Love Your Work

The most popular question (and answer) from my Quora session was "What tips or hacks have saved you the most time and/or energy in your life?" This answer had more than 24,000 views, and was featured in Inc.com. Inc also has tweeted it a couple of times to their 1.6 million followers. What ended up coming out was a somewhat cohesive philosophy for full output I've devised over the years, and some...

Jodi Ettenberg used to be a lawyer. She took a year off to travel 8 years ago, and never went back. Her blog, Legal Nomads, won a Lowell Thomas Award for best travel blog and has been featured in the New York Times, National Geographic, BBC Travel, CNN, and more. Legal Nomads is full of tips on packing, planning, and budgeting for travel, as well as beautiful hand-drawn typographic food maps and t...

The economics favor digital distraction, but we have everything we need to make humanity great. We have the behavioral science knowledge, and with increasingly ubiquitous technology touchpoints such Apple Watch and The Internet of Things at large, we have a growing opportunity to shape behavior with technology. The big question is: will this power be used for "good" or "evil?" Sponsor: http://kada...

Nir Eyal is the author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products. So he is really manufacturing the drug. Fortunately, he's also concerned about the implications of digital distraction, so he agreed to have a discussion with me about it on the podcast. In this discussion, we cover our views on the potential effects of distraction. Is it making people less creative? Is it as addictive and harm...

Sometimes, the things you feel like you  should do create so much cognitive burden you can hardly get anything done. When I feel that way, I know it's time for me to have a "Week of Want." I give myself a whole week where I can work on whatever project I want, without having to think about what goal I'm trying to achieve. This has brought me great results many times, including writing a blog post,...

Andrew's famous "Relax" app has been a key ritual for me for a couple of years now. Andrew has a whole empire of apps with guided recordings that help people not only relax, but Quit Smoking, reduce anxiety, lose weight, or build confidence, amongst many other things. His apps have been downloaded more than 10 million times. I have literally found Andrew's apps to be life-changing for me, but I've...

READ ME! Lots of people beat themselves up for not being able to meditate. I think they're too hard on themselves. If you can simply make a habit of meditating 2 minutes a day, you can begin to enjoy meditation to the point where you're ready to do longer sessions.   I have little formal meditation training, but this 2-minute meditation is roughly how I do my sessions. Part of it is rooted in what...

A 10-year-old kadavy.net classic, this "mini-episode" (or is it just an "episode?") distills eight rules of living that make me feel like I really have an edge on the world. The original post is here:  http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/life-hacks/ Below is the content of the post: I've noticed in my short existence that I tend to do many things differently from most people. Some of those things probabl...

This is a mini-episode based upon a previous post here on kadavy.net. The original post is over here:  http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/earnit/ Sponsor: http://kadavy.net/treehouse Show notes:  http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/love-your-work-episode-15-earn-it/    

Paul Bennett (@contextpaul) ran his business while sailing around the world with his whole family. He's CEO and co-founder of Context Travel. Context Travel organizes high-quality tours around the world, given by historians, authors, and PhDs. I took a Context tour myself when I was at The Acropolis in Athens a few months back, and it was orders of magnitude better than any large group tour I've b...

I'm a pretty dedicated "solopreneur" – an entrepreneur who goes it on their own: no cofounders and no investors. This is a mini-episode in which I introduce the tenets that distill the power of solopreneurship, and which help me remain confident as I move forward as a solopreneur. The content of this episode is also in this blog post:  http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/the-solopreneurs-manifesto/ Spons...

Maneesh Sethi (@maneesh), is the founder of Pavlok. Pavlok is a wrist band that gives you an electric shock that helps you break bad habits. It's a crazy idea, so it's definitely gotten a lot of attention. Pavlok has been featured on Good Morning America, The Colbert Report, and Jimmy Fallon. In our discussion we talk about how I used Pavlok to break my bad Facebook habit, and I can tell you, it's...

Have you ever been really excited about a book you were reading, only to realize – as you tried to describe it to someone – that you had NO IDEA what it was actually about? This happened to me all of the time, until I realized I was reading the wrong way. This is a mini-episode in which I introduce the "layered" reading approach that changed the way I read books. Now I read more books than ever, w...

Nick Gray (@nickgraynews) is the founder of Museum Hack. Museum Hack makes super fun museum tours such as the "Un-Highlights Tour," the "Badass Bitches Tour," and the "Big Gay Met." You've heard in previous episodes such as "Transform Stuff into Things" that I think the world moves forward when someone explores the hidden sources of value that are out there, & gives them form. I've always found Ni...

Many people think their productivity struggle is one of managing their time. In reality, it's more a struggle of managing their mind. In this mini-episode, I introduce my framework for Mind Management: using knowledge from behavioral science, psychology, and neuroscience to work with the subtle fluctuations of your mind. Check out the article here:  http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/mind-management-int...

Laura Roeder is the founder of Edgar, which is (or maybe I should say "who is") a social media automation tool (no offense, Edgar, but you are a tool). Edgar helps you create a library of social media updates that you can schedule to repeat.   Laura has been honored at the White House, and spoke at the White House for being in the Empact 100, which is a list of the top young entrepreneurs in the U...

Can neuroscience make you creative on command? Dr. John Kounios is the Director of the PhD Program in Applied Cognitive & Brain Sciences at Drexel University. He's also co-author of the book The Eureka Factor: Aha Moments, Creative Insight, and the Brain.   Dr. John Kounios, studies the neuroscience of insightful thinking. It turns out that insightful or creative thinking is, in fact, a different...

One of the keys to creating something original and remarkable is being able to see how all of the "stuff" in the world can be created into "things." This is a must-understand for any entrepreneur. Original article:  http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/stuff-and-things/ Get a 14-day free trial from our sponsor, Treehouse: http://kadavy.net/treehouse Show notes:  http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/love-your-work...

Adrian Holovaty (@adrianholovaty) has learned the hard way that he wants to retain control of his business. After selling Everyblock, Adrian watched in horror as it was later shut down without warning. Adrian's new business is SoundSlice (incredible interactive music notation, for music teachers and students), and he's resolved to retain control of his business.  In this episode, Adrian shares som...

"Traveling" by its traditional definition is like licking a filet mignon. You get a taste, but you don't get the nourishment. This is why I stopped traveling, and started living "Mini Lives." Original article:  http://observer.com/2014/02/a-month-at-a-time-why-i-quit-travelling-and-started-living-mini-lives/ Show notes:  http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/love-your-work-episode-5-stop-traveling-start-li...

After getting fired from her job, Saya Hillman (@sayahillman) made a list of things she wanted to get paid to do. 11 years later, she's made all of those things a reality. She gets paid to play board games, do improv, or scrapbook, for example. Her company, Mac & Cheese Productions runs events that help people face their fears, and connect with others. She shares insights on living a "life of 'yes...

Jonathan Wegener (@jwegener) spent 3 months traveling to every subway station in the NYC area, meticulously documenting the fastest way to get out of each station. The app he made with the data supported him for two years, until he built Timehop. Timehop is an app that compiles your memories and sends them back to you, and Jonathan built it in a weekend hackathon with his cofounder. Since then, he...

Are you holding yourself back from starting something because you're afraid you're not going to be good at it? You have to give yourself Permission to Suck. This is something that the best entrepreneurs and creators learn over time. Show notes:  http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/love-your-work-episode-2-permission-to-suck/    

Jason Fried (@jasonfried) of Basecamp (formerly 37 Signals) shares his wisdom on cutting through the noise to find your own voice. There are some great nuggets in here about design, and how to be a contrarian thinker. This will be a great episode for entrepreneurs, whether they're experienced, or relatively new. Also, this is the FIRST EPISODE of Love Your Work! Please subscribe, and leave us a re...