Love Your Work Creative Habits | Writing | Solopreneur | Productivity | Entrepreneurship | Startup

Brave is a new browser that's reinventing the attention economy. Brave does block ads, but it's not just an ad blocker. It also blocks scripts that slow down your browsing experience, invade your privacy, and leave you vulnerable to hackers. Since much of the internet currently runs on the ad-supported model, Brave doesn't stop there, with the blocking of ads. They've invented a cryptocurrency that could change creative monetization forever. You can use the Basic Attention Token, or BAT, to pay creators whose content you consume most – or, as a site owner, you can earn BAT. In fact, I've earned some BAT myself. In the future, Brave says they will be paying you for browsing content. Now how does that work!? We'll talk about that and more in today's conversation. I'm talking to Jonathan Sampson (@bravesampson), who is Brave's Senior Developer Relations Specialist. We'll talk about: How did we end up with an internet where we need a browser like Brave. Brave's founder and CEO invented Javascript, yet Brave bloc

Sometimes things don't go as planned. Just ask me, as I'm on my temporary exile in Peru right now, since having my Colombian visa rejected. If we can’t plan something in our morning, if we can’t plan something when we visit a website, then where do we get the idea that we can plan things as complex as our lives? Or as complex as a big project, such as a book? When things don’t go as planned, you get new information. You can use that information to make a new plan. So, in this week's article, I'm suggesting that you make things not going as planned part of the plan. It can take you places you never expected to go. Love Your Work is now fully listener-supported! Patreon supporters are now covering ALL production costs for Love Your Work! Thank you supporters! To help, go to kadavy.net/donate. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Lea

BJ Mendelson (@bjmendelson) is author of Privacy: And How to Get it Back. One of the key themes we've been exploring on Love Your Work over the past three years has been just how it is that creators get paid. This was certainly top of my mind when I doubled down on writing and podcasting and moved to Colombia with no clear business model in site. To understand how creators get paid, we need to understand the entire economy of content. How does content get monetized, and how much or how little of that monetization makes it to creators? We've talked about how the economics of content shape technology in my essay on the Behavioral Revolution. We've talked about how those economics promote digital distraction in conversations with Hooked author, Nir Eyal. We've talked about new models for monetization – such as cryptocurrency-based compensation – with Steemit CEO Ned Scott, and with Maneesh Sethi from Pavlok. Today, we're going to dig into privacy. When you understand how your privacy is being invaded to keep t

Socializing is good. But socializing as a default — out of some Fear Of Missing Out — is not good. If you can find the discipline to pursue your work, while others are just killing time, you will have mastered The Art of Staying In. The Art of Staying In is deciding not to go out and socialize just because it's the default thing to do. Instead, you use that time and energy to take control of your life and your work. If you master The Art of Staying In, two things will happen. One, you'll suddenly have a lot more time and get a lot more done. And two, you'll suddenly be in control of your destiny. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Donate on Patreon Supporters are currently covering more than half of production costs for Love Your Work. Support the show, get early access to episodes, as well as bonus masterclasses and office hours with me. Sign up at kadavy.net/donate. Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love t

Adam Conover (@adamconover) had good things going for him. He had just graduated from college, and his sketch comedy group was a hit. So many people were watching their videos! This was before YouTube, so they kept on having to find new places to host the videos, there was so much traffic. But then the group broke up. At first, Adam wasn't worried. Since he had so much success, he figured he could easily build a career in comedy. But he slowly learned that he was wrong. It was slow going. Today, Adam has his own hit show, Adam Ruins Everything, on TruTV. On Adam Ruins Everything, Adam takes a well-researched and hilarious approach to straightening out popular myths and misconceptions. Adam has "ruined" Tylenol, pure bred dogs, and diamond engagement rings, just to name a few things. Adam Ruins Everything starts its third season on TruTV this fall. So what happened? How did Adam work his way back to success in comedy? In this episode you'll learn: How did Adam discover that "ruining" things was his calling? W

After publishing my first book, it took me six years to publish my second book. After publishing my second book, it took me only six months to publish my fourth book. I published three books in the past six months, and I learned a ton along the way. I'm going to share it with you today. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Donate on Patreon Supporters are currently covering more than half of production costs for Love Your Work. Support the show, get early access to episodes, as well as bonus masterclasses and office hours with me. Sign up at kadavy.net/donate. Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.     Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/self-publishing-lessons/

Phil Thompson (@Cape_Horn_CHI) is the illustrator and business mind behind Cape Horn Illustration, which sells Chicago wall art. Today we have a great discussion on making art that sells. Phil's portfolio of products includes maps of microbreweries in Chicago, marathon maps for all of the major marathons, and "home portraits." His work has been featured on the sets of major motion pictures like "The Big Sick," and "Blockers." Phil also happens to be my mastermind partner. We've been talking every two weeks about how to balance our individual artistic visions with what the market wants. We've learned a lot in our conversations, and I'm really excited to be sharing Phil and his work with you today. Today, we'll talk about: How do you "validate" your art. Hear about Phil's first experiments in selling his artwork online. What did he learn from his first success, and what did he learn from his first big failure? How do you make your art marketable? Learn to think about what your art does for someone. How does th

You heard me talk last week about morning routines, with the co-author of My Morning Routine, Benjamin Spall. I have a new morning routine I've been practicing this year, and it's been giving me some of my best ideas yet. The amazing part is I'm able to do this routine before I even get out of bed. I'll tell you why in this essay.     Sponsors http://earthclassmail.com  http://weebly.com/loveyourwork  Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/stay-bed-podcast/ 

Benjamin Spall is co-author of the new book, My Morning Routine: How Successful People Start Every Day Inspired. He and his co-author have interviewed 300 successful people from business, fitness, and the arts. People like Biz Stone, Arianna Huffington, General Stanley McCrystal, and Marie Kondo. The way you spend your first hour of your day sets the tone for the rest of your day. But there seems to be endless ways to you can spend this precious time. Should you meditate? Go for a jog? Do some writing? Oh, and I'm in the book as well (page 132). They interviewed me about my morning routine, and my evening routine. I'll tell you why I wear the dorkiest orange goggles imaginable before bed. They've looked for the patterns amongst successful people to find out the things you'll hear about in this conversation. Things like: What time do successful people get up in the morning? You hear a lot of talk about getting up at 4 a.m.. Is that the norm? How do successful people manage technology to get the most out of th

Clear prioritization inspires clear action. But how do you decide what's the most important todo item to tackle first? For me, I like to listen to my body. It's the subject of this week's essay.     Sponsors http://weebly.com/loveyourwork  http://earthclassmail.com  Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/listen-body-podcast 

You've heard about the importance of working with people who come from different perspectives. But will that automatically lead to great work? It's not so simple. Our guest today, Shane Snow, was curious about why diverse teams are supposedly so powerful, when they're in fact hard to pull off. That's why he wrote this new book, Dream Teams. In this book, Shane really breaks down what makes a truly great team. How can you have just the right amount of conflict to have better ideas and go farther as a team, without the relationships turning sour. Even though I work by myself, I really enjoyed this book. It's full of great stories of dream teams throughout history, and it really made me think about how to seek out differing perspectives in improving the work I do. In this conversation, Shane and I talk about: Do we always have better ideas working with a team? What are the key components of making something great as a group? We also talk a lot about writing. How did Shane turn his curiosity for one subject, int

I have a new book! STEEM is revolutionizing the way creators get paid. I've cashed out over $4,000 from writing on the STEEM blockchain. The most amazing thing is – nobody had to pay me a dime. You heard me interview STEEM co-creator Ned Scott on episode 71. I explained how to make money on STEEM on episode 110. This short read is an updated and slightly expanded version of that free episode. Grab the new book – on Kindle, Paperback, or Audible – at kadavy.net/steembook

If you've heard about stoic philosophy, you've heard about Seneca. Stoicism is in many ways about being indifferent to pleasure or pain. One thing that's pleasurable is getting free things. Free things like Facebook. After the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the mainstream is really waking up to the true cost of "free." If something is supposedly "free," you're paying for it in some other way, whether that's with your data, or just the opportunity costs of your attention. As you'll see, even Seneca knew that almost 2,000 years ago. I've of course talked many times on this podcast about the broken economics of media. With Nir Eyal on episode 21, also on episode 22 when I talked about The Behavioral Revolution, and many many other times. I wrote this article two years ago, but with everything going on in the collective conscious, I thought it would be a good time to dig it out and share it on the podcast. It might help you reframe the idea of "free" in your mind, and make smart choices that make you the person y

Tim Kasher's (@timkasher) work is deeply embedded in my creative DNA. When I was a young 20-something sitting in a cubicle in Omaha, Nebraska, Tim's work and his success was there to inspire me to find my own creative voice. Tim is one of the pioneers of indie music. He's the frontman of Cursive. Of all of the Cursive songs out there, you're most likely to have heard "The Recluse." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JcFgL2qO9Y The Recluse is on Cursive's most successful album. The Ugly Organ recently passed its 15-year anniversary, and has sold an amazing 170,000 copies. Before Cursive, Tim was in a band with Conor Oberst, of the band Bright Eyes, called Commander Venus. After leaving Commander Venus to focus on Cursive, Tim also started a folk band, The Good Life. Omaha in the mid 90's and early 2000's was an indie-rock fan's paradise. Artists like Kasher and Oberst cross-pollinated. They started producing their own cassettes, and eventually formed the label Saddle Creek Records, featuring bands like Bright Ey

I was forced to leave Colombia, but now I'm back. Thanks everyone for the help over the past week. I'll explain shortly what happened, and what my situation is now. If you're interested in an even more in-depth, though somewhat redundant overview, delivered after a good night's sleep, watch this Facebook live. If you've been considering supporting the show, now is still a good time. This snafu has disrupted much of the past month, and will require more travel and expense to keep things going as normal. You can donate at http://kadavy.net/donate. I'm also accepting the following cryptocurrencies: bitcoin:3FKfyxtQ8wUww4XxGF9EZ6ukKzbPqCe3aQ ethereum:0xE3CF82Feb6B83b18E37b472017e2a660d33B6fe0 monero:43AV7YumpkB4eAPgv3uMpW63svuqaM1C8ZdEoPvZe76wU8gxZYsdiqSEB4TJUTkD3s7rmHzoxdEubBY7qNzyEAFf3HC4Knp

Human productivity has its limits. You can only type so fast. You can only fill out a spreadsheet so fast. But creativity is infinite. It takes no time to have an idea, but not all ideas are created equal. Traditional productivity and creative productivity seem to be at odds with each other. This week's essay explores why productivity is limited, and creativity is infinite. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Donate on Patreon Supporters are currently covering more than half of production costs for Love Your Work. Support the show, get early access to episodes, as well as bonus masterclasses and office hours with me. Sign up at kadavy.net/donate. Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.     Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/creativity-infinite-podcast/

A short note for you listeners. I got kicked out of Colombia. I hope to keep bringing you a high-quality show. Thank you so much for your support. If you want to help keep the show coming, please support on Patreon at kadavy.net/donate

Is the educational system a waste of time and money? Most people can agree that schools are inefficient, boring, and expensive. I personally love learning, but I always hated school. Yet, if you're like me, you're probably initially resistant to the idea that we should spend less on the educational system. Our guest today, Bryan Caplan (@bryan_caplan), wants to make the case for spending less time, less money, and less human energy on trying to educate people. He's author of the new book, The Case Against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money. Bryan says that people aren't making more money after earning a college degree because they learned more. It's just the piece of paper itself that employers care about. If we didn't push so many people to earn college degrees – and to rack up debt in the process – degrees wouldn't be a base-level requirement for survival in today's job market. Intriguing isn't it? In this conversation, you'll find out: What's the difference between the "signa

As humanity progresses, we're always finding new resources to optimize. Time is one resource we optimize. But the idea of time management has become so ubiquitous, it's hard to imagine what it's like to not manage our time. By understanding that time management as we know it hasn't been around forever, we can be prepared for the next resource to be optimized. I talk more about that in this week's essay. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Donate on Patreon Supporters are currently covering more than half of production costs for Love Your Work. Support the show, get early access to episodes, as well as bonus masterclasses and office hours with me. Sign up at kadavy.net/donate. Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.       Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/time-management-inventio

Drew Ackerman (@dearestscooter) has a podcast so boring, it will put you to sleep. That's why it's so successful. Almost five years ago, decided to make a podcast. Drew suffered from insomnia, so he wanted to make a podcast that would help people fall asleep. Drew wrote stories and droned on, and gradually began to earn new listeners. Today, he's produced over 650 episodes. He's kept up a pace of about three episodes a week. Drew's show, called Sleep With Me, has millions of listeners. He's one of Patreon's top creators with almost 4,000 patrons. Sleep With Me has been featured in The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and The New York Times. While Sleep With Me is an incredibly successful podcast, you'll see in this conversation that the success is no fluke. Drew has worked incredibly hard. Find out: How did Drew motivate himself to finally get started, even after procrastinating for years. How did Drew use Motivational Judo to trick himself into making one episode after another? What self-talk did Drew use t