The Shopify Growth Show Iconic Read: How to do Great Work by Paul Graham (#139)
Aug 1, 2023
This discussion dives into Paul Graham's insights on doing great work, emphasizing the importance of asking better questions. The hosts explore pursuing meaningful projects over mere paid work and highlight the need for originality in problem choice. They tackle procrastination with practical tactics and debate between passion-driven exploration and deliberate practice. The significance of having great colleagues and the impact of curiosity on creativity also take center stage. They conclude with actionable advice on personal reflection and project prioritization.
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Question Choice Trumps Answer Hunting
- Deciding what to work on matters more than finding answers to work-related problems.
- Paul Graham argues originality in choosing problems often beats originality in solutions.
Trick Yourself To Start And Block Time
- Use small lies to overcome the activation energy of starting or restarting big projects.
- Block large contiguous time chunks to prevent distraction and make meaningful progress.
Finish Projects To Realize Value
- Finish projects: incomplete work often yields zero value despite high effort.
- Prioritize completion over incremental percentages of unfinished work.