043 | ⏱ Save Time In Meetings, Stop Procrastinating and Give More
Happy February!
January is finally over and Spring is (almost) around the corner.
What better way to start the month than reading how to save time in meetings and procrastinate less?
Also, don’t miss the best podcast I’ve listened to in months!
As ever, thanks for reading and don’t forget to subscribe.
💭 Three things you need to know:
📋 Save Time During Video Calls
I’m now getting into the habit of adding simple bullet points in a meeting invite to detail the main aims of the session. We’re all burnt out by video calls, and even more time is wasted when nobody knows what the point was in the first place. This doesn’t need to be a fully fledged agenda, which would take more time and brainpower. Just a few quick topics off the top of your head when putting in the invite.
h/t Greg McKeown (Essentialism)
❗️How to Stop Procrastinating in 5 seconds
This one is so simple and effective.
The 5 second rule is a concept by motivational speaker Mel Robins, and is a great way to break out of the procrastination cycle.
If you have a task that you need to do, like get out of bed or wash up, give yourself 5 seconds to physically move. If you don’t act in those 5 seconds, your brain has enough time to take over and kill the urge, allowing procrastination to take over.
Count from 5 to 1 - you’d be surprised how quickly it can trick your brain into getting moving.
h/t @mattdavella (Instagram)
🤝 The Power of Giving
Here’s another nice quote from Will Smith’s recent autobiography, Will (couldn’t recommend the audiobook enough). I could probably share one every week!
As long as we're stuck in the need to receive, in the cycle of grasping and clinging and demanding the people in our worlds meet our needs, we'll be locked into disappointment, anger and misery. This paradox is being fulfilled by giving. That your output precipitates the input. Giving and receiving become simultaneous. To love and to be loved is the highest hunman reward and ecstasy. Allowing the best within you to serve and unleash the best in others is the most intense of human pleasures.
✅ Two Recommendations:
🏋🏻 How to Design the Perfect Gym Routine
I used this guide (this is commonly recommended by various sources) a few months ago to create my gym routine, and I’ve seen great results so far. It isn’t an exhaustive list, but this is its strength. I’ve spent hours and hours and hours researching and rewriting gym routines far too many times to count. I fall down a rabbit hole of trying to cover all areas, when in fact the best routine should be simple enough to be easily replicable, enjoyable and easy to progressively overload.
Basically, the premise is that there’s 8 main movement patterns to work on:
Vertical Push (overhead press)
Vertical Pull (pull ups, lat pulldown)
Horizontal Push (bench press)
Horizontal Pull (bent over rows, seated row)
Hip hinge (deadlifts, hyperextensions)
Quad dominant (squats, lunges)
Elbow flexion (bicep curls)
Elbow extension (tricep extensions)
https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/movement-patterns/
Ensure there’s at least the same amount of volume for 1+2, 3+4, 5+6 and 7+8 and you’re good to go.
There are some other bits that are missed out e.g. abs, calves, which can be added whenever is appropriate (but the idea is that they are reasonably covered in those 8).
🎧 The Canoe Con - Podcast
If you enjoyed any of Serial, Shittown or Dirty John, you will love this 4 part podcast about a man who fakes his own death in an insurance fraud attempt. It’s bloody ridiculous and in equal parts incredible!
💬 And finally, one quote
I thought this Tweet was pretty cool. Especially after reading Essentialism and thinking more about what I can remove from my life to help simplify it and focus on the things that matter the most.
Which decisions could you eliminate?
One of mine is that I always have Huel for breakfast. It’s healthy, has loads of protein and tastes great - but ultimately, it saves me having to think what to eat, that ticks those 3 boxes while I’m (usually) in a rush.
📚 PS: Currently reading:
Heavy: The Courage To Be Disliked - Ichiro Kishimi, Fumitake Koga
Light: Mistborn: The Final Empire - Brandon Sanderson (book 1 of a super nerdy fantasy trilogy that has ridiculously high ratings on Goodreads)
Non-fiction: How to Change Your Mind: The New Science of Psychedelics - Michael Pollen (I just bought a copy of this for my barber after talking about it with him today)
Thanks!
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Cheers!