Nothing like a good default.

Optimizing life and all that are a dread, and vastly overrated. Not so much because there is nothing to it. But more so because there isn’t that much that has to be said about the matter. If you got your life figured out then all the rest (“productivity”) will sort of fall into place.

I’m not much for listicles, rigid protocols and all that. But strategies, and grand ideas: tell me more. So for a strategy to work, it has to be simple. Meaning, it has to be as simple as possible, and still work.

That’s why I always like to think in terms of if it’s not a “yes yes yes”, then the answer is “no”. And sort of in line with that is my more general take on activities: if it’s not a “yes yes yes”, then I just tend to go to the “default”.

The “default” is the thing that you have done a million times. It’s what always works. It may not be what will give you big results, but it will get the ball rolling.

The “default” is what I apply to food, sports, relaxation, and time-slots to chip away at my “moon-shots”. So for breakfast if I’m in a rush: default is oats + apples. Default for exercise when I want to move but the weather ain’t all that: calisthenics in the yard. Default for relaxation: yt, in the afternoon with a few shots of espresso. Default for “moon-shots”: continue where I left off, resist the temptation to “read things over” or to “come up with ideas”.

Then once I find my groove doing the default, then it’s time to go “deep” and to double down. It’s at the times that come after the default that the truly remarkable stuff happens. That’s why I always try to chip away or do one remarkable thing that contributes to the larger mission. Every day. And what makes this do-able is that I always start from the “default”. Then on the day of R&R I let go of all of it and I relax, slow down, do other things, reflect, contemplate and “get perspective”.