Hey there,

I was quietly hoping that we wouldn't have to address the tragic events in Ukraine for a second week in a row - yet here we are. I am amazed by the courage and resolve of the Ukranian people and devastated by the humanitarian crisis unfolding in front of our eyes. Asides from donating money (we've chosen medical supplies via Direct Relief), if any RadReaders are impacted please reply and we'll try to coordinate more ways our community can help.

In today's essay, I reflected on my struggles to disconnect during vacation. And this Thursday, my long-time coach Andrew Taggart and I will be discussing how to overcome the scarcity mindset and the nagging fear that there's not enough time, opportunity and money. March 10 @ Noon PST, click here to sign up it's free.

My week without email and slack

Here at RadReads we take vacation very seriously. Our employee handbook states:

A few bullets down it adds:

TBH, the "off-the-grid" part has always freaked me out. Having been self-employed for over 6 years, there's been very little separation between my "work" and my "non-work."

(I don't have email on my phone, but trust me that doesn't stop me from non-stop checking.)

Now, with a team of five it feels even harder to disconnect. Many of the team's activities and outputs show up on my desk, requiring review or feedback. As the de facto COO/CFO, I approve payments, negotiate partnerships and execute contracts.

How could I trust that everything would get done? How could I let go - both physically and emotionally? Would I truly be able to disconnect?

With some rallying and encouragement from my team, here's what I came up with:

(My team also made it crystal clear that during my absence, I was setting an example. How could they take an off-the-grid vacation if the CEO abided by a different set of rules?)

So on Sunday we packed the car and headed to a small mountain cabin in Lake Arrowhead.

Would I be able to commit to this digital disconnection? Or would I fall back into my old habits?

Here are this week's top reads:

// one

How to intentionally structure & scale company communications

8 minutes | Levels Health
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Heads spin when I share with them that we have 30 hour work weeks, very few meetings, don't use email and rarely use Slack. (Here are our internal values.) Yes, we're small, but we've set out to intentionally design what asynchronous work looks like and have created workflows, tools and processes to fit this style. It was neat to see another team implement a similar philosophy (they full-on got rid of Slack!) one that centers around trust and transparent expectations.

(BTW, The Rad Studio helps teams improve their workflows through system design and tool implementation.)

→ Read the post​

// two

Living on 24 hours a day

5 minutes | Justin Fuller
​

We’ve all heard the cliche that we “all have the same 24 hours in the day.” But what really matters is how we spend them. What if you "chunked" your day into three 8 hour segments - one for sleep, one for work, and the other for learning about something that interests you. The first two chunks are more intuitive, but if the third sounds hard, start small - just thirty minutes a day dedicated to your curiosity. But don't get too gung ho about it, learning should serve our lives; our lives shouldn’t serve our regimens.

→ Read the post​

// three

The years we’ve lost to covid

5 minutes | The New York Times

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We hear so much about the tragic number of lives lost to covid. Even more heartbreaking, though, might be to look at the number of years of living those who died lost. Health statisticians recently estimated that in 2020, the US lost around four million years of potential life - a number so big we don’t really even have the mental capacity to process it. Four million years of lost living opportunity - to raise a family, build a house or a business, to be part of a community. Whichever statistics we look at, though, no number can really capture the human loss we’ve collectively felt from this pandemic.

→ Read the article​

// four

Who is Logen Paul when he's not working?

1 minutes | TikTok
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Yup, I added a TikTok. (Nope, don't have the app.) Irrespective of how you feel about the YouTuber turned Provocateur, he shares the same work intensity as many RadReaders. Why is it so hard to turn off? Is it scarcity? Is it ego? Is the paradox of identity and self-worth?

→ Watch the TikTok​

// five

Confirmation bias: why you make terrible life choices

5 minutes | Nir and Far
​

Confirmation bias is so very human - we’re always looking for information that confirms things we already believe. It’s easier on our brains - it physically hurts to interact with information that counters what we already think we know. What can we do to lessen the impact of confirmation bias? Approach life with curiosity (not conviction), focus less on being right, and try to actively search for information that contradicts what you believe in. (And check out 4 other behavioral time traps.)
​
→ Read the post​

// From our community

Build your Second Brain at a free week-long productivity summit

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I'll be speaking at my friend Tiago Forte's Second Brain Summit the week of March 14th. The free online summit will curate the best ideas and thinkers in the knowledge work, digital notes, and PKM space and I'll be leading a session on Building a Second Brain using $10K Work.

(This is not a sponsored post)

Below the fold

ICYMI

• ​How to take Notion to the Max (YouTube, 60 mins): Marie Poulin and I spoke at the Block x Block conference (in front of 2,200 people, yikes!)
• ​How Khe Hy left Wall Street and turned a 36-person email list into a creator business with $500k in sales (Podia, 7 minutes): A very flattering profile of my 7-year-overnight-success as an entrepreneur.
• ​Khe helped announce Podia's Creator Fellowship award (Video Replay): A live Q&A with Podia on the pragmatic steps to growing an online business.
• ​

LAST WEEK'S MOST READ

• ​The most cringeworthy productivity advice (RadReads, 894 clicks)
• ​Ben Stiller sees the world differently now (Esquire, 370 clicks)

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And finally, how much does MC Hammer look out of place in this picture?

Warmly,

Khe

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