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Ryan Pavel

📍 Chicago http://3DProductivity.com

🔋 Optimizing for Profit

When you create, when you introduce parts of your weird and unique self into the world, can you avoid the temptation to immediately optimize your content for profit? An important thing to state at the outset: there is nothing inherently wrong about making money through a creative pursuit. Much of

🔋 You Should Miss a Deadline

I'm growing more comfortable with missing deadlines, and I think you should too. That's probably a weird thing for a CEO to say. Borderline unprofessional, even. Deadlines make the world go round, no? If we all gave up on hitting deadlines, the gears of society would

🔋 Why I Write

What's the value of writing a blog like this? One of my favorite newsletters is Ness Labs. It's a mindful approach to getting things done, written in a unique and relatable prose — not entirely dissimilar from my goal of writing here. (for my fellow nerds — that

🔋 Rest

Rest. Okay? Actually rest. Those words are as much for you, dear reader, as they are for me. Thanksgiving is two days away. For many of us, that triggers a long weekend. And for many of us for whom that is a long weekend, we will find any number of

☄️ Emerging from the Notification Hellscape

Every app on your phone wants your attention. Right now. Every store you've ever purchased from wants you adding more to your shopping cart. Every news outlet wants you reacting to the latest headline. Every social media platform wants your eyeballs, feeding you a mix of content finely

☄️ A Man Who is Freezing

How do you get anything done when nerves are frayed, emotions are high, and information flys about in all directions? In my life, I've found consistently that the thing that grounds me is thinking of others. Service. When it comes to helping others, we talk frequently of empathy.

☄️ Actionable Notes

A colleague reached out for some advice, saying "I need to nail down a consistent way to stay on top of my stuff." Don't we all! They have some core habits in place, but physical notes are stacking up, with key info and tasks getting lost

☄️ You Can't 10x Your Productivity

I recently came across a popular Thread captioned "10 images to 10x your productivity." The graphics are cute, and there are some underlying principles that are solid. But: You cannot 10x your productivity. There is no magic tool, approach, notebook, writing device, philosophy, mentality, or habit that can

☄️ In Search of Equanimity

My system surfaced the right highlight for me at the right time: Thanks, system! (having highlights across PDFs, articles, and books feed into a single place that allows me to review a handful of old highlights a day has been wonderful for recalling material I've found valuable in

☄️ I Just Don't Wanna

Today is one of those days. The to-do list is full, the calendar is set, and the clock ticks ever forward, but the brain just isn't fully there. It isn't just today either. I've been in somewhat of a fog for a little while