I’ve listened to many podcasts with Rory Sutherland and they never fail to make me laugh. His insightful take on marketing, psychology, and value creation always provide lasting learnings. This episode covers many topics, including why winemakers take the mickey!

At the end of our lives, what do we most wish for? And how can knowing this help you live better lives now? BJ Miller knows. BJ is a palliative care physician at Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco, where he thinks deeply about how to create a dignified, graceful end of life for his patients.

He is an expert in death, but he’s also learned how we can dramatically improve our own lives, often with very small changes. Considering that he has guided or been involved with ~1,000 deaths, it’s not surprising that he’s spotted patterns we can all learn from.

Sarah Tavel has spent the past four years as a general partner at venture capital firm Benchmark and was the first-ever product manager at Pinterest.

In this episode, Shane and Sarah discuss how studying philosophy helped in her career as a venture capitalist, the value of intellectual rigor, her concept of the net-present value of pain, why every strength has a corresponding weakness, and much more.

As a freelance tech consultant, accurately gauging the time needed to complete work is crucial to estimate and price client projects effectively. I use this Pomodoro timer to track how long I spend on specific tasks and boost my productivity. It’s amazing how much my focus increases when I set myself 25minutes to complete a task! 

Alongside Pomodoro timers, I use numerous other productivity methods to maximise my output. This article digs into 11 methods that’ll help you achieve your goals.

I always enjoy author Ryan Holiday’s yearly reflections. This year he focuses on lessons that his failures have taught him. My favourites include:

Pick a city, a method of transport (walk, car, train), a time of the day, and a radio station, and then virtually explore that place!