Well, how gaff now? This is Tim Ferriss, recording from the UK where I'm trying to blend in. Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where my usual job is to sit down with world-class performers of all different types, to interview them and tease out habits, routines, favorite books, etc. There are 700 plus of those interviews in the back catalog and we'll get back to that shortly, but this time around we have a different format. In this short and very tactical episode I share some of my personal approaches, my personal methods, for how to get out of a run
and how to get out of a run, get unstuck, re-aim yourself with big outcomes, reset and refocus, and make progress on a daily basis. Despite the self-defeating tendencies and inner voices that we all have, and that applies to everyone I've met. The top of the top in any given field we all have those days. The first story I tell is of a three to four week period when I was beset by all sorts of personal challenges and ultimately the approach that saved my sanity.
I've got some of the efforts, any differential calculus, it is beautifully simple. But first, before we get to that, just a few quick words from today's sponsors who make this podcast possible. If you want to support the show, please check them out. I use all of these on a daily or weekly basis, and given that I'm able to test everything under the sun, I think that is saying something. Regular listeners probably know I've been taking momentous products consistently and testing them for a long while now, but you may not know that I recently collaborated with them
on my top picks. I always aim for a strong body and sharp mind and neither is possible without quality sleep. So I designed my performance stack to check all three boxes and here it is. Create your creatine for muscular and cognitive support, weigh protein, isolate for muscle mass and recovery, and magnesium 3 and 8 for sleep. All momentous products are NSF and informed sport certified, which is professional athlete and Olympic level testing. So try it out for yourself. Visit live momentous.com slash Tim and use Tim at checkout for 20%
off of my performance stack. I'll spell it out. It's a long one. Live moment OUS dot com slash Tim's live momentous dot com slash Tim for 20% off. This episode is brought to you by eight sleep eight sleep recently launched their newest generation of the pod, and I'm excited to test it out pod for ultra.
Pod for ultra can cool down each side of the bed as much as 20 degrees Fahrenheit below room temperature. Pod for ultra also introduces an adjustable base that fits between your mattress and your bed frame and adds reading and sleeping positions for the best unwinding experience. And for those snorkevy nights, the pod can detect your snoring and automatically lift your head by a few degrees to improve airflow and stop you or your partner from snoring.
Plus with the pod for ultra, you can leave your wearables on the night stand because these types of metrics are integrated into the pod for ultra itself. So get your best night sleep head to eight sleep dot com slash Tim and use code Tim to get $350 off of the pod for ultra. They currently shipped to the United States of Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Australia.
Two years ago, a creature died in the walls of my home. It was disgusting. Now to be precise, it gave up the ghost and heating system. So the death themes were conveniently pushed directly into my bedroom. My ex girlfriend and I discovered this around 11 pm as we tucked into bed, hoping for a good night sleep. We could turn off the heat and freeze. That was one option or we could bathe in the stench of what I assumed was a raccoon carcass.
And the whole thing made my eyes it was horrible. I imagined it downing its last meal, pig entrails, moldy socks, fermented beans, who knows before defiantly jamming its bladed body into my HVAC. Don't worry, we are getting to some kind of lesson here. But the kamikaze raccoon was just the first surprise guest, the opening act in short order.
My dog then got horribly sick, unrelated to raccoon. Overdo paperwork started piling up, popping out of nowhere and onboarding a bunch of new contractors ran into trouble. Then I pulled out of a parking spot and scraped the entire side of my car and the car next to me. Later that same afternoon, all these Christmas presents I had ordered somehow had run out of stock and were auto canceled. So I was sent scrambling.
And on and on it went more and more clowns piling into the clown car for a shit show that lasted three to four weeks. It was just a 15 car pile up of nonsense. There are the rare times when I feel like I'm in the zone. Those are great. Those are fantastic. Then there are times when I ask myself, how in Holy Hell have I become the janitor of a mountain of bullshit that happens more than you might think?
Put it another way. Sometimes you are the boxer and sometimes you are the punching bag. We all get our turn as the punching bag. Doesn't matter who you are as far as I can tell. It doesn't matter how successful you become. You've always grabbed a number at the deli counter of just wait. Eventually you're going to get your ass kicked by the universe. Now during these periods of firefighting. Let's just call it when stuff is popping up this back of the mole. I get fidgety and frustrated.
I feel like I'm treading water and patients wears very thin has never been my strong suit that's true, especially with myself. And my instinct is to try to fix things as quickly as possible. And that's all well and good. But I've realized that from a place of what the fuck I often rush and create more problems. This is particularly bad catastrophic sometimes when I try to sprint immediately upon waking up.
The mantra that has saved me and saved me during that three to four week period I mentioned was very simple and it's this. Make before you manage make before you manage that's it. What this means is each morning before plugging holes fixing things calling vets answering text messages delegating or yanking out dead raccoons answering a million text messages.
This mantra was a reminder to make something you should read Paul grams essays and listen to Neil Gaiman's make good art commencement speech for more on all this. But back to any given day and make before you manage. Even the most time sensitive items can usually wait 60 minutes. And by make something I mean anything it could be anything at all you just need to feel like you've pushed a millimeter ahead in some creative direction. For me personally even a 90 second video of calligraphy.
Could set a better emotional tone for the entire day helping me to be more calm as I handle problems as I execute all the rest of the stuff later or maybe I attempt to jump start my writing with an instagram caption. Or an email to a friend to take the pressure off it's practically nothing but it's enough. Even token efforts allow me to reassure myself with. Hey pal don't worry you did produce something today.
And the psychological difference between zero acts of creation and one act of creation no matter how small. Is really impossible to overstate it's binary right zero to a little bit those are two different worlds if you're lucky sometimes that one idea that one sends. One shitty first draft can turn into something bigger and that happens when you catch the wave but the point is to be able to say to yourself.
Even for five minutes harc I'm a creator not just a janitor of bullshit here's proof that I can and will do more than just manage the minutia of life. And I think it's personally I do need that reinforcement. We all spend time on the struggle bus happens to everybody at the very least this mantra has helped me to find a window seat when it's my turn so as a reminder when in doubt try it out make before you manage.
Okay folks I'll be back shortly with another story this time from a birthday crisis fun fun fun ultimately it has a happy ending so stay tuned but first just a few quick words from one of today's sponsors. I do get asked a lot what I would take if I could only take one supplement and the true answer is invariably a G1 it simply covers a ton of basis I usually drink it in the mornings and frequently take their travel packs with me on the road.
So what is a G1 AG1 is a science driven formulation of vitamins probiotics and whole food source nutrients in a single scoop AG1 gives you support for the brain gut and immune system. So take ownership of your health and try AG1 today you will get a free one year supply vitamin D and five free AG1 travel packs with your first subscription purchase. So learn more go to drink AG1 dot com slash Tim that's drink AG1 the number one drink AG1 dot com slash Tim check it out.
The moment that you feel that just possibly you're walking down the street naked exposing too much of your heart and your mind and what exists on the inside showing too much of yourself. That's the moment you may be starting to get it right this is a quote from Neil game in one of my favorite fiction writers it's from his university of the arts commencement speech.
But let's bring it back to my story a few months ago I had a birthday party was great doesn't friends and I gathered for a few days of sun beach barbecue catching up we do it every year. And then on the last day I didn't get up until 11 30 that's late even for me knowing full well that the last few remaining friends were leaving about 30 minutes later around 12 noon.
And the sad reality is I was afraid of being alone I was afraid of being lonely so like a child I hid my head under the covers that's literally and it's snooze until I just couldn't postpone reality any further.
But why am I telling you this why am I being so self-indulgent telling you this ridiculous story because we all like to appear successful a nebulous term of best and the media like to portray certain standouts as superheroes these people in the magazine covers and so on and yes sometimes these dramatic stories of overcoming the odds are super inspiring.
But often just as often they lead to an unhealthy conclusion maybe an inner monologue which is something like well maybe they whoever they happen to be maybe they can do it because they're incredible they have no faults they're just. cruddy chopping the day and winning at all moments but I'm just a normal person I can't do that. The reality is most superheroes these superheroes are nothing of the sort they're just as weird and erotic as we are there's strange creatures who do big things despite.
Lots of self-defeating habits and soft talk so to personalize this what's bringing home I am definitely no superhero I'm not even a consistent normal whatever that is so let me give you a little laundry list not too long ago I cried while watching Rudy on an airplane and that was caused for concern for a lot of people around me I repeatedly hit snooze for one to three hours passed my planned wake time because I simply didn't want to face the day.
I considered giving everything away moving to Montreal civil or Iceland location kind of depends on what I'm trying to escape I've used gentlemanly websites to relax during the day when clearly having other urgent important should to do I wore the same pair of jeans for weeks straight just to have a constant during weeks of chaos so listening to all that you might think it seems pretty dysfunctional right I assume so.
I certainly hear it that way but around the same time especially so the latter few weeks of that I also was able to increase my passive income 20% bought my dream house got to the point whereas once again meditating twice per day for 20 minutes per session without fail so not winning any gold medals in meditation but incredibly helpful in stabilizing I cut my caffeine intake to next to nothing that usually means poor tea in the morning and maybe a green tea in the afternoon I've had no more than one
cup of really strong coffee per week there's a lot to that but it's feisty say much improved sleep signed one of the most exciting business deals of the last decade including working on a collaboration that is first of its kind for me completely transformed my blood work including a few
biomarkers I've been working on for years and I realized is the next point once again that let's just call it manic depressive symptoms are just part of entrepreneurship and last but not least I have come to feel closer to all of my immediate family members so where does that leave us so personally I suck at efficiency which is doing things quickly or doing
super well but I have a few tricks so here is my coping mechanism it is an eight step process for maximizing efficacy which is doing the right thing number one wake up at least an hour before you have to be at a computer screen email is the minds killer so don't go immediately into reactive mode number two make a cup of tea I like poor tea and sit down with a pen or pencil and paper I like to do it analog number three
right down three to five things and no more that are making you most anxious or uncomfortable there often things that have been punted from one days to do list to the next to the next to the next and so on and most important usually means most uncomfortable or very
frequently does with some chance of rejection of conflict to find those important you can often just look for the most uncomfortable with some chance of rejection of conflicts the right down those three to five things step four for each item ask yourself if this for the only thing I accomplish today would I be satisfied with my day also ask while moving this forward make all the other to do is unimportant or easier to knock off later that's a nod to Gary Keller the one things
thank you for that Gary step number five look only at the items you've answered yes to for at least one of those those are the high leverage items if you've removed number six block out at least two to three hours to focus on one of them for today one let the rest of the urgent but less important stuff slide they'll still be there tomorrow step
number seven and I'm repeating to be clear block out at least two to three hours to focus on one of them for today this is one block of time uninterrupted no distractions no social media doubling together 10 minutes here and there to add up to 120 minutes does not work step number eight if you get distracted or start procrastinating haven't everybody don't freak out and downward spiral just gently come back to your one to do
congratulations that's it that's the whole thing this is practically the only way I can create big outcomes despite my never ending impulse to procrastinate not otherwise fritter away my days with all sorts of bullshit and it works work really really well and I've come to learn if I have 10 important things to do in a day it's a hundred percent certain that nothing important will get done that day so you got to pick one thing on the other
hand I can usually handle one must do item and block out my lesser behaviors for two to three hours a day in the beginning of the day that's what works for me it does not take much to seem super human and appear successful to nearly everyone around you if you learn to single task single single single single task one in fact you just need a simple rule what you do is more important than how you do
everything else and doing something well does not make it important so material over method the what over the how and if you consistently feel the counter productive need for volume and doing tons of stuff maybe you should put a few things on posted notes with them in your bathroom and the first that you can add is being busy is a form of laziness lazy thinking
and indiscriminate action does not mean that more equals more in the positive sense being busy is most often used as a guys for avoiding the few critically important but uncomfortable actions you need to take and when despite your best efforts you feel like you're losing at the game of life just remember even the best of the best feel this way sometimes happens to everybody
and when I'm personally in the pit of despair I recall what iconic writer Kurt Vonnegut said about his process highly recommend his books amazing guy and here's a quote when I write I feel like an armless legless man with a crayon in his mouth so don't overestimate the world and underestimate yourself you're better than you think and you're definitely not alone we're all in this together and everyone is fighting about all that you know nothing about
hey guys this is Tim again just one more thing before you take off and that is five bullet Friday would you enjoy getting a short email from me every Friday that provides a little fun before the weekend between one and a half and two million people subscribe to my free newsletter my super short newsletter called five bullet Friday easy to sign up easy to cancel it is basically a half page that I send out every Friday to share the coolest things I've found or discovered or have started exploring over that week
and I like my diary of cool things it often includes articles on reading books on reading albums perhaps gadgets gizmos all sorts of tech tricks and so on they get sent to me by my friends including a lot of podcast guests and these strange esoteric things end up in my field and then I test them and then I share them with you so if that sounds fun again it's very short a little tiny bite of goodness before you head off for the weekend something to think about
if you'd like to try it out just go to tim.blog slash Friday type that into your browser tim.blog slash Friday drop in your email and you'll get the very next one thanks for listening this episode is brought to you by eight sleep eight sleep recently launched their newest generation of the pod and I'm excited to test it out pod for ultra
pod for ultra can cool down each side of the bed as much as 20 degrees Fahrenheit below room temperature pod for ultra also introduces an adjustable base that fits between your mattress and your bed frame and adds reading and sleeping positions for the best unwinding experience and for those snorkevy nights the pod can detect your storing and automatically lift your head by a few degrees to improve air flow and stop you or your partner from snoring
plus with pod for ultra you can leave your wearables on the night stand because these types of metrics are integrated into the pod for ultra itself so get your best night sleep head to eight sleep dot com slash Tim and use code Tim to get $350 off of the pod for ultra they currently ship to the United States Canada the United Kingdom Europe and Australia
regular listeners probably know I've been taking momentous products consistently and testing them for a long while now but you may not know that I recently collaborate with them to put together my top picks I always aim for a strong body and sharp mind and neither is possible without quality sleep
so I designed my performance stack to check all three boxes and here it is create your creativity for muscular and cognitive support wave protein isolate for muscle mass and recovery and magnesium 3 and 8 for sleep all momentous products are NSF and inform sport certified which is professional athlete and the Olympic level testing so try it out for yourself
visit live momentous dot com slash Tim and use Tim at checkout for 20% off of my performance deck I'll spell it out it's a long one live moment OUS dot com slash Tim's live momentous dot com slash Tim for 20% off