No. 474 —May 29, 2022 — Read on FS

Welcome to Sunday Brain Food: a weekly newsletter full of ideas and insights that never expire.

FS

Efficiency is the Enemy

"Many organizations are obsessed with efficiency. They want to be sure every resource is utilized to its fullest capacity and everyone is sprinting around every minute of the day doing something. They hire expert consultants to sniff out the faintest whiff of waste. As individuals, many of us are also obsessed with the mirage of total efficiency. We schedule every minute of our day, pride ourselves on forgoing breaks, and berate ourselves for the slightest moment of distraction. We view sleep, sickness, and burnout as unwelcome weaknesses and idolize those who never seem to succumb to them. This view, however, fails to recognize that efficiency and effectiveness are not the same things."

Mental Models for Better Thinking

Our course on mental opens for registration tomorrow. This course will teach you exactly how to create your own latticework of mental models and put them to use. Click here for first access.

Insight

“As I came down from the mountain, I recalled how, not many years ago, it was access to information and movement that seemed our greatest luxury; nowadays it’s often freedom from information, the chance to sit still, that feels like the ultimate prize. Stillness is not just an indulgence for those with enough resources—it’s a necessity for anyone who wishes to gather less visible resources.”

— Pico Iyer in The Art of Stillness

Tiny Thought

The person who carefully designs their daily routine goes further than the person that negotiates with themselves every day.

The most successful people I know follow a routine to ensure the most important projects get the time they need.

A successful and busy friend decided to write a book not long ago. I asked him how he planned to do that given all of his responsibilities at home and the office. He simply said, “I get up at 5, make a coffee, and write from 530 to 7 every day. I’ve been doing it for 9 days now and I’ll do it until the book is done.” I knew right then he’d finish his book. Why? Because he designed part of his life to accomplish that goal.

There are two parts to using this approach. First, you must design your life so the default is to do the work. Second, and equally important, you can't negotiate with yourself.

One of the most valuable skills you can adopt in life is doing things when you don’t feel like doing them.

A lot of people get stuck negotiating with themselves. A little voice in their head says, “I don’t feel like doing this right now, let’s do it later.” The minute you entertain that thought, it’s over.

Design the defaults and don't negotiate with yourself.

(Click here to share this Tiny Thought on Twitter.)

Etc.

+ Travelling Bees. “Pollinating the seemingly endless fields of almond trees in California requires 85% to 90% of all honeybees available to pollinate in the U.S... Bees are trucked into California from across the country.”

+ Nobody Cares. "When things go wrong in your company, nobody cares. The press doesn’t care, your investors don’t care, your board doesn’t care, your employees don’t care, even your mama doesn’t care. Nobody cares. ... All the mental energy that you use to elaborate your misery would be far better used trying to find the one, seemingly impossible way out of your current mess. It’s best to spend zero time on what you could have done and all of your time on what you might do. Because in the end, nobody cares, just run your company."

+ Ted Weschler. A rare interview with one of the two people that Buffett hired to help him manage money

+ Sunlight. One of the best ways to sleep better at night is to make sure you expose yourself to light when you first wake up.

Stay safe,
— Shane

P.S. A straight line is not the fastest route to your destination.