Set An Output Commitment
Historic inventor Thomas Edison set a self-imposed “output quota” of 1 minor invention every 10 days, and 1 major invention every 6 months. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld “gets in his work” at the yellow legal pad every single morning. YouTube sensation Mark Rober has a rhythm of posting one new video per month. Rising star James Clear has written extensively about his weekly blogging regimen and how forcing himself to regularly produce delivered unexpected and delightful results.
I’ve noticed in my own life that it’s impossible to overstate the power of a commitment to output, even one that few people are watching. I told myself that I was going to write one blog post per day (the original title was “every day interesting,” a nod to my hope that I’m learning at least one interesting thing every single day) — and I’m not sure I ever even told another person. But it was an output goal, and it’s done a few of very useful things for me:
it’s created a bit of a vacuum, so to speak. And as the saying goes, nature abhors a vacuum. One might say, nature, and a daily blogging habit, abhor a vacuum. Which means I’m always listening for connections, always jotting down ideas, etc
it’s put a healthy governor on my information intake. I’m the kind of person who could read all day. The output commitment protects me from my worst self in that, left to my own devices, I’d almost always default to “a little more reading,” than doing the hard work of synthesis, connection, and sharing.
it’s put pressure on me to consolidate my thoughts in a coherent form. The truth is, I have lots of thoughts about lots of things. But to set an expectation that I will share them, in writing, on a website, in a set time per day, ensures that I don’t neglect the important work of establishing my own point of view, connecting with other inputs, etc
Everyone’s output will vary, but being explicit about a commitment — even only to yourself — is spectacularly helpful.
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The fine folks over at Section recently interviewed me about some common mistakes I’m seeing folks make when they use AI. One of the biggest ones? The tendency to expect too little, and get just that.