Jay Papasan

And so literally, if you make a decision, you know, I am wearing black shoes today and a black tie, that little tiny decision, they can measure that glucose in your bloodstream will drop. But there's things that require a lot more power. Like I'm going to focus on this task. I'm not going to go play on Twitter. I'm going to focus on my work. I'm not going to go hang out by the coffee machine.

And so literally, if you make a decision, you know, I am wearing black shoes today and a black tie, that little tiny decision, they can measure that glucose in your bloodstream will drop. But there's things that require a lot more power. Like I'm going to focus on this task. I'm not going to go play on Twitter. I'm going to focus on my work. I'm not going to go hang out by the coffee machine.

Saying no to those temptations or saying yes actually uses a lot of energy. And that was our big aha is that what you're calling discipline and what we're calling willpower is actually really fragile. It's a lot more like the battery on an old phone. It's always going to zero and you have to plug in all the time. So for us, our big aha is you tend to have the most in the morning.

Saying no to those temptations or saying yes actually uses a lot of energy. And that was our big aha is that what you're calling discipline and what we're calling willpower is actually really fragile. It's a lot more like the battery on an old phone. It's always going to zero and you have to plug in all the time. So for us, our big aha is you tend to have the most in the morning.

That's what it's always highest. And you can replenish it by eating properly. So we tell you, give willpower the time of day and feed it. It's not that you're, you know, willpower is hungry. I think about kids, right? You have a kid, a young child. What does a mom do for a young child every day around three o'clock? A snack. That's like an essential thing. They come home from school.

That's what it's always highest. And you can replenish it by eating properly. So we tell you, give willpower the time of day and feed it. It's not that you're, you know, willpower is hungry. I think about kids, right? You have a kid, a young child. What does a mom do for a young child every day around three o'clock? A snack. That's like an essential thing. They come home from school.

The first thing they do when they've outgrown the nap, they get both when they're at a certain age, they get a snack. They've used up all of their discipline at school sitting in their chair straight, walking in line, waiting. And so we tell you, make it a habit in the morning, right? You're one thing, do it in the morning and you naturally have the willpower to say yes to it.

The first thing they do when they've outgrown the nap, they get both when they're at a certain age, they get a snack. They've used up all of their discipline at school sitting in their chair straight, walking in line, waiting. And so we tell you, make it a habit in the morning, right? You're one thing, do it in the morning and you naturally have the willpower to say yes to it.

And then throughout the day, if you looked in my office, I've got power bars, I've got nuts, I've got foods that are high in protein and complex carbohydrates because I want my brain to have all the discipline or willpower it needs throughout the day. And those tend to feed your bloodstream for long periods of time versus just splatting it with sugar.

And then throughout the day, if you looked in my office, I've got power bars, I've got nuts, I've got foods that are high in protein and complex carbohydrates because I want my brain to have all the discipline or willpower it needs throughout the day. And those tend to feed your bloodstream for long periods of time versus just splatting it with sugar.

But we wanted to talk about making things a habit and managing that discipline willpower thing throughout the day itself. And I've kind of observed like, you know, open floor plans have been kind of all the rage. And they've looked at some of these and they do foster more creativity, but they haven't necessarily fostered more productivity.

But we wanted to talk about making things a habit and managing that discipline willpower thing throughout the day itself. And I've kind of observed like, you know, open floor plans have been kind of all the rage. And they've looked at some of these and they do foster more creativity, but they haven't necessarily fostered more productivity.

And my theory, and it's not been measured yet, is if I'm in an open office and I'm in an environment full of distractions, I'm using a lot of my willpower to focus on the task at hand. And, you know, we have noise canceling headsets in our office in the cubes.

And my theory, and it's not been measured yet, is if I'm in an open office and I'm in an environment full of distractions, I'm using a lot of my willpower to focus on the task at hand. And, you know, we have noise canceling headsets in our office in the cubes.

People literally put up like shower curtains and they do all kinds of things to try to get more focus so that they have to, you know, the distractions take less of a toll. But I do think that, you know, an environment is one of the things that I became aware of. Does your environment support your work and your focus? Because that can saying no to all that stuff can be really tough.

People literally put up like shower curtains and they do all kinds of things to try to get more focus so that they have to, you know, the distractions take less of a toll. But I do think that, you know, an environment is one of the things that I became aware of. Does your environment support your work and your focus? Because that can saying no to all that stuff can be really tough.

How do I know what my one thing is? And I know that kind of comes back to the premise that we started with, but do you have any like practical ideas for how to find the thing that by doing it, everything else becomes easier or not necessary? On the simplest level, we wanted people to put down the book and ask that question.

How do I know what my one thing is? And I know that kind of comes back to the premise that we started with, but do you have any like practical ideas for how to find the thing that by doing it, everything else becomes easier or not necessary? On the simplest level, we wanted people to put down the book and ask that question.

What's the one thing I can do such that by doing it, everything else will be easier and necessary. And for a fair number of people, they kind of know what it is and they feel guilty for not doing it. They just haven't been told that, you know what, you're smart enough to know your own answers.

What's the one thing I can do such that by doing it, everything else will be easier and necessary. And for a fair number of people, they kind of know what it is and they feel guilty for not doing it. They just haven't been told that, you know what, you're smart enough to know your own answers.