The Importance Of a Proper Work Break

• At the end of the week, write a list with everything you want to get done.
• At the end of the day, write a list containing what parts of that weekly list you want to be finished with tomorrow.

After you finish your daily list, you don't work on more projects or tasks. After you complete the weekly list, you're done for the week.

• A WD (Weekly/Daily) system manages your energy. You will get a maximum of work done while leaving yourself time to relax.
• A WD system stops procrastination because your big projects become bite-sized tasks.
• A WD system makes you proactive. With a bigger picture in mind, it's easier to put in the important but not urgent tasks.
• A WD system keeps you from burning out since you only have to focus on the next bite.

You have all the time in the world if you know how to utilize the time you’re given.

There are no limits on time. You can complete as much work as you want — if you have the right mindset and environment

• Straightforward refutation of the old idea. This complete refutation is atypical. More likely the new knowledge doesn’t contradict the old one, but it may modify it in some way.
• The new knowledge revises a simpler picture by filling it with more complex details. This is similar to adding new knowledge, although because the older, simpler view of the issue has been overwritten with more detail, there is some unlearning going on.

The real cause of reading too few books is that you don't enjoy it enough.

Don't feel compelled to finish a book that has become boring, predictable or unhelpful. Start a new one. You can have many books through various states of completion. Some won't be finished, and that's okay. Reading less is worse than having a few go unfinished.

An obstacle to your reading habit is not having enough interesting books waiting to be read.

Create a list of potentially good books. If you have a Kindle or eReader, get samples of any book you might want to read — Source your wishlist from suggestions from other writers and authors. When someone recommends a book on a blog or tweet, add it to your wishlist.

Almost no popular self-help authors are going to have had the experience of pursuing a dream (like becoming an author) and not having it eventually work out. 

Understanding reality means that you have to accept that some of your dreams won’t come true just because you work hard enough, be creative enough or go to enough seminars. Don’t base your decisions on a false model of reality.

When pursuing a dream you have the underlying assumption that when you reach it you will be happy. That is false. 

Achieving goals doesn’t make you happy because achievements on their own hold no lasting emotional value. Only growth, fulfilment and passion has value.

Without a drive to learn, it's hard to get going. Weak drives include expectations from family, teachers, or employers. It's the things you have to do, but don't want to do.

You can change this, but you need an inspiring goal to get you started. If your project doesn't excite you, no advice will help.

Sometimes you are excited to learn, but you still avoid getting started. You may worry about the fear of failure, feedback, or performing. If you expose yourself to the thing you find unpleasant and nothing bad happens, your fear will lessen.

Reframing is often helpful in overcoming this problem. Begin each studying session with the idea that you will find it hard.

The non-cognitively demanding, logistical-style tasks, often performed while distracted, tend not to create much new value in the world and are easy to replicate.

...is the first element of deep work.

That means you won’t have the mental discipline to stay concentrated on a single task unless you prepare your mind and environment to it.

• Humor: It takes a lot of practice until you can figure out the natural timing and flow of a joke. Practice makes perfect.
• Interest comes from having an interesting life. You can be interesting by telling stories  or by simply being quick to bring up an interesting fact.

Interest is similar to humor whenever people discover something they didn’t expect.

• You need to have an interesting point to make it worthwhile.
• Your most interesting point should be the last thing you say in your story.
• Keep it short.
• Keep it personal. People prefer stories about people they know.
• The more you tell a story the better you get the natural timing and emphasis. 

Minimum targeting works well for establishing long-term habits.

A goal of, for instance, doing fifty push-ups every day might not be ideal for fitness, but doing something is better than doing nothing.

Another reason to focus on the minimum is that it assumes the difficulty is in starting. To start a process can often be the hardest. Then you want to set a lower threshold to make starting as easy as possible.

Focusing on the average makes sense when you're hoping to sustain something, even if it is not always a perfectly easy and consistent output.

It works when you are already putting in a bit of effort, but want to improve that effort over the long-term.

Deliberate Rest means engaging with restful activities that are often vigorous and mentally engaging.

For example, Winston Churchill and Victor Hugo painted while Leo Tolstoy played chess.

Most of us put off tasks that stress us out. Unfortunately, this avoidance kicks off a cycle of procrastination that just causes more stress. 

Instead, committing to crossing one of them off of your to-do list on a day off can improve your overall well-being.