Deep work & focus

Podcast

Cal Newport's daily routine, deep work habits, and digital minimalism in a pandemic

Deep Questions with Cal Newport September 20, 2020

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Deep work & focus 10

Productivity & habits 9

• Two keystone habits — scheduled deep work blocks and no distraction apps — build the foundation.
• Hyper-distraction days sabotage concentration days; cognitive fitness requires consistency.
• Lasting lifestyle change needs bucket rotations, not one-off tips.

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Case studies

Podcast

William Randolph Hearst: empire builder, financial self-destructor

Founders September 20, 2020

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Case studies 9

Cash flow management 6

Business models 6

• Hearst built his empire by copying Pulitzer's playbook faster and bigger.
• Cross-media synergy — one story across print, film, radio — decades before anyone named it.
• Lost his entire empire at 70 to debts he knew about and refused to stop making.

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Pricing psychology

YouTube

Five persuasion techniques for optimising a pricing table

Joanna Wiebe September 18, 2020

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Pricing psychology 9

Conversion rate optimisation 8

• Price objections mask a value-perception gap — close that first.
• Goldilocks, ugly Jerry, and contrast steer buyers to your target tier.
• Small font, no currency symbol, and math on the page reduce price anxiety.

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Deep work & focus

Podcast

Habit tune-up: eureka moments, capture systems, and fixing email overload

Deep Questions with Cal Newport September 17, 2020

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Deep work & focus 9

Productivity & habits 8

Processes & SOPs 6

• Ideas are a numbers game — hours thinking beats more inputs
• Add friction to email senders to protect receivers' attention at scale
• One notebook, zero apps: why capture must be frictionless

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Communication

YouTube

Leverage Humor to Build Stronger Trust and Connection at Work

Bill Gallagher September 16, 2020

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Communication 9

Public speaking 8

Identity & self-belief 5

• One laugh builds trust faster than 17 conventional interactions.
• Humor raises message retention from 10–20% to 50–60%.
• Joke-writing is a learnable formula, not an innate talent.

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Automation & tools

YouTube

Five business apps running an eight-figure company (and three to avoid)

Noah Kagan September 14, 2020

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Automation & tools 9

Tech stack & software 5

• Metabase gives non-technical founders database visibility — free.
• Notion gets a rare honest pan: Google Docs does the job cheaper.
• Own your community; Facebook and Slack can pull the rug anytime.

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Deep work & focus

Podcast

Cal Newport's planning system, Slack's hidden cost, and building a deep life in your 20s

Deep Questions with Cal Newport September 14, 2020

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Deep work & focus 9

Productivity & habits 8

Resilience & grit 6

• Slack fixes email anxiety but makes context-switching dramatically worse
• Satisfaction comes from daily craft and discipline, not reaching milestones
• Planning works at daily, weekly, and quarterly scales — monthly adds nothing

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