ML153: Josh Kaufman on Overcoming Akrasia, The Ultimate To-Do List and The Dangers of Overoptimising

Episode description

Josh Kaufman is an entrepreneur, researcher, and author of three bestselling books – The Personal MBA, The First 20 Hours, and How to Fight a Hydra.

This is Part 2 of my conversation with Josh, so if you haven't already, I recommend you go back and listen to Part 1 where we discussed:

• The concept of exploration/exploitation and how it helps you decide what to work on
• The system Josh uses for choosing what to outsource
• How Josh applied the fundamental law of marketing to his book Personal MBA

In this second part, we cover:

• How to overcome akrasia defined as a lack of self-control or acting against your better judgment
• The autofocus method Josh uses to manage his to-do list and the research methods he's used to produce 3 bestselling books
• The need to acknowledge tradeoffs in business and life and the dangers of optimising something too early