EVERY SPOKEN WORD
150 min read · 30,008 words- 0:01 – 1:04
Phone notifications, primitive life hacks & birthday-review jokes
- CWChris Williamson
Life hacks 108.
- JOJonny
I sold a MacBook-
- YUYusef
Drenched in porn, I imagine.
- JOJonny
(laughs)
- YUYusef
Dripping-
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- YUYusef
... dripping with porn.
- JOJonny
In case you forgot.
- YUYusef
There are some life hacks that just are so requisite, aren't they? That like-
- CWChris Williamson
Well, they feel primitive to us now.
- YUYusef
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
When I look back at 101 and 102-
- YUYusef
Just sitting next to someone with those notifications on their phone-
- JOJonny
... it's like so part of our life.
- YUYusef
... you just think, "You are such a basic person."
- JOJonny
(laughs)
- YUYusef
Like, you're just being dragged around by it.
- CWChris Williamson
Absolutely ragged.
- YUYusef
Like, ding, ding, ding.
- JOJonny
I want your attention. Excuse me.
- YUYusef
Yeah.
- JOJonny
Excuse me.
- YUYusef
And then, and then you watch them pick up their phone and you're like-
- CWChris Williamson
Mate, what are you doing?
- YUYusef
... were, were you gonna do that before that happened or not?
- CWChris Williamson
No, no, because someone's messaged now. No, someone hasn't messaged you. Someone's messaged a bunch of other people.
- YUYusef
12 people.
- CWChris Williamson
In a fucking group chat.
- YUYusef
It was, it was mad over it.
- CWChris Williamson
In general, in general, marginal gains don't matter.
- 1:04 – 6:06
Giveaways, sponsors & last episode’s winning tip (plus: don’t microdose LSD)
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs) Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back. I'm joined by Johnny and Youssef from proppingfitness.com.
- JOJonny
Hi.
- CWChris Williamson
And it's life hacks 108. Big one.
- JOJonny
Big one.
- CWChris Williamson
Uh, thank you very much to The Protein Works for sponsoring the last episode. If you want to grab any of the products that we mentioned in that episode, it is in the show notes below. And today, the lovely people from-
- JOJonny
Oh.
- CWChris Williamson
... Your Best Self are giving away two six minute diaries.
- JOJonny
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
You'll have heard us speak about the six minute diary before.
- JOJonny
Six minute diary.
- CWChris Williamson
You'll have heard us speak about them before. Uh, if you want to get into journaling or you already do it and you want to level it up, or you've already got a six minute diary and you just want a new one, there's two of them available here. One in blue and one in pink.
- JOJonny
Right.
- CWChris Williamson
And we're gonna give those away.
- JOJonny
I didn't know they came in colors.
- CWChris Williamson
Well-
- JOJonny
To the lucky boy and girl who-
- YUYusef
Why'd I have to be the one who goes down?
- JOJonny
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
If you want to enter, all that you need to do is leave a review on iTunes. I'm not going to say that it has to be five stars because I'm pretty certain that's against their terms of service. But-
- JOJonny
Oh, bollocks.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, I mean, let's, let's be realistic here. If you leave a one star-
- JOJonny
Sure we do.
- CWChris Williamson
... it's gonna be less likely that you're gonna get the diary.
- JOJonny
Get the diary.
- CWChris Williamson
But you don't have to leave... You can leave whatever you want.
- JOJonny
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
Um, head on to iTunes and, uh, leave a review on the Modern Wisdom podcast. And if you are listening on any other device, go on a MacBook, borrow someone else's MacBook and log in on, on iTunes.
- YUYusef
Yeah, sort it out.
- CWChris Williamson
Sort your life out. Yeah. Um, we'll be giving away something on the next one. Maybe something that's on Stitcher or-
- YUYusef
Yeah.
- 6:06 – 10:58
Life hack: Whiten your teeth (what works, what’s BS, and sensitivity fixes)
- CWChris Williamson
Right-I'm gonna start because you're derailing it, yeah? Um, I'm gonna start today and first one I'm going to go for is whiten your teeth. So whitening your teeth has kind of become a caricature of itself-
- JOJonny
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
... of, like, someone who probably uses brill cream still, and-
- JOJonny
Mm-hmm. And has that, that hairstyle at the back, yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
Like, yeah, like a quiff at the front like the guys at The Inbetweeners. However, I am going to propose that whitening your teeth, or making your teeth whiter, is probably one of the easiest ways to make yourself just have a bit more confidence and look a bit more polished and attractive, both in meetings, for business, personal, like, to the other sex or to the same sex. Um, it's just for the people that I know that do it, I notice, because I do, I notice that the people that have, like, over-white teeth, or particularly white teeth, and they're just, the way that their smile is put together, to me, looks much more well-polished, literally. Um, if you are interested in how you can do that, I would advise, if you want to spend money, if you want to spend big money, then, um, The Cosmetic Dental Clinic in Newcastle has my buddy David working there. I'm sure that he'll sort you out. But a much easier way is Crest 3D White Strips, which you can just buy on the internet. I don't think they're available on Amazon in the UK, but Crest 3D White Strips, you can get, like, a two-pack for 15 quid or 20 quid, and you just leave them on for about s- three to six hours and you'll have, like, noticeably whiter teeth.
- JOJonny
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
Don't fuck about with whitening toothpaste or anything which isn't bleach, basically, as far as I can tell from someone who knows what he's talking about and does the teeth of half of Newcastle football team, David.
- JOJonny
Mm-mm.
- CWChris Williamson
Anything which isn't bleach is mostly bollocks. Laser whitening is bollocks. Those little, like, USB sticks that you put in your mouth that you see Conor McGregor promoting is also bollocks. Just-
- JOJonny
I think I've seen you with a blue thing in your mouth. Like, a blue...
- CWChris Williamson
That was when, that was when a lady used to come round to the office and do it.
- JOJonny
Right.
- CWChris Williamson
And as soon as David was like, "Mate, what you're doing, you're just wasting your time," so she- this lady would come up and do all of the lads in the office for free. Like, just-
- JOJonny
If you post on social media.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah. And I was like, "Well, f- brilliant."
- JOJonny
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
And David was like, "Do you actually think that your teeth look that much whiter compared them with when you bleached them?" I'm like, "Mm, yeah, might be a bit of placebo going on there."
- JOJonny
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
He's like, "No, bollocks. Don't do it."
- JOJonny
So I have tried this before.
- CWChris Williamson
Okay.
- JOJonny
And I did it with my dentist, and it was expensive, and it gave me over-sensitive teeth.
- CWChris Williamson
That happens. So the way-
- JOJonny
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
... to get around, the way to get around over-sensitive teeth, best way to do it, and this is what David would say, is buy some Sensodyne Rapid Relief, put... buy a gum shield, put a little bit of Sensodyne Rapid Relief in the gum shield, pop them over your teeth for about 10 minutes, then take it out, dry your teeth, so they need to be dry.
- JOJonny
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
Put your strips on, take it off-
- JOJonny
Right.
- CWChris Williamson
... put the gum shield back on again. Because it's the dentine-
- JOJonny
Mm-hmm.
- 10:58 – 17:55
Life hack: Wi‑Fi scales for daily weigh-ins (and the accidental ‘cleaner weight’ data)
- JOJonny
Uh, have we mentioned Wi-Fi scales before?
Maybe in life hacks one.
- CWChris Williamson
I think it was 101.
- JOJonny
But, but I think it's worth mentioning again.
- CWChris Williamson
It's worth bringing up again.
- JOJonny
Okay. So they're now Nokia. Nokia bought Withings or Withings. But Wi-Fi scales are... So if you weigh yourself every day-
Do you say Pre-mark or Prime-ark?
Prime-ark.
Yeah, me too. I think people that say Pre-mark are psychopaths.
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- JOJonny
And people that leave suds on the dish after they-
- CWChris Williamson
Psychopath.
- JOJonny
... wash up. Yeah.
Yeah.
Sorry.
No, it's okay, I, I agree.
(laughs)
Both, both interesting points. Um, so I think everybody should be weighing themselves daily, regardless of your goal. Um, we were speaking about this recently.
'Cause everyone's goal is just bodybuilding, isn't it? So-
Everyone has a bodybuilding goal.
- CWChris Williamson
Everyone has a bodybuilding goal, they just don't know it yet.
- JOJonny
But we were speaking about this recently that w- i- it's one of the... It's like a health marker that, you know, a GP might ask about, for example. You know-
Mm-hmm.
... have you lost any weight recently?
Yeah, like, here's my trend.
If you're weighing yourself, like, once every four days, like, how the hell do you know?
Mm-hmm.
Just have a load of random data points. But anyway, so the problem with weighing yourself normally is you stand on the scales, you step off the scales, you get in the shower, you have a poo, and then you're like, "Wha- what did it say again?" And you can't remember. Withing scales or Wi-Fi scales just...... take it into an app and graph it, and they're 100 quid, but, like-
It's such a brilliant feeling to stand on the scales and know that it's just going bloop-
Yeah.
- 17:55 – 20:07
YouTube workarounds: region-unlock via ‘Upak’ + better long-video management
- JOJonny
Um, so mine is Upak. Have I... Is this familiar?
No.
- YUYusef
Is this like Tobi?
- JOJonny
Sort of. So have you ever been on a YouTube video?
So it is actually like... I was being sarcastic. It is actually like a Tobi.
Is this like Tobi?
- YUYusef
Oh, it is, it's the one where it gives you it from a different country when it says not available in your country.
- JOJonny
Yeah.
- YUYusef
Yes, we've already done that. Yeah.
- JOJonny
We have done this one. Okay.
- YUYusef
Next, next please.
- JOJonny
If it... For, for anyone that doesn't know what that is, you're watching a YouTube video and it goes like (imitates error noise) . Can't see it? Just replace the word tube with pak, P-A-K.... and it will unlock the video for you.
- CWChris Williamson
Unbelievable that someone's managed to mirror-
- JOJonny
Yeah, that good.
The entire YouTube site-
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah.
- JOJonny
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
... URL for URL.
- JOJonny
I'm so glad they have, 'cause it's so, like-
- CWChris Williamson
How many videos do you try and watch that are unavailable in your country? It must happen to me twice a year.
- JOJonny
It's-
Yeah, it's not, it's not very often.
Happens loads to me. It's so pernicky, but-
So what do you think you're watching?
Um, okay. So-
Like, black glances.
... I've got another YouTube-related one, which is-
Which is like Toby?
(laughs) So, well, so-
I bet it is.
- 20:07 – 23:55
Ordering on holiday: ask waiters for the most popular dishes (and pick the busiest restaurant)
- CWChris Williamson
Interpretive dance. Video dance dean. VDD. Uh, right. My one. Um, so-
- JOJonny
My go.
- CWChris Williamson
... I just, I've just been away on holiday quite a bit, so I've been going to new restaurants, different cafes and things like that. When you go ... especially I've been to some places that have got, um, quite culturally s- not sensitive, but food where you think, "I bet there's something mint on this menu, but I need to fucking ask. I need to work out, like, very, very carefully what it is." Rome, Boston where there's a lot of seafood, um-
- JOJonny
(clears throat)
- CWChris Williamson
... Santa Monica and Venice in LA. So, my life hack is: ask the waiter for the most popular dishes. So ask the waiter for suggestions about what to order. When they come over and they bring you ... they ask you for your drinks after you've looked perplexed at the menu for a little while.
- JOJonny
Would you ... if you were of- if the waiter said, "I can tell you the most popular dish, or I can tell you the mo- the, the best dish?"
- CWChris Williamson
Well, I'd ask what's-
- JOJonny
You want to ask his opinion.
- CWChris Williamson
... what's, what's, what-
- JOJonny
According to him who is a ... you know, he, he knows the restaurant the best.
- CWChris Williamson
Well, I'd, I'd ... then I've got two, I've got two choices, and one of them may meet my tastes and one of them may not. One of them might have loads of quinoa in it, and I'm going, "Oh, fuck off."
- JOJonny
I see. Just 'cause there's a lot of things that many people do which are a bad decision.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, but not usually with food.
- JOJonny
Like-
- CWChris Williamson
It's the same reason why going to a restaurant which has lots of people in it is usually a good idea.
- JOJonny
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
So like when you're on holiday ... actually, that can be another part of the life hack, that when you're looking for somewhere to eat abroad, like, yeah, you can TripAdvisor it, Google, like, review it. But especially if you're walking down a street, like Rome's a perfect example of this is just restaurants and cafes all over the place, just look for the one that's the busiest.
- JOJonny
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
Like, the one that's the busiest must have something about it, unless there's, uh, it's the first time it's ever been busy and everyone else has b- brought this heuristic into play.
- JOJonny
It'll, it'll be like, um, the way that Reddit works, where things just get this critical mass from-
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah.
- JOJonny
... an early stage and then everyone just, whoosh-
(clears throat)
- CWChris Williamson
... starts going. But, yeah. So ask the waiter for suggestions. I've done this with drinks and food in four cities over the last month, and every time that I've asked them for suggestions it's been fantastic.
- JOJonny
Really good.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, really good. Got, uh, weird, uh, o- gr- steamed octopus pasta in Rome that I would have never, ever ordered. Most popular dish in the th- in the place. Had a, um, lobster roll. So if you can imagine, um, lobster meat that's been completely pulled free of all of the shell-
- JOJonny
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
... put into a heavily, heavily buttered, very soft bap. Like, that doesn't sound like a gourmet dish, but was, i- in terms of taste and texture was just-
- JOJonny
Is it like a, like a soft bun?
- CWChris Williamson
But massive, yeah.
- 23:55 – 27:04
Facebook feed control: ‘Why am I seeing this?’ + curating social media exposure
- JOJonny
Keep it, keep it fresh, isn't it? Um, so I have one that's about Facebook Ads. Can I say that?
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, sure.
- JOJonny
So, Facebook have just launched a ... and this is interesting for ev- everybody, I suppose. They have a f- new feature where you can press on any post you see on Facebook, you can press in the top right-
- CWChris Williamson
The eye.
- JOJonny
The eye?
Uh ...
It's something. It's something in the top right. You press on that, and you press, "Why am I seeing this post?" or "Why am I seeing this ad?" And if it's "Why am I seeing this ad?" you can see ... so if you're a business owner or you have a Facebook page-... you can see who your competitors are targeting, and you can see which targeting brackets you fall into. Or if it's a page, you can select all kinds of options with that page or with that person. So there's a way, you can just live customize your Facebook on Facebook now.
- CWChris Williamson
Can you do that on mobile?
- JOJonny
Mm-hmm. So there you go.
That is useful-
(laughs)
... rather than just being at the mercy of-
Yeah.
... because, uh, part of the reason that we block our news feeds-
Is 'cause there's stuff on there you don't want.
Yeah.
So if you see ads or see posts that you think-
Like, if you could curate your, your news-
Well, that, that's essentially what this is allowing you to do.
... rather than have it dictated to you.
'Cause you, you can, you can go on a, on a post from a business page, let's say, or, um, an influencer that you want to hear more of-
- CWChris Williamson
Mm-hmm.
- JOJonny
... and bump that person's awareness.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm-hmm.
- JOJonny
You can do it with organic and ads now.
I, like, it's one of my biggest gripes with Instagram, for example, that it only seems to show you posts from the same five people, even if you're-
Mm-hmm.
... even if you follow 800. So whereas if you could choose the proportions that you see people in rather than just, like-
- CWChris Williamson
But then they-
- JOJonny
... this kind of circular thing, exactly like a restaurant.
- 27:04 – 29:56
Birthday notifications as relationship triage + curated Twitter as bliss
- JOJonny
Mine's also a Facebook related one.
(laughs)
Which is, have your, um, birthday notifications on, for Facebook people, and-
Where do you find that?
Um, you can either set it to link with your calendar or just have it on the right side of your feed, even if you block news feed.
Link with your calendar?
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
That's brutal if you've got like 5,000 friends on there.
- JOJonny
Yeah.
It is. So this is the tip, which is use people's birthdays as a chance to review whether you want them in your life or not. (laughs) So-
That's a fantastic tip.
So when they come up, you're just like, "Ah, actually-"
Fuck off.
Yeah.
That's fantastic.
Because I think a birthday is a polarizing thing, because it instantly is like, right, I need to make the decision, do ... is this someone that I need to go and say happy birthday to? In which case they are good and important in your life. Do you not really care? In which case, should you delete them? Or are they someone that actively, if you were to say happy birthday to them, they would think it was weird. And so a lot of people fall into that category.
- CWChris Williamson
There's some people in there who I need to have on my Facebook, but I also don't want to wish happy birthday to.
- JOJonny
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
There's some that fall in that category.
- JOJonny
That you need to have on your Facebook?
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, just-
- JOJonny
Okay.
- CWChris Williamson
... mandatory.
- JOJonny
So I think the hack a- ahead of that is just don't be precious about your Facebook. I think people just need to stop being so precious about their social media.
As in, like, just have as many friends as, like, someone adds you, like-
Well, I just don't, don't people who like, think their Instagram or their, their social media, like, friends or whatever is an extension of real life-
- CWChris Williamson
Mm-hmm.
- JOJonny
And like, it can be if you choose it to be, but it can also just not be.
- CWChris Williamson
I-
- JOJonny
Were we talking about this the other day with kids and Snapchat? You know, where like, is it the-
- 29:56 – 34:22
Messenger without Facebook: messenger.com, WhatsApp Web, and ‘Send vs Receive’
- CWChris Williamson
Um, so I'm gonna do one, and this is one actually, which is from-
- JOJonny
Have you not missed any... Oh, no, sorry. Sorry. Sorry.
- CWChris Williamson
Don't you worry. This is one which is-
- JOJonny
Sorry,
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
... actually from the MD. So he sent me this the other week.
- JOJonny
The MD.
- CWChris Williamson
Which is messenger.com. So I didn't know that messenger.com is Facebook Messenger without Facebook.
- JOJonny
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
So I don't need to be on Facebook getting distracted by getting tagged in notifications and invites to events and pages and just general stuff, auto-scrolling news-
- JOJonny
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
... auto-scrol- uh, playing videos and stuff like that. But messenger.com allows me to, in the same way that WhatsApp Web...... works for that. So I now have a tab of all of my stuff, which is, I can just go on and check during a Pomodoro break or whatever it might be. WhatsApp Web and Messenger.com don't get distracted by notifications. Still get all the functionality and the better view as opposed to just that, it's even bigger than when you view it on full Facebook. It's even better than that.
- JOJonny
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
So, Messenger.com.
- JOJonny
You can find it from inside Facebook, I think, if you just press messages. It takes you to Messenger.com, I think.
- CWChris Williamson
I don't think it does. I think it still keeps the bars-
- JOJonny
Keeps you in Messenger.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, I think it's the frame of face-
- JOJonny
Do you use WhatsApp Web in Chrome or do you have the Mac app?
- CWChris Williamson
No, this is, I'm using Chrome.
- JOJonny
Right.
Do you prefer to do that?
- CWChris Williamson
Yes.
- JOJonny
'Cause the- the app's a bit hit and miss for me sometimes.
Is it? Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
That's exactly why I don't use it. So it's, firstly, the app's buggy.
- JOJonny
Hm.
- CWChris Williamson
And secondly, turning off notifications for it is more difficult. Like, it's just, it's more entrenched in my system.
- JOJonny
Cold turkey kills it.
Just goes, "No." (laughs)
- 34:22 – 39:25
Meditation stack: Sam Harris ‘Waking Up’ app + guided-to-unguided hybrid
- JOJonny
Sam Harris meditation app. Can we talk about that?
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, sure.
- JOJonny
Have we talked about it?
- CWChris Williamson
Um, briefly but not in as full depth as you, someone who's completed a fair bit of the course.
- JOJonny
Okay. So, I typically... so I've just hit like 110 days, I think, of meditating in a row. Um, and-
Good streak.
I've been... Thanks. Oh, I paused a moment there to see if I got any congratulations.
- CWChris Williamson
Oh, sorry, I was busy noting down here.
- JOJonny
Um, so I've been doing a lot of that unguided, um, but I think for a guided experience, the Sam Harris thing is, is the best that I've found, and there's a few reasons. One is it's progressive throughout the 50 days or whatever, so he introduces new concepts.
Progressively less.
Pro- progressively less in terms of the amount he speaks, but progressive also in terms of like, so he'll start off with "Focus on the breath" and then, uh, deliberately takes that attention and expands it to awareness, and then he t- starts talking about, um, "Notice who is noticing, or what is noticing," turning the attention on the, like, the self. Talks about like implanting, um, or like trying to alter the frame of mind that you're in and all these sorts of things. And it's only-
Eyes and the arms.
- CWChris Williamson
And it's down to the legs.
- JOJonny
So it's not like Headspace. Um, and it's only 10 minutes. So I will typically do that to begin a session and then do it unguided after that.
Ah, okay, to get you into the-
Mm-hmm. Into the zone. It is paid.
That's c- that's a clever way to do it, to hybridize it without being reliant on...
Well, the f-
Because the first 10 minutes is always rocky.
Hm. Well, I, I think the risk is, the risk with meditate- or the risk with anything is practicing o- or doing a shit practice. (laughs) 'Cause then you're just entrenching in the wrong direction.
- CWChris Williamson
Bad habits, yeah.
- JOJonny
Yeah.
Yeah.
So if you sit and do 30 minutes of meditation-
They say (overlapping 0004:23) never do technique work tired.
(laughs) Well, so I suppose, like, if meditation is the formal practice for an awareness or a mindfulness, and you do it when you sit down and, and think and just get lost in thought, lost in thought, and then the, the ding-
You've been practicing that.
You're like, "Well, what have I done there?"
Yeah.
So-I think (laughs) starting off with ten minutes of, like-
- 39:25 – 50:05
At-home haircuts debate: marginal gains vs enjoyment (and repeated hacks)
- JOJonny
So if you're looking at my, my head, you might be thinking, "Oh, what a wonderful haircut. I wish I could get a haircut like that." Well, let me tell you, I had this haircut in my own kitchen, and that was thanks to Chris recommending a fantastic haircutter called Zara, who comes to your house and cuts your hair. Saves you having to wait in the barber shop. Are you looking at me because we've done this before?
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah.
- JOJonny
Okay, next one.
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs) Get your haircut at home was a life hack you adopted from me talking about it on a past Life Hacks episode.
- JOJonny
Oh, a life hack, fine.
Can I just quickly say on that?
There we go, that's, that's the cycle of life hacks.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah.
- JOJonny
I don't think-
I've got a very good haircut. Thanks very much.
No, no, no, no, no.
That's really hurtful.
So i- I get my haircut once every f- six weeks.
Okay.
And it... Chris is getting cross.
(laughs)
And the experience of going... Did I say this last time?
- CWChris Williamson
No.
- JOJonny
The experience-
- CWChris Williamson
I just know what you're going to say and you're wrong.
- JOJonny
Well, you don't know... Okay.
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- JOJonny
So I like going to the hairdresser's because it's, I get to... It's the same feeling for me as like being on a plane or-
Oh, 'cause you, you have to sit-
... 'cause it's, it's a timeout and I get my head massage in a massage chair and I get-
- CWChris Williamson
Oh, does he do a head massage as well? That's nice.
- JOJonny
... I get sparkling water.
Oh, and drinks? Nice, yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
You know what I like doing, Yusuf? I actually like paying more and being more inconvenienced as well. So yes.
- 50:05 – 53:46
Property/landlord hack: the ‘plant canary’ to assess tenant care
- CWChris Williamson
You really are. Right, so I'm going to use one which is for any potential, uh, landlords or landladies out there, um, or anyone else who wants to work out whether someone is taking care of a room or a property.
- JOJonny
Cameras.
- CWChris Williamson
Cams. Cameras is, um, it's a bit of a blunt solution to this.
- JOJonny
Probably illegal as well, I imagine.
- CWChris Williamson
I think it is. Um, so I've recently purchased a new property which has some tenants in it. Um, as a gift to the tenants, I've bought them a plant, and-
- JOJonny
Camera.
- CWChris Williamson
With a camera in it. (laughs)
- JOJonny
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
Um, I've bought them a plant, and in, the, the point of the plant is if I go into the house and the plant's been tended to, it's been watered, probably pretty good indicator that nothing else in the house needs looking at. And I've taken this idea from-
- JOJonny
Not now though, if they watch the podcast.
- CWChris Williamson
They don't watch it. Oh, actually, shit, no, they do and they all know who you are.
- JOJonny
Uh-oh.
- CWChris Williamson
It's fine. I'll block their-
- JOJonny
Uh-oh.
- CWChris Williamson
I'll, I'll block their IP.
- JOJonny
Okay.
- CWChris Williamson
Um, so they're all, they're all, uh, medical students anyway, so I'm sure they'll be sweet. But the idea was taken from, it's either Foo Fighters or Aerosmith, and their sound manager put into their hospitality rider, so before s- a big artist plays a show, they will have a big tech rider, and it will be, um, "This is the kind of amp system we need, this is how many guitar racks we need, this is the height of the step at the front for the lead singer to step on, and the lighting system," and all this sort of stuff. Um, and there'll be what's referred to as a hospitality rider, which is food, drink, we need these many kiwis and some juice and blah, blah, blah. Um, and this all gets sent over to the promoter or the event organizer. And in, deep in the depths of the hospitality rider, one of the sound tech heads had put in that they wanted a bowl of M&Ms with no blue ones in.
- JOJonny
Oh, yeah.
I remember those.
- CWChris Williamson
And that was being used as a canary in the coal mine for, if they've got no blue M&Ms in the bowl, they've definitely got the fucking lights and the sound and everything else.
- JOJonny
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
So, he would judge with less scrutiny other things that are, are part of the rider wherever, uh, whereas if they have got the blue ones in, they think-
- JOJonny
The question is, f- in your situation, so if the canary dies, you don't go in the coal mine, but if your plant dies, what do you do?
- CWChris Williamson
You look around the remainder of the house with more scrutiny.
- JOJonny
Right.
- CWChris Williamson
Are they remembering to turn the extractor fan on when they go into the bathroom? Are they making sure that they're not leaving, um, water in the bath? So, like, just other things, n- normal day-to-day housy things.
- JOJonny
So, ideally, you'd get tenants that, like, hate nature and hate plants, because then you know that if they're managing the plant, that everything else will be-
- CWChris Williamson
Oh, yeah.
- JOJonny
'Cause the risk is that you have tenants who love plants-
- CWChris Williamson
Mm-hmm.
- 53:46 – 1:02:22
Wearables: new Fitbits, Whoop subscription value, and avoiding smartwatch distractions
- JOJonny
... I'm gonna go for it. Go to a hairdresser's, no, um, the new range of FitBits-
- CWChris Williamson
All right.
- JOJonny
... are excellent. What have you got on?
- CWChris Williamson
Are you showcasing it now?
- JOJonny
So, this is, I am. So, this is a Inspire HR, I believe it's called.
- CWChris Williamson
Okay.
- JOJonny
So, the FitBit that I used to have-
- CWChris Williamson
Human resources?
- JOJonny
Human resources, FitBit human resources. The FitBit, the, the older range of FitBits, at least as far as I'm aware, the only th- the only one that was waterproof was the cheapest one, which had no screen, it was just, it was the one I used to have-
- CWChris Williamson
Yep.
- JOJonny
If you remember.
- CWChris Williamson
Band.
- JOJonny
Um, Band with a little bit in it. A Fit-
- CWChris Williamson
Fit, it was Fit.
- JOJonny
Ain't it? Um, and that was waterproof, and you could swim in it and stuff like that. And all the other ones, the more advanced ones that tracked your heart rate and stuff like that, weren't waterproof. Which is a fuck-on, 'cause every time you have to have a shower, you take it off, and then you forget to put it back on again, et cetera. Um, I was walking the dog, and something happened that flipped the FitBit over-... and the bit came out. And this was like, uh, I think maybe even a day later, I just went like that-
Turned off.
... and there were no lights. I was like, "That's weird."
Broke.
Squeeze it. Gone.
How did you know that it was when you were walking the dog?
Well, that's the only thing that I can-
Remember it.
... track back the weather.
Okay.
So I think the, the lead like flipped over 'cause it, you don't, you know, um, I don't know about you, but my life isn't like violent or...
(laughs)
There's not many things that like- ... I could, (laughs) I could have, uh, lost it. So I was like, "Oh, for fucks sake, I'm gonna have to buy a new one." Same price as the, so it was 80 quid, which is the same price as the old cheap one.
You could
- CWChris Williamson
Just call them up and say, "Hi, I just want the bit."
- JOJonny
Just the bit.
- 1:02:22 – 1:06:58
Dental tip: don’t graze sweets—eat sugary foods in one sitting + food/portion tangents
- JOJonny
I need to sort my formatting out. Um, this is a dental one, and this comes from a friend of mine called Harpinda, who is a dentist, and he said, "If you're going to eat sweet foods, eat them all in one go." So, do not, for God's sake, have, like, slow ... Like, don't graze on sweets. If you're going to eat sweet, go big or go home and do it in one block. Because he said the, the window of time that sugar causes an insult to the teeth is over 20 minutes, and so if you eat more sugar within that 20-minute period, there's no extra damage, but you will cause more damage by, like ... If you had, like, a, a Skittle every 20 minutes-
Mm.
... then you've completely done the worst thing.
- CWChris Williamson
So, I g- I get it from a dental perspective, but from a satiating pers- pers-
- JOJonny
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
... perspective, it's completely contrary.
- JOJonny
Up ... It's ... Yeah.
Unlike a realism, like, living you life.
It is. Um, but on, on that note, oh, and this is not good for you, but, um, a chocolate bar that I've rediscovered recently-
- CWChris Williamson
Love them.
- JOJonny
... that is really the unsung hero of all chocolate bars, the Picnic bar. Absolutely beautiful. Like ... However, um-
- CWChris Williamson
What's, what's it contain? Come on.
- JOJonny
So, it's r- it's ... I think it's n- it's nougat, raisins, and peanuts.
- CWChris Williamson
This would kill you instantly.
- JOJonny
Yeah, and some kind of nut. Um, in a kind of rocky texture. Unfortunately, reviews on ASDA are very low because they've made them smaller and not ... and kept the price the same, which is a bit naughty, but I guess if you're interested in lower calories, then it's kind of good, but you could just eat less of a bigger bar. Um, so yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
Who eats part of one bar?
- JOJonny
(sighs)
Well, th- that's the problem, isn't it? Like, the portion control. All ... So much of the obesity problem is bigger portions, and then people feeling ... Because we're so Puritan, we're obliged to finish our plate and not-
- CWChris Williamson
That's the thing in America, man. Like, when I was in America, you ... Cheesecake Factory, the fucking size of the portions-
- JOJonny
Oh, it's insulting, isn't it?
- CWChris Williamson
The starters were too big to finish.
- JOJonny
Yeah.
(laughs) The starters.
- CWChris Williamson
Starters were too big to finish. They had a, um, they had a salad, a salad that was 2,100 cals.
- JOJonny
As a, as a single serving?
- CWChris Williamson
Single serving, one person, main salad.
- JOJonny
I mean, even if it's not a main, like, that is exceeding daily calories for most people.
- CWChris Williamson
2,100 cals. Unreal. But in the, on the flip side of that-
- JOJonny
I bet it was delicious.
- CWChris Williamson
On the ... Well, yeah. Probably was. I didn't order it. Um, on the flip side of that, they have ... Every single food, every single meal has the cals listed next to it, including drinks, and they have a menu bigger than some restaurants in the UK's menus of light bites that are, like, under 600 cals, and there's shitloads of stuff in there that was really nice.
- 1:06:58 – 1:18:00
Gym & everyday micro-hacks: shaking protein properly, toilet-roll patent, and steel shakers
- CWChris Williamson
Um, right. What have we got? (singing) Uh, okay, so anyone who goes to the gym, this is the most optimal way to mix your post-workout shake. So most people, and I see this all the time in the gym, people are going out and they may either have, what's it called where it's got the grate in? What's that particular style of shaker called?
- JOJonny
The grater.
- CWChris Williamson
Uh, no.
- JOJonny
(laughs)
Only ...
- CWChris Williamson
Anyway, so there's, there's two, there's two different, two main types. One is where you've got a little whisk bowl, and the other one is where you have a grate that goes across the top of the shaker.
- JOJonny
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
For either of those shakers, this strategy is the same. Although for the whisk, it's slightly more effective. You don't want to be doing a linearly reciprocal motion. This-
- JOJonny
Has to be a hyperbolic parabola.
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs) Well, not far off. I just do-
- JOJonny
I think I ...
- CWChris Williamson
You want to twist.
- JOJonny
Yeah. (laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
You want to go in rotary, you want to be going side to side, and the way that I know that's true is the original use of the whisk in the protein shaker, that whisk was actually made for whisking eggs. So that whole product wasn't built for protein.
- JOJonny
It's like a ball.
- CWChris Williamson
Yes, the little ball-
- JOJonny
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
... whisky ball.
- JOJonny
Into a meringue. Egg white.
Episode duration: 1:43:18
Install uListen for AI-powered chat & search across the full episode — Get Full Transcript
Transcript of episode KMVcs7Cbw4A
