PRODUCTEA with Leah, Growth & Senior Leadership

56: Jason Fried - Motivation, forming habits and calendars

7 snips

May 5, 2024

Jason Fried and Leah discuss motivation, forming habits, and challenging traditions. They emphasize real-world experience, consistency in forming habits, and protecting one's time. Jason highlights the importance of hands-on learning for new employees and using intuition along with metrics for decision-making. They engage in a lively debate about calendars and time management, showcasing their unique perspectives.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

ADVICE

Use Motivation to Prioritize Tasks

Recognize when lack of motivation causes procrastination and question if the task is necessary at all.
Use motivation as a filter to cut out non-essential duties, saving energy for what matters.

ADVICE

Start Small to Build Habits

Set small, manageable goals to start habits rather than overwhelming yourself with big plans.
Choose activities you enjoy to maintain momentum and avoid demotivation.

ADVICE

Use Calendar Blocks to Learn

Block time on your calendar to learn or improve skills without a fixed agenda.
Use each session to explore and get smarter, even without knowing the exact path in advance.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Motivation, forming habits, managing time, and why it’s important to know how much you enjoy solving problems with Jason Fried.

Jason is really special to me and a 2nd time guest. Whenever we go at it, there are two worlds clashing in the best way possible. We are both never content with traditions and challenge the status quo; we just often disagree on how to challenge them while we agree on the first principles behind it all.

Our fight about calendars and time management is one of my favorite moments in the entire history of my podcast.

Takeaways

Real-world experience is the best way to learn and develop skills.

Consistency and finding what works for you individually are key to forming habits.

Calendars can be a useful tool for managing time, but it is important to protect one's time and not let others have too much control over it.

New employees at 37 Signals gain knowledge about the market and customers over time rather than being overwhelmed with information upfront.

Metrics should be used in conjunction with observation and intuition to make informed decisions.

Sound Bites
"The best way to learn is to do the work."

"If I'm putting something off for a long time, it's probably because I'm not motivated to get it done."

"The people you hire are pretty much your most important decisions you're going to make in any business ever essentially."

"At the one year point, we have to basically hire you again. This is how we think about it internally."

Chapters
02:02 Understanding and Harnessing Motivation
04:18 The Importance of Making the Right Hiring Decisions
06:16 Forming Habits: Consistency and Finding What Works
16:31 Managing Time: The Role of Calendars and Protecting Your Time
35:15 The Right Size for a Company vs Scaling
55:09 Measuring Subjective Factors in Product Development
58:53 Using Metrics and Intuition to Make Informed Decisions

Jason’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-fried/
Jason’s Blog: https://world.hey.com/jason

My Blog / Newsletter: www.leahtharin.com
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leahtharin/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeahThar

#productledgrowth

Send us a text

Leah on Linkedin / Twitter / Youtube