Cortex

◼   ► is it too late to wish you a Happy New

◼   ► Year I don't think it's too late to wish

◼   ► you a happy Court Xmas yeah I feel like

◼   ► we need to really do that before because

◼   ► court Xmas has happened if we say it's

◼   ► going to happen now that's not true

◼   ► right because there will be more soon

◼   ► but we have had we had a lot of cortex

◼   ► misses in last year though let's be real

◼   ► right there are a lot of them so we're

◼   ► there I don't know it felt like they

◼   ► were so they were so few like court Xmas

◼   ► is such a precious time and I guess that

◼   ► ties into your 2017 theme was it no wait

◼   ► mine was the year of less right you will

◼   ► like year or something or other that no

◼   ► one could work out you don't remember my

◼   ► theme for the year I'm disappointed you

◼   ► don't know her Mike Mike confusing

◼   ► poorly articulated theme for the year I

◼   ► didn't know I didn't it's written in

◼   ► front of me and I still don't know what

◼   ► so we are gonna we're gonna talk about

◼   ► our yearly themes but we're gonna talk

◼   ► about last year's we're going to

◼   ► evaluate how we performed against our

◼   ► yearly themes so we kind of established

◼   ► these in episode 44 of cortex and spoke

◼   ► about them a little bit more in episode

◼   ► 45 if you're catching up it's probably

◼   ► worth listening to those as well so you

◼   ► can hear us establish our themes

◼   ► my theme of 2017 was the year of Les

◼   ► which was your 2016 theme right that was

◼   ► where that debuted is the year of Les

◼   ► we've done this for three this is the

◼   ► third year Wow

◼   ► the third time that we've done becoming

◼   ► a real tradition yeah I think that the

◼   ► 2016 one wasn't as like set in stone

◼   ► like there wasn't a set in stone it was

◼   ► just like something you mentioned that

◼   ► was what you were thinking about in that

◼   ► year right but then I think I might have

◼   ► been in 2017 where we started to like

◼   ► think about this as a thing that doesn't

◼   ► we started to lock ourselves in mm-hmm

◼   ► check out like a narrow tradition going

◼   ► which is important yeah I guess I find

◼   ► traditions to be very important in

◼   ► podcast people can look forward to it

◼   ► and it's something that is obviously

◼   ► cool on because I had people even in

◼   ► person told me when are you doing the

◼   ► 2018 yeah episode so people like it yeah

◼   ► I've got to say a people that people do

◼   ► like it I had a number of

◼   ► we'll mention him person to me as well

◼   ► like they were thinking about their own

◼   ► themes for the year and I've seen a

◼   ► bunch of chatter on the core-tex

◼   ► subreddit about what people are going to

◼   ► do for their own games for the year so I

◼   ► do say I think people like it and you

◼   ► know when we started talking about this

◼   ► I just again reiterate that I really

◼   ► much prefer the idea of a theme versus a

◼   ► goal I still feel the need right now to

◼   ► to be able to back out and say like you

◼   ► don't necessarily need a theme every

◼   ► year it doesn't need to be a tradition

◼   ► we don't absolutely have to do this

◼   ► maybe some year it doesn't make sense to

◼   ► do right but no but that that year will

◼   ► just be the year of no theme right so

◼   ► that that's how that works right okay

◼   ► that's how that works that the yearly

◼   ► themed stuff was so much better than

◼   ► resolutions because resolutions are dumb

◼   ► what you're doing is creating a basic

◼   ► idea or framework that you can build

◼   ► many goals and resolutions in throughout

◼   ► the year yeah you know like instead of

◼   ► me saying oh my new year's resolution is

◼   ► to hire somebody it was no I'm gonna be

◼   ► doing a year of less and then part of

◼   ► that might be doing this but I want to

◼   ► see how it goes

◼   ► so it works way nicer because it's more

◼   ► open-ended it's just a phrase as opposed

◼   ► to like a thing that has an actual like

◼   ► binary yes or no did I achieve it and I

◼   ► think that is a much nicer way to think

◼   ► about my working life so I appreciate

◼   ► that introduction to the idea yeah it's

◼   ► it's way better for the reasons you said

◼   ► I also like the idea that you don't feel

◼   ► as bound by it like if someone sets up a

◼   ► theme for the year and they realize

◼   ► halfway through the year it doesn't make

◼   ► sense

◼   ► it is not the same thing as like oh I've

◼   ► said the goal that this is the year I'm

◼   ► going to be really healthy and now I'm

◼   ► just a big fat failure right it's it's a

◼   ► different it's a different thing of like

◼   ► I want to adjust the theme midstream you

◼   ► know like it's it's a much better way to

◼   ► think about things and again like I'll

◼   ► say that these are like my personal

◼   ► feelings on it so for my company we have

◼   ► goals and objectives that we want to hit

◼   ► right relate it around hard numbers and

◼   ► percentage increases of those numbers

◼   ► but for myself personally I don't really

◼   ► like to set those really really rigid

◼   ► goals as such and and I think it works

◼   ► better like a company is made up of a

◼   ► selection of people and I feel like that

◼   ► the goals if you if you want to

◼   ► look at like Oh what will I revenue be

◼   ► like or how many listeners what we have

◼   ► right there are types of things setting

◼   ► goals and objectives for those make

◼   ► sense because it is vital for the

◼   ► existence of the business that those

◼   ► things remain or grow where like for me

◼   ► personally it is not vital to my

◼   ► existence as to whether I well maybe I

◼   ► was gonna say whether I go to the gym

◼   ► three times a week or twice possibly it

◼   ► is maybe that's a bad example but like

◼   ► it is not vital to my existence of like

◼   ► oh how many books am I gonna read this

◼   ► year like I don't I don't live or die on

◼   ► that metric yeah I was just starting to

◼   ► laugh because I was thinking yeah it's a

◼   ► theme is personal to an individual which

◼   ► is also why it wouldn't make sense for a

◼   ► company to do like I was thinking if Tim

◼   ► Cook came out one day was like we

◼   ► haven't we have a theme for the year for

◼   ► Apple right and like what's going on

◼   ► with Apple this year he's like our theme

◼   ► for the year is beauty it'd be like

◼   ► uh-oh in real trouble because it's also

◼   ► just like what does that mean to people

◼   ► right you need to then let up have all

◼   ► these bullet points so I it's like that

◼   ► out here if you're a company you need

◼   ► some goals right you need some metrics

◼   ► but for your flourishing as an

◼   ► individual human a theme is a much

◼   ► better framework in which to operate so

◼   ► tell me Mike how did your year of Les go

◼   ► so I actually had two yearly themes one

◼   ► of them established itself halfway

◼   ► through the year that's see they're very

◼   ► open to change I did a I took it and

◼   ► turned it right i innovated on that on

◼   ► the theme idea and we'll get to the

◼   ► second one in a minute but mike the one

◼   ► that i established last year the

◼   ► beginning of the year was the year of

◼   ► less because i had spent a year talking

◼   ► to you and looking at all the things

◼   ► that you were doing and the improvements

◼   ► that you were making on your working

◼   ► life and throughout those conversations

◼   ► i decided that there were things that I

◼   ► needed to do for mine and one of the big

◼   ► big things for year of less was to get

◼   ► help to get some kind of assistance and

◼   ► I did we hired an assistant and this

◼   ► person has been excellent for us and

◼   ► we're giving more and more and more to

◼   ► them and it was a lot of work to get

◼   ► going my gosh my gosh was it a lot of

◼   ► work to get going

◼   ► with the interview process and then

◼   ► after all of that you've got a like help

◼   ► train someone right you can't just be

◼   ► like oh you go do your job can you

◼   ► remind me when when in the year did that

◼   ► happen like when did when were you doing

◼   ► interviews at the very beginning of the

◼   ► year I think it was maybe like February

◼   ► or March or something like that okay so

◼   ► it was very early in the year I just

◼   ► wasn't sure it was very early yeah um we

◼   ► did it I mean just going through I don't

◼   ► know if I spoke about at the time but

◼   ► I'm happy to say now I think we've got

◼   ► like a hundred and fifty applications

◼   ► for the job and we took ten people to

◼   ► interview now we thought our ten

◼   ► people's flight that's ten hours and we

◼   ► did it in one week it was like it was

◼   ► tough it was a lot of work to go through

◼   ► all of that information and 150 is a lot

◼   ► when it kind of gets a little

◼   ► mind-numbing because so many people

◼   ► write the same stuff right I mean that's

◼   ► the way that it's funny

◼   ► you kind of think and I know I've been

◼   ► in this position you think that there is

◼   ► a specific way in which you should apply

◼   ► for a job right the things that you

◼   ► write and things that you say but the

◼   ► problem with that is you then just blend

◼   ► in to like to everybody else like going

◼   ► through some of these applications I

◼   ► kind of was unable to tell where one

◼   ► person ended in the next person began by

◼   ► the end of it yeah yeah and then but

◼   ► you've also got the the opposite problem

◼   ► if you try and stick out too much you

◼   ► maybe take a bit of a risk it is a

◼   ► tricky thing to apply if it's a gel it's

◼   ► a delicate balance yet because if you

◼   ► stick out too much now you're the weirdo

◼   ► all right and like okay this is the

◼   ► application that sticks out way too much

◼   ► there are certain types of jobs where

◼   ► it's easier like with yours people were

◼   ► able to provide you with a piece of work

◼   ► right and so there is like a an

◼   ► entertainment quality value which makes

◼   ► somebody stick out I guess but for me it

◼   ► was just like write me a cover letter

◼   ► like that was what I wanted to see and

◼   ► it's always just text I mean and so yeah

◼   ► it felt like it was blending in a little

◼   ► bit but I don't know maybe it's just

◼   ► because I don't like to read I didn't

◼   ► enjoy it who knows no but it's it is

◼   ► it's going to be the case that when you

◼   ► when you start talking about

◼   ► hundred and fifty people applying to a

◼   ► thing they said this is where again like

◼   ► people then start falling into

◼   ► categories like you're mentally you

◼   ► can't deal with a hundred and fifty

◼   ► people in your brain and so you start

◼   ► like bidding people into groups and then

◼   ► that's where it's like uh other day like

◼   ► I have a lot of sympathy for everybody

◼   ► applying to any kind of job because

◼   ► that's that's part of what the trouble

◼   ► is is like trying to try to indicate to

◼   ► the person who's reading the

◼   ► applications what kind of person you are

◼   ► and and like that you can do the job and

◼   ► like how how do you signal that when

◼   ► your only tool is a resume it's it's

◼   ► incredibly different and the issue is it

◼   ► if you as the hiring manager want to get

◼   ► this done in a timely fashion there is

◼   ► nothing you can do than to just

◼   ► disregard some people right oh every if

◼   ► and it's a shame and I wished it kind of

◼   ► wasn't like this and you could in theory

◼   ► if you had a month to make your decision

◼   ► going through the resumes then you could

◼   ► read every one and consider them all but

◼   ► if you weren't trying to fill a position

◼   ► which typically whenever you're trying

◼   ► to fill a position speed is always good

◼   ► right yeah that's right there is just an

◼   ► unfortunate part of it in that you have

◼   ► to disregard some applications I mean

◼   ► and I'm I hired when I was working at

◼   ► the bank

◼   ► I used to hire as well as part of what I

◼   ► did it was the same thing there as well

◼   ► it's like some people you just like I

◼   ► can read this and feel like I have a

◼   ► good sense of the type of person you are

◼   ► and you're not the type of person I want

◼   ► for this job and it's like but have I

◼   ► really looked at it in detail

◼   ► unfortunately not but this kind of

◼   ► nothing you can do about it

◼   ► so sympathies to anybody applying for

◼   ► jobs it is horrible

◼   ► but anyway it really is the interesting

◼   ► thing I probably could have predicted

◼   ► this but it's good to know that whilst

◼   ► it is all great to have to do less work

◼   ► of my own right so I have somebody who's

◼   ► able to take work away from me and do it

◼   ► for me that's actually not the value the

◼   ► value is less aggravation I have less I

◼   ► find myself being less annoyed

◼   ► because there's this thing I have to do

◼   ► right I am able to move around some of

◼   ► the tasks that are less enjoyable or

◼   ► just things I've done too many times you

◼   ► know like there was some weekly tasks

◼   ► right which I've been doing for three

◼   ► years every single week and it was like

◼   ► a spreadsheet based tasks and so I get

◼   ► no joy out of this anymore I used to

◼   ► enjoy it but I don't like it anymore and

◼   ► I could sit down to do it on like a

◼   ► Sunday evening or a Monday morning and

◼   ► it was like oh here we go again right

◼   ► and being able to pass that stuff away I

◼   ► have way less tasks that I have roll my

◼   ► eyes at now and that has been a

◼   ► wonderful result of my yearly theme is

◼   ► it is not basically it's like a year of

◼   ► less comma work slash annoyance and

◼   ► that's very great right the other thing

◼   ► that I did as part of my year of less

◼   ► was time tracking and that ended up

◼   ► becoming a thing that I would eventually

◼   ► start doing was like tracking my time

◼   ► and the benefit for me is that time

◼   ► tracking has had and continues through

◼   ► highlight areas that I was spending too

◼   ► much time in right everybody like all

◼   ► here are the things I'm spending too

◼   ► much time in this blah blah blah blah

◼   ► blah but it hasn't again that that was

◼   ► what I expected would be the case right

◼   ► like oh it would tell me the things I'm

◼   ► spending too much time in and then I

◼   ► would stop doing so many of those things

◼   ► right that was my initial thought that

◼   ► was my hypothesis in the same way that

◼   ► like hiring an assistant means I will do

◼   ► less work but the result has actually

◼   ► been time tracking has helped me

◼   ► highlight how much work I actually do

◼   ► and those numbers make me feel

◼   ► psychologically better because anybody

◼   ► that runs their own business especially

◼   ► but anybody that is very invested in the

◼   ► work that they do the can can get into a

◼   ► situation where it's on your mind all

◼   ► the time yeah so you feel like you're

◼   ► working 24 hours a day so to be able to

◼   ► look at graphs and chance and say like

◼   ► Oh on Monday I actually only worked for

◼   ► five hours not 23 there is like a sigh

◼   ► psychological benefit in that for me

◼   ► where I don't feel like I'm as busy

◼   ► anymore because I actually have some

◼   ► stuff that I can point to yeah I think

◼   ► the phrase you used earlier in the year

◼   ► talking about this was was that you can

◼   ► talk back to your mind and I think

◼   ► that's that's a great that's a great

◼   ► phrase because it's when your brain

◼   ► thinks that you've been way busier than

◼   ► you actually are it's you know it's busy

◼   ► releasing all of the stress home

◼   ► hormones and worries that are related to

◼   ► that and it's it's a way to try to

◼   ► calibrate your brain to say I guess

◼   ► we're we're busy but it's not what you

◼   ► think it is brain so you can chill out

◼   ► we don't need to be at 11 on the anxiety

◼   ► meter of all the stuff that needs to get

◼   ► done we can take it back to a much more

◼   ► reasonable level and here's a

◼   ► spreadsheet that you can look at which

◼   ► proves this to you so I think that's a

◼   ► that's a really good point about the

◼   ► time tracking you know the service that

◼   ► we both use toggle they have good

◼   ► they're pretty good reports and when the

◼   ► Year ticked over a mutual friend

◼   ► Federico 40g he tweeted he's like he

◼   ► tweeted his graph right like his pie

◼   ► chart to show like how his workers per

◼   ► glass a good idea so I looked at mine

◼   ► and I again always find interesting

◼   ► things 50% of my working time in 2017

◼   ► was spent editing podcasts whilst 25%

◼   ► was recording this is not a surprise to

◼   ► me because I a some projects don't take

◼   ► twice the amount of time they take to

◼   ► record but some take four or five times

◼   ► right depending on what the the show is

◼   ► and what I'm doing and when I mean I

◼   ► kind of shared this online as well so

◼   ► thought it was very interesting and I

◼   ► had a few people reach out to me

◼   ► offering their editing services right

◼   ► mmm and it was like it is interesting

◼   ► that that is what people take from it

◼   ► they see that and they're like oh you

◼   ► must want to do less of it but I don't

◼   ► really like that's not what that means

◼   ► it's like okay I see it's 50% of my time

◼   ► but I consider that time valuable right

◼   ► and there have been projects in 2017

◼   ► that I have handed over to

◼   ► else I am just about to hand over

◼   ► another show to be edited by somebody

◼   ► else which is great because it's

◼   ► probably one that what I know this

◼   ► person can do it very well and there's

◼   ► no need for me to continue doing it

◼   ► anymore specifically so it's fine right

◼   ► I can hand that one over but I'm not

◼   ► dying to do that for any of the projects

◼   ► that I'm currently doing because we work

◼   ► with some very talented editors we have

◼   ► a few people that we work with real AFM

◼   ► who we give these projects to so I know

◼   ► there are people that can do it but I

◼   ► don't feel like I need to I want to like

◼   ► I think people look at some of like they

◼   ► look at podcast editing or they look at

◼   ► some tasks and they're like oh that's

◼   ► just like monkey work right you don't

◼   ► want to do that but I make podcasts

◼   ► that's my job like that's what I do and

◼   ► part of that is the editing of them so

◼   ► it's like would as someone's like all

◼   ► you do 25% of your time is spent hosting

◼   ► a show you should give I should do that

◼   ► for you right like I can take some of

◼   ► that time away for you and it's like

◼   ► well no right it's but it's the same

◼   ► thing to me and I think you would agree

◼   ► rightly you could hand over the editing

◼   ► of all of your shows but you choose not

◼   ► to it's it's something you can get help

◼   ► along the way but you still want to be

◼   ► involved in it yeah and like what you

◼   ► would you ideally want having brought on

◼   ► the assistant is to see that in the pie

◼   ► chart of your working life that a larger

◼   ► percentage of it is being made of what

◼   ► are the like the core value producing

◼   ► yep activities that you engage in and

◼   ► the editing is an example of something

◼   ► that it's like invisible work all right

◼   ► when a show is well edited people are

◼   ► not aware of it and so people can easily

◼   ► think of something like that as oh you

◼   ► can just have somebody else do that but

◼   ► for some of the shows that you work on

◼   ► they're like the the the voice of this

◼   ► show or the particular way that things

◼   ► come out is is really dependent on

◼   ► exactly the Edit I have to say I am a

◼   ► little bit surprised at though at the

◼   ► ratio of your editing time versus

◼   ► recording so I was surprised about it I

◼   ► was

◼   ► but like I see it and I'm like okay

◼   ► right like it was a surprise to me but

◼   ► it's like if that's what it takes that's

◼   ► what he takes I mean okay I also say

◼   ► like bug us editing also includes all of

◼   ► the posting and all that sort of stuff

◼   ► so we can add a little bin one time on

◼   ► every time right like you know it might

◼   ► add like 15 minutes on every single time

◼   ► okay that makes more that makes more

◼   ► sense though actually in that ratio it

◼   ► includes everything that happens from

◼   ► the moment I open logic to the moment

◼   ► that the show is posted right Lee

◼   ► includes all of that stuff I had like a

◼   ► show posting thing for a while but it

◼   ► just seemed silly to me because it was

◼   ► just stopped one time I start another

◼   ► timer because by and large I post a show

◼   ► immediately after he's finished editing

◼   ► typically right like I don't have many

◼   ► shows that that's not the case so I kind

◼   ► of just leave that one that one thing so

◼   ► I mean the ratio I actually was kind of

◼   ► happy with that it's like I start with

◼   ► preparation double the amount of

◼   ► preparations into recording and then

◼   ► double the amount of recording is into

◼   ► editing it was like okay like that's

◼   ► that's interesting that's kind of how it

◼   ► breaks down for me so yeah I feel like

◼   ► all kind of worked out yeah I was just I

◼   ► was just pulling up my own report shows

◼   ► curious to see and of course this is

◼   ► it's not entirely fair but I was looking

◼   ► at with cortex like what is the ratio of

◼   ► preparation and editing versus recording

◼   ► time and mine is a lot closer to 5050

◼   ► but that's because I'm able to out I

◼   ► think about the farm out most of the

◼   ► work of producing cortex do you Mike but

◼   ► I was just kind of curious to see to see

◼   ► what it is that it's that for me the

◼   ► ratio on this show is a lot closer to

◼   ► 5050 for how much time is recording

◼   ► versus how much time is involved in in

◼   ► absolutely everything else yeah and I

◼   ► guess it's worth mentioning that a vast

◼   ► percentage of my cast recording time is

◼   ► cortex that's I wasn't gonna ask but I

◼   ► figured that this is I know that this is

◼   ► the bulk of the work yeah in terms of in

◼   ► terms of any particular show how much

◼   ► time do you spend and I know that I

◼   ► place a heavy editing burden on you Mike

◼   ► and I apologize for that

◼   ► there is no I said as many times there's

◼   ► no apology needed like I am

◼   ► to do it because the show it all works

◼   ► out right like the time that I put into

◼   ► it the compensation works great like

◼   ► it's fine like I'm happy too like if the

◼   ► show is this show had like five hundred

◼   ► people that listen to it I wouldn't do

◼   ► this right but but it all works out at

◼   ► the end of the day so like I'm fine with

◼   ► it right like it all works out but it

◼   ► says the other thing like looking back

◼   ► on the year for you of trying time

◼   ► tracking like do you like you said with

◼   ► this show you feel like the amount of

◼   ► time you spend on it and the reward you

◼   ► get from it is is comparable do you feel

◼   ► like now with a year's worth of data

◼   ► that tracks well across all of your

◼   ► projects like do you feel that your

◼   ► projects get the amount of time that

◼   ► they deserve or do you feel like there's

◼   ► stuff that's over or under served I

◼   ► think by and large I am happy with the

◼   ► balance of my stuff especially because

◼   ► you know I've seen some of those things

◼   ► go down so some of again so I'm gonna

◼   ► put a link to this image in the show

◼   ► notes so people can see it and give a

◼   ► bit of color around a couple of things

◼   ► so you know you can see some of these

◼   ► things are self-explanatory right

◼   ► editing recording sure preparation

◼   ► sponsor booking that is like when we

◼   ► have a sponsor and we're inputting all

◼   ► of their information and dealing with

◼   ► contracts and stuff like that and also

◼   ► contacting new people it's all of that

◼   ► kind of stuff

◼   ► sponsor aftercare that's just a phrase

◼   ► that I made up that just means like

◼   ► answering questions and working on

◼   ► things that people need right so like

◼   ► you know our sponsors might need certain

◼   ► things that decreased significantly for

◼   ► me as the year went on because this was

◼   ► a lot of stuff that we handed over to my

◼   ► assistant is the aftercare stuff so like

◼   ► dealing with people's queries and

◼   ► questions and stuff like that the one

◼   ► that was really surprised about was hi

◼   ► how highly the Mac stories project I was

◼   ► just looking at this the fact that Mac

◼   ► stories even registers is a thing for

◼   ► the whole year is hilarious to me that

◼   ► was the production of the audiobook that

◼   ► I put together it was a significant

◼   ► portion of my year so that was a big

◼   ► surprise it taught me some some things

◼   ► to think about for the future if I'm

◼   ► ever going to do that kind of thing

◼   ► again because it also went higher than

◼   ► it's a real AFM general

◼   ► is typically whenever me and Steven have

◼   ► calls about the company I did less of

◼   ► that in time in the entire year.then

◼   ► working on the audio book so that was

◼   ► fun that was a fun thing to say but the

◼   ► overall balance of this list I am I have

◼   ► no immediate need to change any of it I

◼   ► am happy with it I did look by the way

◼   ► and cortex accounts for 10% of the

◼   ► overall editing time mmm which I okay so

◼   ► 10 10% of that 50% yeah 10% of the of

◼   ► the 50% so it was about it was about 70

◼   ► to 80 hours right now that's interesting

◼   ► because I mean our show is effectively

◼   ► one every three to four weeks pretty

◼   ► much on that no no it no it's this wave

◼   ► more frequent than that it's no no it's

◼   ► about three because it used to be every

◼   ► two weeks most of the years one every

◼   ► month like a 2017 so we're about three

◼   ► weeks I would say is fine but every

◼   ► other show I do by and large is weekly I

◼   ► have a couple of fortnightly shows so

◼   ► 10% of that overall thing is significant

◼   ► right there are some significant snows

◼   ► so that we're getting really into the

◼   ► weeds now but time tracking was very

◼   ► good because now I am able to value my

◼   ► doing nothing time significantly more

◼   ► mmm I don't feel like when I'm doing

◼   ► nothing when I am playing stardew valley

◼   ► I am not like I'm not working I'm not

◼   ► working I've not done enough today I

◼   ► don't worry about that stuff anymore

◼   ► because I have a much greater sense for

◼   ► how long it takes me to take care of my

◼   ► work and right it turns out it's not 15

◼   ► hours a day

◼   ► it's more like six or seven right that's

◼   ► typically my work amount in during a day

◼   ► but it's spread throughout the day right

◼   ► so it feels like the work day begins at

◼   ► 8:00 and ends at 2:00 because my work

◼   ► happens at chunks throughout the day but

◼   ► once I got a better handle on how my

◼   ► time was spent which I did this year I

◼   ► was a time able to value everything more

◼   ► than before so that has been a great

◼   ► great goal for me a great thing

◼   ► to achieve yeah I think that that is I

◼   ► mean they're sort of jumping ahead a

◼   ► little bit this does tie into some of my

◼   ► own thoughts for the the previous year

◼   ► but yeah being able to being able to

◼   ► turn a bunch of that doing nothing time

◼   ► mentally from from like a like a guilty

◼   ► pleasure into no I'm just doing this and

◼   ► it's fine is a big psychological

◼   ► advantage and pick it is difficult for

◼   ► everybody but it is also especially

◼   ► difficult if you're a self-employed like

◼   ► this is the thing that I just when I

◼   ► talk to people who are self-employed is

◼   ► it is a constant refrain that it can be

◼   ► so you have so much that is under your

◼   ► control but it can be very difficult to

◼   ► enjoy your free time because there is

◼   ► this endless list of things that could

◼   ► in theory be done so it's it's really

◼   ► great to hear that that the time

◼   ► tracking is helping you feel like you

◼   ► have evidence to show your brain that

◼   ► you've done stuff you have a good

◼   ► estimate of how long things take you and

◼   ► then that that makes your doing nothing

◼   ► a relaxing time more able to be valued

◼   ► in in the moment so that that sounds

◼   ► like a really great improvement and

◼   ► another thing that I was even surprised

◼   ► to discover so I have no idea I don't

◼   ► know if anybody cares enough to pay

◼   ► attention to this kind of thing mm-hmm

◼   ► but I I would say this is probably a

◼   ► surprise for anybody that does pay

◼   ► attention including myself for the first

◼   ► time it may be my entire podcasting

◼   ► career 2017 was the first time that I

◼   ► have not launched a new show that I have

◼   ► been a part of I find this totally

◼   ► shocking I couldn't believe it I like I

◼   ► found it out by accident because I was

◼   ► for some other purposes I was looking at

◼   ► all of the shows that we've launched in

◼   ► 2017 and I realized I'm not on any of

◼   ► them yeah yeah when you mentioned this

◼   ► to me I felt like it blew my mind

◼   ► I don't know surely you're wrong surely

◼   ► you're wrong but I'm not wrong I this is

◼   ► the first time ever and I was like wow

◼   ► this is a big surprise to me how do you

◼   ► feel about that what it tells me is that

◼   ► I internalized

◼   ► two-year theme I have had ideas that

◼   ► I've just not done because that's adding

◼   ► more right

◼   ► a new show is adding more and I mean I

◼   ► had some projects that I've been working

◼   ► on in 2017 that I killed at the last

◼   ► minute because I came to realize how

◼   ► much work they would have taken and I

◼   ► didn't believe that the valley would

◼   ► would be there ultimately evil

◼   ► creatively or financially so I decided

◼   ► not to go through with them and this

◼   ► isn't a thing so when we talk about my

◼   ► next yearly theme it is building on what

◼   ► I learned and how I think to go forward

◼   ► from it but this was a big surprise to

◼   ► me because I really do believe that this

◼   ► is the first time in seven years that I

◼   ► have not launched a new show in like an

◼   ► ADEA period

◼   ► so I think that that tells me that the

◼   ► year of less theme was was a significant

◼   ► success because I internalized something

◼   ► and basically stopped myself from this

◼   ► habit that I have built up over the last

◼   ► seven years of every time I have an idea

◼   ► I just do it so I was pretty proud I was

◼   ► pretty happy to see that it's it may

◼   ► sound like a strange thing to do but but

◼   ► I I feel like I am so congratulatory

◼   ► towards you on that because it is really

◼   ► hard not to just go with all of the new

◼   ► projects and especially when you when

◼   ► you have the power to make those

◼   ► projects happen nobody's right yeah no

◼   ► exactly it's like nobody can stop you

◼   ► which is the best and the worst part of

◼   ► it right like you would you want to do a

◼   ► new project like there's nobody to stop

◼   ► you and and it's always like the new the

◼   ► new project is always more exciting than

◼   ► the current current project right it's

◼   ► always like ooh this new project so

◼   ► exciting is turning my head it's like

◼   ► well you know but it takes it takes a

◼   ► lot of recognition and ability to do not

◼   ► pursue all of those things so yeah

◼   ► whenever was you told me a couple weeks

◼   ► ago that you hadn't you know

◼   ► new show in 2017 and I just found it

◼   ► mind-blowing but I really do think it's

◼   ► great and I would also suspect that this

◼   ► is this is partly a better ability on on

◼   ► your part after having done this for

◼   ► many years to have a sense of what a

◼   ► potentially good payoff for a project is

◼   ► or isn't yeah when you're when you're

◼   ► newer it makes more sense to just like

◼   ► try a bunch of stuff and see what what

◼   ► sticks on the wall but you know now now

◼   ► that you are an established podcast

◼   ► person you have an established podcast

◼   ► network and you now have a better sense

◼   ► of the value of your time it makes less

◼   ► sense to go off on a whole bunch of new

◼   ► projects like they can be damaging in a

◼   ► way and you also probably have a better

◼   ► internal mental compass about what are

◼   ► the valuable directions to go in and and

◼   ► not everything that occurs to you that

◼   ► seems like a great idea one week is is a

◼   ► good way to go

◼   ► the following week yeah like I've made a

◼   ► conscious effort that if I have an idea

◼   ► and begin on it

◼   ► I don't launch it quickly like I spend I

◼   ► have I have mean we've had shows that we

◼   ► even have artwork for that will never be

◼   ► used now I've seen some of that art

◼   ► we've seen some it's very nice it's

◼   ► wonderful it's actually one of my

◼   ► favorites ever but no one's ever gonna

◼   ► see it don't ask you won't see it sorry

◼   ► maybe I'll use it for something one day

◼   ► and if I ever use it then I'll tell you

◼   ► that that's what it that it was for the

◼   ► secret project but it was just the look

◼   ► I I kind of let it just a a little bit

◼   ► and decided that no I don't think this

◼   ► is the right thing for me to do so I've

◼   ► had a few things like that this year and

◼   ► I think it's been of great benefit and

◼   ► an essay it ties him to my 2018 theme

◼   ► which was all about in a bit because I

◼   ► still have I had a lot of things I love

◼   ► stuff to say this time

◼   ► halfway through 2017 I started my second

◼   ► yearly theme which will run until June

◼   ► of this year which is the year of

◼   ► positivity slash optimism I refer it to

◼   ► both things I can never remember which

◼   ► one it is but we'll call it the year of

◼   ► optimism right and it follows the Apple

◼   ► calendar year it follows the Apple

◼   ► calendar year so WWDC to WWDC so much of

◼   ► my life is focused around talking about

◼   ► technology with a significant focus on

◼   ► Apple anybody listens to this show knows

◼   ► that and 2015 to 2016 to 2017 there was

◼   ► a decline in overall excitedness amongst

◼   ► people that care about Apple products

◼   ► there was a lot more frustrations and

◼   ► they ever had been and this really

◼   ► culminated in the beginning of 2017 it

◼   ► was just a bad time there were no new

◼   ► products everyone was happy no matter

◼   ► what you liked there was nothing for you

◼   ► yeah I still think of this period of

◼   ► time in my mind as the the Apple Valley

◼   ► of darkness we were wondering it was a

◼   ► very it was a dark time if you cared

◼   ► about this stuff it was a dark time

◼   ► because everything that happened was not

◼   ► good then WWDC 2017 was like the apology

◼   ► year and everybody got something it was

◼   ► Tim Cook turned into Oprah and everyone

◼   ► got something right there was something

◼   ► under everybody's seat and we all got

◼   ► the thing that we wanted so I decided to

◼   ► make a concerted effort which I'm still

◼   ► working on that I would try and be more

◼   ► positive and optimistic when talking

◼   ► about technology because that's what I

◼   ► enjoy I actually don't like being mad

◼   ► about it I like to enjoy it that's why I

◼   ► talk about it's not fun so I've been

◼   ► focusing on that and of course you slip

◼   ► every now and then but the overall

◼   ► feeling is that it's gonna be cool and

◼   ► we're gonna enjoy it and it's gonna be

◼   ► great so I'm happier to talk about this

◼   ► stuff on shows now because I'm generally

◼   ► more happy about it so that was that's

◼   ► my theme so my theme for 2017 and I'm

◼   ► very happy with them yeah I feel like

◼   ► the the year of positivity at least from

◼   ► my subjective experience was it was good

◼   ► it's good timing and also sort of like

◼   ► good for your mental health because yeah

◼   ► it's like yeah I also listen to a bunch

◼   ► of these shows like the same shows that

◼   ► you listen to words like everybody's

◼   ► wandering through this valley of

◼   ► Darkness together and like yeah it is it

◼   ► is terrible but at a certain point you

◼   ► just get tired of listening to everybody

◼   ► talk about how stuff is terrible even

◼   ► when like I too am there in the valley

◼   ► of darkness like

◼   ► talking about how things suck as well

◼   ► right like we're all here together but

◼   ► the this is one of these things where

◼   ► like for mental health sometimes you

◼   ► have to take a little bit of a like a

◼   ► revaluation and say like yeah stuff

◼   ► sucks but I'm gonna try to force through

◼   ► a thing and happiness is one of those

◼   ► those funny

◼   ► those funny topics like it's a where you

◼   ► you can make things better through it

◼   ► through like a playing tricks on

◼   ► yourself and in in some ways like

◼   ► deciding that you're going to be you're

◼   ► going to have a more positive outlook on

◼   ► stuff you can make that start to occur

◼   ► and I think it also happened to be great

◼   ► timing and a good time to start it with

◼   ► the 2017 WWDC but yeah I'm very glad

◼   ► that were past that part and I have to

◼   ► say as a listener to your shows I was

◼   ► always glad when when you were doing the

◼   ► the year positivity and I feel like

◼   ► there were a few moments where it really

◼   ► came through they're like oh there's

◼   ► Mike being positive about stuff like I

◼   ► can hear him doing it and as a listener

◼   ► I was appreciative saying it's a mental

◼   ► health thing is a really good point

◼   ► because it was like I was just finding

◼   ► myself just being sad about the thing

◼   ► that I liked and then having to talk

◼   ► about it like three times a week every

◼   ► week and it's just like this isn't good

◼   ► for my overall feeling so I decided to

◼   ► make of change to it and to try and see

◼   ► the light side of things it's still a

◼   ► battle because I have a lot of opinions

◼   ► and sometimes my opinions aren't always

◼   ► that things are good but ultimately I've

◼   ► been very happy I mean this came out a

◼   ► couple of weeks ago when I was talking

◼   ► about my mic general contenders in

◼   ► technology which you decided to be a

◼   ► rain cloud over but we don't have to

◼   ► worry about things like that

◼   ► my general my general feeling about

◼   ► right now is that I'm very I'm very

◼   ► happy with my technology right now and I

◼   ► feel like I'm still on I'm still on the

◼   ► righteous path of the multi pad

◼   ► lifestyle even though some people

◼   ► decided to leave it so anyway let's talk

◼   ► about your incredibly confusing 2017

◼   ► theme the year of betrayal I think you

◼   ► can't let other people's happiness get

◼   ► in the way of your

◼   ► today's episode of cortex is brought to

◼   ► you in part by our friends hover

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◼   ► when it comes to thinking about new

◼   ► projects there is never a better time

◼   ► than the beginning of the year and any

◼   ► new project comes with a new website and

◼   ► that website needs a wicked call domain

◼   ► name and that is why I have used hover

◼   ► for so long for this stuff any project

◼   ► that pops into my hand I will go there

◼   ► and just get the domain for it like what

◼   ► do you have to lose even if you just

◼   ► stick on to it for one year of a yearly

◼   ► theme right at least you've got it if

◼   ► the name is there you've got it it's

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◼   ► they allow you to keep your domain

◼   ► separate from your hosting so you never

◼   ► have to get stuck of a service that

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◼   ► support they have their hover connect

◼   ► feature that allows you to connect your

◼   ► domain to any website builder with just

◼   ► a few simple clicks they do personalized

◼   ► email that you can match your domain

◼   ► that's a super professional thing by the

◼   ► way you know grabbing a domain name of

◼   ► your own and setting up an email address

◼   ► rather than using Gmail or something

◼   ► that looks real good and and that's a

◼   ► great reason to get a domain I think

◼   ► most people don't really think of very

◼   ► much and of course who is privacy is

◼   ► free so bad guys don't get your

◼   ► information if you want to show the

◼   ► world what you're passionate about and

◼   ► set yourself up for your year hover is

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◼   ► head to hover comm slash cortex right

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◼   ► looking back on my my past year and had

◼   ► a at a confusing start with a terrible

◼   ► name which so I originally was calling

◼   ► it the year of Nu and then a listener to

◼   ► the show having having heard me try to

◼   ► wander through a bad description of what

◼   ► I was up to redubbed it's the year of

◼   ► redirection as you want actually doing

◼   ► anything new so maybe the funny thing is

◼   ► in retro I was I was going through this

◼   ► morning getting ready for the show and I

◼   ► was going through all of my records from

◼   ► the year and looking stuff over

◼   ► and it's funny to me because actually

◼   ► calling it the year of knew slash

◼   ► redirection is actually perfect because

◼   ► there were like a bazillion new things

◼   ► this year it just it just so happens

◼   ► that this stuff isn't really public

◼   ► facing to people but your year of new

◼   ► slash redirection actually ended up

◼   ► being just a perfect name for the year

◼   ► but while I was while I was going

◼   ► through the year I was thinking of it as

◼   ► the year of redirection and what this

◼   ► what this meant for me was trying to

◼   ► think more deliberately about how I am

◼   ► spending my time like what what things

◼   ► maybe have too much time where are some

◼   ► areas where I should spend more time in

◼   ► a different way than I that I currently

◼   ► was and part of this part of this was

◼   ► that going into 2017 I feel like I was

◼   ► dealing with a little bit of burnout so

◼   ► I was trying to think about how can I

◼   ► arrange my working life in a different

◼   ► way or how can I do a bunch of things in

◼   ► a different way in that upcoming year

◼   ► there is a little bit of a funny thing

◼   ► talking about this year because I

◼   ► realized that this again is one of these

◼   ► funny moments where I feel like I'm

◼   ► coming up against this this this edge of

◼   ► like being a private person who makes

◼   ► his living in a very public way and also

◼   ► there was just a bunch of stuff that

◼   ► happened business-wise that doesn't make

◼   ► sense really to talk about in a public

◼   ► way so I it's funny because it's like I

◼   ► had all of this stuff happen and I

◼   ► redirected a bunch of my energy and time

◼   ► on various projects but so I'm gonna

◼   ► have to talk about this in like kind of

◼   ► a high-level way but I'm aware of that

◼   ► because there's a bunch of places where

◼   ► it's like I just I just don't either

◼   ► want to or it doesn't make sense really

◼   ► to go into the details the lazer shock

◼   ► business is booming Mike don't tell

◼   ► people about the losers the volcano

◼   ► where extraction companies just it's

◼   ► working excellently you joke but you're

◼   ► closer than you think

◼   ► I'm still convinced that you are trying

◼   ► to build an office building I am

◼   ► convinced that this I absolutely 100% I

◼   ► believe that you are trying to build an

◼   ► office complex but this is

◼   ► these are the felt I'd love to do it but

◼   ► I've got to finish my clothing assembly

◼   ► line first right like there's only so

◼   ► much only so many industries and

◼   ► factories you can it's totally true but

◼   ► yeah so so there's a bunch of stuff

◼   ► which is not obvious to people but like

◼   ► one of the things that people who pay

◼   ► very close attention to the numbers

◼   ► would notice is like a thing that I

◼   ► decided to do which you were sort of

◼   ► referencing earlier is I very

◼   ► intentionally at the beginning of 2017

◼   ► decided to crank down my podcast output

◼   ► just a little bit so if someone is going

◼   ► through like how many episodes were

◼   ► published he's month you were joking

◼   ► about there being more cortex misses but

◼   ► they're totally were and that was that

◼   ► was a very intentional decision on my

◼   ► part this was something that we

◼   ► discussed and we worked out a good plan

◼   ► for the year and I think we were but I

◼   ► was very happy with the the output of

◼   ► the last year's shows as well and yeah

◼   ► it was less but I don't I actually think

◼   ► it was a positive impact on the show

◼   ► overall yeah and I have to say you you

◼   ► were great to work with during this time

◼   ► because like it's it is it is this like

◼   ► one person is saying like I want to pull

◼   ► back 15% right over the course of the

◼   ► year and it's like well it's a

◼   ► partnership like we work on this thing

◼   ► together but you you were great with

◼   ► this and so that was one of the big

◼   ► things with with the year of a

◼   ► redirection for me was like this was one

◼   ► area where I thought the podcasts are

◼   ► great they're a great way for me to

◼   ► spend my time but I was also aware of

◼   ► like man I have this little bit of a

◼   ► feeling of burnout that it's like every

◼   ► week there is a show to do and I need to

◼   ► have a few more times in the year where

◼   ► it's like okay I have one or two weeks

◼   ► in a row where there's no podcasts and I

◼   ► think this is this is the case of of

◼   ► being like being an introverted person I

◼   ► always do find that the podcasts are

◼   ► quite mentally draining in this very

◼   ► particular way and I just needed some

◼   ► little bit more time to like recoup from

◼   ► that that was a case where year of

◼   ► redirection was was great like just

◼   ► pulling back a little bit like I said

◼   ► about 15% was was fantastic and is one

◼   ► of these cases where it's like okay I'm

◼   ► taking a small hit business-wise but I'm

◼   ► getting a massive improvement like

◼   ► psychologically like I feel much better

◼   ► about this and I also think it made the

◼   ► shows genuinely better as well to have

◼   ► like more breaks I would say from my

◼   ► perspective less shows meant that I

◼   ► could prepare better for all of them so

◼   ► like the things that we were talking

◼   ► about and themes like I I was happier

◼   ► with our 2017 output than our 2016

◼   ► output because I have more time to come

◼   ► up with ideas and it is worth noting

◼   ► that this year will probably be pretty

◼   ► similar sometimes there's one sometimes

◼   ► it's two and that's kind of just how

◼   ► we're gonna be going forward because it

◼   ► fits into both of our schedules really

◼   ► nicely because in case you'd never

◼   ► guessed we travel quite a lot and

◼   ► sometimes it can be a nightmare for us

◼   ► to align our travel schedules like that

◼   ► is an example of the thing where in one

◼   ► way it sounds like an easy and easy

◼   ► thing to say like oh I'm just gonna pull

◼   ► back a little bit but I did this across

◼   ► like all of my various business

◼   ► endeavors was trying to pull back like

◼   ► 15% like across the board and everything

◼   ► I'm involved with like in everything

◼   ► that I do and that ended up being like a

◼   ► whole year long project and it was like

◼   ► a very carefully managed thing and

◼   ► trying to like balance a whole bunch of

◼   ► inputs and outputs like that that was a

◼   ► really big deal but I feel like it was a

◼   ► huge success and a big win on my part

◼   ► and there were a number of times in the

◼   ► year where having that like extra 15

◼   ► percent of time really did allow me to

◼   ► redirect efforts and energy into other

◼   ► things that came up or things that ended

◼   ► up being new endeavors of one kind or

◼   ► another so it was it was really great

◼   ► for me and I'm so glad I did it but I

◼   ► remember at the beginning of 2017 like I

◼   ► was looking back through my my initial

◼   ► planning now it sounds like man I was

◼   ► really worried that it was

◼   ► make 2017 just a total disaster that

◼   ► little bit of a pull back but it didn't

◼   ► it was it was really a really a great

◼   ► decision a disaster in what way like

◼   ► I've never had things on regular

◼   ► schedules obviously but I feel like

◼   ► there's got to be some kind of minimum

◼   ► threshold below which you go that it it

◼   ► starts turning bad like and I was

◼   ► worried like maybe I'm closer to

◼   ► whatever that minimum threshold is then

◼   ► I thought and going like 15% less will

◼   ► bring me below that threshold but it

◼   ► turned out that's not the case so it's

◼   ► like everything keeps growing and like

◼   ► like we said the show was actually doing

◼   ► better than they were before so I was

◼   ► just worried like how close am I to the

◼   ► edge of too infrequent and maybe I'm way

◼   ► closer to that edge than I think but so

◼   ► now it worked out great and like I said

◼   ► for me personally it was really great

◼   ► and it was really important during a

◼   ► couple of times in the year in

◼   ► particular yeah so that that is like one

◼   ► of the most public facing ways that

◼   ► people can see something is different in

◼   ► in the year of redirection but you

◼   ► brought up you brought up travel Mike

◼   ► and this is where I feel like the year

◼   ► of new is is a thing because this past

◼   ► the amount of travel that I did exploded

◼   ► it just exploded in this totally

◼   ► unexpected way and I feel I feel like

◼   ► here's here's the best way I can because

◼   ► I was looking at like how much time I've

◼   ► spent in airports this year which is

◼   ► like phenomenal time but the thing that

◼   ► really the thing that really hit home

◼   ► which just happened yesterday was at the

◼   ► beginning of the year I sort of knew

◼   ► that I was going to be doing a bunch

◼   ► more traveling I had a vague idea that

◼   ► this was a thing that was going to

◼   ► happen in the year and I was talking to

◼   ► a friend of mine about it and he

◼   ► convinced me to sign up for one of the

◼   ► airline reward programs I was like I

◼   ► don't know if I should like who cares

◼   ► I'm just one point it's wild to me I

◼   ► can't believe

◼   ► come one well I just thought it was dumb

◼   ► right and and front and also like for

◼   ► most of my life the amount of traveling

◼   ► that I did was very little and it

◼   ► wouldn't really have mattered but so I

◼   ► signed up at the beginning of the year

◼   ► and you know when you sign up so I

◼   ► signed up with British Airways and it's

◼   ► like they send you a card and I'd like

◼   ► welcome to the peasant class of rewards

◼   ► right you get nothing except this card

◼   ► which now says that you're in are you're

◼   ► at the bottom of our caste system and

◼   ► I'm like whatever

◼   ► so yesterday I'd literally got a golden

◼   ► envelope in the mail right the gold

◼   ► muffler was a great thing to get from

◼   ► British Airways yeah that I opened up I

◼   ► had like tissue paper and and this fancy

◼   ► thick paper and like they're like

◼   ► welcome to the golden God class of

◼   ► travel so I I have been on virgin for

◼   ► the last couple years and I've gone

◼   ► through that mm-hmm that whole thing but

◼   ► I had to take a few flights with BA this

◼   ► year because virgin didn't serve some

◼   ► places so I lost my gold status by like

◼   ► just a hair I lost it so I'm now

◼   ► switching over to be a because I've done

◼   ► bas before they're their progression

◼   ► through their system is much better like

◼   ► you get more for less with them so yeah

◼   ► I I'm going through that right now and

◼   ► probably by the end of the year I might

◼   ► get the gold because I have a lot of

◼   ► travel on ba this year including like

◼   ► all my honeymoon stuff so I think we're

◼   ► gonna be good yeah but it's like I have

◼   ► to say that when I got that golden

◼   ► envelope it was a real mixed feelings

◼   ► moment it was like oh god this is a

◼   ► physical manifestation of the subjective

◼   ► feeling like I feel like I've travelled

◼   ► a lot this year as like no here is

◼   ► manifest proof that the amount of travel

◼   ► I have done has just exploded like I

◼   ► counted up like even just just in the

◼   ► summer I think in the space of six weeks

◼   ► I stepped on ten planes like it was some

◼   ► crazy number like the whole summer of

◼   ► travel was was especially explosive and

◼   ► then this year was was on top of that

◼   ► and this feels like

◼   ► a really new and very different thing in

◼   ► my life and it was also the case that

◼   ► had I not cut back on some other work

◼   ► stuff that would the combination of

◼   ► increased business travel plus

◼   ► maintaining the previous year's schedule

◼   ► that really would have been a disaster

◼   ► because we we certainly ran into enough

◼   ► times this year of just trying to

◼   ► coordinate both of our schedules that it

◼   ► was it was really hard or we were really

◼   ► running up against some very narrow

◼   ► windows of time we live in the same town

◼   ► but I think we have seen each other more

◼   ► this year overseas oh yeah yeah without

◼   ► a doubt that that is the case it's it's

◼   ► been an interesting it's been an

◼   ► interesting experience and I also feel

◼   ► like travel I've traveled so much I have

◼   ► become a very fundamentally different

◼   ► person with travel I'm now I'm now the

◼   ► kind of person who doesn't have a lot of

◼   ► stress cutting it real close getting to

◼   ► an airport I'm so I don't think I'm ever

◼   ► gonna get there I never thought I would

◼   ► be there either but I've I have become

◼   ► that guy my thing is now I don't think

◼   ► about the fact that I'm gonna be getting

◼   ► on a plane very much before I do it

◼   ► right like I know that like before I

◼   ► started traveling a bunch of times every

◼   ► year like thinking that I'm about to get

◼   ► on a plane to go to America or whatever

◼   ► was like a big thing that was in my mind

◼   ► for a bit right but now it's kind of

◼   ► just like I'll pack but I'm not really

◼   ► thinking about it and I packed the day

◼   ► before and then I just wake up and go to

◼   ► the airport like it's like going to get

◼   ► such a terrible thing to say I guess but

◼   ► it's like going to get a train now

◼   ► because I fly so much right and and the

◼   ► reason we both do this is basically

◼   ► everybody that we work with by and large

◼   ► lives in America so there's so many

◼   ► businesses that occur which require us

◼   ► to be on the other side of the ocean so

◼   ► that I do it so many times now that it's

◼   ► it's like any kind of form of transport

◼   ► which is a way healthier way to consider

◼   ► air travel because you don't fret about

◼   ► it I always found myself writing about

◼   ► it because they there are so many things

◼   ► about the process that are meant to make

◼   ► you fret about it

◼   ► and I'm now happier that I don't need to

◼   ► do that yeah I agree there's a lot of

◼   ► travel threading that is gone part of

◼   ► that is being part of a members rewards

◼   ► program which has which has advantages

◼   ► like for me a huge psychological

◼   ► advantage is being able to pick a seat

◼   ► further and further ahead in time so

◼   ► it's like I know I really do not want to

◼   ► be penned in in a in a window seat on an

◼   ► airplane if I can possibly avoid it and

◼   ► so like get it getting an aisle seat is

◼   ► extraordinarily psychologically

◼   ► important to me when I'm flying and so

◼   ► being able to like book and get that way

◼   ► in advance makes a big difference but

◼   ► yeah also just like the pure familiarity

◼   ► with travel has has definitely decreased

◼   ► the amount of fretting and has made some

◼   ► things possible which would have been a

◼   ► huge a huge deal like an inconceivably

◼   ► large deal otherwise and I'll just I'll

◼   ► briefly relay a story that I feel like

◼   ► encompasses the entirety of of my travel

◼   ► year but I had traveled so much this

◼   ► year that come December I had decided

◼   ► there's going to be no more travel I

◼   ► cannot do any more flights it's too much

◼   ► it's all too disruptive I don't want I

◼   ► don't want to do it and it's like that's

◼   ► one of the reasons why I was really

◼   ► interested in going to pod con but I was

◼   ► like I can't get on one more plane

◼   ► because it's I've just flown too much

◼   ► this year and it's a long one it takes a

◼   ► long getting it to Seattle turns out

◼   ► yeah it takes a long time to get to

◼   ► Seattle but I was thinking like oh but I

◼   ► can stay in great master time it'll all

◼   ► be fine right as I ever start trying to

◼   ► scheme it out but the rational part of

◼   ► my brain said like too many flights dude

◼   ► you just can't do this decide that there

◼   ► is a travel veto on December no more

◼   ► traveling and I decided it and I thought

◼   ► okay that's great and then four reasons

◼   ► for make sense that I can't go into the

◼   ► details we'll just say that this is one

◼   ► of the the many problems of being a

◼   ► self-employed dual citizen we're one of

◼   ► those citizenships is America America

◼   ► makes it real difficult for

◼   ► self-employed people living abroad but

◼   ► it turned out I found out on Christmas

◼   ► Eve that I needed to go to America to

◼   ► sign a document before the end of the

◼   ► year and so I ended up

◼   ► at the very last minute between

◼   ► Christmas and New Year's buying a plane

◼   ► ticket to go to America for 36 hours to

◼   ► return and fly back before New Year's

◼   ► and while like that was an enormous pain

◼   ► in the ass

◼   ► there was a part of me which because I

◼   ► had done so much travel I was like you

◼   ► know what I can just deal with this

◼   ► right it's not it was not something I

◼   ► wanted to do but had I not done a ton of

◼   ► flying otherwise that would have been a

◼   ► incredible psychological problem but I

◼   ► was but but I just I just had this

◼   ► feeling of resignation of like I guess

◼   ► I'm going to America for 36 hours to

◼   ► sign a single piece of paper that had

◼   ► before at the end of the calendar year

◼   ► like okay here I go yeah that really

◼   ► summed up a difference in you like and I

◼   ► noticed it because we were chatting over

◼   ► Christmas mm-hm and I knew I was seeing

◼   ► you over the New Year's period and you

◼   ► told me that you were getting on a plane

◼   ► and I was like that's a different man

◼   ► [Laughter]

◼   ► what I loved about that though is even

◼   ► when I checked in the gate agent looked

◼   ► at my ticket and she's like hey come to

◼   ► America for 36 hours

◼   ► [Laughter]

◼   ► it was totally nuts but I felt like that

◼   ► was the perfect encapsulation I decided

◼   ► there's no more travel and of course at

◼   ► the 11th hour something else comes up

◼   ► which is like this is mandatory travel

◼   ► you have no option about it like okay

◼   ► guess it's gonna happen so I feel like

◼   ► looking back on my past year the the

◼   ► amount of traveled the amount of new

◼   ► locations like that is a huge difference

◼   ► in in what was occurring over the

◼   ► previous year the other major thing

◼   ► though which was related to my year of

◼   ► new and your redirection was while you

◼   ► were doing time tracking for the first

◼   ► time last year I was deciding to try to

◼   ► time track everything in my life for the

◼   ► previous year and I have to say I feel

◼   ► like that was also a really great thing

◼   ► to do and I've really appreciated

◼   ► this I don't know I don't even know how

◼   ► to phrase it but I feel like there is I

◼   ► don't know how to say this in a way

◼   ► that's not gonna sound to people like

◼   ► it's a bad thing because I mean it's I

◼   ► mean it in a very good way but I feel

◼   ► like having done this for a long period

◼   ► of time of trying to keep track of not

◼   ► just working hours but also like leisure

◼   ► time or socializing time or any any kind

◼   ► of time I really have like a mental

◼   ► clock in my head that is running and

◼   ► that will that will sound bad to people

◼   ► but what I mean by it is I feel like

◼   ► it's established a real kind of in the

◼   ► moment presence in a lot of the things

◼   ► that I do so like again like so the

◼   ► worst way that people would think about

◼   ► is like if I'm socializing with someone

◼   ► I do keep track of my socializing time

◼   ► but it's not like I'm there on my watch

◼   ► and it's like oh god how much time am i

◼   ► spending with this person bleep bloop

◼   ► ten personality points allocated yeah

◼   ► it's it's much more this feeling of like

◼   ► I have decided to spend time with this

◼   ► person and I'm going to be as mentally

◼   ► here in the moment as I possibly can be

◼   ► and I feel like this is this is a mental

◼   ► improvement that has been booted up in

◼   ► my brain by trying to always have a

◼   ► timer running in the background so that

◼   ► I'm just time tracking my entire life so

◼   ► I feel like it has made me much more

◼   ► present focused then then would

◼   ► otherwise than would otherwise be the

◼   ► case so I'm I would not recommend that

◼   ► everybody do this thing that I have done

◼   ► like I really think it is on the edge of

◼   ► crazy to try to time track an entire

◼   ► life but I have found it really good and

◼   ► it has it has been a worthwhile thing to

◼   ► do after having already been four years

◼   ► familiar with the idea of doing just

◼   ► time tracking around more

◼   ► specific activities yeah I I think I

◼   ► have an example of this too because

◼   ► because I do

◼   ► ultimately think that what you do is way

◼   ► more than I would want to do but once

◼   ► you get into time tracking as a concept

◼   ► that exists in your life you're able to

◼   ► apply it some different things so as is

◼   ► always with human beings I am trying to

◼   ► make a more concerted effort of taking

◼   ► care of my health and right now that is

◼   ► meaning to exercise more now I'll give

◼   ► you a fact about my curly my curly hates

◼   ► exercise I have tried so many different

◼   ► things I have never ever enjoyed

◼   ► physical activity I didn't enjoy being

◼   ► in school I just don't I for whatever

◼   ► reason I'm not good at any of it and I

◼   ► don't like it but it's just how I am I

◼   ► that I do not get a good feeling from

◼   ► going to the gym no matter what I do I

◼   ► just don't I know that this is something

◼   ► that people get and whatever and

◼   ► endorphins and blah blah blah I never

◼   ► get a good feeling out of it yeah those

◼   ► people that's my feeling exactly the

◼   ► only type of activity that I enjoy is

◼   ► swimming I like to swim I'm pretty

◼   ► decent at it I enjoy it

◼   ► and it's I believe to be a pretty good

◼   ► workout now the problem problem that I

◼   ► have is that there where I live there

◼   ► are not a lot of places I can swim so I

◼   ► have to travel somewhere to go to a pool

◼   ► and travel back and the problem that I

◼   ► was seeing was I believed that it was

◼   ► taking too much time for me to complete

◼   ► this activity and it was eating into my

◼   ► days to significantly so I decided to

◼   ► time track it I was like let's find out

◼   ► shall I like it I've had this feeling a

◼   ► bunch before so let's find out I was

◼   ► right it was taking too much time so I

◼   ► have optimized some of the travel to and

◼   ► from the place that I'm going to so like

◼   ► I've tried to find ways to cut down the

◼   ► travel time and to build it in two days

◼   ► differently but I got the answer that I

◼   ► needed from actually doing some

◼   ► real-time tracking to see how many hours

◼   ► this thing was taking you know I was

◼   ► finding that it was taking me like

◼   ► three hours to do 45 minutes of swimming

◼   ► right well that's not good is it right

◼   ► like that's not efficient so I've found

◼   ► ways to cut that down by like a third so

◼   ► it's like okay so let me try and see how

◼   ► I can

◼   ► I can

◼   ► can build this in some yeah that that's

◼   ► just something like a an example of when

◼   ► you get into the time tracking mindset

◼   ► you can use real data to prove theories

◼   ► or disprove theories and then action

◼   ► upon them that's that's what the benefit

◼   ► for me is of seriously time tracking but

◼   ► I am NOT I am NOT of the inclination to

◼   ► to do what you do yeah like I don't want

◼   ► to track the time that I spend playing

◼   ► Nintendo like I don't I don't need to

◼   ► see that right like I'm good let's just

◼   ► assume that all of the time that isn't

◼   ► what time is spent playing Nintendo and

◼   ► then was good you ever see this this is

◼   ► why I like doing the whole lifetime

◼   ► tracking because a thing that we when we

◼   ► get to what are themes for the next year

◼   ► are I'll talk a little bit about more

◼   ► but it does then if you're trying to do

◼   ► the whole life tracking there is there

◼   ► is data in like the missing data and

◼   ► that's an interesting thing to look at

◼   ► is to say like oh when you know I'm

◼   ► awake 16 hours a day and like but how

◼   ► many hours did I actually get in the day

◼   ► and then that that missing piece becomes

◼   ► an interesting piece of data of like

◼   ► where did that time go or why is it that

◼   ► during this week or this month I was

◼   ► clearly way worse at time tracking than

◼   ► than other times and so I like having

◼   ► that because I feel like there is this

◼   ► sense of like information in the

◼   ► negative space of the time tracking if

◼   ► you're trying to be really complete in

◼   ► in what's occurring but we can talk more

◼   ► about that later but I mean I guess I'll

◼   ► just say that the year of new in the

◼   ► year redirection was sort of vague much

◼   ► more vague than the year of less was for

◼   ► me which I'm where there's really

◼   ► precise meaning but I still feel like a

◼   ► lot of what I was trying to do I did I

◼   ► feel much better about my work-life

◼   ► balance there were some things last year

◼   ► that made me think about like I just how

◼   ► I how I spend like family time I wanted

◼   ► to try to increase that like that is

◼   ► definitely a thing that I accomplished

◼   ► you know there were a bunch of just like

◼   ► new things that I did new experiences

◼   ► like there's some new business ventures

◼   ► like there's

◼   ► but there was a bunch of like new stuff

◼   ► that was great because I had been able

◼   ► to redirect how I spent some of my -

◼   ► yeah into those new things I asked the

◼   ► balance like it wasn't that you was

◼   ► necessarily seeking out these new things

◼   ► but by redirecting your time new things

◼   ► could but could come to you it's kind of

◼   ► like if that is the way I think that you

◼   ► ended up balancing out cuz I don't know

◼   ► if you necessarily set out the year to

◼   ► be like I need some new business

◼   ► ventures don't necessarily that was what

◼   ► you were thinking like when you open up

◼   ► space the thing to become available so I

◼   ► feel I feel like that was that was

◼   ► really good I guess in some ways I feel

◼   ► like I had much more of the advantages

◼   ► and fewer of the disadvantages of being

◼   ► a self-employed person during the year

◼   ► of redirection like I think that's

◼   ► that's largely what happens like I did

◼   ► some analysis I did like a like an 80/20

◼   ► analysis of where where are the pain

◼   ► points in my life and where are the

◼   ► benefit points in my life and realized

◼   ► that was a little bit off and worked to

◼   ► reduce the things that were causing pain

◼   ► and increase the number of things which

◼   ► were causing enjoyment so I feel like

◼   ► that that's the summation of like your

◼   ► redirection ended up being the year that

◼   ► I was able to benefit more from being a

◼   ► self-employed person than I had in

◼   ► previous years yeah cuz you could do

◼   ► whatever you wanted right there was more

◼   ► of that feeling of like I can I can pick

◼   ► and choose and do the things that I want

◼   ► to do without the feeling of like I am

◼   ► bound into the things that I must do

◼   ► there was kind of a bit more flexibility

◼   ► in there yeah I mean I always think this

◼   ► that there's a it's a thing I think I

◼   ► see with a lot of people and it's very

◼   ► natural for it to happen but it's like a

◼   ► phrase but there's like there's this way

◼   ► that being successfully self-employed

◼   ► you can end up just building yourself a

◼   ► golden cage and I feel like in 2016 I

◼   ► came a little close to that edge or

◼   ► closer to that edges and I really want

◼   ► to be and that's the thing that I'm

◼   ► always very conscious of and then like

◼   ► 2017 was was writing that ship

◼   ► a little better this episode of cortex

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◼   ► and I ordered a Casper to replace our

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◼   ► once again that's Casper comm slash

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◼   ► to Casper for supporting the show so I

◼   ► have two themes for 2018 and starting

◼   ► out which is also being coupled with my

◼   ► theme which is running into a June yeah

◼   ► so you're gonna have three overlapping

◼   ► themes that's gonna happen oh yeah yeah

◼   ► well okay so it will make sense when you

◼   ► hear them so so one of the themes of my

◼   ► year is the year of adulting I am gonna

◼   ► become a serious adult this year is it's

◼   ► time to get serious because this year I

◼   ► turned 30 years old and I'm getting

◼   ► married it's pretty serious yeah I feel

◼   ► like these are pretty serious big adult

◼   ► things that will occur so that I know

◼   ► that's just gonna be a prevailing thing

◼   ► in in my life this year I don't believe

◼   ► there are any significant actions to it

◼   ► but they are just guiding a lot of

◼   ► things that are happening so especially

◼   ► my wedding

◼   ► it is guiding a lot of activity and

◼   ► focus this year in in a way that I am

◼   ► going to take my foot off the gas a

◼   ► little bit more with some work stuff

◼   ► this year because I have a very serious

◼   ► big event going on so that that's kind

◼   ► of a thought and really I don't think

◼   ► that it will no one will see it right

◼   ► now it's kind of in a way less than what

◼   ► you did like I'm not gonna pull back on

◼   ► a bunch of stuff but it's just informing

◼   ► some things that I'm gonna be doing and

◼   ► kind of how I'm gonna be approaching

◼   ► some projects that are existing and new

◼   ► because I'm gonna be having this this

◼   ► this huge thing going on in my life this

◼   ► year which I'm very excited about but

◼   ► it's obviously gonna make an impact on

◼   ► me which is a great thing about being

◼   ► self-employed is that I'm able to make

◼   ► those decisions right and and it was

◼   ► like it was like when I when was buying

◼   ► the house and I remember saying on the

◼   ► show about like it's like a job of its

◼   ► own and I don't know how people I just

◼   ► don't know how people do it including me

◼   ► I don't know how I did it and it's a

◼   ► similar thing like getting married it's

◼   ► like a job of its own and that's why

◼   ► there is an entire industry of wedding

◼   ► planners that exist because it is like a

◼   ► big huge project to manage yeah it's a

◼   ► giant logistical challenge on many

◼   ► levels yeah probably the biggest

◼   ► logistical thing that I will have be

◼   ► involved with so yeah that's that's

◼   ► informing a lot so that's one thing but

◼   ► there's there's less kind of actions

◼   ► from there and okay so this this might

◼   ► sound in contrast to the previous thing

◼   ► that I just spoke about but let me try

◼   ► and explain 2018 will also be for me the

◼   ► year of branching out so

◼   ► I have some things that I want to do I

◼   ► have some new things that I want to try

◼   ► and I want to see if it's something that

◼   ► I'm able to do so like one of those

◼   ► things is more live shows I love doing

◼   ► live shows and but they are there

◼   ► they're real bear to arrange and we did

◼   ► more in 2017 than we've done in 2016 and

◼   ► I want to continue that I don't have any

◼   ► handle on what that's gonna be I have no

◼   ► plan we have no plan like significant

◼   ► plan right now but we want to do more of

◼   ► them right so we want a trip we want to

◼   ► hopefully do one at wEDC

◼   ► this year which we didn't do last year

◼   ► so you know no plans but it's just hopes

◼   ► and so that is a big thing because it

◼   ► doing anytime you add another live show

◼   ► into the calendar like it's a it's a big

◼   ► logistical challenge and I am very lucky

◼   ► in that I have Stephen to manage that

◼   ► stuff Stephen is very good at putting

◼   ► together live shows my co-founder a

◼   ► relay event it's something that he has

◼   ► developed in his skill set but for me if

◼   ► I'm if I'm involved in hosting them that

◼   ► is huge for me so like before I do any

◼   ► type of live show I go into an almost

◼   ► catatonic state okay I talk to anybody

◼   ► and I really get kind of like focused on

◼   ► it in a very significant way it like for

◼   ► like an hour before I'm like sick I I

◼   ► don't even know what it is I don't know

◼   ► if it's nerves I don't know where it

◼   ► comes from it's I don't know if it's

◼   ► stage fright I don't know what it is

◼   ► because as soon as we start I'm great

◼   ► fine I can do them but I I feel like I

◼   ► always need to prepare more and so I

◼   ► kind of get into this like zone for a

◼   ► while so they're always a lot to do but

◼   ► it's something that I get great pleasure

◼   ► from when we do them I love doing it so

◼   ► we want to try and do more of that

◼   ► and then trying new ideas is probably

◼   ► the bigger thing for me and I've made

◼   ► hints to this in the past that there is

◼   ► an idea in my brain which is it is a

◼   ► podcast idea I don't I don't know if

◼   ► it's ever going to happen because it's

◼   ► so different to any

◼   ► thing else that I have done but I have

◼   ► been stewing on this idea for about six

◼   ► months and it won't go away it keeps

◼   ► coming good sign

◼   ► yeah that that's what like so that's

◼   ► that okay so that's one of the big

◼   ► things right 2016 Mike would have

◼   ► already launched this project right

◼   ► right but 2017 Mike learned to wait so

◼   ► I'm still sitting on it but it's

◼   ► something that I really want to do and I

◼   ► saw Hamilton last week in London and

◼   ► it's only made it worse

◼   ► because Hamilton was created by one

◼   ► person and it is this incredible

◼   ► incredible thing which I urge anyone to

◼   ► go and see if you can because it's

◼   ► probably the greatest single piece of

◼   ► meteor I've ever consumed it is a tour

◼   ► de force I can't believe it here like I

◼   ► haven't seen Hamilton I was aware

◼   ► whatever was like last year when I first

◼   ► came out that I started hearing

◼   ► everybody in the world

◼   ► talk about an overhype this thing and I

◼   ► got like sick of hearing people talk

◼   ► about Hamilton and I was like this is

◼   ► ridiculous whatever like everybody's

◼   ► just like a fad but then I felt like my

◼   ► mind was changed because I last year I

◼   ► watched Moana and I was like man the

◼   ► music in this was just amazing it just

◼   ► made this this was so fast like this

◼   ► music is great and I thought like this

◼   ► is one of the best movie watching

◼   ► experiences I've had in a really long

◼   ► time and and I did a thing which I never

◼   ► do which is like who made this movie

◼   ► looked at when it's like Oh turns out

◼   ► that the guy who made Hamilton did all

◼   ► the music for this I was like ah okay

◼   ► maybe this Hamilton thing is worth

◼   ► seeing great Hamilton is in London it's

◼   ► gonna be here forever please try and get

◼   ► tickets to it and I advise anyone to do

◼   ► what I did because I think this is great

◼   ► don't listen to the music beforehand

◼   ► experience who will do that who with so

◼   ► many people because honestly you can and

◼   ► it's fine and you can get it but see it

◼   ► so obviously I am no delusion of

◼   ► grandeur here I don't think I can create

◼   ► something that is of the scale

◼   ► Hamilton ya see that's what I'm hearing

◼   ► Mike's gonna make Hamilton - what Mike's

◼   ► working on Jefferson right now but it

◼   ► was it was just because what what I want

◼   ► to do is a big is a big project is a

◼   ► huge project it's something I don't know

◼   ► if I have the skills or capabilities to

◼   ► do but seeing something created by one

◼   ► individual is very inspiring to me

◼   ► because it's like well it shows that

◼   ► people are able to do these types of

◼   ► things so maybe I can make something

◼   ► that's okay so it it's only basically

◼   ► what is happening to me is I have this

◼   ► idea and everything is inspiring me

◼   ► right so many things I'm seeing alike

◼   ► pushing me to be like see you can do

◼   ► this stuff people can do this stuff

◼   ► maybe you can so it's only feeding the

◼   ► flame and yeah people could probably

◼   ► guess what I have going on in my mind if

◼   ► they pay attention to the clues you if

◼   ► you guess it you're probably right

◼   ► but it's it's a project that I don't

◼   ► know if I had capability to do but 2018

◼   ► I will make the decision by the end of

◼   ► this year I'll have IVA done it or I'm

◼   ► never gonna do it I'm setting that for

◼   ► myself it's like you can't keep doing

◼   ► this forever if you want to try and make

◼   ► a go of this thing you've got to do it

◼   ► this year so we'll see that's that's so

◼   ► my bigger theme this year is branching

◼   ► out trying some new big projects but

◼   ► also being mindful of not just trying

◼   ► anything and everything that comes to my

◼   ► mind like I learned in 2017 well I look

◼   ► forward to seeing your enormous project

◼   ► at some point we're not coming to coming

◼   ► to Broadway but I think that like what

◼   ► you just said there is also like a great

◼   ► a great point about like deciding that

◼   ► you're gonna do this thing or you're

◼   ► gonna have to let it go like and exactly

◼   ► why you can't just keep having it in the

◼   ► back of your mind for forever and I

◼   ► think that's a it's an interesting it's

◼   ► an interesting point to have with that

◼   ► so yeah I wish you I wish you all the

◼   ► best of luck with that Mike thank you I

◼   ► hope it I hope it turns out

◼   ► and all the live shows you're gonna

◼   ► arrange that we're gonna do right are

◼   ► you gonna how many live shows do you

◼   ► want to commit to 1000 committing to

◼   ► zero right X World Tour gore-tex World

◼   ► Tour how many dates do you have zero so

◼   ► what's your theme for 2018 okay so we

◼   ► need a little bit of a run-up to this

◼   ► because when I was recapping my year

◼   ► mostly talking about how it was great

◼   ► thank you every direction very happy

◼   ► things worked out well but there's an

◼   ► alternative name that I could have given

◼   ► that year looking in retrospect and I

◼   ► think I could have called 2017 standing

◼   ► now at the beginning of 2018 the year of

◼   ► chaos because what a really bad name to

◼   ► give it proactively obviously

◼   ► proactively does not the name to give

◼   ► the thing but retro actively I think I'm

◼   ► going to always think of 2017 as like

◼   ► this year of chaos because this year was

◼   ► just a year where I felt like I never

◼   ► had any real consistent schedule for any

◼   ► significant length of time I feel like

◼   ► things were just all over the place and

◼   ► again I do like to try to verify this

◼   ► kind of stuff so when I was like

◼   ► reviewing all the documentation I had

◼   ► from the previous year the data totally

◼   ► bears this out that that last year was a

◼   ► year that was just all over the place in

◼   ► every metric I can think of and so like

◼   ► one of the things I was mentioned before

◼   ► about the negative space and time

◼   ► tracking I was looking over the year and

◼   ► I could see like I want to see how well

◼   ► did I do with this time tracking and my

◼   ► mental my mental framework is that on a

◼   ► on any particular day I should have 12

◼   ► hours like 12 hours is the bare minimum

◼   ► of competency 14 hours is good and like

◼   ► 16 hours is the theoretical maximum of

◼   ► how much time I would be tracking in a

◼   ► day

◼   ► and the median day for the whole year

◼   ► was like 13 and a half hours which I was

◼   ► pretty happy with but if you break it

◼   ► down by months some months I'm tracking

◼   ► fifteen and a half hours a day like I'm

◼   ► doing great and a couple of months

◼   ► particularly in the summer and in April

◼   ► I've got like six hours a day right like

◼   ► total disaster across the board in terms

◼   ► of the time tracking and it's like yeah

◼   ► I remember those months I remember I

◼   ► decided like the hell with this I can't

◼   ► possibly do with it all so I just had

◼   ► like a string of zero days in a row

◼   ► because I'm like I can't I can't

◼   ► psychologically deal with this today I

◼   ► just got too much and I looked at things

◼   ► like records of exercise and like

◼   ► records of health and it's like crazy

◼   ► lines all over the place of like how

◼   ► frequently frequent were you exercising

◼   ► it's like crazy or like like things with

◼   ► like other health stuff like diet stuff

◼   ► it's like okay it's like okay great I

◼   ► have this stretch of time where

◼   ► everything is perfect numbers really

◼   ► focusing on and then it just was ghost a

◼   ► total disaster later and like I think a

◼   ► huge portion of that was just I am NOT a

◼   ► person who was used to the travel so

◼   ► it's like I can see that it's like the

◼   ► calm pond of my life is totally

◼   ► destroyed with ripples and waves every

◼   ► time a rock of an airplane is thrown

◼   ► into it and it's like this this really

◼   ► takes things out of place but even on

◼   ► top of that like I can I can just see

◼   ► again from the records like I was really

◼   ► bad last year about things like weekly

◼   ► reviews and trying to stay on top of

◼   ► stuff I think it wasn't wasn't helped by

◼   ► my like sort of abandoning task managers

◼   ► for a while as well which like went into

◼   ► this theme of like a year of chaos yes I

◼   ► still I honestly still can't get my head

◼   ► around that

◼   ► like I don't feel like I was ever

◼   ► satisfied with the reasoning in which

◼   ► you were doing it like yeah it just

◼   ► never clicked for me I feel like that

◼   ► that was a mistake that you made in the

◼   ► year well I think I needed to pull back

◼   ► from some of that stuff that that was a

◼   ► little bit of like redirection like I'm

◼   ► going to just like let this kind of go

◼   ► so what I feel like with last year and

◼   ► had this this experience where

◼   ► high-level things were really great it

◼   ► was a really successful year but unlike

◼   ► the low level it was totally this this

◼   ► like year of chaos so my theme for the

◼   ► upcoming year is the year of order that

◼   ► there is going to be order in 2018 oh

◼   ► yeah

◼   ► yes chaos to order so good

◼   ► yeah you've you had a brain wave when

◼   ► you came up with that one I like it it's

◼   ► been itching it's been under my skin for

◼   ► you know maybe since mid-december I

◼   ► started was thinking about this because

◼   ► as we were coming up to our your themes

◼   ► I was like I don't really have a theme

◼   ► like I'm just wishing what like whatever

◼   ► and as I started to think about I was

◼   ► like this is what it is it's the year of

◼   ► order is 2018 and I've sort of started

◼   ► on this in some ways but there's that

◼   ► there's like a sentence in my mind which

◼   ► I feel like is this this guiding

◼   ► sentence for the year which is like the

◼   ► work isn't the work the system is the

◼   ► work and so I feel like I've set up a

◼   ► bunch of stuff already to try to help

◼   ► with it's like okay in the morning like

◼   ► you get up in the first thing that you

◼   ► do is is the writing and like it doesn't

◼   ► matter how much you write her if it's

◼   ► good at all because the system is the

◼   ► work the work isn't the work like one of

◼   ► my real focuses this year is I'm still

◼   ► expecting that there's going to be a lot

◼   ► of travel like I can already see my

◼   ► calendars has a bunch of dates already

◼   ► in the future like oh god here we go

◼   ► but I think there can be a real

◼   ► difference when I'm going I'm going into

◼   ► the Year expecting and acknowledging

◼   ► like there is going to be travel there

◼   ► are going to be disruptions but I cannot

◼   ► allow them to be as disruptive as they

◼   ► were last year because I feel like last