Back in New York after three weeks in California — two in San Francisco, one in Los Angeles. On the flight home, I wrote down some simple personal productivity rituals that have helped me.
My rituals are really a collection of systems. As James Clear says: “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”
I hope you find these rituals helpful:
I like Sam Altman’s approach to prioritization: (1) Make sure to get the important stuff done, (2) don’t waste time on stupid things, and (3) make a lot of lists Make lists of what you want to achieve each year, each month, and each day.
A statistic that will surprise you: “The average person loses an hour a day looking for misplaced items.” In pursuit of cleanliness, I begin every day with a daily review that looks like this.
I optimize my day around energy and prioritize in a way that generates momentum.
Early Morning: Finish the most important thing
Late Morning: Creative work
Early afternoon: Chores, email and phone calls
Late afternoon: Nap and workout
Evening: Learning and reading
The math is simple: Learn keyboard shortcuts. They'll save you tons of time.
Fresh Ideas
North Star Podcast: Samo Burja
Samo Burja is the founder of Bismarck Analysis, a firm that analyzes institutions, governments, and companies for high net worth individuals. There’s never been an immortal human society and Samo’s on a quest to find out why. Known for his Great Founder Theory, Samo’s research focuses on the causes of societal decay and flourishing.
Themes of our podcast:
1. Peter Thiel
2. Lee Kuan Yew
3. Great Founder Theory
4. Silicon Valley Myths
5. Lessons from Steve Jobs
Listen to the full podcast here.
Where the Wild Things Are
A flashback article from a couple months ago, this post illustrates one of my favorite ideas: Creativity always starts at the edge.
I swear… it’s a law of the universe.
If you want creativity, stay at the edge. Opportunity is almost always inversely correlated with popularity and greater risk is almost always correlated with greater potential returns. Find the low rents. Surround yourself with people who dress like people you only see in movies. Get comfortable with weird parts of the internet.
Informational edge is found in obscure, hard-to-digest sources. Follow the Diggers — they know where the wild things are.
Fresh Ideas
Percent of New York City Households that Speak a Language Other Than English
Rise of Dollar Stores
Dollar stores are now feeding more Americans than Whole Foods is – even though most dollar stores have no fresh food, only a limited selection of packaged items.
Dollar stores are multiplying at breakneck speed. Since 2011, the two dominant chains — Dollar General & Dollar Tree (which owns Family Dollar) have grown from 20k to 30k locations. And they say they have identified an additional 20,000 locations.
Dollar stores now outnumber Walmart and McDonalds locations combined. Dollar General is now by far the biggest threat to local grocery stores. In small towns, Dollar General’s arrival typically causes sales at the local supermarket to drop 30%. That’s enough to put them in the red, and force them to close, though it may take a year or more.
Rainfall in Africa
Short Strategy Descriptions for the Major Video Streaming Platforms
Netflix: Netflix’s product investments stem from its obsession with engagement. This pursuit is most simply distilled into the metric “hours per subscriber per month,” which CEO Reed Hastings often identifies as the KPI most strongly associated with customer retention and pricing. Netflix’s scale and technology enables it to launch a mediocre show to a larger audience than most of its competitors can when they produce an outstanding one. This doesn’t mean the company doesn’t want great shows, but it does mean that the risk of producing a disappointing one is much lower, and the competitive risk of losing out on a promising script is moderated.
Apple: Apple has expressed no interest in licensed content (which is effective at driving bulk viewer hours) or competing on volume. Instead, the company is focusing on releasing eight to 10 high-budget, high-profile series a year.
Amazon: Amazon’s strategy has historically focused on maximizing impact per viewer, rather than raw engagement or total viewership. Disney’s forthcoming streaming service will have a decent-sized library, but again, the effort is focused on having the most desirable content in the world.
Disney: Disney’s forthcoming streaming service will have a decent-sized library, but again, the effort is focused on having the most desirable content in the world.
HBO, Showtime Starz and FX: Focused on having one must-see show on at all times, with a sprinkling of must-see movies or events throughout the year. FX’s business model is centered around its differentiated content style and awards, both of which make it an essential part of any TV bundle (which drives both distribution and pricing power). These four players, each of which is seen as Netflix’s primary “traditional TV” competitors, pursue weekly (not binge) releases and produce only a dozen original series each per year.
Source: An excellent four-part Netflix-focused series by Matthew Ball.
Crazy Chart… Inventors Love America
Photo of the Week
A couple weeks ago, I spent an entire Sunday morning reading Samo Burja’s Great Founder Theory.
The ideas were so original that I spent the next week pouring through Samo’s archives and grappling with his ideas. As luck would have it, Samo sent me a Direct Message on Twitter that week.
Dining over soup and dumplings in San Francisco, we locked eyes and ventured down the Great Founder Theory rabbit hole for almost two hours. We talked about people like Peter Thiel, Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs, and jumped between ideas like intellectual dark matter and the role of institutions in society.
The conversation was so eye-opening that I invited him on the podcast. Despite Samo’s busy schedule, I insisted on recording before I went back to New York. I had to share his ideas with you.
Enjoy!
Until next week,
David Perell