The Productivity Show Copy & Paste Strategy: How to Accelerate Change by Borrowing What Works (TPS598)
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Feb 2, 2026 They unpack the copy-and-paste strategy for faster behavior change by imitating close-match role models. They explore when copying outperforms planning and the pitfalls of blind imitation. Practical tips include finding the right person to learn from, using AI workflows to automate routines, and scaling by borrowing proven processes.
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Who Beats How For Faster Learning
- Most skills and solutions already exist in someone else's experience.
- Asking the right person shortens learning time far more than solo experimentation.
Buy Focused Expert Time
- Pay for targeted expert time (e.g., Clarity.fm) to get specific blueprints and save months of trial and error.
- Ask focused questions to extract actionable steps rather than broad conversation.
Possibility Comes From Visible Examples
- Seeing others' lived examples creates possibility and changes perceived difficulty.
- Visualizing practical options unlocks the motivation to try new behaviors.
The “Claude bug” hits hard — and suddenly you’re automating everything (including your sleep away) 
The copy-and-paste move that can save you weeks… if you stop doing it the hard way first 
Top 3 Productivity Resources 
A wild AI workflow: your Instapaper becomes a daily personal podcast with action items baked in 
Why “who already solved this?” beats “how do I do this?” almost every time 
The shortcut to finding the right person to learn from — without wasting money or time 
The dark side of copying: when “same steps” still leads to a total fail (and why)