The hottest Productivity Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Business Topics

GRANTED: Success is a squiggly line, and goals are meant to be lumped and sliced

Granted • 0 implied HN points • 01 Mar 20
🚌 Education Productivity Goal setting Feedback Mental health Career Advice
  1. Success is not a straight path, but rather a squiggly line. It's about learning and growing from setbacks.
  2. To achieve your goals, break them down into smaller parts. Lump short-term tasks and slice long-term goals for progress.
  3. When giving feedback, aim to help others improve. Be honest even if it's not what they want to hear.

GRANTED: The 4-day work week and what different generations really want out of work

Granted • 0 implied HN points • 18 Aug 18
💼 Business Workplace Generations Productivity Gender Equality Career development
  1. Good bosses create opportunities for growth and advancement, even if it means leaving for another organization.
  2. Shifting to a 4-day work week can increase engagement, work-life balance, and decrease stress without compromising productivity.
  3. Employees value a career, community, and cause in the workplace, with a shift towards cause as they age, emphasizing the importance of these aspects across all generations.
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GRANTED: Cultivating creativity, productivity, and curiosity in 2018 (and beyond)

Granted • 0 implied HN points • 20 Jan 18
🚌 Education Creativity Productivity Curiosity
  1. Learn from those who achieve the most with the least natural talent and opportunity, as they put in more effort to master their craft
  2. Focus on attention management over time management to prioritize what truly matters
  3. Teaching kindness to preschoolers not only boosts their helpfulness but also enhances focus, self-control, and academic performance

Bolder experiments for return to the office

Joshua Gans' Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 14 Oct 23
💼 Business Management Workplace culture Productivity Employee engagement
  1. Organizations are struggling to get employees back into the office after working from home during the pandemic.
  2. Various strategies have been attempted, from forcing employees back to offering office perks, but the desired changes have not been achieved.
  3. A hypothesis suggests that forcing employees back to the office for a sustained period may help establish new routines and show the benefits of in-office work, potentially increasing office attendance in the long run.

Are Acemoglu and Johnson right about AI?

Joshua Gans' Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 19 May 23
🕹 Technology AI Economics Automation Productivity Innovation
  1. Acemoglu and Johnson discuss how power in the economy is determined by persuasion and political institutions, not just by economic forces. They stress the importance of understanding and addressing these power dynamics.
  2. The authors argue that technology, including AI, is not predetermined to drive inequality; instead, it depends on the choices made by companies and powerful actors. This challenges the idea of inevitable inequality due to technological advancement.
  3. Acemoglu and Johnson express concerns about AI automation potentially leading to the loss of valuable human skills and expertise, emphasizing the importance of considering the long-term impacts of AI adoption. They caution against short-term views on worker contributions.

Are Acemoglu and Johnson right about AI?

Joshua Gans' Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 19 May 23
🕹 Technology AI Automation Productivity
  1. Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson's book 'Power and Progress' delves into power dynamics in economics, emphasizing the role of political institutions in shaping economic value distribution.
  2. Acemoglu and Johnson present a view on AI automation, suggesting that AI replicated human tasks but does not offer significant productivity gains. They express concerns about automation leading to job loss without substantial benefits.
  3. Contrary to Acemoglu and Johnson's view, it's argued that AI can bring massive productivity improvements and that current AI adoption signifies significant advancements. The book's projections about AI's negative impacts are viewed with skepticism.

How's Work From Home going?

Joshua Gans' Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 10 Aug 20
💼 Business Remote work Productivity Collaboration Economics Management
  1. The forced work-from-home experiment during Covid-19 has led to longer work hours and increased meetings, possibly changing future work habits permanently.
  2. People have been surprisingly productive while working from home, leading to businesses reevaluating the necessity of physical office spaces.
  3. While working from home can be beneficial, there are disparities between richer and poorer individuals and impacts on businesses in city centers.

🎓 Get more productivity, fewer distractions from Slack; Reduce tech debt by automating dependency updates

Become a Senior Engineer • 0 implied HN points • 07 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Productivity Communication Automation Dependencies Software
  1. Improve communication on Slack by using channels, threads, private channels, and useful integrations to keep discussions organized and effective.
  2. Minimize distractions on Slack by adjusting notifications, turning on Do Not Disturb mode, and unsubscribing from noisy threads to focus on your work.
  3. Automating dependency updates can save time, reduce security risks, and improve efficiency for engineers by automating the process of tracking and updating project dependencies.

Become a Senior Engineer #3: 15+ Code Editor Superpowers

Become a Senior Engineer • 0 implied HN points • 02 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Tools Productivity Coding
  1. Senior engineers focus on efficiency and quality, constantly optimizing workflows to increase speed and reduce errors.
  2. Modern code editors offer valuable tools like syntax highlighting, code analysis, and keyboard shortcuts to enhance your development experience.
  3. IDEs provide powerful features such as refactoring, code completion, debugging, and integration with tools like Git, databases, and CI/CD platforms.

#2: Should you be in this meeting?

Become a Senior Engineer • 0 implied HN points • 27 Dec 23
🕹 Technology Meetings Productivity Communication Leadership Software Development
  1. Meetings can be time-consuming, impacting an engineer's core work. Attend only the valuable ones to maximize time and productivity.
  2. Make sure your presence in a meeting is worthwhile by aiming to learn something, teach something, or make a decision.
  3. It's okay to decline a meeting if it doesn't align with your priorities or if you don't see its value. Don't attend out of obligation.

No Time To Do My Job ⏰

PeopleStorming • 0 implied HN points • 25 Apr 22
💼 Business Productivity Management Workplace dynamics Collaboration
  1. Work coordination consumes a significant amount of time, with middle/senior managers spending 60% of their time on tasks related to synchronization and collaboration.
  2. Efficient collaboration is crucial for organizational success, with a focus on minimizing overhead and maximizing productivity.
  3. To optimize productivity in a team setting, individuals should focus on allocating time effectively, communicating boundaries clearly, and elevating the impact of their work.

Meeting Free Days 📅

PeopleStorming • 0 implied HN points • 16 Feb 22
💼 Business Productivity Leadership Meetings Remote work
  1. Setting aside meeting-free days can help create mental space for exploration and focus.
  2. Consider important factors when implementing meeting-free days such as timing, participants, and impact on essential meetings.
  3. Simply having meeting-free days may not solve the root cause of excessive meetings, so it's essential to address the reasons behind meeting overload.

Candor Is "Inviting People To The Party" 🎉

PeopleStorming • 0 implied HN points • 31 Jan 22
💼 Business Communication Leadership Problem Solving Productivity
  1. Candor involves showing respect by inviting people to a real, inclusive 'party' of honesty and openness.
  2. Embracing candor means giving up the false sense of security derived from controlling information flow and being open despite fear.
  3. Asking challenging and uncomfortable questions is a crucial aspect of candor that drives meaningful discussions and problem-solving.

Let's Sync On Async Meetings 🤝

PeopleStorming • 0 implied HN points • 18 May 21
🕹 Technology Communication Collaboration Productivity Meetings
  1. Acape.la is a new async meetings tool that allows participants to contribute at their convenience using various forms of messaging.
  2. Having control over when and how you participate in conversations leads to increased productivity, like carving out uninterrupted time for deep work.
  3. Embracing asynchronous communication for meetings challenges traditional approaches and prompts consideration of other collaboration tools like email and chat for more efficient communication.

Get back precious time spent on useless meetings ⏰

PeopleStorming • 0 implied HN points • 19 Jan 21
💼 Business Meetings Time management Productivity Training
  1. Reduce unnecessary meetings by declaring a meeting moratorium for a week to provide time for emails, documents, and thinking.
  2. Ensure meetings have clear purposes and success criteria to avoid wasted time and aimless discussions.
  3. Avoid meetings that could have been emails by considering simpler, more efficient communication methods.

Record items to build routines

Venture Prose • 0 implied HN points • 11 Nov 19
🕹 Technology Productivity Apps Meetings Readings
  1. Recording meetings & readings can help build routines and sustainable habits.
  2. Automatically saving recordings of meetings and readings can help in managing tasks efficiently, reducing backlogs.
  3. Additional tips like using Google Calendar for default app, saving tweets in Pocket, and setting Kindle app on home screen can enhance productivity in managing meetings & readings.

J’ai Licorne. Et vous?

Venture Prose • 0 implied HN points • 20 Sep 17
💼 Business Time management Productivity Personal Development
  1. Organize, Over-perform, Anticipate - Follow these three rules to progress and achieve success. Set rules to define your decision-making and actions, organize effectively, and know when to tackle new tasks.
  2. Begin by organizing your basic tasks efficiently to have time for new challenges. Create a routine that lets you accomplish your missions without feeling overwhelmed.
  3. Focus on over-performing by always striving for excellence and delivering more than expected. Anticipate and start working on new tasks ahead of time to ensure success.

Kill Distraction. Read. Learn.

Venture Prose • 0 implied HN points • 02 Feb 16
🏥 Health & Wellness Productivity Self-care Reading Routine Learning
  1. Set up a structured agenda to divide your day for productivity and other tasks. Consider keeping a day off per week for maximum productivity.
  2. Turn off notifications during the day to manage distractions better and deal with them intentionally.
  3. Allocate at least 30 minutes daily for reading. Save readings for later by using tools like Pocket and be selective on the sources you follow for focused learning.

Choosing Your Word of the Year: A Key Component of Your Personal Annual Review

Austin's Analects • 0 implied HN points • 13 Feb 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Self-Improvement Mindfulness Goal setting Personal Growth Productivity
  1. Selecting a Word of the Year simplifies your goals and provides focus to your daily life, acting as a theme for your journey.
  2. To choose your Word of the Year, list your goals, identify traits needed for each goal, and then select the word that appears most frequently as your guide.
  3. Commitment can be a powerful Word of the Year, encapsulating dedication to goals, relationships, and personal growth, providing a clear direction and focus for the year.

7 Simple Tips To Generate Unlimited Content Ideas While Working Full Time

Austin's Analects • 0 implied HN points • 24 Apr 23
💼 Business Creativity Productivity Content creation
  1. Lack of sleep can harm your creativity, mood, and thinking abilities, so prioritize sleep for better content ideas.
  2. Long walks can spark creativity and generate new ideas, just like Morgan Housel from Psychology of Money suggests.
  3. Eating healthy, curating content, and discussing ideas with others can all improve your ability to come up with engaging content ideas.

3 Habits To Relieve Stress as a College Student (or Recent Graduate)

Austin's Analects • 0 implied HN points • 12 Apr 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Stress management Nutrition Productivity
  1. Creating a daily to-do list helps to stay organized and manage time effectively.
  2. Learning to say 'no' is crucial to stay focused on priorities and avoid spreading oneself too thin.
  3. Prioritizing nutrition by sticking to a consistent and healthy diet can support physical and mental well-being during stressful periods.

Life is sales…and (nearly) no one teaches it

Grant & Co • 0 implied HN points • 22 Nov 22
💼 Business Sales Entrepreneurship Marketing Psychology Productivity
  1. Sales is an essential skill in various aspects of life and isn't taught widely, including in areas like fundraising, hiring, and even dating.
  2. Asking questions is crucial in sales as it helps understand the client's needs, control the conversation, and show genuine interest in solving their problems.
  3. Managing one's own psychology is key in sales to deal with fluctuating success levels, maintain motivation, and implement self-care activities to stay productive.