The Benefits of Laziness 🦥

Email sent: Dec 3, 2020 11:15am

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Maker Mind

Make the most of your mind

#070 | December 3rd, 2020

Hi there! I'm Anne-Laure Le Cunff, the founder of Ness Labs. You are receiving this email because you signed up to Maker Mind, a weekly newsletter about mindful productivity. Thank you for being here. If this email was forwarded to you, get your own ✨

Current mood: tactically lazy. Artist: Carl Moore.

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The benefits of laziness.

Hi friends!

It's... December? How did 2020 manage to be both the slowest and the fastest year ever? (cue this hilarious ad)

As we get closer to the end of the year, I feel a cozy feeling of laziness taking over me. I'm craving cheesy movies, hot cocoa, and long naps.

It's a shame being lazy has such a bad rep. As with most things in life, laziness can be helpful when practiced properly. So, this week, I wrote a little ode to laziness, including evidence that slacking off can be good for you.

In the spirit of celebrating laziness, I created a guide to identify high-leverage activities: the ones where minimum input yields outsized results. To automate some of your workflows, there is also a directory of handy plugins for Roam.

That's not all :) Why an Advent Calendar, when you can have a Curiosity Calendar? Each day, you'll get one of the best articles from the 2020 archives - 31 days of curiosity to take you right up to the new year!

Enjoy the read, and hit reply if you have any questions, feedback, or want to say hello!

p.s. we are now more than 1,500 members in the forums! 🥳

Year in Review Workshop. Take an hour off your busy life for self-reflection. What went well in 2020? What could have been better? Which of these were within or outside your control? What are your goals for 2021, and how are you going to set yourself up for success? Join »

Brain food

The benefits of laziness: why being a lazy person can be good for you (7 min)
Sloth is one of the seven capital sins. Whether or not you believe in such moral vices, most cultures see laziness as a negative trait. However, being lazy can have advantages—and many of them are backed by scientific research.

High-leverage activities: how to identify your energy multipliers (5 min)
So little time, and yet, we confuse hard work for high-leverage work, wasting energy on low-leverage tasks that leave us tired and dissatisfied. How can we do better?

JavaScript plugins for Roam Research (4 min)
Good news: you don’t need to be a programmer to enjoy the added benefits of these little bits of extra code. Fellow Roam users have generously made many plugins public and free to use.

Fostering Everyday Innovation. Join Vedika to discuss innovation. Where do good ideas come from? Can innovative thinking be learned? Which environments foster innovative thinking? Join »

Brain candy

Generated photos
“Protect your identity with generative media.” (I don't know about you, but my generated photos look nothing like me)

How to think for yourself
“To be a successful scientist, for example, it's not enough just to be correct. Your ideas have to be both correct and novel.”

Fermentation as metaphor
“Fermentation can give rise to deeply intimate moments of connection through the magic of invisible forces that transform our foods and our lives, generation by generation.”

Writing Feedback Group. Consistency may be the key to starting a writing/creating habit, but feedback is the reward that sustains it. Bhumi is running live sessions to read each other's writing and provide written feedback. Get feedback »

Brain trust

Here's a sneak peek into what's going on behind the scenes. Don't miss out—if you enjoy Maker Mind, become a member to support the newsletter, expand your mind, and connect with like-minded people!

Intro to sketchnoting. Bruno hosted an amazing live sketchnoting session. Watch the recording.
Feedback for writers. Want to write better? Starting this week, you can join a peer feedback group led by Bhumi to improve together.
AMA with Rosie Sherry. Want to learn how to build a community? Rosie Sherry is the community manager of Indie Hackers. Join the session to ask her all your questions!
Support groups. We now have groups for #VisualThinkers, #DataNerds, #BookLovers, #AudioVideoCreators and more. And for specific tools for thought, there are dedicated groups for #RoamResearch, #Obsidian, #Notion, and #Evernote. Join a group or start your own!
Community. Currently discussing atomic accountability, organising digital files, applying the second brain method, productivity and intermittent fasting, how to use affirmations, exercises to induce a creative state, and more. Join the conversation.
Learning club. This month's topic is ideation—how to generate better ideas and how to select the best ideas. Learn.
PKM report. Download the 40-page report which includes a competitive landscape of tools for thought and key opportunities in the market.
Collector to Creator. We are now in the third week of the course. There will be a second cohort early next year. Sign up here to stay updated!

Brain waves

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Until next week, take care!
Anne-Laure.

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