Love Your Work

Latest Episodes:

55. Make your bed, change THE WORLD!? (ft. James Altucher, Dan Ariely, Jason Fried, Ryan Holiday, Tucker Max, Noah Kagan & more) Dec 06, 2016

Show notes

There's this sort of productivity meme going around that you should make your bed.

But, isn't making your bed kind of a waste?

And isn't making your bed especially wasteful if you're busy?

Here on Love Your Work, I've spent the past year interviewing some of the most successful entrepreneurs and creators. People like James Altucher, Jason Fried, Ryan Holiday, Laura Roeder, billionaire Steve Case, and many more.

I wanted to get to the bottom of this meme. Today, on a very special episode of Love Your Work, we ask: do you really need to make your bed to be successful?

Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/make-your-bed/

54. 8 Things I Wish I Had Known About Building Online Courses (having an impact, & self-motivation through product development) Dec 01, 2016

Show notes

One of the best ways to impact others, while making money, is through building online courses. And, if you're considering writing a book, developing an online course is a great way to validate your idea, and see if your advice works.

But, building online courses can be totally overwhelming. It seems there's so much you need to know about developing it, and marketing it. Then, there's all of the technical nuts and bolts for collecting payment, and delivering the course.

Like many things, your vision of what your online course could be can get in the way of you even starting.

I learned the hard way just how much energy you can waste with things that don't add value to your course. And, what I learned can be applied to product development at large.

Sponsors http://wpengine.com/pre http://kadavy.net/freshbooks http://kadavy.net/video

Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/8-things-online-courses/

James Altucher Nov 22, 2016

Show notes

James Altucher doesn't need an introduction for many of you. But for the rest, James is currently best known for his book, Choose Yourself, which is a National Bestseller, and which USA Today named in the top 12 business books of all time. You can buy Choose Yourself at kadavy.net/choose He also has a very popular podcast. The James Altucher show has featured guests such as Tim Ferriss, Dan Ariely, Peter Thiel, Coolio, and Jewel. James has published well over a dozen books, and first made his name as a financial pundit, writing for The Financial Times, and TheStreet.com. He's also appeared many times on CNBC as a financial expert. James has become a millionaire, then lost it all, multiple times. He's been an entrepreneur, a hedge fund manager, and even hosted an HBO show. He writes about what he's learned through the ups and downs of his life and career on his website, jamesaltucher.com. Popular articles include "How to be the luckiest guy on the planet in 4 easy steps," and "I want my kids to be drug addicts." Listen to this conversation to learn the hows and whys of investing in yourself, including why buying a house may be a terrible decision for you. James and I will also talk about our recent experiences with going minimalist. He has a method for getting rid of things that I wish I would have used. I really wanted to dig into how James has managed to be so prolific in his work. He produces a ton of work, It seems like he rarely doubts any ideas he has. It seems like it's always been that way for him. Which doesn't help much if you're struggling to be more courageous in your work. If you're someone, like me, who wasn't born thinking big, James will share his tips on how to make progress. As someone who has learned a lot from reading James's writing, I was also excited to learn more about how he approaches writing. James is going to share some absolute gold on writing that has already helped me make my own writing connect with others. Also, learn how my former neighbor, Warren Buffett chose himself. And, if you happen to be a podcaster too, I selfishly asked James how he connects with influential guests, and how he prepares for interviews. Even if you aren't a podcaster, his answers, of course, could help you connect with influencers, and help you get more out of the books you read. Sponsors http://wpengine.com/pre http://kadavy.net/freshbooks http://kadavy.net/video Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/james-altucher-interview/

52. My $40,000 DIY MBA (investing in your self-education) Nov 17, 2016

Show notes

One of the more subtle underlying themes of this show is that you should invest in yourself. There's a lot of noise out there you'll hear from others who want you to spend your money in ways that will benefit them. Ultimately, you have to be mindful in your decisions so that you're sure you're really investing in yourself. I'll be talking about that a bit more in my conversation next week with James Altucher. Look out for that episode to drop next TUESDAY. I'm going to release it slightly early so it doesn't interfere with Thanksgiving in the US. For now, I want to share my own story of choosing myself. This is about the time that I almost went to business school. What I decided to do next defined the course of my career. Sponsors http://wpengine.com/pre http://kadavy.net/freshbooks http://kadavy.net/video Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/my-40000-diy-mba/

Dan Ariely Nov 10, 2016

Show notes

Dan Ariely is a researcher on the forefront of behavioral science. He specializes in understanding irrational behavior, for example, why do people take less candy if you give it out for free, than if you charge a penny for all the candy you want? Dan actively works to find ways to change behavior for the better using this knowledge. Dan is a professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University. He's also the founder of the Center for Advanced Hindsight, which helps companies improve well-being using behavioral science. Dan has also co-founded many companies, including a productivity app called Timeful. I worked with Dan on Timeful, and Google bought the company. Now, some of Timeful's features, such as "Goals" have been integrated into Google Calendar, impacting what must be hundreds of millions of people. Dan's numerous TED talks have been viewed nearly 15 million times. He's the author of three New York Times best-selling books, including Predictably Irrational. He has a new book called "Payoff: The Hidden Logic That Shapes Our Motivations," which you can buy at kadavy.net/payoff. In Dan's new book, he unlocks the secrets of motivation, whether you're motivating others, or yourself. Listen to this interview to learn why bonuses can reduce productivity, what is it that people really want from work? How does Dan – who is a self-proclaimed bad manager – manage a big lab of talented people? And how can you hack your own motivation using behavioral science research? Sponsors http://wpengine.com/pre http://kadavy.net/freshbooks http://kadavy.net/video Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/dan-ariely-interview/

50. Productivity isn't about Getting Things Done anymore (mindfulness for creative breakthroughs) Nov 01, 2016

Show notes

The current productivity wisdom is all about getting things done. Now, productivity is about making creative breakthroughs happen.

Getting Things Done brought us beyond todo lists and priorities, and made us think about breaking projects into actions, and giving those actions contexts. By considering the context of our todos, and by giving ourselves a place for the "someday maybes," we freed up our minds from the overwhelming wave of clutter delivered by our newly-digital world.

GTD was the killer tool of the knowledge worker. But, in an increasingly distracted world, where even knowledge work is threatened by technology, productivity needs to evolve once again.

This article originally appeared on Medium. You can follow me on Medium at kadavy.net/medium

Sponsors http://wpengine.com/lyw http://kadavy.net/freshbooks http://kadavy.net/video

Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/productivity-isnt-gtd/

49. Medium.com Writing, Book Positioning & Marketing Psychology – Nir Eyal & David Kadavy Oct 27, 2016

Show notes

Nir Eyal, author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products, has been on the show before. We had a little debate about digital distraction back in episode 21.

Nir and I have both been exploring new book ideas independently, and practicing writing about those ideas, somewhere within that space. I've been leaning more into the productivity space, which you've heard a lot of on this podcast.

So, we recently had a call where we discussed where we were headed, how we're testing out new ideas, and how we might position new ideas. We figured, just in case, we'd record the conversation, in case it would make a good podcast episode.

And I think it will make a good episode, especially if you're an aspiring author who wonders how to home in on the right book idea. We'll talk about writing for Medium.com, and why it's such a powerful tool for testing out new ideas. I'll get very specific about my process for analyzing ideas I write on Medium, and how I decide what's worth pursuing further. We'll also talk about the psychology of book positioning, book marketing, and coming up with titles for books – a bit of an extension of the book marketing conversation I had with Tucker Max on episode 29.

Note that I say "we," and I'm aware I ended up dominating the conversation. This is something I do when I get too excited about something. Still, it should be useful. And if you have no book-writing aspirations, it will be a perhaps unsettling behind-the-scenes look at how the sausage is made.

Sponsors http://wpengine.com/lyw http://kadavy.net/freshbooks http://kadavy.net/video

Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/medium-book-marketing-nir-eyal/

48. Make it easy to do what's good for you (digital detox & building healthy habits through design) Oct 20, 2016

Show notes

If you have certain behaviors that you want to encourage in your life, you can be intentional about making them happen. Here's a trick I devised to make it easy to do things that are good for me, and a little harder to do things that are bad for me.

This article originally appeared on Medium. You can follow me on Medium at kadavy.net/medium

Sponsors http://wpengine.com/lyw http://kadavy.net/freshbooks http://kadavy.net/video

Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/make-it-easy-podcast/

47. Getting the most out of email: Jocelyn K. Glei (productivity & business networking through email) Oct 13, 2016

Show notes

Jocelyn K. Glei is author of Unsubscribe: How to Kill Email Anxiety, Avoid Distractions, and Get Real Work Done. You can buy the book at kadavy.net/email It's an awesome book that I really wish I had when I was first trying to get things done with email in the working world. I've since gotten my email decently organized, just through learning the hard way. Still, Unsubscribe had some very useful ideas and tools for me, I'll be exploring it all in my conversation with Jocelyn today.

Listen to this episode to learn how you can keep email from distracting you from your important work, how can you use it to move projects forward, to build relationships with influential people, and how can you use it in a way that will nurture the relationships that you do have?

Sponsors http://wpengine.com/lyw http://kadavy.net/treehouse http://kadavy.net/audible

Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/jocelyn-k-glei-interview/

46. #YOLO, so point your face at a blank wall (building discipline for creative habits) Oct 06, 2016

Show notes

Back when I was writing my first book, I was shocked how hard it was. I was spending all day just trying to get into that flow state.

So, here's one way I've found to help make that flow state happen on demand.

Sponsors http://wpengine.com/speedy http://kadavy.net/treehouse http://kadavy.net/audible

Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/yolo-blank-wall/