Happy Saturday, friend!

We’re back again with another edition of Productivity + Habits + Fun

😃 Fun Fact of the Week

There is a fruit that tastes like chocolate!

It’s called sapote, and it’s native to Central and South America.

I’ve never had one, but I’ll be on the lookout the next time I’m down there!

🐦 Tweet of the Week

I like to remind myself of this as much as I can.

I was sheltered as a kid, so I feel like I need to push a bit further to make up for that.

That desire has led me to travel to Spanish-speaking countries where I had to rely on what I’d learned so far.

It led me to making this newsletter and to creating content on social media platforms.

If you aren’t pushing yourself at all, please let this be a sign to stretch yourself some.

There’s all kinds of growth waiting for you on the other side.

💪 Featured Productivity Tip

Deep Work (from Cal Newport’s 2016 book of the same name)

Deep work: “Professional activities performed in a distraction free environment that pushes your cognitive abilities to the limit. These skills create new value, improve skills and are hard for others to replicate.”

Shallow work: Logistical tasks requiring little brainpower like returning phone calls and emails, running errands, anything you can easily accomplish while being semi-distracted. Less needed engagement = more shallow.

How it works: Intense focus for sustained timeframes cause the myelin sheaths surrounding used neurons to thicken. This allows these associated tasks to become more efficiently executed over time.

4 Deep Work Ritual Requirements:

D : Dedicated work space Your ritual needs to specify a location for your deep work efforts. This location can be as simple as your normal office with the door shut and desk cleaned off. Anchoring your work to a routine setting will help you focus faster.

E : Exact end time Give yourself a specific time frame to keep the session a discrete challenge and not an open‐ended slog. Remember Parkinson’s Law: a task will expand to fit the time it is given to complete.

E : Easy starting sequence Your ritual needs rules and processes to keep your efforts structured. Without this structure, you’ll have to cycle between questioning whether you’re working effectively or not. Reduce the friction of work and the potential of decision fatigue by having an easy, predictable system in place.

P: Power‐ups Your ritual needs to ensure your brain gets the support it needs to keep operating at a high level of depth. This could be a cup of coffee, a glass of water, a lo-fi playlist… Anything that can help you stay focused.

3 Deep Work Tips:

1. Develop a scheduled ritual

   1. Have a routine start and stop time

   2. Aim for 3 - 4 hours of uninterrupted work

   3. Experiment on the time of day - some like mornings, some like evenings

2. Build in time for distractions

   1. Set and hold boundaries

   2. Do not disturb/ airplane mode are your friends

   3. While on “distraction time” set a timer so you know for sure when to get back to work

3. Use an evening shutdown ritual

   1. Use your last 15 minutes to make a list of things to finish

   2. Make a plan for what to do when you begin the next day

   3. Clean up your workspace to make it clear that you’re done for the day

This section is a bit long, but we’ll come back to more Deep Work ideas in the future. 😉 

💡 No Regrets

“Never regret a day of your life.”

-Dr. Richard Feynman

• Good days = happiness

• Bad days = experiences

• Worst days = lessons

• Best days = memories 

♻️ Clean Energy Investments (2022 - 2030)

Looks like clean energy investments are trending up!

🤔 Decision-making Idea

Belief Bias: We have a tendency to judge an argument not by the support it brings to the conclusion but by how plausible the conclusion seems to us.

Example: Any conspiracy theory you like.

I like the show Ancient Aliens.

It’s entertaining, and it definitely gets my mind and imagination running.

But objectively, there isn’t enough evidence to support the claims posed on the show.

That could change instantly when/if extraterrestrials decide to introduce themselves, but until then, logically, the idea of ancient alien ancestors should be considered a conspiracy theory.

What’s a cool conspiracy theory you subscribe to?

Convince me!

🧠 Quote of the Week

I love this.

There is a similar sentiment by Alex Hormozi:

“If you have doubts, all you have to do is do the work - create a stack of undeniable evidence to prove that you are capable.” (This is heavily paraphrased.)

The point is that we all have doubts, and we all have feelings of imposter syndrome.

This is all natural and normal.

We have two options when those feelings come up:

1. Accept it and do nothing

2. Accept it and work to disprove it

I promise you - if you take path 2, you will live a much fuller and more fulfilling life.

What’s a belief you need to challenge?

Special Message

Hey, all!

I have decided to move in a new direction with this newsletter.

To that end, I’m moving to a new provider with new content - a clean slate.

If you’d like to join me, here is the link:

I hope to see you there!

Thank you so much for spending some of you precious time with me. 🙂

I’m always looking to improve, so hit “reply” and let me know what you think!

Have an awesome week.

Sincerely,

Steven Sanders

PS - I hope to see you on X, Instagram, and LinkedIn!