be a question—even if you start with Can you say more?

Some people spend time processing their thoughts before sharing them. Some don’t. This all depends on where they fall on the Reactionary Spectrum. So if they react, your job is to stay curious and ask them questions. Help them think out loud, process their reaction, and work through their emotion-driven feedback.

Show them you’re an ally in collaboration, not an enemy defending your position. The idea is the ultimate decider. Keep ego out of it. Stay curious.

Acknowledge their position

When a reaction is given, it’s often brash and laced with emotion, devoid of rich context or nuance. If you stay curious, you can surface enough context to acknowledge their position.

You don’t need to agree with someone in order to understand them.

One of my favorite ways to do this is by repeating back what someone said. Ask them if you can express what you believe their position is, and state it in your own words.

And then ask them if your rephrasing is correct.

Doing so provides a brief, but important respite from the negativity. You become an ally in understanding rather than an adversary in defense of your disagreement. Acknowledge them.

Reframe in a new way

At this point, the conversation should have shifted. You avoided engaging in their reaction, responded with curiosity, and acknowledged their position.

Now it’s time to reframe the conversation in a brand new way.

Present your position, leveraging the knowledge you just gathered and the trust you (hopefully) just gained from them. Providing your response in the context of what they shared is a helpful way to transition into an environment of positive feedback. You don’t have to agree with one another, but you do need to engage in civility and solutions-oriented thinking.

An example conversation

Here's an example of how this might play out in a real conversation. We’ll use an example with design because it’s the most common. It’s also difficult to navigate because everyone thinks they’re a designer. This is compressed and trivial example, but shows the idea in practice.

Designer: "Here's the new homepage design we've been working on."

Stakeholder (reacting negatively): "I don't like this at all. It's way too busy and doesn't match what we discussed. We need to start over."

Designer (doesn't engage, stays curious): "I appreciate your feedback. Can you tell me more about what specific elements feel too busy to you?"

Stakeholder: "Well, there are too many colors, the layout is confusing, and it doesn't highlight our key product features like we talked about."

Designer (acknowledges position): "So if I understand correctly, you're concerned that the current design uses too many colors which creates visual noise, the layout doesn't provide clear navigation, and our key product features aren't getting the prominence they deserve. Is that right?"

Stakeholder: "Yes, exactly. I'm worried users won't know what to focus on."

Designer (reframes): "That's really helpful context. The team was trying to create visual interest with the color palette, but I see how it might be distracting from the core message. What if we simplified to our primary brand colors only, restructured the hero section to immediately highlight our top three features, and streamlined the navigation? Would that address your concerns while still keeping the modern aesthetic we're aiming for?"

Stakeholder: "Yes, that sounds much better. I like the modern look you're going for, I just want to make sure our users can easily find what they need."

Designer: "Great! I'll work with the team to revise the design with these points in mind and share an updated version by Friday. Would that timeline work for you?"

Catalyze the conversation

Most of the time, harsh immediate responses are not indicative of the real feedback underneath. You have to dig in, to question, and work to uncover the core problem. As with this example, the solution isn’t as far off as the initial feedback indicates.

The designer didn't get defensive, genuinely tried to understand the stakeholder's concerns, acknowledged their position accurately, and then reframed the conversation toward solutions. This transformed what could have been a confrontational exchange into a collaborative improvement process. Be the catalyst.

Weekly List

Mon, 01 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT

I’m always experimenting with how I work. And I try to avoid the productivity trap where you spend all your time organizing the work instead of actually doing the work.

This is why I love experiments (Issue #15). Just try it. Design a simple experiment, run it, and mindfully observe what happens so you can learn and improve. If you catch yourself saying, “I wonder if…,” stop wondering and try it. Be curious, but let your curiosity lead you towards something tangible.

That’s where the Weekly List experiment originated from.

I’ve tried every to-do app under the sun. I’ve tried going analog and writing down my tasks. I’ve built an elaborate setup inside my Notion system. But I always ask myself how I can simplify, making it easier to do the work and align my priorities.

I particularly love the week as a time unit because it’s the perfect time horizon for tracking and measuring progress (Issue #11, Issue #17).

And I also love a good document. I use the term document to apply to any artifact that allows you to add words and media to construct a larger narrative.

A document makes it easy to add information in one place, change how and what information is displayed, and transfer the information to other locations.

A document is centralized, flexible, and portable.

This was the core premise of the Weekly List experiment. Here’s the hypothesis:

If I create and maintain a Weekly List document, then I will have a single, evolving source of truth for my week that improves focus, makes it easier to adapt to changes, and surfaces valuable insights for future planning.

The Weekly List is structured to:

Detail the three outcomes for the week.
Track any unscheduled work for the week.
Surface key insights that emerge from the work.
Plan each day and account for tasks and meetings.
Understand how and why (the context) work changes.

There are three key sections for how the Weekly List is organized:

Weekly section for outcomes, unscheduled tasks, and key insights.
Daily sections for planned work, unplanned work, and observations.
Review section to summarize all the work and set up next week.

Week

The top of the document is the overview of the week. It provides an anchoring focus to plan each day, knowing your individual tasks ladder up to your larger outcomes.

Outcomes: Pick three outcomes that, if true, would make the week successful. Three is a magic number, and the constraint forces prioritization.
Unscheduled: If you need to track tasks to do this week but aren’t sure which day, then you can leave them in this list and schedule them as they pop up.
Insights: As you uncover insights throughout the week, surface them in a dedicated section you can use in the weekly review.

Days

For each of the five days of the week (Monday to Friday), track:

Planned Tasks: Using your outcomes and your schedule, detail the tasks you have planned for the day in a single list. I consider meetings part of the things I need to do, so I will include them in this list with the time they will occur.
Unplanned Tasks: As new work emerges, you can add unplanned tasks in the same list as the planned tasks. I will use the 🔥 emoji in front of these to indicate they were unplanned.
Notes: Write down any observations. Provide context about why some unplanned work came up, write down a small win, or log an insight.

Review

At the end of the week:

Review your outcomes and update their status.
Review any unscheduled work and move it to another list.
Review the insights and log them for further reflection.
Review each day and the relevant notes.
Write specific observations about how the week went.

Template

If you want to try this for yourself, you can use my Notion Weekly List Template.

Experimental Goals

Fri, 21 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT

I have a complicated relationship with goals. I understand their benefits, and often use them extensively, but I also struggle with such rigid constraints. It prevents opportunities for serendipity and curiosity to carve new paths. It’s harder to explore when you’re executing on a predetermined plan. This is most noticeable with the current incarnation of goals and how we format them. From OKRs to S.M.A.R.T. goals, these formats create rigid (and sometimes arbitrary) constraints on the work. We figure that, if we can just plan out every detail in advance, it will all go swimmingly. But this is The Planning Fallacy in action.

Software development is a prime example because all software development is guesswork until you do the work. You think you know the work, but you don’t. Estimates are a mirage, a false sense of confidence masking uncertainty. But uncertainty is always there, lurking in the unknowns you can’t yet see. The only way to win is to avoid pre-planning and focus on shaping the work at the right level of fidelity. Create guardrails, but lean into the unknowns, prepare for them, and address them as they come.

In software development, the goal is completing a body of work, which is usually a feature in a product. If you’re doing it correctly, you map out the outcomes, de-risk what you can, and then let the team uncover the path through the work. If this is the lesson software development teaches, why don’t we take this approach when we set goals in general? What’s different?

There’s a tension between setting goals and learning from experimentation. If you set a goal that is detailed and rigidly defined, it makes it hard to experiment, adapt, and learn. Work expands to fill the space of our expectations, so we have to forcibly constrain the work, constantly chipping away at the scope.

The goal is meant to guide, not restrict. It sets a course, but shouldn’t detail the path. But too often we fall victim to The Goal Trap, which I define as staying committed to the wrong path instead of readjusting in a new direction. Sometimes we need to change the goal, and sometimes we need to change the path we take to get to the goal. Either way, we’re fighting a losing battle to force such rigidity.

Some of the greatest achievements in history were met not by a strict adherence to a predetermined objective, but by a continual adaptation of iterative learning fueled by a goal.

This brings us to the question I want to explore:

How can you achieve time-based goals through experimentation and curiosity?

My Current Approach

I like to draw a clear line between the high-level goals I’m working towards and the individual daily tasks I work on. To accomplish this, I break down goals into five components:

Quarterly goals for key areas.
Monthly projects for each quarterly goal.
Clear outcomes for each monthly project.
Weekly targets tied to each outcome.
Daily tasks tied to each weekly target.

This structure allows me to break down something big (the goal) into something small (the task). It draws a clear line between what I’m doing today, and what I’m trying to accomplish over the next 90 days. Priorities are clear.

But this requires each part higher up the chain to be accurate. Sometimes an outcome can change and the entire chain needs to be rewritten or restructured. This is not only fragile, it’s not based in the reality of work.

So how can we take the benefits of this structure and blend it with experimentation?

Before we get there, we need to examine some of history’s greatest achievements.

The Wright Brothers

The Wright brothers objective was to create a controlled, powered flying machine. The goal was clear, but the path to get there was not. It required iterative experimentation rather than a rigid plan. I can’t imagine the brothers sitting down to detail monthly projects, weekly targets, and daily tasks. Experimentation was their compass to their destination: a flying machine.

The Wrights weren’t happy with the existing data on lift and drag—key elements of flight—so they built their own wind tunnel in 1901. They tested up to 200 wing designs so they could gather accurate data and refine their designs.

For the next few years, they developed and tested three full-scale gliders. These were experiments that helped them master flight control and maneuverability. And shortly after in December of 1903, they incorporated data from the wind tunnel tests and glider iterations to achieve powered flight.

If you asked the Wright brothers what exact steps they would take to do this, they wouldn’t have known. The experiments created the path. They still had a clear goal, but the steps revealed themselves through the process.

Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison’s goal was to create an affordable, durable, and efficient electric light bulb that could be used domestically and integrated into an electrical distribution system.

The goal is clear, and it even includes specific outcomes tied to the work:

Affordable
Durable
Efficient
Domestic Use
System Integration

But Thomas Edison didn’t start by writing out all of the steps. He didn’t know! He had to lean into experimentation as the compass to the goal. He used trial and error rather than theoretical calculations. He famously said:

I haven’t failed—I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.

The iterative process allowed him to refine the designs based on practical results rather than rigid planning. Experiment, learn, iterate.

Pixar

Fast-forward a little over a century and we see a similar pattern with Pixar, the well-known animation studio that is now part of Disney. Pixar’s overarching goal is to produce emotionally engaging, visually stunning films. In order to achieve this, it requires continual iteration, constant refinement, and adapting to new innovations in technology.

Pixar creates over 4,000 storyboard drawings per film. They review each storyboard, revise it, and incorporate revisions into the next one. They use proprietary software and rigging to add control points for movement, allowing animators to experiment with realistic motion. And they experiment with new tools, which continue to evolve and change their process.

Through this approach, they’ve created groundbreaking films and changed how animation and storytelling are done across the industry. They set a new standard. But it didn’t start with rigid steps—just iteration.

The Time Constraint

But what about time? While Pixar is working against deadlines for films, the Wright brothers and Thomas Edison surely felt less time pressure—certainly not like we do in the working world of the 21st century. Yes, but software development is obsessed with time. “How long do you think that will take?” is the most frequently asked question I’ve heard in my career. And I’m sure this isn’t the only domain where that’s true.

The secret to delivering software on time is to fix the scope (the work), but vary the time. You complete the work in the given time constraint, but the solution that comes out the other end may be different than you expected. It still solves the core problem, but with trade-offs.

You can’t deliver any work on time without trade-offs. And trade-offs can’t be made without clear decisions. And clear decisions—good decisions, I’ll say—can’t be made without experimentation, iteration, and refinement. If you can’t build something because there’s more work than you have time for, the path forward is to try something—ideally, lots of somethings. This is what prototypes, demos, and fast replications of solutions are for. This is why the Wright brothers built their own wind tunnel, and why Pixar uses proprietary software and rigging to experiment with motion. Speed of iteration is the key to quality. The faster you iterate, the faster you find the path forward.

Room for Innovation

When you stick to rigid plans and fixed timelines, you limit your ability to innovate. Without fail, the more openness I leave in the solutions for software projects, the more creativity, ingenuity, and elegance in the solution. The rougher the sketch, the better the result. While constraints breed creativity, rigidity restricts innovation.

This is like those cooking shows where the chefs get a limited and unlikely pairing of ingredients, and then have a short amount of time to prepare a dish. They’re operating within fixed constraints (ingredients and time), but without rigidity. They can cook the ingredients however they want, combine them in novel ways, and iteratively experiment with their existing knowledge base to create something inventive.

Stephen King doesn’t create an outline, a plot, or even a theme before writing. He creates a situation, puts his characters in it, and lets the story unfold as they navigate through it, word by word. The situation is the constraint, but there’s no rigidity to limit the story. If there were, he wouldn’t have such a prolific career, replete with new and intriguing stories. Hell, he wouldn’t be able to write novels—the very definition of something new.

The giant caveat here is the requirement of craft. You can’t operate fluidly within creative constraints without a strong command of your craft. When I get elegant solutions to complex problems—prompted by a simple and rough sketch—it only works when the work is completed by someone who cares about the craft. They engage critical thinking and continual iteration to reach the best possible outcome within the given constraints. This is what the Wright Brothers, Thomas Edison, Pixar, great chefs, and Stephen King share: craft.

A New Way

Returning to the question I set out to answer:

How can you achieve time-based goals through experimentation and curiosity?

Answering a question with a question: What if you set a goal with the right constraints, but remove the rigidity common in modern goal-setting practices?

This would apply appropriate constraints to stimulate creative solutions, operate within the practical constraint of time, and give space for exploration, experimentation, and iteration.

Sounds perfect, right?

Let’s revisit the original goal structure I use today, and see if we can keep the good parts (constraints) while removing the not-so-good parts (rigidity).

Goals

The top-level unit is still the goal. But instead of defining it with a rigid path, what if we posed a question instead? A great question is the perfect framing device for goals. Our goal is still clear, but reframing it as a question encourages different thinking. It creates room for exploration.

I’ll give you an example. I’m working on renewing a contract for a project. I’ve done this many times before. I know the playbook, and it would be easy to list out the steps ahead of time. But I’d also lose out on new and better solutions—that room for innovation—with such rigid steps.

So instead of stating the objective of renewing the contract as the goal, we ask a question:

What is the most effective way to secure renewal?

This may seem small, but the question invites, whereas the objective dictates.

Now we’re thinking. That’s good.

Projects

The next layer down from the goal is a project. But instead of another rigidly defined unit of work, we test out a hypothesis. What can we falsify and verify against our question representing the goal for renewal?

The stakeholders on the project want to see their spend go down in the next contract, which could come from product revenue or other sources. Again, this is where creative thinking and exploration is helpful.

And now our hypothesis is born:

If we present a sales model that demonstrates how we can generate revenue from paying customers and reduce monthly costs over the 12-month renewal period, they will be more likely to commit to renewal.

This is the first part of the project. The next part is the appetite, which is the amount of time we want to spend validating the hypothesis.

We’re going to give this two weeks to work on a solution, present it to the client, and validate whether this approach works. If it does, then we move forward. If not, we learn and readjust.

It’s all learning.

And this is just the first hypothesis. Test as many as is required to answer the larger question within the time constraint (appetite).

Outcomes

The outcomes define the success criteria for testing the hypothesis. They should also be questions to guide learning.

In this case:

Do they see revenue generation as a compelling reason to renew?
Does showing a cost-reduction model change perception of the value?
What objections or questions arise from stakeholders?

Converting outcomes from rigid checkboxes to fluid questions influences a new way of making progress. It’s about learning, not falling into The Goal Trap to mindlessly appease a spreadsheet.

Targets

In order to answer those questions and, ultimately, validate our hypothesis, we need to run tests. That’s where the targets come in. These are small tests you can run within a week to help answer the questions posed by the outcomes.

If we want to answer Do they see revenue generation as a compelling reason to renew?, then we need to design a simple experiment to test.

For example: Create a simple revenue model in a spreadsheet showing potential customer revenue over 12 months. Talk to the customer, get feedback, and iterate.

Tasks

Tasks are the smallest unit of work. These are the daily outputs that help you climb the ladder from tasks to targets to outcomes to projects to goals. When you structure it this way, there’s a clear path from what you work on at the task level, and the larger goal you’re working towards.

The model still fits, but now it’s driven through experimentation, not rigidity. And your tasks can be tactical, practical, and clear. The experimentation in higher layers drives execution here.

Experimental Direction

Experimentation, guided by a clear goal, leads to outsized results. When you know where you’re headed, but leave yourself open to new possibilities, serendipitous discoveries guide innovation. And when you’re innovating, you’re thriving—you find novel solutions to complex problems, feel more engaged in your work, and unlock opportunities you could have missed.

Let’s look back at the question this all started with:

How can you achieve time-based goals through experimentation and curiosity?

Start with the goal, but pose it as a question. What are you trying to answer? Let that guide you as you state a hypothesis, define your learning criteria, and then test it. Each step is a learning, whether it’s valid or invalid—it keeps you moving forward. In this mode, you’re keeping structure without the rigidity; you’re staying focused through adaptability; you’re growing and evolving, one experiment at a time. The Wright Brothers, Thomas Edison, Pixar, and countless others have worked this way to achieve big things, and so can you. The only way to learn is by doing.

The Thought Process

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Let me process my thoughts.

I’m sure you’ve heard this, or been the author of such a statement. But what does it mean? How do you process your thoughts in reality? And is there a shared framework we can all work from?

I recently unlocked an insight about my purpose and the unique superpower I possess. This realization was a culmination of a range of factors and experiences, some planned and some serendipitous. If you ask me how I came to the realization, it would be difficult to retrace the exact steps. But I know the general process: writing out my thoughts, asking questions, having conversations, walking while reflecting, and mindfully observing patterns. So it begged the question: Can I detail this process into something more structured? This is what I would describe as The Thought Process.

This process covers the hardest and most complex problems. When making simple decisions, this is unnecessary. This process is a guide, not a checklist. You may jump around and use different techniques. This is my account of the process I’ve uncovered that helps me reach clarity, untangling the most chaotic and complex problems.

With that said, let’s press on!

Framing

The first stage of The Thought Process is Framing. This is where you explore your thoughts, interrogate them, and keep asking questions until the core problem reveals itself. At this stage, there are unknown unknowns—you don’t know what you don’t know. You have to stay open and fluid in your investigation.

Depending on the complexity of what you’re working through, this will most likely be the stage where you spend the most time. We can’t solve a problem we don’t understand. Framing is the work that helps us deeply understand what we’re trying to solve. Don’t shortcut this process, even if it feels slow.

There are three steps in Framing:

Write your thoughts out.
Create space to walk and reflect.
Frame the problem hypothesis clearly.

Write

In order to understand your thinking, you need to generate the raw material to work from. For me, it begins with writing. I have a Thought Lab where I capture journal-style entries. This is my space to go deep in an unrefined state. I don’t know where it’s going to go, but the only way to figure it out is through writing.

The objective in this stage is to develop an initial hypothesis you can build from. This is the core assumption you will test in later stages.

At this stage, there are three principles:

Free Flow: Write out unfiltered thoughts.
Second Look: Come back and assess later.
Initial Hypothesis: Form your initial concept.

Free Flow

This step is simple: Just start writing. You don’t need to worry about flow or grammar—this is an unrefined expression of your thoughts. If it’s helpful, you can set a timer and just keep writing until the time is up. Or, if you have the space, you can just write until it feels complete. There’s no goal here other than writing until you feel like your thoughts are fully expressed.

Second Look

Now you need to step away from the work and revisit it later. It doesn’t have to be long after the fact, but long enough you can come back with an altered perspective. This is like writing an angry letter and not sending it until the morning. By the time you go to send it, you typically don’t feel the same way. While you may not feel anger as the driving emotion, you will feel something. And your emotional state and perception will have changed by the next pass.

The benefit of doing so is to provide an early refinement to your thoughts. Was there anything you missed? Did something new arise since you first wrote this? Now's your chance to fill in some of the small details. If it’s a complex problem, you may take multiple passes here until you feel ready to move forward.

Initial Hypothesis

At this point, you should have a solid understanding of what you’re thinking. And this step is where you distill that thinking into an initial hypothesis. I say initial here because it’s not the final one. It’s what you can start with as you move into reflection.

But first, let’s align on the definition of hypothesis, and how we should think about it at this stage of thought development.

A hypothesis is a tentative statement that must be testable and falsifiable. It’s often framed as an “If…Then” statement, and used to explain observations and predict outcomes. Those outcomes are then verified through experimentation.

As a proponent of building an Experimental Mindset, I think this definition matches what we’re trying to do. The culmination of our writing exercises should reveal a clear statement that we can test and verify. But instead of the scientific rigor typically used to validate a hypothesis, we’re going to exert our own reflection skills to verify it.

Here’s an example initial hypothesis for what we’re trying to understand here as it relates to The Thought Process (spoiler alert!):

The Thought Process goes through the stages of framing, testing, and refining to crystallize a thought into a simple, intuitive, and understandable thesis with three clear and memorable principles.

This hypothesis is what we can move forward with as we carry forward in Framing.

Reflect

Everyone can use more time for reflection. This is especially true as we’re inundated with endless scrolling, content snippets, and the constant influx of infinite information. Taking time to think, reflect, and do so in the absence of screens will open your mind to new ideas. Oh, and you’ll think better, sleep better, and feel more recharged.

Good deal, right?

Reflection is part of critical thinking, a skill receding with the continued evolution of technology and rise of AI, in particular. I’d argue that critical thinking will be the most important skill of the remainder of the 21st century. It’s a skill that requires cultivation.

At this stage, there are three principles:

Walk It Out: Get outside every day and walk.
Talk It Through: Engage in conversation with other perspectives.
Background It: Remove your focus on the thought to gain clarity on it.

Walk It Out

I love to walk. I get at least an hour of walking in every day. And I make sure the walking takes place outside where I can be as close to nature as possible. Regular walking strengthens connections within and between key brain networks related to memory, decision-making, and attention regulation. Studies show that walking increases oxygen and nutrient flow to the brain, which can enhance creativity. Participants in one study experienced a 60% increase in creative output while walking compared to sitting.

That’s the science, but this has also been my own experience. You don’t have to repeat this habit for long to see the power behind regular walking. In order to reflect, we need to slow down. And when we slow down, we see new paths to speed up. This is the Paradox of Speed, which is how we slow down to speed up.

It begins with reflection.

Talk It Through

Self-reflection is not the only way to reflect. When we stay in our own heads, it’s hard to see different perspectives, hear different words, and process completely. This is why another element of reflection is about engaging in conversation with others. You engage with perspectives that are not your own, introducing entirely different mental models that challenge your own thinking.

One of my favorite things to do is talk through a problem while walking. This combines the power of walking with the benefits of conversation. When you process your thoughts verbally, you shift into a different communication mode, which allows you to process in a different way.

Having to explain something out loud to someone forces more wide-reaching exploration for the right words. And finding the right words to articulate your thinking is one of the most critical things to achieve.

Background It

When we’re actively engaged and focused on solving a problem for too long, our thinking begins to narrow. We lose the ability to think outside the box. Talking it through with someone else is helpful, but sometimes we need to just set it aside and let the thought percolate.

There’s science to back this up, too. Neuroscience reveals that stepping away from a problem or sleeping on it leverages powerful unconscious cognitive processes to enhance creative problem-solving. One such process is called The Incubation Effect. Studies show people solve 23% more complex puzzles after incubation periods compared to continuous work. Now, this doesn’t mean you do nothing (Don’t bother me! I’m incubating)—the ideal break during incubation involves low-cognitive tasks like walking or doing chores.

Another piece is how your brain draws connections. When we move our focus away from the active problem, we interact with new ideas that trigger new insights. If we just stay actively engaged on the singular problem, it’s hard to spot those connections. Putting it in the background creates opportunities for connections to emerge.

Frame

We’ve done work to consolidate our thinking into a clear understanding of the problem. But in order to approach the problem from different angles, we need to frame the problem so we can see it, work with it, and solve it. We take our initial hypothesis, refine it through early reflection, and find the right framing to reflect more deeply.

Here is our initial hypothesis from earlier:

The Thought Process goes through the stages of framing, testing, and refining to crystallize a thought into a simple, intuitive, and understandable thesis with three clear and memorable principles.

At this stage, there are three principles:

Invert the Problem: Take the hypothesis and think about it completely different.
Argue the Opposite: Argue the opposite of the hypothesis and try to disprove it.
Find the Question: Unlock the right question to challenge the hypothesis.

Invert the Problem

Our initial hypothesis states how to move through specific stages to gain clarity. One way to invert the problem would be to address what happens when we don’t process our thoughts this way.

Here’s what that could look like:

Thoughts become muddled when we rush to conclusions without structure, skip testing assumptions, and refuse to iterate on our initial ideas.

By inverting the problem, we see how our hypothesis is still valid because those stages prevent the issues prevalent when we don’t move through them intentionally. A simple question to ask here is, Is the opposite true? The answer here is yes.

Argue the Opposite

Now we can argue the opposite of our hypothesis to test its validity. We could say:

The Thought Process doesn’t require rigid stages or specific outputs because creative insights come from spontaneous, organic, and unstructured thinking.

While this counter-argument raises valid points, constraints breed creativity. Having a framework isn’t something that’s meant to restrict—it’s meant to guide. By arguing the opposite, we’ve reinforced why the structured approach is valuable, while acknowledging its limitations. This is a tension that guides balance, reinforcing the structural integrity of the hypothesis.

Find the Question

The right question is a direct proxy to solving the right problem. This is about moving from the Solution Space into the Problem Space. Keep seeking out the guiding question that strengthens the framing to drive clarity. Ask better questions and create better answers.

For our hypothesis, we could ask questions like:

Does a structured thought process lead to better processing?
Are the three stages sequential, or do they rely on one another?
How do we measure the effectiveness of this process framework?

These questions provide a lens to examine the hypothesis through. As we answer each question, we bolster our understanding and refine the initial hypothesis. This is why, when someone asks you an excellent question, it can stop you in your tracks. Questions unlock insights. You just have the find the right one to add the extra dose of clarity to your hypothesis.

Testing

The second stage of The Thought Process is Testing. We take our hypothesis and we start testing it in order to develop a theory. As we defined it earlier, the hypothesis is a tentative statement that must be testable and falsifiable. A theory, on the other hand, is a central argument or claim that we aim to prove. While the hypothesis supports the overall thesis, it is narrower in scope. The theory provides the larger framework. The initial hypothesis is the seed of the idea, and the theory is the expanded version. But if you already reached the right scope with your hypothesis, it can become the theory.

There are three steps in Testing:

Validate through direct experience and application.
Look for recurring patterns and themes.
Share and gather feedback.

Validation

As I created the initial hypothesis for this very post you’re reading, I moved to test it. I have plenty of thoughts to process, so does this hypothesis hold up in the field? I used this hypothesis to test itself (trippy, I know) by seeing if I could use The Thought Process to define a thesis for The Thought Process.

The short answer is yes. Following this process to test the hypothesis validated it. I moved through each stage—Framing, Testing, Refining—to come up with the thesis. The initial hypothesis created in Framing held up to the rigor of Testing, and the Refining tightened up the language, keeping the structure in tact.

The goal is to put it to the test. And don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t work. Be like a scientist and use the failure as data to inform the next iteration. Just keep learning.

Patterns

I know I’m onto something when the hypothesis keeps coming up in conversation. And no, not in a forceful way—it’s natural and organic, and you quickly see a theme develop. You talk to two different people in two entirely different contexts, and your hypothesis reveals itself.

Find the patterns. When the theme keeps appearing, you have a pattern. And when you have a pattern, you increase validation.

When I first developed The Thought Process initial hypothesis, I found myself seeing each stage emerge as I developed new ideas. That, my friend, is the pattern.

Feedback

The last part of Testing is where you take your hypothesis out and shop it around. You present it to different people, ask questions, and capture their feedback. Does it resonate? Is there something confusing? Have they experienced something similar?

The feedback will further your testing, validate your hypothesis, or give you new data to infuse your thinking. Again, it’s all learning—don’t sweat the “failures.”

Refining

The final stage of The Thought Process is Refining. We take our validated hypothesis, and we keep refining it until the language is clear, sticky, and repeatable. We have the right words, and the meaning is crystal clear.

There are three steps in Refining:

Create clear and intentional language.
Make it sticky and easy to remember.
Make it repeatable with shorthand.

Clear

A good name signals intent. There’s clarity in the name, and it’s obvious what it means. You can come up with branded terms, but make sure there’s intention behind it. Always write this name as a Proper Noun with the appropriate capitalization.

Here are some examples I’ve used:

Thought Lab
The Next Step
Tension Guides
Expansive Writing
Paradox of Speed

Sticky

A sticky name is both short and has a pleasing rhythm to it. I think the examples above fit the bill nicely, but this is also a good use-case for AI because it can give you a lot of options in a short amount of time. Even when I dislike everything it gives me, it will generate ideas or unique combinations that get me there faster. That said, I’ve often wrestled with a name for weeks before the right one revealed itself. It takes time, but it’s worth it.

If you’re working with a company or on teams, you can use it as a proving ground to test the sticky-ness of your name. Keep using it and see if it catches on, which can be improved through its repeatability.

Repeatable

I love simple and clear names, but I also love a good acronym. It shortens the name even further, making it easier to reference and repeat. And the more it’s repeated, the more it sticks.

Here are a few techniques I like:

Standard Acronym: This is simply taking the first letter of each word. The Next Step becomes TNS.
Word Acronym: This is where you can create the acronym such that it spells a word out. An example is PASS, which is a format I use for software pitch documents. It stands for Problem, Appetite, Solution, Success.
Alliteration: I’m a sucker for alliteration. If two words have a shared character as the first letter, I will agonize over the third word to achieve alliteration. An example here would be Define, De-risk, Deliver.

Process Your Thoughts

We’ve reached the end of this journey to process our thoughts. We have The Thought Process as the high-level framework, guiding us through the stages of Framing, Testing, and Refining—FTR, if you will. These stages provide a map to guide us through the journey of our thoughts. Each stage is a milestone, marking the evolution of thought, the development of new insights, and the elegant refinement of ideas.

Like all frameworks, it’s a guide, not a checklist. Use the whole thing or cherry-pick parts you find useful. Some thoughts linger in stages, revert to previous stages, and even jump stages. Let thoughts process naturally, but trust in the toolbox at your disposal. The Thought Process is always there to help.

The Next Step

Fri, 28 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT

My youngest son really likes helping me and my wife with tasks. Whether it’s cooking, cleaning, or completing chores, he wants to help with every step. After we complete each step of the process, he asks, “What’s next?”. I love this question because it’s such a wonderful mindset to adopt while engaged in active learning. It’s a positive mindset focused on forward progress. There’s no concern about what happened—there’s only the next step, which is a lesson in discovery and momentum.

My simple rule for project management is this: You don’t need to know every step—you just need to know the next step. Not only is this a more effective way to make progress, but it’s also more congruent with reality. You can’t outline all the steps until you do the work. And with the completion of each step, you accrue more knowledge to inform the next step—each step is a prerequisite dependency for moving forward. It’s both ineffective and unproductive to waste time attempting to detail every step. You don’t know, and you won’t until you start chipping away.

My native domain is software development, which is an area I know best and also one that is an excellent example of this process in action. However, I want to add additional examples to further illustrate this point, and how The Next Step can keep us in a state of learning, adaptability, and growth. Like the Paradox of Speed, this is an area where pragmatism and intentionality pays dividends in the work we do.

The Next Step Framework

With this, let’s define a simple framework I’m calling The Next Step Framework, which consists of three key stages built on the premise of defining The Next Step:

Map: Define the outcome you are ultimately trying to achieve.
Move: Focus solely on The Next Step to move forward.
Multiply: Learn and build momentum with each step.

How does this come to life in software development, cooking, and writing?

Let’s explore!

Software Development

Three of my guiding principles in software development are:

Better Context: Better context creates better decisions.
Fast & Flexible: You need to move fast, yet stay flexible.
Learn by Doing: It’s all guesswork until you do the work.

Each of these principles speak to the same fundamental truth: You have to stay agile as you learn, adapt, and grow. And the only way to do that is to focus your efforts on the outcome you’re trying to achieve, and then take it one step at a time, each step building on the last to create a force of momentum that compounds steadily.

When I’m planning work, it’s a process of framing the problem, shaping the solution at the right level of fidelity, and then leaning into the learn-by-doing approach as we build the solution. So how can The Next Step Framework help?

Map: We start with the outcome, which is the context-loaded problem we’re attempting to solve with software. This is where we’re trying to get to—a solved problem tied to a real and measurable outcome that delivers an impact.
Move: Instead of detailing each task before the work begins, we shape the work with the appropriate guardrails (clear problem and time constraint) and let the team use that as the compass to detail the work. This is a shift from the guesswork into the real work. We know where we’re trying to get (outcome), and each task along the way is just The Next Step that informs our path as we do the work. We just get moving and learn from each step.
Multiply: As the team completes each task and works uphill, they answer unknowns in the work, learn from each step, and build momentum. The work is like a hill because the climb is about the unknowns, while the descent is about the clarity of the execution, predicated on cumulative knowledge of all previous steps.

Now let’s move from software development into another creative endeavor: cooking.

Developing Recipes

When a chef is developing a new recipe, they start with a concept. They don’t know exactly how the dish will turn out, but they know the general direction they want to go:

A hearty, slow-cooked mushroom and root vegetable stew with fresh herbs and pearl barley.
A bright and zesty lemon-basil pasta with cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, and nutritional yeast.
A rich chocolate layer cake with coconut buttercream and chocolate ganache.

These are all directions, but there are still unknowns. Take the lemon-basil pasta:

Will there be lemon juice in the sauce and zest on top?
What type of pasta will work best?
Which fresh herbs?

This is where the Map Stage comes into play. A chef is casting vision, direction, and charting the general path without defining the details. Why? Because they know those details will change as the work begins. Like software development, cooking a recipe requires continual experimentation and learning as you cook it. Instead of code and a computer, we have ingredients and a kitchen. Different environments, same process and considerations.

Let’s turn back to The Next Step Framework and walk through each stage:

Map: The chef outlines the general outcome for the new recipe. They cast this vision in the form of the cuisine. This sets the course.
Move: The ingredients are gathered and a more localized plan is created. They determine the recipe’s origin, and then begin the cooking process—The Next Step.
Multiply: Each step allows them to evaluate and readjust—cook the pasta, check the acidity of the sauce, choose the herbs. Each component part is refined through experimentation, creating a cohesive whole.

Now let’s find out how writing novels can take us through a similar process.

Writing Novels

I’m an avid reader, but these days I rarely read fiction. That said, I’m still waiting for George R.R. Martin to finish The Song of Ice and Fire series that’s largely been abandoned since Game of Thrones came out on HBO. And both Harry Potter (I love the movies!) and Dune are on my list to read. And yes, I’ve read many classic novels and fiction since I was a kid.

I point this out because I’m really interested in the stories I’ve read about writers who bring characters to life in their stories, and then operate as a muse as these fictional characters chart their own path. This is a poetic example of The Next Step in action. Like software development and cooking, there’s a theme of creative artistry.

While I’ve read many authors do this, Stephen King is a perfect example. As the author of Carrie, The Shining, IT, and over 65 published novels and short stories, he knows a thing or two about writing and developing stories. As it relates to the idea of The Next Step, King advocates the idea of pantsing, which is writing without a predetermined outline. He believes the role of the writer is to extract the stories rather than force them into a rigid structure. For King, most stories begin with a situation or plot (Map), and then the characters dictate the plot’s progression (Move). He believes that over-planning can stifle creativity, and I couldn’t agree more. The creative solutions will develop and evolve in real-time (Multiply).

This is The Next Step Framework in action:

Map: The author begins by defining the plot (outcome). The elements are in place, but there are unknowns, questions, and details yet to figure out.
Move: The characters dictate the path as each action takes place. They follow The Next Step, letting the small, incremental forward movements create the path.
Multiply: The story organically evolves with novel developments dictated by the previous step. Each step informs the next, guided by the destination.

What’s Next?

Whether you’re building software and leaning into the unknowns, cooking new and inventive meals, or bringing characters to life in a novel, the process is clear: Begin with the end in mind, take each step in turn, and engage in active learning along the way. As you shift from Mapping to Moving to Multiplying, the results of the preceding work fuel the next stage. This creates a flywheel of growth, driven by a simple framework of clear actions.

So when you embark on your next creative journey, find the general path, but don’t mistake the map for the territory. Take each step as it comes, and then ask yourself “What’s next?”.

Paradox of Speed

Fri, 21 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Throughout my career, I’ve been known for efficiency. Everyone views me as the person who can get the most done in the least amount of time. I’ve long worn this identity as a badge of honor. One of the best parts of being identified this way is the reality you strengthen around it. But one of the worst parts of being identified this way is how it grows to define you, whether you want it to or not.

And one could argue we’re in the most profitable time for these skills. AI tooling has exploded and AI agents are on the rise. We’re rapidly witnessing AI automate repetitive tasks and more efficiently complete work typically done by humans. I should be giddy with excitement, right? I am in some ways, but I’m also thinking about it differently.

If AI is going to take care of the repetitive tasks on the surface, I have time and space to go deeper, indulge critical thinking, and spend time in the creative mess of exploration. Whether that reality exists today—or ever will—is up for debate, but it’s the future I’m hoping for.

There’s this idea called the Paradox of Speed. It’s centered around the idea of slowing down in order to speed up. But how can you move faster when you start by moving slower? Therein lies the paradox! And this concept is something I’ve been really interested in recently.

What can history teach us here? Unsurprisingly, there are many stories where the Paradox of Speed is on display. Let’s walk through those stories and explore how this concept can be more deeply engrained in our work, especially in the age of rapid innovation we’re in.

John D. Rockefeller's Garden Breaks

Let’s begin with John D. Rockefeller. He was a well-known businessman, magistrate, and philanthropist who lived from July 8, 1839, to May 23, 1937. He is widely regarded as one of the wealthiest Americans in history, and is considered the richest person in modern history. He achieved a range of accomplishments in his illustrious career: from pioneering the concept of a corporate trust to donating more than $500 million to various causes, focusing on education, medicine, and scientific research.

It’s easy to imagine how his days must have filled up. There surely was no shortage of work to do or matters to tend to. But one of the most interesting things I learned about his life is the work he did in his garden. Rockefeller had a passion for gardening and landscaping, and he used these activities as both a form of relaxation and a way to escape the noise and give his mind time off.

The garden is where he would intentionally slow down and reflect. He would engage in an activity he enjoyed, while giving his mind intentional space to relax. Whether he knew it or not, he was enabling a biological trigger rooted in science. It’s call the Default Mode Network of the brain, or DMN. Let’s turn there next to see how we can take advantage of it in our own work.

Default Mode Network (DMN)

The Default Mode Network (DMN) is a large-scale brain network that becomes active when the mind is at rest and not focused on external tasks. It plays a central role in self-referential thinking, memory, and social cognition. We don’t know for sure, but this part of the brain most likely evolved to support introspection and social awareness, aiding survival by enabling self-preservation and anticipating the actions of others—useful skills in tribal communities.

The DMN is most engaged during passive rest, much like the Garden Breaks Rockefeller enjoyed. The more he spent time in the garden, the more his mind would wander as it carried out tasks that required minimal conscious effort. That’s the key. We don’t want something complex and novel that requires our brain’s full attention. We need to engage in an activity that keeps our mind occupied, yet not fully—like gardening, walking, or even showering. This is the same reason “shower thoughts” are a thing. We’re doing something without much conscious effort, giving our mind space to wander freely and engage the DMN.

There’s a lesson here we can bring into our work. As knowledge workers participating in deeply cognitive work, we can find our own Garden Breaks—the space to wander in an unstructured environment while our brain processes information. This is where connections are made, and it’s critical to create this space when doing creative and demanding work. But now let’s turn towards the lessons inherent to the Paradox of Speed as it relates to making slow decisions.

The Mountaineer's Pause

Joe Simpson is a renowned British mountaineer. In 1985, he gained fame during a harrowing climb while descending Siula Grande, a 6,344-meter peak in the Peruvian Andes. While making the climb with his climbing partner, Simon Yates, Simpson broke his leg after a fall. Yates attempted to lower him down the mountain using a rope system, but ended up having to cut the rope in order to save his own life. Presumed dead after falling into a crevasse, Simpson somehow miraculously crawled back to base camp over the course of three days.

In 2008, Simpson was leading a group of climbers up a treacherous route in the Swiss Alps. As they approached a particularly challenging section, the weather began to rapidly deteriorate, which forced Simpson to reassess the situation before moving forward. The group was eager to push on with the climb, but Simpson’s experience forced him to slow down. After sitting quietly for 30 minutes and observing the conditions, Simpson made the decision to halt the climb and turn back. The group was disappointed, but Simpson’s decision was validated when a severe blizzard hit the mountain, just two hours after they began their descent down the mountain. Had they carried forward, they would have been caught in life-threatening conditions.

Now, a lot of decisions aren’t immediately validated like this one. And sometimes we don’t ever receive the benefit of validation. But slowing down and deliberately thinking about the right path forward potentially saved the lives of Simpson’s climbers. This is an exercise in understanding slow thinking—or as Daniel Kahneman calls it in his book Thinking, Fast and Slow—System 2 Thinking, which is slow, deliberate, and analytical.

System 2 Thinking

Not every decision requires this level of deliberate thinking. When I’m deciding what flavor green tea I want in the morning, I don’t need to be slow, deliberate, or analytical. This is a low-stakes decision I can make quickly. However, there are a lot of decisions and places where a higher level of deliberation is necessary. But how do we make that decision, to know when a decision warrants this kind of deliberation?

Here are the three questions I like to ask myself:

How consequential is the decision? One of my favorite ways to frame the consequence of a decision: When making a decision, consider how you'll feel about it in 5 minutes, 5 months, and 5 years. When it matters in 5 years, that’s when it deserves a slower pace.
Can the decision be reversed? Once this decision is made, can I change it? When the decision is not (easily) reversible and consequential, it’s worth slowing down.
What’s the cost of inaction? There are always hidden costs when we spend time on anything. It’s not just the time spent on the one thing—it’s the time not spent on something else. When there is a lower opportunity cost to the decision, slowing down is important.

The next two stories will affirm this idea more concretely because they are examples where high-stake decisions required slowing down. And, as you’ll see, sometimes slowing down is just a delay of mere minutes. It’s not about taking days, weeks, or months to decide. It’s about being intentional when making decisions, especially consequential and irreversible ones.

The Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13-day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union from October 16 to October 28, 1962. This crisis was part of the larger Cold War, and it’s considered the closest event to escalating to full-scale nuclear war. In short, the stakes were about as high as they could get. This situation not only checks the box of being consequential, but also of being irreversible. So how did the main players like President John F. Kennedy engage in the same System 2 Thinking as Simpson?

JFK and his advisors were under immense pressure to quickly resolve the situation. The result of a delayed response could mean catastrophic and world-ending consequences. But instead of rushing into military action, Kennedy chose careful deliberation, to engage in the System 2 Thinking we saw Simpson use earlier.

He convened the Executive Committee (ExComm) to carefully evaluate multiple options, including military airstrikes, invasion, or a naval blockade. This was a process that required gathering a lot of information and weighing the consequences of each action. Groupthink was also another problem that plagued Kennedy in earlier decisions during the Bay of Pigs. In order to avoid it this time around, that meant engaging with diverse perspectives to encourage dissent and debate. Again, this process requires slower, more deliberate, and more analytical thinking.

The results of the intentional decision-making process is the peaceful resolution of the crisis, avoiding the full-scale nuclear war everyone feared. Slow and steady won the race even amidst a tense and fast-moving situation.

Stanislav Petrov's Decision

Just over twenty years later, we see a similar process used to avoid a similar outcome with the decision made by Stanislav Petrov, lieutenant colonel in the Soviet Air Defense Forces. While on duty, Petrov was monitoring the Soviet early-warning system, which reported that five U.S. intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) had been launched toward the Soviet Union. Standard protocol dictated that Petrov notify the higher ups in the chain of command. The problem, however, is this could have resulted in a nuclear retaliatory response.

Engaging his System 2 Thinking, Petrov made a different call. He noticed multiple factors that made him question the system’s warning. Firstly, the attack pattern was unusual. If the U.S. were to send in a first air strike, it would include hundreds of missiles, not five. Secondly, the Oko early-warning system was new and largely untested. Thirdly, and maybe most critically, the ground-based radar systems did not confirm the missile launches. This is a beautiful string of deductive reasoning only possible with deliberation and analytical thinking.

Petrov, trusting this reasoning and his own instinct, classified the alerts as false alarms and chose not to escalate the situation. So what happened? Well, his judgements were later proven correct when they discovered the false alarms were caused by a rare alignment of sunlight reflecting off high-altitude clouds, which confused the satellite system. Another win for slowing down.

There’s also another sliver of beautiful insight hidden in this story: Slowing down gave Petrov the chance to engage his intuition. When we’re always rushing forward flying the banner of speed and efficiency, we don’t get a chance to use one of our most effective biological tools: our gut. And the best way to improve your intuition is through making and understanding decisions, just like Petrov and Simpson. You only get that chance when you use speed deliberately.

Alexander Fleming

The last example from history teaches us that slowing down forces us to pay attention. We become mindful, curious observers to the world around us, which can ignite world-altering discoveries, much like the groundbreaking discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming in 1928.

I love this story because it’s also a beautiful example of how slowing down stokes the fire of curiosity. We give our minds a chance to explore, to play, to question the world around us. That fire can blaze a trail that changes the course of history, just like it did here. If we’re always moving as fast as we can in the name of efficiency, we might miss these chances.

Okay, so what happened? After coming back from vacation, Fleming noticed that one of his petri dishes containing Staphylococcus bacteria had been contaminated with a fungus. For most scientists, this would have meant contamination and immediately trashing the sample. Fleming, curiosity piqued, took the sample and examined it further—he slowed down. Upon further examination, he noticed something interesting: the bacterial colonies surrounding the fungus were destroyed, but those further away remained intact. After further testing, he discovered and named the antibacterial substance “penicillin” in 1929. This discovery marked the beginning of the antibiotic era, which has saved countless lives and transformed modern medicine.

The Benefits of Slowing Down

When we don’t intentionally slow down and evaluate our options before making a decision, we miss chances for serendipitous discoveries. Like Alexander Fleming and the discovery of penicillin, it was only made through careful observation dictated by a slower pace. It gave him the space necessary to find the signal in the noise. When we don’t slow down, we endlessly consume information without unlocking insights. When Stanislav Petrov made his decision, he did so by consciously slowing down and diligently sifting through the information. He was able to take all the information and unlock key insights that led to the avoidance of catastrophe. And when we don’t slow down, we make short-sighted decisions with far-reaching consequences. Imagine what kind of world we’d live in if the Cuban Missile Crisis went a different way; or what fate may have become the hiking group had Joe Simpson not slowed down; or the quality and impact of John D. Rockefeller's decisions without his Garden Breaks.

Within each story, the thread is the same: When we slow down and mindfully deliberate on the path forward, we give ourselves the best chance of success. We cultivate the conditions required to do our best work, knowing when to slow down and when to speed up. This paradox is a balance, a tension that acts as a compass to generate progress. Speed, like all attributes, is but a tool to wield. And with all tools, the knowledge is in knowing how it works, and the wisdom is knowing when to use it.

Discovery Points

Fri, 14 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT

When you're early in product discovery, there's more noise than signal. Sometimes priorities jump out at you, but sometimes you need to step back and evaluate where you are before you move forward. You need to slow down to speed up.

This is the case with the new project I'm working on. There are many people involved in the discovery phase. We're asking questions, researching, and sharing context freely. This can be great, but the information overload can also bog you down and prevent the right focus.

To help the team focus on the right things, I came up with a concept to help orient all the information we’re uncovering. I call this system Discovery Points, a set of five categories to group information in an effort to identify the highest leverage work we can do. This is a continual discovery process as each of these elements is identified.

Major Unknowns → What don’t we know that could change everything?
Critical Assumptions → What must be true for this to work?
Weak Links → What fragile elements are most likely to break?
Key Dependencies → What do we rely on that could fail or constrain us?
Leverage Points → Where can small actions drive big results?

I took this list and started adding a bunch of stickies to a FigJam board. I shared this with the team and we started talking about them, adding qualitative data (context) to the list. It not only helped frame our current understanding of the problem space, but it started to surface opportunities (the leverage points) where we can prioritize answering unknowns, validating assumptions, and identifying weaknesses in order to start delivering impactful work.

Let’s walk through each of these areas with clear examples, and then I’ll share how you can use these to drive your discovery process in the right direction. These five elements are also applicable to product work at any point in the lifecycle, whether you’re building new products or building features into an existing product.

Major Unknowns

Discovery work is the process of venturing into the unknown to make it known. You need to proactively seek out and stare down uncertainties, shining a light on every dark and ill-lit corner of the problem space. Bring the scary things into the light so you can better understand them.

The goal is to find the unknowns that, depending on the answer, will affect the course of action you proceed down. Those are the unknowns you need to focus on.

Some example unknowns:

Demand: Will customers actually pay for this solution?
Feasibility: Can we build this with our current technology stack?
Behavior: How will users interact with this feature in real-world conditions?
Resources: What level of team effort and infrastructure will this truly need?
Competition: How might competitors react to our entry into this space?

The activity you will focus on in this area is research. Be an investigator, ask questions and seek out answers until the unknowns start to bend towards knowns.

Critical Assumptions

Humans are constantly making assumptions. We don’t like open loops, so our brains will work desperately to “fill in” the information. We do this in the form of assumptions. We leverage our past knowledge and prior experience to make an assumption, an educated guess. If you don’t know full well that you’re assumption is factually correct, you need to validate it.

The goal is to surface the critical assumptions that, like major unknowns, would alter the decisions you make based on their validity.

Some example assumptions:

Market Need: Users are actively seeking solutions to this specific problem.
Technical Capability: Our current tech stack can handle the expected scale.
User Behavior: Users will adopt the new workflow without significant resistance.
Revenue Model: The pricing structure will cover costs and generate profit.
Integration: The new feature will work seamlessly with existing systems.

The activity you will focus on in this area is testing. If you have an assumption, you need to test it. Find the smallest way you can capture data necessary to validate or invalidate the assumption you’re making.

Weak Links

Weak links are the points of fragility. You may have answered a major unknown or validated a critical assumption, but by doing so you also highlight an area of weakness. This area requires a different approach in terms of testing and validation.

The goal is to the surface the weak links that require stress-testing to mitigate.

Some example weak links:

System Performance: High-load scenarios could cause slowdowns or failures.
Data Security: Potential vulnerabilities in data storage and transmission protocols.
User Authentication: Single point of failure in the authentication process.
Third-party Services: Over-reliance on external APIs that could become unstable.
Error Handling: Edge cases that haven't been accounted for in the design.

The activity you will focus on in this area is stress-testing. Find a way to simulate the load and put the weak link under stress. That’s how you’ll strengthen the weak part of the system. And sometimes this just means going through a thought exercise to play out the worst-case scenario of the identified weak link.

Key Dependencies

Most work contains relationships and dependencies between the parts of a system. Very few things occur in isolation. The key dependencies are the places where a reliance on a specific component introduces risk or a decrease in overall efficiency.

The goal is to surface key dependencies as areas to find replacements.

Some example key dependencies:

Integrations: Critical business processes that rely on external services or APIs.
Legacy Systems: Core functionality that depends on outdated technology or infra.
Team Knowledge: Processes that only specific team members understand.
Infrastructure: Services that require specific cloud providers or configurations.
Data Sources: Features that depend on continuous access to specific data.

The activity you will focus on in this area is finding alternatives. Can we replace this dependency such that the system becomes more self-reliant and, therefore, more efficient, less brittle, and with higher adaptability?

Leverage Points

Even today there are considerable questions surrounding the construction of the pyramids in Ancient Egypt. How were a people without the advantage of modern technology and machinery able to construct such incredible structures?

Part of the answer: levers. These simple devices allowed the Egyptians to move and lift the heavy stones used to build the pyramids. Their abilities were multiplied, strength amplified, and results magnified through the use of levers.

The same applies in the discovery process. As we answer major unknowns, validate critical assumptions, stress-test weak links, and find alternatives to key dependencies, we surface leverage points. These points deliver an outsized impact.

The goal is to find small ways to make a big impact through leverage points.

Some example leverage points:

Automated Testing: Implementing automated testing early can prevent countless future bugs and save significant development time.
User Onboarding: A well-designed initial user experience can dramatically increase long-term user retention and engagement.
API Design: Creating flexible, well-documented APIs early enables rapid feature development and third-party integrations.
Performance Optimization: Small improvements in core system performance can yield massive benefits across the entire user base.
Data Analytics: Strategic placement of analytics can provide invaluable insights for future product decisions with minimal implementation effort.

The activity you will focus on in this area is running small experiments. For each leverage point, put it to the test. Have a bias for action and learn by doing. That’s the only way you can measure the impact.

Drawing Relationships

For each of these points—major unknowns, critical assumptions, weak links, key dependencies, leverage points—you will invariably find direct relationships between them. One major unknown could be directly related to another; a critical assumption could be driven by a key dependency; a weak link could be resolved as a leverage point. This is natural, and it will surface priority areas for you to focus on. Don’t ignore the relationships—call them out and use them as added self-referring weight.

Taking this further, you can specifically identify the unknowns, assumptions, weaknesses, and dependencies related to each leverage point. For each step towards resolution, you further solidify and strengthen the priority of each leverage point.

Finding Leverage

The task of discovery is clear: Stay curious and keep asking questions to answer major unknowns, validate critical assumptions, strengthen weak links, remove key dependencies, and find the leverage points where the impact considerably outweighs the effort. Remove risks and increase efficiency until you have a small set of actions you can take to dramatically deliver an impact.

Without these key areas of discovery, my team felt lost amidst the depths of uncertainty. Discovery work is ridden with anxiety because of all the open loops. Remember how our brains crave closing the loops? Well that puts us in a state of perpetual imbalance. These areas give language and organization to a process full of unknowns and disorder. They bring a semblance of balance to an otherwise messy and unpredictable world.

Start small, stay curious, and unlock value.

Rebuild or Revise

Fri, 31 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

How do you know when it’s time to rebuild an old app or just revise it?

Rebuilding an existing application is a massive endeavor. It takes deep technical knowledge, design expertise, and the ability to manage project timelines and stakeholder expectations. When you’re rebuilding an existing application, progress can feel slower. Why? It takes a lot of work just to get the new foundation laid. And users are operating off of a preexisting mental model of functionality. So it takes additional time to surpass the baseline of expectations and start delivering anything new. In order to deliver on time, you need to control the scope, which is considerably more difficult when a solution already exists.

Despite these challenges, rebuilding an existing product gives you a chance to reevaluate, to assess product functionality with a clean slate. It’s the perfect opportunity to streamline your product with your best, most-used features and remove anything nobody uses. While there’s a heavy upfront cost in the rebuild, gains are returned in an app that works better, keeps users engaged, and lets developers work efficiently to build new features.

I like to look at it from three different layers:

How it looks (design).
How it functions (functionality).
How it’s built (technology).

Based on those layers, the thinking is as follows:

If you don't like the design, but the functionality and technology are stable, you can revise. Visual updates are often the easiest to implement incrementally.
If you don't like the functionality, but the technology is solid, you can strategically revise through targeted feature updates (but still may not be worth it).
If you don't like the technology, it's unlikely the functionality is desirable, either. In that case, it's best to rebuild and cut your losses.

Overall, the pattern is clear: if there are any deep-seated issues with functionality or technology, rebuilding is likely the better path. Surface-level design changes can usually be handled through revision, but once you start dealing with core functionality or technical debt, the cost-benefit analysis typically points toward rebuilding.

Technical Pre-Mortem

Fri, 24 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

When you shape work for a given feature or project, you’re doing it from the perspective of the user—that is, a design perspective. So if you were to hand this work off to a developer, you’re crossing your fingers and hoping you didn’t miss any big technical issues. It’s plausible you have enough technical understanding and you side-stepped any land mines. Ultimately, though, you won’t know because it’s all guesswork until you do the work.

So try a Technical Pre-Mortem. You’ve probably heard of a “post-mortem”, which is in reference to the idea of performing autopsies to determine cause of death. This is commonly used as a way to review what went wrong with a project (morbid origin, I know) in an effort to prevent it from happening the next time. The inverse of this, “pre-mortem”, is the idea of thinking through what could have killed the project if something went sideways enough to derail it. Let’s not leave it to chance, and do our best clairvoyant impression while we peer into an imagined future.

Identify the root causes

Let’s assume the work didn’t ship on time. We’re going to apply this thought exercise by asking the question “What went wrong?” and taking it to its logical end (to the best of our abilities). This is a good place to ask “why” and dig deep to find the underlying first principles. If the project failed miserably, what caused that to happen?

Work backwards to mitigate

If we identify the root cause, we can then work backwards until we have guarded against that possibility. This sometimes means we just need to call it out in the pitch and make the team aware of it. Awareness is the precursor of preparation, and it’s often the best we can do in the face of unknowns. But sometimes there is enough clarity uncovered in the root cause. In that case, we can adjust the solution in the pitch to protect (prepare) the team.

Be consistent in action and flexible in approach

Development work is riddled with unknowns. There will be unknown unknowns you don’t even know about and can’t foresee, no matter how much you look for them. The only way to learn is by doing, and the only way you get there is through diligent action. The team will be prepared, but they won’t be caught in the trap of thinking there will be no problems. That’s never the case.

Don’t be fooled by the plan

No matter how much planning you do, it won’t change the uncertainty in the process. Sometimes we’re right and sometimes we’re wrong—very wrong. As Dwight D. Eisenhower famously said, “Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” That’s the key here. We’re not fooled into thinking we’re safe by adjusting the plan proactively. We’re exercising our minds through preparation and planning, critical skills in effectively delivering work on time.

Micro-Moments

Fri, 17 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

I had fun doing the recycling.

This is what my 3-year-old said right before bed. After dinner, I asked him and his brother if they wanted to help me bring the recycling to the garage. We have a small blue bin that sits in the pantry, and it’s constantly overflowing. Normally I’d reluctantly make multiple trips once there is barely room to walk in the pantry.

I made a different choice this time.

The idea was ignited by pure focus on the present moment. For the first time, I chose to keep my phone out of sight during dinnertime and the pre-bedtime routine. I’m not an addict (I guess that’s what an addict would say!), but I will use my phone and play the NYTimes puzzles or do something in Notion while eating dinner. My kids are young (6 and 3) and not usually seated while I eat. My wife is cooking, cleaning, and shuffling around. But these are all just excuses for moving my attention to my phone, not my family. Our brains crave approval, so this is me talking to my brain in order to appease it of its concerns.

I also find it beautiful that my 3-year-old specifically called out this moment. And he even brought it up again the next morning! Children are wonders. We so often focus on the big things, that we forget to recognize the small things in front of us. Big moments are infrequent, but those small moments happen hundreds of times per day—we just have to notice them.

In the book You, Happier, Dr. Daniel Amen calls these “micro-moments of happiness”. These moments even affect our neurology, improving overall brain health and enhancing mood. That’s the science, but I can tell you from firsthand experience just how powerful it is to recognize and savor these micro-moments. I felt an afterglow of joy from this experience, which will linger until the next moment. And this is something worth being addicted to.

So pay attention, stay mindful, and seek out micro-moments of happiness.

Managing the Middle

Wed, 15 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

I have a love-hate relationship with goals. Said better: I love them until I hate them. They give me direction, but when I come up short (even against a lofty goal), I get frustrated. No goal is better than the wrong goal, so I only set them when I’m certain it’s serving the impact I want.

But there are three techniques I use to combat my common frustrations with goals.

Identify the motivation.

Make sure you’re crystal clear on your why, the reason for setting the goal. If you’re not sure, keep asking yourself why until you get to the core truth. When you know your why, you can keep refining the how until it’s right. If your goal is to read 50 books, then the motivation might be to “learn new perspectives” and the how should shift. You could read less, but go deeper. This serves the same overall motivation, but the tactic is now different.

Reframe your setbacks.

Setbacks are inevitable—they’re part of the journey. But the battle is in our mind, so we have to regularly reframe problems as opportunities. Did you miss a run when you’re training for a marathon? Instead of dwelling on it, reframe it: How could this be a good thing? Well it could mean you get more time to cross-train on mobility or review running videos. If you don’t slow down and heal, you risk longer-term damage. There’s always a positive—you just have to find it.

Manage the tension to find balance.

Balance comes from understanding the tensions and seamlessly managing them. That tension is good and necessary. Use the tension as a guide, a compass. When managed appropriately, tensions will surface priorities. Continuing with our running example, there is a tension between pushing hard in workouts and allowing time to rest and recover. You have to manage that tension to find the balance and, ultimately, focus your efforts the right way.

Surrounded by Books

Fri, 10 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

I want to be surrounded by books. They teach, inspire, and stoke curiosity. When I see all the bright colors, unique designs, and captivating titles, my energy immediately increases. The physical books act as anchors of inspiration, a constant reminder of the knowledge, wisdom, and lessons buried inside the pages.

So when I say I want to be "surrounded by books", I'm not just talking about my physical environment. Books represent timeless wisdom. They are buffers to the real-time deluge of information spread online. I don't waste my energy keeping up with the latest framework, trend, or drama. My attention is focused on what is eternal, fundamental, and essential.

Your environment shapes you, but you also shape your environment. Your values reflect in your space—physically and mentally. A cluttered space lacks energy, curiosity, and identity. A cluttered mind lacks clarity, consistency, and intention.

Surround yourself with books, both in your home and in your mind.

2024 Review

Tue, 31 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Wins

I launched my new brand and personal site.
I started posting consistently on social again.
I connected and reconnected with a lot of folks.
I attended two conferences: Front-end Conf in St. Pete and Config in SF.
I launched two (small) products: FramedThoughts and SimplyWords.
I completed sessions: Building Better Products and Getting Started with Shape Up.
I launched my newsletter, Build Quality, and released 17 issues.
My workspace was featured in workspaces.xyz.
I completed my first Shape Up workshop with an external team.
I ran my annual 5K and beat my time from last year.

Stats

1900+ Online Connections
120+ Connections
1200+ Content Posts
580+ hours of Focus Time
17 Newsletter Issues
60% Avg. Newsletter Open Rate
365 Days Rings Closed
360+ 10k Step Days
36 Books Read
2300+ Miles Traveled
80+ Movies Watched
24+ Shows Watched

Favorites

Book: The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley. It’s easy to be cynical, but it’s hard to be optimistic. Matt Ridley explores major points throughout history and shows how, things on the whole, have favored optimistic. It was an excellent read.
Movie: Godzilla Minus One. This movie was incredible. It was a fresh take on a classic. It was about the people, not the monsters. It was about how the monsters test your character. It was about the road to redemption. It was beautiful.
Show: Beef. I was riveted in every episode. The acting was superb, the story was gripping, and there were so many hidden meanings and messages within it. I also love when shows leave the endings open to interpretation. That’s art.

Learnings

You can never predict what lies ahead. Planning is important, but you must stay adaptable to the impermanence of most of life. Life is change, and you need to be ready for it. I never would have been able to predict what would happen in 2024, and that’s expected. The sooner you accept it, the more resilient you become.
The only way to learn anything is by doing it. You can read books, listen to podcasts, or watch videos, but you never really know how to do something until you do it. Each time I wanted to acquire a skill, I would acquire all the knowledge. But skills are applied knowledge, which requires the doing part to apply the knowledge. You learn by doing.
Principles are the secret unlock for adaptability. While I do believe in process, I believe more in the principles that a process is derived from. The core and fundamental truths that allow you to experiment and find your own expression.

Takeaways

Cultivate an experimental mindset. Act like a scientist. Challenge assumptions, test theories, and continuously iterate. Life is just one big experiment.
Learn desired skills through practical application. When I want to learn a new skill, I will do it with an active project. And with an experimental mindset, I can continue to test out the skill, learn, and iterate in a tight feedback loop.
Work backwards from the first principles to form processes. Principles First is my philosophy for everything. Acquiring knowledge is about distilling principles because they can be transferred to other domains. Shape Up as a software development philosophy—when distilled into principles—is applicable to other domains, such as building a house.

The Craft of Project Management

Wed, 11 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Managing a project is easy. Managing a project well is difficult. It’s far more art than science—and it’s certainly more than to-dos, schedules, and status updates.

When you’re managing a project, you need to:

Collect Context
Curate Communication
Collaborate Collectively

Collect Context

Information is power. And the information you need to manage a project comes from the context you’ve collected. Write diligent notes, document decisions, and continue to dig deeper into the problem space to unlock key insights. They say “content is king”, but I think “context is king.” The better the context, the better the decisions. And delivering effectively requires trade-offs, built upon hundreds of tiny decisions made daily. Context is your ally.

Curate Communication

If you’re leading a project well, you’re an artist—you’re a chef. The kitchen may be chaotic at times, but that’s not what the customer sees—that’s the creative process in motion. You know how to select the best items, construct the menu, and thoughtfully present information. That’s artistry. Often times that means extra work, duplication, and methodical precision. But it protects the creative process and it puts the best product in front of your customers. You do it because it’s your craft.

Collaborate Collectively

With clear context and clear presentation, you need a flywheel of refinement. You need feedback. The tighter the feedback loop, the more you can iterate. And the more you can iterate, the better the end result. Project success is measured by impact. And you only get there through continuous feedback loops born out of collaboration. You know precisely when to open the aperture and bring more people into the process, and when to lower the volume of input to decrease the noise.

The Craft

Project management is a craft. And like all crafts, it requires taste, intuition, and a deep understanding of the domain you operate in. Focus on the principles, and let the process be a byproduct of those fundamental truths.

Remote Work

Fri, 06 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMT

For me, remote work > being in an office.

I can build my workday around my natural rhythms, which sets me up to do my best work. Offices are designed to engineer serendipitous in-person connections. They are optimized for building relationships, not doing deep work. And cognitively demanding work is a solo endeavor. It requires putting your head down and focusing. Remote work in the right environment gives you more space to work in that way.

I’m an introvert who enjoys working this way, but I also acknowledge that connecting with others, having conversations, and working collaboratively is key to a healthy working lifestyle. So I make sure to do that through regular video calls, connecting with folks in person, and making sure there’s space for building relationships while working remote.

As with all things, it’s a balance.

Sparking Creativity

Wed, 04 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Here’s how I spark creativity:

Get outside and walk.

The physical movement creates mental movement, and being outside is always restorative for me. And if I really want to spark creativity, getting out into real nature is always the best remedy. There’s no problem that can withstand a good walk outside in nature while thinking deeply on it.

Set constraints to work within.

It feels like a paradox, but setting constraints for yourself (even artificial ones) can force you to think more creatively. It can be a constraint of time, the tools you can use, or which techniques you can leverage. For example, could I redesign my website with two colors and a single font and weight and make it appealing? This is just a thought exercise, but you get the point: Constraints breed creativity.

Follow my energy.

Energy is the ultimate compass. It will point you towards the things you’re interested in and, perhaps more importantly, what you’re not interested in. As adults, we gravitate away from being playful and curious like we were as kids, but it’s still vital for creativity. I always try to follow my energy, indulge in playfulness, and keep following the questions I have.

Leadership vs. Management

Fri, 08 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Leadership and management are distinct forces.

Leadership inspires vision, drives guidance, and fosters excellence.

Management ensures communication, maintains tracking, and measures performance.

Great leadership organically produces the outcomes we associate with management:

Set a clear vision, and communication will naturally follow.
Provide proper guidance, and tracking becomes streamlined.
Foster a culture of excellence, and performance will be driven by the team itself.

Leadership is a generative activity. It generates high-value outcomes.

Management is an evaluative activity. It evaluates existing behaviors.

Leadership is future-focused, always creating what’s next. Management lives in the past and present, making sure what has been done continues to perform.

If you want to create a lasting impact, spend more time leading than managing.

The Details

Thu, 07 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMT

The only way to do great work is being detailed and pushing for the best.

I was working with two developers on a new product. They were deep in the code and cranking out functionality. I continuously did product reviews and called out everything, from larger bugs to the smallest of design details. I felt bad. They were doing so much, and I was focusing on these small details.

But when I gave them a shout-out calling out how I was “nitpicking” all the little things, their feedback was about how helpful it was:

The nitpicking makes us all better. There are so many of the little things you suggest that once I see it I am like ‘oh that small one-line change makes it look so much better.’

“Nitpicking” is the negative perception, but it’s actually about being in the details—being stubborn when you need to be—and pushing the team to make the best possible version of the product. That is worth it.

Be in the details. Do your best work.

Life Modes

Wed, 06 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMT

My wife and I started doing monthly day dates while the kids are at school. I take the day off from work and we get time to ourselves.

And we came up with specific formats for the day to cover the “modes” were in:

Play when we want creativity and fun.
Pause when we want reflection and calm.

The default mode is Work Mode: The continuous and repetitive process of doing work. This applies whether you work a 9-5, side hustle, or run a family and household. It’s all work. And it will consume all the brain space you have, which is why you have to intentionally build rhythms for playing and pausing.

On a recent Pause Day, my wife had a revelation about the type of things she wants to pursue. That’s a wonderful feeling. And you can only get there through pausing, reflecting, and thinking critically. Engage in conversation, rethink assumptions, and question everything.

Pause Mode requires a mindset shift. You have to remove your ego and detach from the stories you’re telling yourself. Open yourself up to novel insights and ideas you wouldn’t find otherwise.

Play Mode sparks curiosity and creativity. It opens neural pathways, relieves stress, and restores your energy. I think of play as activities you’d enjoy as a child: building forts, playing board games, or just running around outside.

My wife and I do this together as a shared experience, but it applies to teams, too. Pause Mode is when you do a team retrospective at the end of a project. Play Mode is when you do team-building activities or connect together socially.

Understanding these Life Modes has helped me fluidly shift as my energy ebbs and flows. When I’m low energy, I know I need to pause or play. It moves me into the right headspace to get back into Work Mode with clarity and focus.

Because sometimes we have to slow down so we can speed up.

Supported Independence

Fri, 25 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Early in my leadership career, I kept making the same mistake:

I took on other people’s problems as my own.

It’s not leadership. And it’s a recipe for burnout and stagnation, limiting my own growth and, more importantly, those I’m leading.

If you don’t give someone the tools to solve their own problems, they never will. Even worse, if you keep solving problems for them, they’ll rely on you. I call this “Extreme Dependence.”

Problems like this become hydras: solve one and two grow in its place. You create compounding work for yourself.

To fix this, I started moving towards a sustainable system of support. Instead of solving their problem, I helped them frame the problem in such a way they could understand how to solve it for themselves. I call this “Supported Independence.”

I help them understand the problem by asking questions and digging deeper:

What is the core problem?
Why is it important to solve it?
What is the one next step you can take?

Eventually they started to ask these questions before they talked to me. And to take it further, I encouraged them to write it out. Nothing clarifies thinking like writing. If you understand and care about the problem, writing will become your compass.

The best part? The act of writing usually gave them the clarity they needed. We didn’t have to frame the problem together—they already knew what to do. And the bonus is now there is a paper trail of thinking and context. We improve our decision making by understanding the decisions we’ve made: what worked, what didn’t, and why.

Moving from Extreme Dependence to Supported Independence made me a better leader, and it ignited compounding growth for those I led. Don’t get caught in the trap of thinking it’s your job to solve other people’s problems. As a leader, you need to show them they’re capable of solving their own problems.

Finding Your Rhythm

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMT

A traditional 9-5 is a box—a rigid structure that stifles productivity and creativity. It’s designed for the collective, but we all have our own rhythms—when, where, and how we work best. Unlike a rigid office schedule, remote work gives you the freedom to design a workday that fits you—your natural rhythm, your energy, and your focus.

Optimize for your energy

Your energy isn’t constant. There are days where you’re locked in and ready to tackle complex problems. Other times, you’re in a slump. Mapping your energy across the day lets you sync your tasks with those natural peaks and valleys. You can’t always stick to high-energy work, but knowing when to schedule those challenging tasks—and when to recharge with lighter activities—can make all the difference.

Find the right environment

Your environment is the backdrop to your productivity. For me, when it’s time to write, I head to a specific corner of my office. It instantly puts me in the zone, making it easier to dive into deep work. The right environment shifts your mindset. Play around with different spots until you find where you work best.

Balance structured and unstructured time

People shy away from time blocking because it feels rigid. But here’s the paradox: structure creates freedom. By scheduling your day with blocks of unstructured time, you give your brain space to breathe. That ‘unstructured’ block could be for anything—walking, thinking, or letting your mind wander. It’s about protecting that time to reset between bursts of focused work.

Remote work is a beautiful thing

Remote work gives you freedom, but it demands discipline. When you tune into your own rhythms—letting them guide your day—you’ll find new pathways for growth. The key is flexibility—knowing when to push and when to pull back. Listen to your energy, let it guide you, and watch the magic unfold.

Cultivating Taste in the Age of AI

Mon, 23 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT

We live in a world driven by algorithms. Each piece of content we consume is meticulously curated—designed to reinforce our biases and keep us consuming passively. AI chats are always within reach, tempting us to accept easy answers without actually thinking them through.

AI-generated content is everywhere, churning out impersonal, sterile products. In an AI world where outputs become increasingly commoditized, critical thinking is our most valuable tool. And maybe our most endangered.

Let me be clear: I love AI. I use it every day and believe in its potential to enhance creativity and drive innovation. This piece, for example, began in ChatGPT, where it helped me synthesize ideas into a rough hypothesis. But that was just step one. From there, I refined every word myself—working with AI as a partner, not a replacement. The joy for me is in the process, the satisfaction of shaping raw thoughts into polished ideas.

The issue isn’t AI itself. The issue is how we use it.

Critical Thinking: The Key to Refined Taste

At the core of this engagement is critical thinking. It’s what allows us to develop “taste”—the ability to discern quality, to know what makes something truly good or bad. As AI commoditizes more and more outputs, those who cultivate taste through active analysis will stand out. They’ll create work that isn’t just passable, but exceptional.

And this isn’t just about aesthetics. It’s about first principles—the deep, foundational concepts that form the bedrock of any discipline. When we start from these core truths, we build sharper intuition and make better decisions.

AI as a Collaborative Tool, Not the Answer

Too often, AI is seen as a shortcut or a one-size-fits-all solution. But that mindset leads to passive consumption—accepting whatever the AI bot spits out (the AI “slop”). The real opportunity is to treat AI as a creative partner. We can critically analyze its suggestions, apply our personal knowledge, and reshape its outputs to fit our unique taste. AI can’t replace the human instinct for quality, but it can enhance it when we remain engaged.

Active Analysis Over Passive Consumption

Passive consumption is easy. We’re fed content, products, and even ideas without having to question them. But critical thinking asks us to actively engage. It asks us to seek out, question, and reshape information until it works for us—until it aligns with our own taste and context. Applying frameworks isn’t about following a blueprint. It’s about adapting them to create tailored and nuanced solutions—our own expression of the framework.

In the end, everything is a remix. AI gives us new modes of working, but it’s critical thinking that shapes the inputs into something unmistakably ours. With a cultivated sense of taste and an analytical mind, we can move beyond commoditized outputs and create something that stands apart—something truly valuable, something human, something beautiful.

Develop Taste Through Awareness

Tue, 27 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Developing taste starts with awareness: being mindful and noticing the elements you interact with, the experiences you're part of, and the environments you inhabit. This includes software, physical products, and architecture.

Pay attention to the moments:

When you use a piece of software and it evokes positive (or negative) emotions.
When you interact with a product and it helps you achieve your outcome.
When you walk in a physical space and there’s a clear energy to it.

Once you start noticing, you then need to:

Reduce it to the fundamentals.
Reason with why it works.
Recreate it yourself.

Reducing it to the fundamentals allows you to identify the core principles, which can be transferred and applied to other areas. The ergonomic properties that make a piece of software work well can apply to physical products. And physical products can influence how environments are designed. Drawing from the first principles enables this behavior.

A principle of software design is “separation of concerns,” which focuses on avoiding overlapping functionality between separate areas. This also applies to other areas like industrial design where designated places have specific use-cases.

With an understanding of the principles, you can then reason with the why—what makes the principle work?

Does it draw on an emotion?
Is there a cognitive bias at play?
Does it fit a pre-existing mental model?

Form a definition for what makes it work.

And then take the principle and apply it in your own work. Find a way to integrate it and put it into practice. We learn by doing, and information is readily absorbed when it’s closely interacted with. This is when we really develop our taste—when those understood principles (the knowledge) transfer into the work we do (the skills).

When you interact with the world, pay attention. Every experience is a chance to refine our sense of taste—our innate understanding of how objects interact with one another to inform aesthetically pleasing and meaningful experiences.

Develop your taste through awareness.

This is your differentiator. This is human intuition. This is you.

Craft & Career

Wed, 31 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT

You don’t have to give up your craft to grow your career. You don't have to stop doing the work to manage others. You can grow your craft and your career. And you'll be a better leader when you keep refining your craft.

It always happens the same way: the best designer, developer, or craftsperson tries to advance in their career. Some companies will tell them they can keep growing in their craft, get paid more, and avoid the dreaded “management track.” Other companies will force them into a management or leadership position, as it feels like the only way to move up in the organization.

Why does this become the ultimatum? And why must it be this way?

At one company, I started as a "Designer & Front-end Developer." By the time I left, I was the "Director of UI Engineering" and still deeply involved in front-end development. Although I spent more time in leadership meetings and 1:1s with my team members, I continued to improve my skills and tackle the most challenging development projects.

Leadership is about setting an example. Like parenting, it involves modeling the behavior you want to see. Imagine going to a personal trainer to get fit; you'd expect them to be in excellent shape, far above your own fitness level. They set the example and the standard by which you measure your progress. If they can't demonstrate superior fitness and knowledge, how can they effectively guide and coach you?

I spent two months building three startups that ultimately failed before accepting a position as a "Senior Software Engineer" at my current company. I joined a new company to refocus my energy on building new products. Now I serve as the "Chief Product Officer". But I still code, design, and get my hands in the work.

I don’t believe I can coach and mentor designers, developers, and product leads without being involved in the work. I love making things, and doing so helps me lead others. I can set the standard.

I once worked with an incredible engineer. He started an apprenticeship program, training and mentoring junior developers. He found ways to share knowledge and insights across teams. The leadership team often sought his advice. By any measure, he was a “leader.” We needed an Engineering Director, and he was the obvious choice. So we asked—and he said “no.” Why? He didn’t want to manage people. He saw that role as taking him away from the natural leadership he was already providing. On one hand, I wish more people had the ability to say “no” like he did. But I also wish companies were structured to let someone like him stay in the craft and be a manager.

My contrarian belief is that the best leaders are also the best craftspeople. While this may not scale in larger organizations, it’s something I wish I saw more of—the ability to manage others in a craft you still practice yourself.

A perfect example of this is Jiro Ono, a sushi master who continued to refine his craft well into his 90s. Despite his age and status, he still worked behind the counter, preparing sushi for his customers. Jiro set a high standard for his apprentices and led them by example. He demonstrated that mastery of a craft comes from continuous improvement and dedication, and this relentless pursuit of excellence inspired his staff to strive for the same level of mastery.

When you set that standard, you are leading. As the Zen proverb says:

Before enlightenment, chop wood carry water.

After enlightenment, chop wood carry water.

The Feel

Thu, 18 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT

There’s no shortcut to learning.

In order to learn something, you have to actually do the thing. And frequently that means doing it for a long time before you get really good at it. My five-year-old recently proclaimed that he “knows how to drive.” He’s presumably saying this because he’s watched us drive a car while sitting in the backseat. Even though he’s never done it, he feels like he has through the sheer volume of hours of observation.

This is the knowledge gap between observation and experience.

I remember the first time my dad taught me to drive. It felt foreign starting the car, putting my seatbelt on, and adjusting the mirrors. I never experienced the mechanics of holding the steering wheel; or the vibrations of the car through the pedals under my feet; or having to alternate between applying pressure to the gas pedal while applying a different level of pressure to the brake pedal.

I never experienced the feel of driving.

Every type of work has a feel. And this is something you can’t fully understand until you experience it firsthand. You need to get the movements in your body and mind, learn the mechanics, and move from observation to experience.

The same applies to learning anything. You have to put down the book, stop watching tutorials, and move away from observation into experience.

You have to feel the work.

The Age of Product Builders

Tue, 09 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT

AI is transforming the classic product trio: product manager, designer, engineer.

The roles are blending as AI closes the skill gap for each specialty. Designers can use AI tools to create working prototypes of their designs; engineers can create designs to code; and product managers can do everything in between. Heck, each role can do what they enjoy and use AI to handle the rest.

I believe we’re moving into The Age of Product Builders.

While they each specialize and focus on a given area (product, design, engineering), they can leverage AI tooling to supplement and close the skill gap more quickly. This will help build better empathy and even better products. If AI can get us 80% of the way there, then we have more time to experiment, test, and put more quality into the products we build.

I am a product builder.

I started in design, learned software engineering, and then picked up all the other skills around leading and managing products and their development. I don’t identify with a single discipline because I believe in the combination of all disciplines. The goal is to build high-quality software products.

And I think this is a paradigm shift in the process—an evolution of the craft.

Agility will be paramount in this new age. And I’m excited for it.

The Hill Chart

Wed, 19 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT

The “Hill Chart” is one of my favorite ways to represent the progress of work. This concept originated from Jason Fried and the team at 37signals.

I don’t trust percentage completions. I want to know how the team feels about the work. The Hill Chart helps clarify that progress. It’s a representation of the team's collective intuition, knowledge, and experience. And you can’t represent that with a percentage.

Work is like a hill. There’s work required to figure things out (uphill) and then make it happen (downhill). The Hill Chart is a visual representation of that distinction, which is important to understand progress.

Each independent scope of work is tracked as a dot on the hill. This is a built-in feature of Basecamp, but this visualization can be used anywhere. I've used tools like FigJam and Whimsical boards to create Hill Charts. You could even sketch it on a piece of paper (I have!).

Hill Charts spark conversation and ignite curiosity. They help the team conceptualize the work and have real discussions to identify and resolve the unknowns. This isn’t about trying to determine a completion percentage. Being at the top of the hill does not mean you’re 50% through the work. You can have 99 out of 100 tasks complete, but the last one could be riddled with unknowns and complexity. And there could be several undiscovered tasks.

Even when I’m not using Basecamp to track the work, I always come back to Hill Charts as the best method to understand where the work really stands.

Boredom

Wed, 05 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT

My kids don’t understand boredom. Their time is filled with nonstop activities and screens. But boredom is valuable—it’s a skill to cultivate. I’m teaching them this concept because they need to both understand and appreciate it. Easier said than done, I know!

When I discussed this with a coworker, they commented that boredom is useful for kids. I believe it's beneficial for adults, too. Boredom is a lost art and a powerful tool for personal growth and mental well-being.

Our brains continually absorb information—articles, books, podcasts, music, movies, TV shows, emails, and texts. This constant intake can lead to overload. When overloaded, our brains struggle to find the signal through the noise, causing energy depletion and information loss.

Think of your brain as a garden: over time, it accumulates weeds (useless information). If we're always planting new seeds (consuming new information), we don't give the garden a chance to be weeded and pruned. Boredom is like taking a break from planting to clear out the weeds, prune the plants, and let the garden breathe and flourish.

According to the Mayo Clinic, “Boredom activates the brain's "default mode network", which consolidates memories, reflects on lessons learned, and restores cognitive resources depleted by intense focus.” Your brain, quite literally, is working when you’re bored.

Resist the urge to grab your phone or check your email. Take a break so your brain can work—to organize and process information. Appreciate the moment. Embrace boredom.

When you find yourself with nothing to do, take pleasure in it.

The Busy Signal

Tue, 04 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT

In the days when landline phones were ubiquitous, the “busy signal” was a familiar occurrence—a quick beep indicating the person you were trying to reach was on another call. It was a clear sign to try again later. This concept can be applied to our approach towards knowledge work.

Saying “busy” often masks deeper issues in our work. It signals that the work at hand might lack impact, meaning, or personal significance. Our days become packed with meetings, to-do lists, and busyness that serves as a shield against meaningful reflection.

Busyness should prompt reflection and deeper thinking. It’s a cue to pause, explore our motivations, and shift from information collection to thoughtful analysis. Recognizing this signal helps us break free from the busyness trap.

To escape this cycle, we need to reduce meetings, streamline tasks, and focus on cultivating a life rich in depth and meaning. Aligning our work with what truly motivates us, holds personal significance, and shapes our desired identity is essential.

Consider your current situation. Use the busy signal as a prompt for deeper contemplation, paving the way for a more fulfilling work life centered on intention and purpose.

Next time you feel overwhelmed with busyness, take it as a sign. Pause, reflect, and think more profoundly about your path. What can you change?

Accidental Discoveries

Mon, 03 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Some of the most monumental discoveries were made by accident.

Wilhelm Röntgen accidentally discovered X-rays in 1895.
Alexander Fleming accidentally discovered penicillin in 1928.
Percy Spencer accidentally discovered microwaves for cooking food in 1945.

In addition to their accidental nature, the significance of these discoveries wasn’t realized immediately. Fleming published his findings in 1929, but penicillin wasn’t used clinically until the 1940s. It took years for X-ray technology to be widely adopted in medicine and security screening.

Be curious, explore, and don’t disregard the work you’re doing—you never know where it might lead. Your discovery doesn’t have to be groundbreaking like penicillin, X-rays, or microwaves. It could simply be an insight that solves a problem you’re working on.

I don't have breakthroughs or insights while sitting in front of the computer. They occur unexpectedly—while walking outside, talking to someone, or diverting my attention elsewhere. This time allows my brain to connect the dots, view things from a fresh perspective, and process all the information I’ve absorbed.

Take breaks, go for walks, and let your mind wander. Our minds need space and exploration to make connections. Everything we learn is part of a larger puzzle in our minds, but we can’t see the whole picture without giving ourselves the freedom to explore.

Phases of Building Software

Thu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 GMT

We’re in the fourth week of development on a new 0-1 product. My initial excitement is transforming into pressure to meet the design standards I expect.

Despite using technologies that provide a solid design foundation, our current UI does not reflect the final product's aesthetics. While I’m tempted to jump in and refine the UI immediately, I understand the importance of timing in the development process. It reminds me of the sequential phases of constructing a house, each stage requiring deliberate attention and completion before proceeding to the next.

Software development follows a similar pattern with distinctive phases:

Phase 1: Foundation — This first phase involves laying down the groundwork: establishing the codebase, infrastructure, and deployment pipelines. It serves as the backbone on which the entire project will stand. This is the concrete foundation.

Phase 2: Framing — Comparable to constructing the core structure of a house (wood framing and drywall), this phase focuses on developing essential functionality such as authentication, primary screens, and basic operations (e.g. CRUD functionality).

Phase 3: Finishing — Just like adding the final touches to a house like painting and flooring, this phase introduces initial design elements, enhancing its appearance and usability.

Phase 4: Furnishing — In this phase, functionality is further developed, resembling the process of adding furniture and appliances to a home. It improves the look and feel of the product, setting a solid foundation for subsequent improvements.

Phase 5: Decorating — The final phase is for the art and personal touches. These are the details that bring a product (and home) to life. It’s the personality, the “feel” of the product: the animation and interactions.

Just as each phase in constructing a house is essential, so are the stages in software development. Understanding where you are in the process helps align your efforts to the activities that match the phase you’re in.

Think Different

Fri, 10 May 2024 00:00:00 GMT

When confronted with difficult problems, we tend to limit our thinking based on our own mental models and experiences. These shape our perception of the world.

To diversify our thinking, we need to forcibly adopt different perspectives. This approach enables us to explore various mental models and generate creative solutions to problems.

Typically, this is achieved through collaboration and brainstorming within a group. Each group member leverages their distinct thought processes, mental models, and experiences to contribute to creative problem-solving strategies.

But what if you’re working alone?

Here are three ways to think differently about a problem you’re wrestling with:

Use reframing questions. This could include asking yourself questions like, "What would this look like if it were easy?". Coming up with reframing questions can prompt you to think differently about potential solutions to the problem.
Write out the problem to present to someone else. Do a formal write-up of the problem without identifying potential solutions. The act of writing out the problem will force you to think about it in a new light. You can also seek out others with diverse perspectives and present the write-up to them. Ask them to provide possible solutions.
Use a tool like ChatGPT to provide diverse perspectives. ChatGPT can give you a range of potential solutions to the problem you may not have thought about. Some suggestions may be obvious ones you thought of, but it's a quick way to generate a variety of possibilities.

Tech Debt

Thu, 09 May 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Building new features and managing tech debt is a tough balance.

Introducing new features increases the surface area of the codebase, which in turn increases the likelihood of bugs, regressions, and instability. This grows over time as more features are built.

But new features are fun to build! Clients and customers love the additional functionality. And it’s natural to want more. But there is a cost to the continual pipeline of new product features: tech debt.

So how can we manage this?

Pair tech debt work with new feature development.

By strategically identifying areas in the codebase to introduce new functionality while removing old features, you can improve the codebase strategically. This approach may require allocating more time than originally planned, dedicating additional time to ensure tech debt is addressed alongside new features.

Solve the core problem of a new feature quickly to create margin.

Here is a common scenario: We can take the short path with the solution, or we can take the longer path that includes a more abstract and nicely designed architecture. Go for the shorter path first, and then focus the additional time on refactoring and addressing technical debt. If refactoring work can’t be completed in time, move it to the cool-down or bet on it in a future cycle.

Address tech debt proactively by dedicating time in the development cycle.

Communicate openly with stakeholders about the importance of managing tech debt to prevent slowdowns in feature development, regressions, and bugs that could impact customer satisfaction.

Tech debt doesn’t get better with age. It’s like a variable interest rate — unpredictable and grows costlier over time. Find strategies to pay it down during development to keep your product humming along.

Constraints & Controls

Wed, 08 May 2024 00:00:00 GMT

How do you get a team to deliver work on time?

Constraints & Controls.

Delivering anything on time begins with setting a constraint: a deadline or a fixed amount of time allocated to the task. This is how much time you’re willing to put toward the solution.

Timelines often go off track because initial estimates are just that — estimates. While you can improve estimation accuracy with experience, it’s a deceptive path. Humans struggle to estimate accurately, especially in software development, which is full of unknowns. True clarity comes from actually doing the work. Lean into the unknowns and build for them.

Constraints force trade-offs, but teams must be equipped with controls: the levers that enable them to adjust the scope of work as they encounter unknowns.

When facing unforeseen complexities during feature development, they must be able to modify the solution and adapt the scope to manage these changes effectively. Working against a fixed scope without controls is like navigating a ship without a rudder, leaving the team helpless against the unpredictable currents of the project.

Constraints force trade-offs and decision-making.

Controls, like modifying the scope, create levers for the team.

Apply constraints and supply controls.

Deliver on time.

Early Developer Advice

Wed, 01 May 2024 00:00:00 GMT

What advice do you have for an early career developer?

You don’t have to know everything.

The technology landscape is vast and constantly evolving. Focus on understanding foundational concepts and principles, such as logic flow, data flow, and state management. These skills transfer easily across different technologies and domains.

Soft skills are as essential as hard skills.

The best developers I’ve worked with had excellent soft skills. Improve problem-solving, time management, and adaptability. These skills will make you a more effective collaborator and increase your value to a team.

Product intuition is built through user empathy.

We do more than just write code to meet requirements. We write code to address real issues for real people. Concentrate on the results of your work, talk to users, and develop a product sense to guide your craft.

Failure is Feedback

Tue, 09 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMT

In the show Silicon Valley (on HBO), the character Gavin Belson showed a slide that read “Failure = Success”.

It was meant as a joke, but I think, with a small adjustment, the equation isn’t a joke. Hear me out.

Failure + Learning + Iteration = Success

Failure is a prerequisite for success. The path to success is not only paved with failures, but also the lessons and iterations that arise from these failures.

I learned programming by failing. Repeatedly — over and over again until I succeeded.

That is the essence of writing code: tight failure-iteration-success loops.

You write code.
You get an error (failure).
You make a change (iteration).

This process continues until you succeed. The knowledge you acquire deepens your understanding of the fundamentals. From there, you build further. Instead of dwelling on each error, you understand it is a natural and expected part of the journey towards success.

Apply this thinking to all endeavors.

See failure as feedback. Use failure as a guide. And grow exponentially.

Playful Energy

Mon, 08 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMT

I once tackled a massive overhaul of a marketing site and web application, going deep into the codebase to revise every line of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. There were hundreds of unique screens, each needing a rewrite, testing, and responsive design.

Despite my love for the work, the vast scope and repetition soon sapped my energy. A particularly grueling day felt like an endless slog through thick mud. My monitor's screen dissolved into a blur, thoughts drifted, and fingers stiffened, making each line of code a monumental effort to write.

So, I took a break.

I shifted focus to a personal passion project: a website to organize my animated GIFs collection, searchable by categories. I also created a Google Chrome Extension that displayed a random GIF from my collection when opening a new tab.

This detour was goofy and weird, yet playful.

Surprisingly, this playful interlude replenished my energy. Returning to the project, I felt reinvigorated with a surge of purpose and passion. My skills seemed sharpened, allowing for quicker, more efficient coding. Clarity returned to my screen, focus to my mind, and swiftness to my fingers. This pause, paradoxically, increased my efficiency.

The experience taught me a valuable lesson: Make time for play. It's essential to step away and recharge, not just for the sake of well-being, but to enhance productivity.

Slow down to speed up.

Find Your Own Path

Fri, 29 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT

I’ve been writing content for 60 consecutive days. I’ve crafted and shared over 100 pieces of original posts, images, and videos across Twitter and LinkedIn.

I’d like to talk about the journey so far, including a huge realization I came to.

Common advice around content creation is to focus on one niche. Figure out your unique position and lean into it.

But that wasn't working for me.

I’m a generalist with a passion for exploring multiple subjects. So this approach felt restrictive and out of sync with my natural curiosity. The journey to find my voice was filled with trial and error, as I navigated through the advice of well-established creators who advocated for a singular, specific focus.

But then I had a realization.

Building my brand and voice isn’t about narrowing my interests, but about bridging them. The core of my focus lies in providing value by making complex information accessible and usable for others. This realization has not only allowed me to embrace my wide-ranging interests, but has also defined a unique niche that truly represents who I am:

I convert diverse knowledge into actionable insights.

I’ve built software for a long time. Within the tech industry, I’ve:

Worked outside of just the design and development work.
Led teams and managed the product.
Learned about sales and marketing.
Dug deeper into business finance.
Integrated my interests in history, science, and psychology.

Embracing being a generalist in a world that champions specialization has its challenges, but it’s immensely rewarding. It’s a testament to the idea that our strengths often lie not in conforming to established paths, but in forging our own.

This journey has taught me the power of content creation lies in its ability to transform knowledge into action. My goal is to make information more navigable and understandable for everyone.

So that’s what I’m going to do.

I’m finding my path. You should, too.

The Priority Statement

Wed, 27 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Multitasking is a lie. There can only be one true priority.

Write a Priority Statement to set your intention each day.

What you are going to do (the task / goal / objective)
When you are going to do it (the time you have blocked)
Where you are going to do it (location)
Who you are working with (if needed)
Why you are doing it (get clear on why it’s important)

Example:

I’m going to rebuild my personal website
from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
at my desk
so I can design and write code
and create a space for long-form writing
and release my new brand

The Generalist Superpower

Fri, 22 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT

The phrase "Jack of all trades, master of none" often carries a negative connotation. However, the lesser-known ending of this saying, "...but oftentimes better than a master of one," highlights the inherent value of being a generalist, particularly evident in the age of AI.

Being a generalist is a superpower. Why?

Generalists navigate through multiple fields, bringing innovative solutions and creativity that challenge conventional boundaries.
Generalists connect disparate ideas, drawing on a broad knowledge base to create solutions to complex challenges.
Generalists bridge communication gaps, fostering cohesive teamwork and effective collaboration.

One of my most rewarding team experiences demonstrates the power of generalists. Our team, made up of individuals who were both designers and front-end developers, operated on a unique wavelength. Everyone had skills in both designing and coding. This dual capability among team members not only improved our workflow, but also deepened our understanding of each area.

The ability to live in both worlds of design and development enhanced team collaboration, efficiency, and the overall quality of the products we created. It emphasized the value of having team members who can appreciate and contribute to all stages of the product development process.

Embracing life as a generalist doesn't mean losing depth for breadth. It's about recognizing the strength in versatility — the ability to adapt, understand various disciplines, and innovate by connecting diverse perspectives.

To all the generalists out there, lean into it.

Discovery Fuel

Thu, 21 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Challenged assumptions fuel discovery.

As we accumulate knowledge and experience, our minds form assumptions. These assumptions help us navigate the world, but they pose a risk of leading us astray when left unchallenged.

It's essential to step back and ask:

Is this an assumption, or is it based on concrete evidence?

It's easy to assume we know how users interact with our software. The reality, however, often tells a different story. Only through direct engagement — asking users about their experiences and observing their interactions — can we truly validate or debunk our hypotheses.

How do we identify and challenge our assumptions?

Write down assumptions as you’re making decisions.
Look for data or previous experiences that support or contradict it.
Use surveys, interviews, and usability testing to gather insights from users.
Test your assumptions with small experiments and observe the outcomes.
Set aside time to regularly review and question your assumptions.

By identifying and challenging assumptions, we create a world of discovery and innovation.

Guided Innovation

Wed, 20 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Should we let customer feedback guide our product decisions, or is there merit in trusting our gut and the collective intuition of the team?

Relying only on customer demands and feature requests can lead us down the wrong path, clouding product vision, slowing product growth, and even diluting team culture.

My journey has seen its share of detours, especially during my tenure at companies where customer conversations overshadowed action, where the process became the product and stifled innovation, iteration, and continuous improvement.

I've also experienced the opposite: making product decisions based purely on intuition and experience, without taking customer feedback into account. This approach can result in products that don't connect with customers, hindering product growth and development.

Building the best product is about finding the balance where user insights blend seamlessly with our vision and expertise. This harmony is our guiding star, ensuring that while we value user input, it's weighted against the vision, the nuances of the industry, and the bold bets we're willing to make on the future.

Yes, you absolutely should listen to your users. But also listen to your intuition and the collective wisdom of your team. Embrace all of your experiences — the triumphs and the trials — to craft solutions that resonate, innovate, and stand the test of time.

Momentum

Wed, 13 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Momentum is everything.

Imagine a single domino setting off a chain reaction; this is momentum at work. It's about moving forward, regardless of the obstacles, and embracing each small victory. This steady drive turns vision into reality, fueling us with purpose and the determination to overcome challenges.

Building momentum flourishes with collaboration. When like-minded individuals unite, their collective energy becomes an unstoppable force for change.

Don’t underestimate the power of that first small step. It's the foundation of momentum, the force that carries us forward. Take action. Don’t stop. No excuses.

Be the domino.

Express Appreciation

Tue, 12 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Spend time expressing appreciation for those you work with.

Pay attention to the details: the manner in which they write their comments, their skill in using emojis, their attentiveness when others speak, the insightful questions they pose, and specific parts of a project where their hard work is evident.

Don't just publicly praise them for a significant achievement. Seek them out individually and let them know you recognize and appreciate their efforts and contributions.

Practice gratitude daily with those around you. Cultivate a culture of appreciation. This can transform the team dynamic, inspiring others to express gratitude and create a positive ripple of kindness.

The Little Things

Thu, 07 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT

I've enjoyed reading the Slack release notes for years. Aside from their creative writing and humor, I've pondered why I find them so appealing. It's a narrative about craftsmanship and the art of creation.

Someone, or perhaps a team, puts time into writing these release notes. They could easily write "Bug fixes and performance improvements" like most other release notes. However, they choose not to. There's a level of care, thought, effort, and creativity present, even in something as trivial as release notes. I find that beautiful.

It reminds me of a Steve Jobs quote:

When you're a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you're not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will see it. You'll know it's there, so you're going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back.

He's right. It's about the details. It means caring enough to make sure every part of your product reflects its purpose and tells its story. From the copy, to the emails, to the interface details, you strive for the product to consistently present its best self. You do this because you value the details, the work, the craft. You understand that someone (like me!) will read the release notes and care. But even if they don’t, that's okay because you do.

Care about the craft. Sweat the details. Strive for the highest quality in your work.

This goes out to the person / people writing the Slack release notes.

I see you. I appreciate you.

Calendar Rules

Wed, 06 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT

We’re in an overbooked, meeting-first culture that keeps everyone “busy” and not focused on doing the work and delivering value.

Establishing rules for your calendar is essential to protecting your time and energy. It prompts mindfulness about how you use and allocate your time, helping you negotiate and adjust your schedule based on your priorities and energy levels.

Here are the rules I set for my schedule to protect my time:

Hours of focus time per week: Determine how much time of focus work you want to optimize for. This is time spent in deep work, ignoring distractions, and doing cognitively demanding work.

My goal → Get at least 10 hours per week, but ideally 20.

Hours of meetings per day: Based on your company, role, and how meetings affect your energy, you should limit the number of hours you’re in meetings each day.

My goal → No more than 2 hours per day. Exceptions are 1:1s, pairing, and brainstorming.

No meeting times and/or days: Protect a certain part of the day (e.g. mornings), or try and protect full days (e.g. Thursdays). Optimize for your most productive time.

My goal → No meetings in the morning (before 1 PM).

Fixed routine blocks: Create recurring 30-minute blocks for your routines. I recommend “Startup” and “Shutdown” routines at the beginning and end of your day. Use these to go through checklists like clearing out notifications, responding to emails, etc.

My goal → 30-minute Startup, Sync, and Shutdown blocks every day.

Padding around meetings: Add a buffer before and after meetings. This helps visualize the true impact of a meeting because you can’t just run out of a meeting and straight into deep work. This is compounded by how the meeting affected your energy levels.

My goal → Have at least 30 minutes of padding around meetings (10-15 minutes before and after).

The key to time management is being proactive rather than reactive. Take control of your time and direct it towards tasks that align with your goals, rather than constantly responding to emerging issues. Implement these rules so you can focus on your most valuable work.

If you don’t prioritize your time, someone else will.

Maker & Manager

Sat, 02 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT

I thrive at the crossroads of being a maker and a manager. This intersection, rather than being a point of conflict, has become a source of strength and innovation.

I've always been passionate about creating and constructing something tangible and impactful. Simultaneously, I've been drawn to leadership and management roles. They provide satisfaction by steering teams and projects towards success, and empowering individuals to forge their own paths in creating meaningful work.

When I was a designer earlier in my career, the skills I learned along the way helped to sharpen my abilities as a developer; in turn, my developer skills enhanced my leadership skills. These transitions are symbiotic, each role feeding into the next, enriching my approach to problem-solving, decision-making, and strategic planning.

As a designer, I create designs that are innovative and customer-focused, while keeping business objectives in mind.

As a developer, I build solutions that are functional, visually appealing, and solve core user problems.

As a leader, I shape work that communicates complex ideas, addresses technical feasibility, and aligns sales and marketing strategies.

To those navigating the line between making and managing: remember, the diversity of your skills is your greatest asset. It enhances your versatility, enriches your work, and fosters empathy.

Share, Save, Measure

Thu, 29 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Focus on the journey, not just the destination.

Here are three essential practices while working towards a goal:

Share your progress. Embrace the chaos of creation by sharing your works in progress. It's not just about the end product — it's the journey that counts. Be vocal about the decisions, the pivots, and the progress. This transparency invites feedback and drives iteration.

Save your work. Document. Document. Document. From the first sketch on a napkin to the final product walkthrough, every stage is precious. Save screenshots, record videos, and maintain detailed documentation as your product evolves. This treasure trove is not just for nostalgia; it's a playbook for future innovation and a safeguard against repeating past mistakes.

Measure your impact. Begin with the end in mind with clear metrics. Track these diligently as you progress, and meticulously measure your impact post-launch. Understanding the ROI and real-world outcomes of your efforts is key to validating your approach and fueling future innovations.

Embrace these practices not as chores, but as opportunities to highlight the impact, refine your craft, and contribute to continuous innovation.

Ego-Free Leadership

Wed, 28 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Learning to lead without an ego means embracing vulnerability.

The vulnerability to share your emotions. Being a leader doesn't mean you are immune to fear or insecurity. It's okay to share these feelings with your team. Doing so can create a safe space for everyone to openly discuss their challenges and fears, fostering a culture of empathy and mutual support.

The vulnerability to say "I don't know". As a leader, there will be instances where you won't have all the answers. It's important to communicate this honestly instead of pretending to know everything. Admitting you don't know something demonstrates humility, promotes a learning culture, and encourages team members to share their knowledge and insights. It shows you value the expertise of your team and are open to learning from them.

The vulnerability to say "I need help". No one can do everything alone, especially leaders. Admitting when you need help is not a sign of weakness, but rather a sign of wisdom and understanding. It shows you recognize the skills and abilities of your team members, and that you value their contributions. This can strengthen the trust and collaboration within your team, enhancing its overall performance.

The vulnerability to admit when you're wrong. No one is perfect, and everyone makes mistakes — even leaders. Admitting when you're wrong is a sign of strength, not weakness. It paves the way for learning and growth, allowing you to turn mistakes into opportunities for improvement and personal development.

The vulnerability to share your failures. Every leader has experienced failure at some point. Sharing these experiences with your team can be a powerful learning tool and can show it's okay to make mistakes. By sharing your failures, you can relate better to your team members, strengthening team cohesion and mutual respect.

Remember, leadership is a journey that begins with you. Your actions, words, and emotions impact those around you.

Reframing Problems

Mon, 26 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Develop a growth mindset on your team with this simple reframing technique.

One of the most powerful tools in problem-solving is reframing problems as opportunities. This simple shift in perspective can unlock a wealth of innovation.

An effective method for doing this is to use "How Might We" statements.

“How Might We” statements are an effective method for shifting perspective.

Instead of stating a problem as a roadblock, "How Might We" statements present it as a challenge to be addressed. For example, instead of saying, "Our product is not user-friendly," a team might say, "How might we make our product more user-friendly?" This reframing prompts solution-focused thinking and encourages a positive, collaborative approach.

Leveraging "How Might We" statements in team retrospectives and collaboration sessions can be particularly impactful. It encourages team members to view challenges as shared problems to solve collectively, rather than individual failures.

The next time you encounter a problem, try reframing it as a "How Might We" statement. You might be surprised at the opportunities it opens up.

Redirect, Recharge, Recycle

Sat, 24 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Having ample time is irrelevant without energy. Here is the method I use to manage my energy levels:

Recycle: When I have HIGH ENERGY, I focus on cultivating the energy.

Use time blocking for long blocks of deep work to do knowledge work.
Exercise and go for a run.
Invest in relationships (as an introvert).

Recharge: When I have LOW ENERGY, I focus on activities to recharge.

Practice mindfulness and meditation.
Take regular breaks (short or long) and get outside.
Exercise and eat well.

Redirect: When I have NEGATIVE ENERGY, I focus on activities to generate positivity.

Write down things I’m grateful for.
Listen to music that can boost my mood.
Say “no” and practice essentialism.

Identify the activities you do, and determine how they affect your energy. And then manage your energy by recycling high energy, recharging low energy, and redirecting negative energy.

Meeting Flowchart

Thu, 22 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT

These are the three ways I categorize meetings:

Contextual Decisions: Multiple people with distinct knowledge deciding.
Collaborative Brainstorming: Real-time and collaborative brainstorming.
Relationship Building: Engaging with humans to grow relationships.

Depending on which and how many of these categories a meeting qualifies for determines whether to:

Have the meeting.
Do an ad-hoc.
Or set up a recurring meeting.

Journaling

Tue, 20 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Every day I capture key data points as part of my journaling process.

At the beginning of the day, I track:

Mood: How I feel on a scale of 1 (bad) to 5 (excellent).
Energy: My energy level on a scale of 1 (depleted) to 5 (energized).
️Intention: Based on my mood and energy, what is my intention for the day? Do I want to be a better listener? Do I want to be extra diligent to avoid distractions? Or do I just want to spend time resting?

At the end of the day, I track:

Emotion: What was the primary emotion for the day? Focused? Frustrated?
Rating: How I felt about the day on a scale of 1 (didn’t like it) to 5 (loved it).
Highlight: What was the main highlight from the day? Was it something I learned? An event I really enjoyed? It can be big or small.

Collecting these data points builds awareness and allows me to be mindful of my mental state. It uncovers trends, which I can use to implement methods to help me improve. This can be things like doing more high-energy activities, taking a longer walk outside, etc.

Every morning, I look at an “On This Day” view of my journal in Notion that allows me to read entries from the past four years. There’s so much power in visualizing progress through reflection. Take inventory of how far you’ve come each year.

You can start journaling by spending a few minutes of reflection each morning. Don’t worry about the medium you’re using — just think about how you’re feeling, and set an intention for the day.

This is the way.

Creative Constraints

Thu, 15 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT

It may feel like fewer options are limiting, but creativity lives in constraints.

Having less time forces you to use your time in creative ways. A deadline for a project forces trade-offs and creative solutions. You have no choice but to work on the most essential parts.

For example, if you can only communicate your key idea in 10 slides, you will think creatively about the best way to illustrate the most important elements. Or if you only have 240 characters to write a thought, it will force you to only use the necessary words to create the message.

A simple tactic I use is constraining lists to three items. Three is a special number because it’s where our brains start to map patterns. It’s also an effective way to apply constraints to thinking, which forces creative thinking and consolidation of ideas.

Let’s try it with three examples of methods you can try today:

Set a ‘time budget’ on each of your tasks. Assign a time (i.e. 30m, 1h, etc.), and focus on only working on the task for that amount of time.
Put a deadline on a project. Set a hard deadline and think about what needs to be true in order for you to hit that deadline. Get creative!
Limit your words. Create a character or word limit to the next piece of writing you do. See if you can say something more creatively in fewer words.

What else can you do to apply helpful constraints that force creative solutions?

Time & To-dos

Sun, 04 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Writing to-dos without the context of how much time and energy you have is like budgeting without the context of how much money you make and spend.

Block your time based on activities that fit your personal rhythms. Leverage that knowledge to build your daily to-dos against:

Routines like startup (first 30m of your day) and shutdown (last 30m of your day). These are excellent time blocks for checklist items like clearing notifications.

Focus Time for blocks of deep, uninterrupted focus. Find 60-120m blocks of time where you are most productive (energized), and work on high-impact tasks that require deep work.

Admin blocks for replying to emails and other administrative work. This type of work is suitable for lower energy levels.

Energy levels dictate your focus more than the blocks of time you have available. And your calendar and to-dos are interdependencies influenced by your energy levels.

This is what works for me. When you plan your day next, try this:

Identify the ONE most important task to accomplish.
Identify how much time and energy you have to put towards it.
Reflect the work on your calendar.

Meditation

Fri, 02 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT

What’s the ONE thing that has helped me stay focused and more productive?

Meditation

After years of on-and-off-again attempts, I finally created a meditation habit after reading Stress Less, Accomplish More by Emily Fletcher.

Maintaining a daily meditation habit — especially in times of high stress — has kept me focused on setting the right intentions for the day. I can:

Pause, breathe, reflect.
Visualize the day in front of me.
Practice redirecting my attention when it starts to drift.

This is SO POWERFUL for productivity.

We’re constantly inundated with notifications and attention-seekers. It’s crucial, now more than ever, to cultivate the practice of focus. It’s fine (and natural!) to shift your attention, but you need to be able to refocus quickly.

Oh, and you’ll feel better and sleep better in the process. No downsides!

Start small and try just one minute of breathing with your eyes closed. Do that for as long as you need. Then try two minutes, five minutes, and so on and so forth.

I’ve meditated every day for the past three years. I spend the first 30 minutes of every day with a 30-minute meditation. I can’t imagine starting my day without it. The calmer I am going into my day, the more focus I find within my work (and life).