Hi there,

We made it to the weekend. And for all of you who trekked through the Tim and Tina series (Story 1, ICYMI) - we salute you.

We've already got 79 students enrolled in our final cohort of Supercharge Your Productivity for 2020. I've been seeing all the students introduce themselves in our private community and wow, what a group.

Our students are the magical ingredient that makes this a truly unique learning experience - they include former Olympians, venture capitalists, civil servants, journalists, philanthropists, startup founders, doctors, UX designers and political activists and represent these (and many other) institutions:

In four weeks, you'll design a system for identifying and implementing your most impactful $10K work so you can hit your goals (stop drowning in $10 Work).

Enrollment for this final cohort ends on Monday (10/25).

If you're still on the fence, we're offering a free Weekly Review Workshop on Sunday (10/24) at 11 am EDT. I'll walk you through a comprehensive framework for making this habit stick. Click here to be automatically registered for the workshop. (Plus, we know a thing or two about the topic 😉👇)

Don't die with the music still in you

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I have a confession.

Each day I write down on average 23 tasks in my to-do list.

But there's something unique about three of them.

You see, I write them down with the earnest intent of getting them done.

But here's the rub. They're actually already done.

Yup, I write tasks down tasks just so I can mark them as complete.

Why? An optimist would say that it's a tactic to build "momentum."

A pessimist: It's the dopamine. It just feels so dang good.

Now I know I'm not the only one that uses this silly (and ineffective) trick.

When Walter Chen (a long-time RadReader) and Rodrigo Guzman created the task manager I Done This in 2011, they were able to identify some curious ways in which to-do lists are used.

In a story told by Wired Magazine's Clive Thompson, when Chen and Guzman examined the app's (anonymized) data, two peculiar statistics stood out:

First, 41% of tasks were never completed.

But even more surprising, was the case of the fake task:

To recap, 41% of tasks were never completed.

And 10% were totally made up.

That ain't pretty.

Especially if you consider our collective obsession (yes, mine too) with productivity. You'd think we'd have a higher hit rate than 49%.

When it comes to to-do lists, why do we continue thrash, flail and lie to ourselves?

I've got an uncomfortable answer:

"We don't want to die with the music still in us."

Here are this week's top reads:

// one

Stop spinning your wheels on low-value work

6 minutes (Each) | RadReads
​

We kicked off our 3-part series on $10 Tim and $10K Tina looking at three critical scenarios: designing the perfect day, combatting Shiny New Toy Syndrome and finding focus (amidst a firehose of information).

• Your Google calendar knows the truth (about your priorities) [ Read Part 1 ]
• How to avoid shiny new toy syndrome [ Read Part 2 ]
• Dopamine War Zones [ Read Part 3 ]

// two

50 first levers (how to start building leverage)

5 minutes | Eric Jorgenson
​

​Leverage is the magical ingredient for $10K work. It's the force multiplier behind any activity that can scale your impact and reach. This post breaks down actionable examples of leverage across four categories: Tools, Product, People, and Capital. (While tool and product leverage is often $100 work - People leverage is undoubtedly $10K work.)

→ Read the post​

// three

Why we choose to suffer

5 minutes | The Wall Street Journal
​

Do humans try to avoid pain and suffering at all cost? That's a nuanced question, after all we opt into painful activities everyday: we watch movies that make us cry, listen to sad songs, or eat spicy foods. At times, struggle and pleasure can be intertwined, and yet not all struggle is valuable. Exclusively seeking happiness makes us more depressed, but excessive suffering as a sign of virtue is unnecessary: struggle and bliss are both parts of a meaningful life.

→ Read the article​

// four

The dangers of goal setting

8 minutes | Luke Burgis
​

You cannot set foot into the world of productivity advice and without hearing about a framework for goal setting. Most notably defined by a certain love for acronyms (SMART, FAST, OKR or BHAG anyone?) all these frameworks share another trait: they focus on the how. In this article, you'll discover the inherent problem to this approach: pick a goal without a clear "Why" and no matter how SMART you are, you'll still end up in the wrong place.

→ Read the post​

// five

3 must-have qualities for effective leadership

5 minutes | Steph Smith
​

The question, “what makes good leadership?” is well studied and written about - there are thousands of books and articles that try and dissect the intricacies and nuances of this topic. In her article, $10K summit guest Steph Smith argues that while leadership is complicated, it’s also not that complicated. What’s at the heart of being a good leader? Caring about people, which happens by following these three pillars: having humility, dropping your agenda (and, subsequently, your ego), and leading through influence (as opposed to control).
​
→ Read the post​

// meet our amazing students

We've just launched the next cohort of Supercharge Your Productivity ("SYP") and we want you to meet our amazing, kind and high-performing students of prior cohorts.

Meet the wonderful Annemarie Munk, alumna of SYP Cohort 6:

Hey Annemarie, first things first, how do you spend your time?
​Currently spending time with the family in Paris, but generally, I spend my time looking after 3 kids and a very energetic spaniel. I like to study human behavior and culture building. I spend some time lifting very heavy things. I get paid to be a mental performance coach.

Where do you currently live?
​London U.K.

Tell us something Google doesn't know about you.
​It won't tell you about my vulnerability and sensitivity, and that I used to sing in an a cappella group in high school.

What’s your current $10K Work?
​My current $10k work is integrating what I know with how I am being in this world, and finding moments to help influence and impact others to do the same.

Amazing, Annemarie! How can RadReaders connect with you?
​You can find me on IG: @coach_ammunk​

👉 Enroll in Supercharge Your Productivity today (enrollment closes on Monday)​

Below the fold

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LAST WEEK'S MOST READ

• ​Please don't eat the frog (and other bogus productivity advice) (RadReads, 1,257 clicks)
• ​The best time-management is depressing but liberating (The Atlantic, 392 clicks)

​

And finally, looking to $ave dat money? Look no further than Lil' Dickie (aka Dave.)

With gratitude,

Khe
​
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PPS Don't forget our free Weekly Review Workshop on Sunday (10/24) at 11 am EDT. Click here to be automatically registered for the workshop.

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