Via Negativa: The Ancient Mental Model That Cures Modern Distraction

The fastest way to improve a system isn’t adding the right thing. It’s removing the wrong one.

This is the core principle of via negativa — and it may be the most powerful mental model for focus and productivity that most people have never applied.

When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, the company was forty days from bankruptcy.Read the rest “Via Negativa: The Ancient Mental Model That Cures Modern Distraction”

Why Being Productive Every Day Is Making You a Worse Thinker

This is the companion piece to Your Brain Has a Creativity Mode. You’ve Been Accidentally Shutting It Off Every Day. on Medium. That article makes the case. This one gives you the implementation — including a downloadable 30-Day Cognitive Rest Tracker at the end.


There is a specific kind of professional emptiness that doesn’t announce itself as burnout.… Read the rest “Why Being Productive Every Day Is Making You a Worse Thinker”

This is the companion piece to Your Brain Has a Creativity Mode. You’ve Been Accidentally Shutting It Off Every Day. on Medium. That article makes the case. This one gives you the implementation — including a downloadable 30-Day Cognitive Rest Tracker at the end.


There is a specific kind of professional emptiness that doesn’t announce itself as burnout.… Read the rest “Why Being Productive Every Day Is Making You a Worse Thinker”