Rob Walling

And I was having a delightful conversation that wasn't getting me towards this goal of shipping this episode. But I asked myself, what is the cost of engaging with this distraction? And that's the thing that I want you to ask yourself about every distraction that comes up from here and for the rest of your life. Can you imagine if I could actually have that impact on your life? That'd be great.

But even for the next day or the next week, what is the cost? of engaging with this distraction? And what is the benefit of engaging with it? The benefit of spending time with your spouse or your kids or people you love is scientifically proven. Humans are so community and relationship driven. There are all kinds of benefits. What is the cost?

But even for the next day or the next week, what is the cost? of engaging with this distraction? And what is the benefit of engaging with it? The benefit of spending time with your spouse or your kids or people you love is scientifically proven. Humans are so community and relationship driven. There are all kinds of benefits. What is the cost?

Well, the cost is I can't spend that time working on my product or my business or getting that podcast episode shipped. And so as long as you do it in moderation, you're fine. You know, you spend an hour or two hours or three hours doing something that is quote unquote a distraction. You can get your work done. You can get your stuff done.

Well, the cost is I can't spend that time working on my product or my business or getting that podcast episode shipped. And so as long as you do it in moderation, you're fine. You know, you spend an hour or two hours or three hours doing something that is quote unquote a distraction. You can get your work done. You can get your stuff done.

If you spend 30, 40, 50 hours a week, you know, you know, some folks who get addicted to video games or addicted to a substance, addicted to alcohol, and they use these things as a distraction. That's when it breaks down is when it moves from moderation to perhaps overindulgence. So when you ask yourself, what is the cost of engaging with this distraction?

If you spend 30, 40, 50 hours a week, you know, you know, some folks who get addicted to video games or addicted to a substance, addicted to alcohol, and they use these things as a distraction. That's when it breaks down is when it moves from moderation to perhaps overindulgence. So when you ask yourself, what is the cost of engaging with this distraction?

Well, if it's a half hour conversation with a friend, if it's an hour or two with family, friends, or kids, in a lot of cases, that's going to be the right call. The benefit outweighs the cost in those instances. But then let's look at... playing video games 30, 40, 50 hours a week, what is the cost of that? Well, it's pretty significant. I imagine it's going to take a toll on relationships.

Well, if it's a half hour conversation with a friend, if it's an hour or two with family, friends, or kids, in a lot of cases, that's going to be the right call. The benefit outweighs the cost in those instances. But then let's look at... playing video games 30, 40, 50 hours a week, what is the cost of that? Well, it's pretty significant. I imagine it's going to take a toll on relationships.

It's going to take a toll on your ability to push your business forward. And while there is benefit to playing a video game or having an old-fashioned on a Friday afternoon, there is benefit to these activities that make you happy. Might be good for your mental health. They might put you around people that you enjoy spending time with.

It's going to take a toll on your ability to push your business forward. And while there is benefit to playing a video game or having an old-fashioned on a Friday afternoon, there is benefit to these activities that make you happy. Might be good for your mental health. They might put you around people that you enjoy spending time with.

It comes back to this moderation and the cost of engaging with something for an hour versus 10 hours is much different. Now I've talked a lot about in the moment distractions. I might call these micro distractions where it's spending time with someone and playing video games, whatever, versus macro. So what are macro distractions? These are bigger decisions. Let's launch an entirely new product.

It comes back to this moderation and the cost of engaging with something for an hour versus 10 hours is much different. Now I've talked a lot about in the moment distractions. I might call these micro distractions where it's spending time with someone and playing video games, whatever, versus macro. So what are macro distractions? These are bigger decisions. Let's launch an entirely new product.

Let's translate our app into Spanish. Let's make a huge strategic decision that is going to take months and months and hundreds of person hours to implement. Even building a side project when your first effort, your startup, isn't growing as fast as you want it to be. Is that distraction a good thing or a bad thing? Well, I'll come back to this. Number one, is it in moderation?

Let's translate our app into Spanish. Let's make a huge strategic decision that is going to take months and months and hundreds of person hours to implement. Even building a side project when your first effort, your startup, isn't growing as fast as you want it to be. Is that distraction a good thing or a bad thing? Well, I'll come back to this. Number one, is it in moderation?

And two, what is the cost of engaging with this potential distraction? And the macro ones are a little trickier because the worst distractions masquerade as productivity. I want to say that again. The worst distractions masquerade as productivity.

And two, what is the cost of engaging with this potential distraction? And the macro ones are a little trickier because the worst distractions masquerade as productivity. I want to say that again. The worst distractions masquerade as productivity.

Because if I know it's a distraction, if I know, again, it's playing video games, it's, you know, anything I do for a hobby, I would say, oh, it's a distraction from work. Again, that's not my worldview, but, you know, let's be very black and white about it in this segment. And if it's obvious, and I know it's a distraction, it's okay.

Because if I know it's a distraction, if I know, again, it's playing video games, it's, you know, anything I do for a hobby, I would say, oh, it's a distraction from work. Again, that's not my worldview, but, you know, let's be very black and white about it in this segment. And if it's obvious, and I know it's a distraction, it's okay.

But I see a lot of entrepreneurs who think that reading more business books, reading Hard Thing About Hard Things, or a biography about an entrepreneur, they feel like that is educating them on how to start a company. And to me, it's a distraction. Masquerading is productivity.