What I learned week 1 2023
First and foremost, hangovers last a lot longer than the headache… I had a wonderful new years eve standing on a rooftop watching the fireworks over Berlin without our jackets because it was 15 C.
Unfortunately it also took me 4 days to start feeling motivated and calm again. Thankfully we basically stopped drinking in 2022, and I’m looking forward to less hangovers in 23!
Focus on long term productivity
Give yourself permission to slow down. Forget trying to have efficient days, focus on the long term.
When your goal is to be long-term productive, say by creating jobs for hundreds of people or publishing a few great books, you realize your day-to-day productivity isn’t what you should optimize around. Taking a strategic break from a problem lets your mind noodle on it in the background so you can attack it more intelligently afterward. Anyone who exercises regularly knows that rest is when your body gets stronger.
A portfolio approach to live
Every part of life is a collection of habits, relationships, and experiences. But it’s so easy to fall into the trap of thinking we can keep those over time. We can’t. Life always changes.
A few times over the last decade or so, I’ve found myself drawn towards a particular idea about how to use my time and energy. It’s an intentional variety. A collection of experiences. A portfolio approach to life.
It usually comes up in moments of transition. A move. A change of jobs. Some life event. Because when change is happening around me, I’m compelled to find some way of making sense of it.