Modern WisdomLife Hacks 202 | Modern Wisdom Podcast 234
EVERY SPOKEN WORD
150 min read · 30,491 words- 0:00 – 2:20
Banter, memory tricks, and why this episode exists (Life Hacks format recap)
- CWChris Williamson
I went to Stockton and Grangefield Sixth Form mates, so when half the girls in your class are pregnant, you grow up fast.
- JOJonny
(laughs) Is that gonna make it into the trailer? (laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs) Probably.
- YUYusef
I remember hearing you playing it.
- CWChris Williamson
At three times speed.
- YUYusef
It's a similar thing, yeah, three times speed. "It's time to go to sleep now and, uh, uh, rel- relax."
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- YUYusef
And like Yusuf said, it's supposed to be relaxing.
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- YUYusef
You know, trying to get through it as quickly as possible.
- CWChris Williamson
But I could get more relaxation in in less time if I played it (laughs) three times speed. (laughs)
- YUYusef
(laughs) You go to bed and you think, "Oh, I need to remember this in the morning." Like, "I need to remember to take this in the morning." And you think, "That's all right, I'll, I'll, I'll remember." And then you, invariably you leave the house and you've forgotten. Just put it in, like, the middle of the floor.
- JOJonny
"Johnny, I saw this weird thing in the middle of the floor, like, what are you doing?" And you're like-
- CWChris Williamson
"Johnny, you left all of your dildos in the middle of the floor."
- YUYusef
(laughs)
- JOJonny
I needed them to bring to Caffe Nero.
- YUYusef
My big bag of d-
- CWChris Williamson
Taking them to (laughs) Costa. (whoosh)
- JOJonny
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
Life hacks, man. What else are you getting excited about?
- JOJonny
His band has come out.
- YUYusef
I'm amped for the life hacks, yeah. Amped, pumped, man.
- CWChris Williamson
Yes, I'm very well, thank you. It's been a while since we spoke.
- YUYusef
Uh-huh.
- JOJonny
I've just realized, in the background of Johnny is, I think, a John Lewis banana stand, or looks very similar to one, like a very fancy thing to hold your bananas with.
- YUYusef
It's a light.
- JOJonny
To keep it... Is it?
- YUYusef
It's a light, yeah.
- JOJonny
To keep it away from the other fruit, 'cause bananas produce a gas that makes other fruit ripen-
- YUYusef
Faster.
- 2:20 – 4:47
Food hack: Nutritional yeast on eggs for easy extra nutrients
- YUYusef
Okay. So, this is actually one that I borrowed from, uh, a guy who's been coaching me, um, which is nutritional yeast. (laughs) Great reaction. Um, putting-
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs) I'm just so-
- JOJonny
I've got some too.
- CWChris Williamson
... I'm so curious about what it is.
- YUYusef
So putting nutritional yeast on eggs, specifically.
- CWChris Williamson
Okay. (laughs)
- YUYusef
So nutritional yeast is, like, very nutrient-dense. So it can d- apparently, this is lifted from the internet, contains all nine essential amino acids, um, B vitamins, trace minerals, zinc, selenium, manganese, all that good stuff, and it just tastes, makes eggs taste just a little bit cheesy.
- CWChris Williamson
Okay.
- JOJonny
Nice.
- YUYusef
So it's just a really easy way, when you're- if you're having eggs, just little sprinkle.
- CWChris Williamson
Is it powder?
- YUYusef
It's a powder, yeah. Well, it's flakes.
- JOJonny
Ah, see I've got yeast as capsules. Similar reasons, like the-
- YUYusef
Oh. Is it, is it nutritional yeast?
- JOJonny
Brewer's yeast. Yeah, so-
- YUYusef
I think that's different.
- JOJonny
Is it?
- YUYusef
I think so.
- JOJonny
I mean, I, I don't know my yeast very well to be honest.
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- YUYusef
To be honest, neither did I, to be honest.
- CWChris Williamson
Welcome back to Yeast Hour here on Modern Wisdom. (laughs)
- JOJonny
(laughs)
- YUYusef
When I-
- CWChris Williamson
Yeast 101.
- YUYusef
I thought when I say "yeast," someone's gonna say, "Well, why would you take yeast?" I thought, well, I better have something to say there.
- JOJonny
Absolutely.
- YUYusef
Right? Did a Google. But I think they're different. But it's just a way of, like, you know, I suppose that is the definition of a life hack, right? Just a little, something little you can do-
- JOJonny
Mm-hmm.
- YUYusef
... that just gets slightly more out of them-
- 4:47 – 9:44
iOS 14 ‘Back Tap’: turning taps into shortcuts (TickTick, read screen, automation)
- JOJonny
IOS14 has just come out and for people who... Well, for you guys, I'm, I'm not sure if you're aware actually, but, um, I split my life hack suggestions into-
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- JOJonny
... physical and digital. (laughs) So-
- YUYusef
I don't know why, why haven't you just said that from the beginning and then-
- JOJonny
I shouldn't have really specified-
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- JOJonny
Yeah. So IOS14 has a new feature called Back Tap where you can set functions where if you tap on the back of the screen, it does a certain thing.
- CWChris Williamson
Hang on.
- JOJonny
So if I go-
- CWChris Williamson
H- is that, Johnny, Johnny, is that a dog?
- YUYusef
Coodle hand over here.
- CWChris Williamson
Okay.
- YUYusef
Coodle hand over. Could handle alert.
- CWChris Williamson
Um, you tap on the back of, back of the screen.
- JOJonny
So... So if I do this, um-
- CWChris Williamson
Just narrate what you're doing for people that listen.
- JOJonny
So I'm opening a, let's say, Back Tap life hacks. I've written that as a note.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah.
- JOJonny
And then if I tap three times on the back of the phone... (phone tapping)
- CWChris Williamson
Back Tap life hack.
- JOJonny
Wow. So it reads out what you're saying if you tap three times on the back. It reads out the screen. Or if you tap twice on the back, for me it opens TickTick and plans my day.
- YUYusef
That was pretty cool. So hold on. J- just to clarify, do you have to ... Is the, is, is writing the word back tap in that sentence relevant?
- JOJonny
(laughs)
- YUYusef
Or is that just an example?
- JOJonny
No, that was just an example. So if you have the books app open and you want it to read to you while you have a poo or something, just tap three times on the back, put it over on the sink.
- CWChris Williamson
So I'm guessing that this is the same as with AirPods, you can custom set either two taps or three taps to do one of a number of different items. Do you know what else there is, other than open an app and plan your day, or-
- JOJonny
Uh, yeah, so, so anything that Siri does. You can, you can even use it to pay someone, but I wouldn't do that, 'cause then you could end up, like ... (laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
Well my ... I think most people's like if you double tap your lock screen, my cards and my wallet comes up. I think that's for most people, no?
- YUYusef
Mm-hmm.
- JOJonny
I really like how iPhone are making something that has very few buttons super versatile. Like, how can we-
- 9:44 – 12:58
Instagram growth hack: hide @tags on Stories to keep one clear call-to-action
- JOJonny
Chris.
- CWChris Williamson
My f- my first one, one that I've been meaning to talk about for a while, which is how to hide a tag on Instagram Stories. So you may have seen people do this before, that, um, you can write up ... Everyone will know you can tag other users on your Instagram Stories. That permits that user to repost the story or at l- just alerts them that they've been tagged in it. But a lot of the time, especially if you're trying to get another call to action out, like a swipe-up or a DM me or a access poll, people ... The open loop of, "Ooh, that's a new person," just distracts people from what you're trying to get them to do. So I guess it stems from a principle that I've relied on a lot with trying to drive traffic from my Instagram, which is to only have one clickable or actionable thing per story. So if you are doing something that involves trying to get people to swipe up and it, it's got other users in it, feel free to tag them, but get it off the screen. And the way to do that is to write out the tags, and then if you press on the text with one finger, and then you can swipe to make it smaller. Everyone will know how to do that. But if you move that first finger across to the edge of the screen and just keep making the text smaller, because the return curve's exponential, it eventually it just flies off the edge of the screen. So it's no longer visible, it's no longer clickable, but it retains the tag, it still does the notification, it still allows the other person to repost. And you can actually get away with doing, I think you can max out on 10 tags. And I don't tend to, like, spam tag on Stories, but let's say, um, this week an episode with Ryan Holiday went up. So that's Ryan Holiday, Daily Stoic, uh, Penguin Random House port- uh, profile books, portfolio books, uh, Modern Wisdom Life and then blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I can do all of that, throw it across onto the far side, and just have one swipe-up. They'll all get a notification, which might encourage them to repost or at least say, "Hey, I'm doing some work over here." Um, and the user or the, the viewer's not gonna be distracted, uh, from that. It's like, everyone-
- JOJonny
Nice.
- CWChris Williamson
... should use it.
- JOJonny
One call to action per story. So if you are gonna tag someone and you want them to click on the profile, just have that sent for you.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, for sure. Especially if you're gonna try and drive traffic to someone as like a, um ... I recently do a photo shoot with Dean and I want to drive some traffic to Dean 'cause thank you for the photo shoot. Like, new f- new shot from @DeanHindmarch, whatever it might be.
- YUYusef
So is that when... 'cause we'll sometimes get tagged in something where, if you know, it's like someone offering you Instagram subscribers or something and that there's like loads of tags in the image. Is that what they're doing?
- CWChris Williamson
Image or story?
- YUYusef
Story.
- CWChris Williamson
Yes.
- YUYusef
Right.
- CWChris Williamson
Um, or I mean, you could go through the (laughs) like the classic year 11 need to get my word count up hack-
- YUYusef
(clears throat)
- CWChris Williamson
... of writing loads of text in and then turning the text the same color as the screen. You know, like turning all of the text white. So then when you run the (laughs) word count-
- YUYusef
(laughs) .
- CWChris Williamson
... it actually says like two and a half thousand words. So you could go-
- JOJonny
That's quite a task for year 11.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, I know. I know.
- JOJonny
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
Well, I w- I, I went to Stockton-and-Grangefield sixth form mate, so-
- JOJonny
Where you learn how to circumvent all the rules in the most like-
- YUYusef
All the blackout tactics. Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
When half the girls in your class are pregnant-
- JOJonny
It's simple.
- CWChris Williamson
... you grow up fast.
- YUYusef
(laughs) .
- JOJonny
Is that gonna make it into the trailer?
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs) Probably.
- YUYusef
(laughs)
- 12:58 – 14:46
Don’t update early: beta OS horror stories and ‘wait two weeks’ rule
- CWChris Williamson
Probably. Okay, so nutritional yeast, iOS 14 back tap, and hide tag on Instagram Stories. Can we also just as a footnote to iOS 14 say, do not, I repeat, do not upgrade your iOS until it is fully released? And even then my advice would be to wait at least two weeks after release.
- YUYusef
So this has happened b- to me before where Yusuf tried to enroll me in the SCOBY pyramid scheme where he-
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs) The, the multi-level marketing that is.
- YUYusef
(laughs) The MLM. So Yusuf's on the beta... (laughs) There's so many funny stories attached to that. Right? You're on the beta scheme for like iOS, for Mac, and the new, or like whatever is Mac O- Mac OS-
- JOJonny
I was, yeah. And I've, I've learned the lesson that Chris had just mentioned there the hard way. Because I think everyone's like, "Oh, don't use beta on your primary device." And I was like, "Ah, nah. It's really, I'm excited about it."
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- JOJonny
But the beta, like it, it's really unstable. Like s- to the point where (laughs) y- you can't use your space bar because it just crashes the computer. Just turns it off.
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- JOJonny
So on the Mac-
- CWChris Williamson
Didn't you have to adapt your typing-
- JOJonny
I-
- CWChris Williamson
... for a very long time?
- JOJonny
... I had to just keep space on the clipboard and just do control V every time I wanted to space. But then that becomes muscle memory, and then when you update to the proper one, you end up just pasting random characters.
- YUYusef
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- YUYusef
Oh my god. So that was, that was Mac OS not iOS?
- JOJonny
I've, I've done iOS beta as well and it's... But if you want to use your phone less and you want a really buggy phone that crashes all the time, be my guest.
- CWChris Williamson
Upgrade early.
- JOJonny
Get iOS 15 beta.
- YUYusef
Or just get an Android.
- JOJonny
Yeah. You don't have-
- CWChris Williamson
'Cause you'll never be able to use it.
- YUYusef
(laughs) Take it home just think, "You know what? It's not worth it."
- CWChris Williamson
Piece of shit. Right, Johnny, what you got?
- 14:46 – 17:53
Build an anti-distraction home screen with iOS shortcuts + Screen Time guilt widget
- YUYusef
Uh, so mine's also relates to the new iOS, which is... So everyone's probably seen the shortcuts thing that appeared on iOS, like probably the last update. Is it do you... Uh, Yusuf knows what I mean. Do you know what I mean?
- CWChris Williamson
No, like go ahead.
- JOJonny
So you can have shortcuts on your home screen to say like, pay a specific person or play a specific audiobook or whatever.
- YUYusef
Perform a specific set of actions. Like a-
- CWChris Williamson
Oh. Okay.
- YUYusef
So I now have my home screen as like a couple of shortcuts. So one is turn on low power mode, just a single button, turn on low power mode. Uh, today's forecast in OmniFocus, capture, um, something in OmniFocus, or call Becca. Those are like the... So like I sat and really thought about this. I was like, what are the things that when I pick up my phone I normally am about to do and then end up on Reddit or Instagram for 20 minutes? I was like, well, it's probably those, like those key things. So those are the key things on the, on the homepage, and then beneath that is just screen time. So it's just like, here's what you came to do, don't be a dick.
- CWChris Williamson
Here's how much of an asshole you are.
- YUYusef
(laughs)
- JOJonny
(laughs)
- YUYusef
And then, uh, the second screen is, is apps that have a, a specific like benefit, and then everything else is just in the app library. So you wouldn't see in this, Chris, but all apps are now just put in the, the library. So you have to search for something if you want it to be... if you want to actually find it.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm-hmm.
- JOJonny
I love your idea of having screen time on the, on the home page.
- YUYusef
Oh, yeah.
- JOJonny
Just a constant guilting reminder.
- YUYusef
Mm-hmm. But the shortcuts things, like you can really get into it, can't you? There's a lot of stuff you can do with... Like I've, I've gone very, very basic, like the pre-made ones from the, the specific apps. But you can design your own essentially.
- CWChris Williamson
That's good. I haven't even seen... I don't know where I've been. I just feel like this whole iOS 14 has passed me by. When did it get released? How long ago?
- YUYusef
Like a, a week or two ago. Normally, Yusuf asks me within like three to four hours whether I've, uh, upgraded to it or not-
- CWChris Williamson
Upgraded to it. Yeah.
- YUYusef
... because he's so-
- JOJonny
That's me being patient. I'm like-
- YUYusef
So (laughs) it's-
- JOJonny
... I'll, I'll give him, I'll give him a couple of hours.
- CWChris Williamson
Johnny. Johnny.
- YUYusef
I think I had to actually go and, and start the update though. Like, you know, normally you get a notification saying your phone will update between 2:00 AM and 5:00 AM. Mine didn't do it for this.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, mine neither. I'm, I'm actually... I've just done it there. I've set it away downloading. How long is this going to take?
- YUYusef
Can't have it. It's, it's brilliant. I think it's one of the best OS upgrades they've done recently, just that-
- CWChris Williamson
Wow.
- YUYusef
... just the customization.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah.
- YUYusef
'Cause like suddenly you can turn your phone into something that you would prefer it to be rather than just, I can't move iMessage to here.
- 17:53 – 21:57
Default fallback activity: replacing ‘scrolling’ with productive micro-tasks
- JOJonny
Having a default fallback activity. So you know when there's moments in the day where you're just on standby mode and you're just like... (laughs)
- YUYusef
Hidin' in a holding pattern.
- JOJonny
So... Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- JOJonny
Just in a holding pattern. And the amount of time that you're just on that standby mode. Like some people use it to scroll their phone, some people stare at the wall. Um-... if you have a default one, then you, you instantly, like, overcome resistance to things that you normally would never get done. So, my fallback activity for this month is clearing my, like, messy downloads folder. You know, like, all the stuff that just gets bunged in there and it's like, it's from four years ago, it's not relevant. Or, like, photos on your phone that you've taken from holiday and you haven't sorted yet. You could do it with reading, do it with meditating. Um, meditating is a bit of a hard one because it's quite a, like, resource-intensive activity. You want something that's, like, low-effort, like clearing a folder or tidying a, um, a wardrobe or something that's just, like, a big project that you can just chip away at in those dead moments.
- CWChris Williamson
I thought you were going to say handstands.
- JOJonny
Oh, handstands would be great as well.
- CWChris Williamson
But you do, you, you spontaneously-
- JOJonny
That -... invert all the time. Yeah, I, I suppose actually. Yeah, it's just an unconscious one. Like, if the kettle's boiling or whatever, I'll just be like, just hold a handstand for as long as it takes to boil the kettle.
- YUYusef
And try not to fall onto the kettle.
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- JOJonny
Oh, disaster.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah. You did, there's been a couple of times where you've done it with like, all of us will have our laptops out on the floor around you. There'll-
- YUYusef
True, that.
- JOJonny
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
... happen to be a bunch of mouse traps in the corner and there's a, a s- slowly counting down atomic bomb over the far side and w- whoops. Hey, yo. Oh, ow.
- YUYusef
Only if you can do it when the stakes are that high, though.
- CWChris Williamson
Piece of piss. I really like that.
- JOJonny
Yeah. T-
- CWChris Williamson
I really like that-
- YUYusef
Yeah, I like-
- CWChris Williamson
... fall, fallback activity thing, man. Like...
- JOJonny
Have you got any other ideas on, like, what, what else you could fill the space with?
- CWChris Williamson
So, I think reading, like, having a Kindle on you at all times. This is, um, Tim Ferriss's, one of Tim Ferriss's number one hacks, and Ryan Holiday's as well, for increasing your reading, is to have something to read with you at all times. But you can't read what isn't there, obviously, and a Kindle makes it more convenient for that. Um, so just having it on your desk and opening it up, you know, you could chip away and probably fit another book in a month, just in spare time. Um, now, it would have to be something like The Almanack of Naval Ravikant, which you could pick up and put down. Something like The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel. Again, like, short, perhaps more aphoristic stuff, or just fiction that you're not really that arsed about, like, linking all of the key concepts together. Um, but that would be great. I was just thinking about how much, uh, buffering time I have to, like-
- JOJonny
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
... like, just sit and have them wait. (laughs) Um, like-
- JOJonny
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
... exporting, exporting audio files for this show, it's like a two-minute job to get it out of Garage Band, a two-minute job to master it, a two-minute job to upload it. And in each of those, I just immediately default to the path of least resistance and the most sort of convenient, immediately gratifying thing, which tends to be, ah, I'll send a tweet or I'll go on YouTube, I'll do this thing. And that two minutes expands out into five or ten, and then I gotta go back and then it's another two, five, or ten, and then another t- and I'm like, "Fucking half an hour to do a six-minute job."
- JOJonny
Oh, it's so, so dangerous. So, actually, like, we already all have fallback behaviors, but when we're not conscious about them. Like, yeah, for, for me, if it's like checking a, uh, inbox or messages or something, and then yeah, you're just suddenly down the rabbit hole.
- CWChris Williamson
What would-
- 21:57 – 27:03
Blocking compulsions: Cold Turkey for email + recognizing low boredom tolerance
- YUYusef
So, the, Yusuf's thing about checking inboxes, that, that's definitely my, um... Like, if I've got, if there's like a gap in something, um, like specifically email. I'm terrible with email. I have no control over email. Email has full control over me.
- JOJonny
But, but it's totally, like, mindless. Like, I'm like, "Oh, check if I haven't got an email in the last 34 seconds." You're like-
- YUYusef
Yeah.
- JOJonny
... why is that a helpful pattern?
- YUYusef
So I suppose, so what I've done on my Mac is I just have cold turkey, just emails just blocked 100% of the time. And then the notification-
- JOJonny
Cold turkey is great. It just knocks it out of your hands. (laughs)
- YUYusef
Well, so it just-
- CWChris Williamson
Don't-
- YUYusef
... puts notification at the top right, just going, "Uh-uh. Don't remember." But then it's, it started tracking how many times it blocks an app on a day, and it's honestly, it's embarrassing.
- CWChris Williamson
How many times does it block you trying to access your own email?
- YUYusef
It's like 30, 30 to 40 times, the first time I turned it on.
- CWChris Williamson
Whoa.
- YUYusef
I think, just really think about that.
- JOJonny
(laughs)
- YUYusef
Like that, how long had I been allowed to do what I wanted to do there? How long I would have spent on email, like, uh...
- CWChris Williamson
Presuming it was at, at least two minutes per time.
- YUYusef
Minimum.
- JOJonny
What I love about it is that it quits it before it even has a chance to open. It's like you go and reach your hand onto the pizza box and it just... (snaps fingers)
- YUYusef
(laughs) But so if you ha- if you find, so Yusuf says like everyone already has that right? Like, whether it's on your phone, on your laptop, or any device. So, if you find what the thing is, try and block it. And then when you go to do that, that's, that's the reminder.
- CWChris Williamson
Why-
- YUYusef
So when you go to open the app.
- CWChris Williamson
... why do you, why would you sit around buffering waiting on your email inbox? Why would that be a, a time for a fallback activity for you, Johnny?
- YUYusef
So, it would be like if I'm uploading something or... Siri's going again. It's always when I'm speaking to you guys that Siri activates.
- CWChris Williamson
Just wants to be a part of the show, man.
- YUYusef
So weird. Um, it, like, even things like, if there's a, a loading time on the thing I'm doing or if I, like so ScreenFlow is a big one, um, if I'm like waiting for something to export or upload. Even if it's like four, five minutes. I know that's probably not what you're referring to. Like, I've probably (overlapping 00:06:38) .
- CWChris Williamson
No, no, no. I, that's, that's, that's what, that's what I mean. I'm just trying to work out sort of why or wh- where people are going to be able to find these moments. But it definitely identifies the fact that our threshold for boredom-... has been lowered by so much that even a 30-second wait is unbearable.
- JOJonny
I- and that's, that's so recent. Like I remember when we were teenagers and you'd have to, like, go take something to the post office for your mum or whatever, and you'd be standing in the queue and you would just be, like, staring at the checkout for 25 minutes while Doris picks out her pennies and, um, gets the, gets the travel money transferred and all. A- and, and it was just fine.
- YUYusef
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
Being on the bus, man, like taking a bus when you're a kid, it's so, it's... What's even more bizarre is that there are people listening to this show right now who are so young that they've never grown up without technology and literally don't know that there was a world only 10 years ago that wasn't like this.
- JOJonny
People would go to a cafe and just drink a coffee.
- 27:03 – 30:59
Phone-free zones: never take your phone to the toilet (and stock bathrooms with books)
- CWChris Williamson
I agree. Uh, mine, my next one, which I'd totally forgotten, didn't even write down, totally links in with yours, which is never take your phone to the toilet.
- JOJonny
There we go.
- CWChris Williamson
Really easy way to just reduce your screen time and an even better thing to do, which is, you guys who've been in my house, you'll know this, all of the bathrooms that you've got in your house, just have, have some books-
- JOJonny
Are, are plumbed into hot water. (laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- YUYusef
(laughs)
- JOJonny
For anyone who doesn't know-
- YUYusef
Do you want to use the flush?
- JOJonny
... uh, the, the water that comes through Chris's toilet-
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- JOJonny
... is piping hot.
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- YUYusef
It's kettle hot, isn't it?
- CWChris Williamson
Well, the people, the people that built the extension on the side of my house previously-
- YUYusef
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
... got the cold and hot water plumbed wrong into the toilet, which means that when you flush it, boiling hot water comes through the toilet, which means that it's the cleanest toilet I've ever seen, obviously-
- JOJonny
True.
- CWChris Williamson
... but it's also the most expensive toilet because it triggers the boiler every time that you flush. Um, but yeah, the, the best hack for that, have a couple of books, like again, easy pick me up-y, put me down-y type things or do whatever. But if you have a, a couple of areas... And this expands out into a wider strategy about having no phone zones within your house. So I have a strict now, trying to make it stricter, no phones in the bedroom rule. So if I want to use my phone, I have to go in the kitchen to use it. There is nothing, unless you're Windows and Android, in which case like, sorry, but there is really nothing that you can do on your phone that you can't do on your computer. Instagram you can do even just through the web app, instagram.com. You can go and you direct messages through there. You can do most of the things you need to. WhatsApp Web, iMessage, email, Twitter for desktop, uh, messenger.com for Facebook. You can do all of the shit-
- JOJonny
So true.
- CWChris Williamson
... that you do on your phone without any of the compulsive binging and bonging and the terrible posture that you get from it. Um, so yeah, like no-go zones for your phone, and specifically the easiest one for that to start with is just leave the phone wherever you are when you go to the bathroom, because it turns a two-minute movement into a 10-minute phone hole scroll.
- JOJonny
And you've, you've created like a better alternative in your toilet, like you've got lots of kind of dippy in books, like easy books to just-
- YUYusef
Dip in the hot water.
- JOJonny
Yeah. Sure. Dip, yeah. (laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs) Dip in the hot water. Yeah. Right. Johnny, what you got?
- YUYusef
Um, just something, just quickly just to touch that, someone that I was speaking to recently said they only allow themselves to check social media for five minutes after a meal. So he knows that it's only gonna happen three to four times a day. And he has a, like that's just his habit. So like the rule is, if I've not just eaten, I'm not allowed on social media. Hard thing to stick to, but...
- CWChris Williamson
Can you see how that might end up being a perverse incentive there?
- YUYusef
(laughs) Yeah.
- JOJonny
Get huge.
- YUYusef
But I mean, you can always rig the game, can't you? Like then you just never use your bedroom to sleep. You just-
- CWChris Williamson
Or never go to the toilet. (laughs)
- 30:59 – 37:45
Sleep optimization gear: ChiliPAD water-cooled mattress topper (data-driven results)
- YUYusef
(laughs) This is quite a new one for me, um, but it's the ChiliPAD.
- CWChris Williamson
Did you buy one?
- YUYusef
I did.
- CWChris Williamson
Shit the bed. Have you forced Becky to use it?
- YUYusef
Uh, so there was, like, a long very serious conversation about whether (laughs) we were gonna buy the double or the single, and I bought the single.
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- YUYusef
She ge- she generally doesn't get too hot in, in, like, generally I'm hot at night-
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- YUYusef
... and generally sh- she isn't. She's the opposite, which obviously creates a mismatch. Um, but basically, for anyone who doesn't know what that is, it is a water-cooled mattress topper. So, there's a unit that sits to the side of your bed, um, which you pour water in, it cools the water, and then pumps the water through little pipes in the mattress, and you can set the temperature. And the theory is it makes you sleep deeper and obviously, like, if you feel hot, wake up hot at night, it, it solves that problem. Um, so far, noticeable improvement, which is cool.
- CWChris Williamson
Based on just anecdotal, "I feel more rested" based on HRV and some stats from your app?
- YUYusef
Like, track, tracked sleep data, yeah. So, um, it hasn't changed, um, REM at all. It hasn't changed wake-up times at all. But it has, like, bumped my deep sleep up by, like, 30%.
- CWChris Williamson
What about time to sleep, the latency? Has it improved that?
- YUYusef
I mean, my, my latency's ridiculous. It's like three minutes.
- CWChris Williamson
Really?
- YUYusef
So, yeah, like, I am, I get into bed and I am out.
- CWChris Williamson
That's such a classic big guy thing to do, isn't it?
- YUYusef
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
That everyone over six foot and 90 kilos is able to fall asleep, yeah, able to fall asleep supported by their own weight. And they don't, their head doesn't drop either. They're just like that.
- JOJonny
Oh, 'cause they've got such a, a big neck.
- YUYusef
Yeah, just, it's just standby.
- CWChris Williamson
Just big-
- YUYusef
Just immediate standby mode. Yeah. But, um, it's cool. Like, it is expensive, though, like 450 quid.
- CWChris Williamson
For a single?
- YUYusef
For a, for a single.
- JOJonny
What's the, um, difference between, or what, what do they claim the difference is between using a thin weighted blanket and having a cooling thing underneath you?
- YUYusef
A thin weighted blanket?
- JOJonny
So, 'c- 'cause presumably you still have a quilt, but that's more for the pressure sensation than the, the heat.
- YUYusef
Well, no, it's, it's to keep ... i- I don't-
- JOJonny
It's to stop you from losing too much heat.
- YUYusef
So you're saying why not just use a thinner mattress, a thinner, a thinner quilt?
- 37:45 – 45:11
The ‘Scoby problem’: over-optimizing, novelty chasing, and self-created messes
- CWChris Williamson
Oh, actually, do you want to tell us what the Scone 2020... Can we interlude to the bi- the problem that you had this year?
- JOJonny
I, I think we can. It's li- it's actually not a problem that I've had, but I thought it's the most Scone 2020 thing that you'll have ever heard.
- CWChris Williamson
What's the, before we start, what's the elevator pitch? Just the architecture of a Scoby problem?
- JOJonny
Oh. I think it's, it's a... In fact, I think you guys will be able to define this better than I can.
- YUYusef
So it's wanting to avoid financial outlay or inconvenience, like, to rock the boat for other people. So looking for a slightly off the beacon, beaten track strategy to achieve that, and in doing so, creating a larger financial outlay in the long term or more rocking of the boat.
- JOJonny
I think it's, yeah, it's maybe even wider than that, which is, like, trying to optimize something and creating a self-created problem.
- CWChris Williamson
There's a couple of-
- YUYusef
Okay, yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
... limbs added onto the Scone problem, which include, um, FOMO and novelty, and they're the compounders.
- JOJonny
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
So they're the multipliers. If there is-
- JOJonny
So software, terrible.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah.
- JOJonny
I'm such a sucker for novel software.
- CWChris Williamson
So you, everyone-
- YUYusef
So it's every, you end up-
- CWChris Williamson
Everyone has a-
- YUYusef
You end up with, like-
- CWChris Williamson
... friend that's like this. (laughs) It's fucking awful when you do that on a show and you're like, "No, no, you go. No, you go." Um, uh, it's everyone's got a friend who's like this, who's like, they'll decide to n- go 50% of the way there to a complete solution to their problem in an effort to try and save 90% of the cost, but end up causing 10 times the problem. Like, giving it to your mate Baz. Baz can MOT it. I don't need to go to QuickFit. Then the car breaks down as you're on your way to Manchester. (laughs)
- JOJonny
Yeah. And then but you've not got cover-
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, you didn't get cover-
- JOJonny
... if you go for Lloyds Premium Platinum Account-
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, no-
- JOJonny
... and it should cover you.
- CWChris Williamson
... because the Ye- the Yemeni bank that you bank with, um, via Starling, through the Monzo, uh, server has decided that they're going to close all of the, uh, all of the call centers.
- JOJonny
Oh, God. Or even if you-
- YUYusef
It's taking your fluffy iPhone screen to Timpsons to get repaired. They do it on the cheap. Then you take your phone to Apple and it breaks again and then Apple say the warranty's-
- CWChris Williamson
Yes.
- YUYusef
... invalid.
- CWChris Williamson
Yes, yes. That's exactly it.
- 45:11 – 48:58
Food hack (again): Lindahls Quark as ‘upgraded Skyr’ for cheap high protein
- CWChris Williamson
You're fucking in charge of the country. Right, okay. My, my, my, my next one. I haven't put this on here yet, but it has appeared on the Three-Minute Monday newsletter. If you're not signed up, go to chriswillex.com/lifehacks. Nestle Lindal's Quark. So it is k-... It's technically, technically flavored quark cheese.
- JOJonny
This comes up every Life Hacks, I'm sure.
- YUYusef
Well, yeah, it's, it saves me from-
- JOJonny
One of these dejavus.
- CWChris Williamson
Who knows, who knows the entire backlog and who claims that this always happens? You do. And then off camera we always go, "No, we didn't actually cover that one before."
- JOJonny
It's fine. (laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
Um, so we've done Skyr. Nestle Lindal's Quark is upgraded Skyr. So you've seen the macros on the back of this thing. It's essentially no carbs, no fat and 18 grams of protein, tastes like a thick, nice yogurt and costs about 80 pence per pot. It's fucking phenomenal. It comes in a whole bunch of flavors. My favorite one's the white chocolate. They also do ones with tiny little chocolate sprinkles in.
- JOJonny
Sprinkles of... Yeah, Mike gets that one.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, it's legit, man. Like, it's such an easy hack. Everyone on the planet just needs a little bit more protein. Like, even Phil Heath needs just a little bit more protein. And this, just have one after each meal.
- YUYusef
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
And there you go. Across the day, across the day that's cost you £2.50, but you've gained 60 grams of protein.
- YUYusef
Was it you who, who said... Is it, is he, is he Skyr?
- CWChris Williamson
Yes.
- YUYusef
Was that you?
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah.
- YUYusef
So I bought some of those. Because Yusuf, the roof's leaking, window leaking.
- JOJonny
Yeah, but...
- YUYusef
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
Your window's leaking?
- JOJonny
It's just slightly open. I'll, I'll close it, but I don't want to ruin the flow.
- YUYusef
They'll knock the, the yogurt chad, um, or the quark chad. But yeah, so I, I bought some of those this week for the first time and they are... I just can't believe how nice they are.
- CWChris Williamson
It's just quality?
- YUYusef
Yeah. Like, the fact that it's like... Well, the... I think it's, it's, it's tasting it and then you... The first thing I did was, like, check that I bought the right ones and then check the macros and then ...
- CWChris Williamson
This must have more sugar in than it, than it says.
- YUYusef
Yeah. Mm-hmm. Like this is so cre... For like a, like basically a zero fat product, this is so creamy.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah.
- YUYusef
How have they achieved that?
- CWChris Williamson
Have you tried this Quark that I'm talking about, Johnny?
- YUYusef
I've... No, I've not.
- CWChris Williamson
Oh, mate, I'm fucking telling you, man.
- 48:58 – 53:07
Wind-down routine: Insight Timer sleep meditations (switch-off, not sleep stories)
- YUYusef
Um, so this, this one... Well, no, it's all right. It's all right. I'll do that one later. Um, sleep, sleep meditation in InsightTimer. So there's a few, like, sleep-specific, um, like, sample sessions that are, like, 10 minutes long, um, that are not... I don't think they're designed to be listened to while you're sleeping. It's just, like, an evening switch off. So I can get specifically into the one I've tried. I've co- tried a couple of them.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm-hmm.
- YUYusef
Um, really good. Like, they're a bit woo-woo. They're a bit about, like, connecting with the moon and all that sort of stuff. But, um, like, at the end of it, you notice a... I think you notice there's a, a definite difference pre/post.
- JOJonny
So do you do it for a full night's sleep or, like, a nap?
- YUYusef
Just, like, 10 minutes before bed.
- CWChris Williamson
So you get into bed.
- YUYusef
I'm not e-... Not, not, not normally, no. I, like, sit, like, on the sofa, headphones in, 10 minutes, then go to bed.
- JOJonny
Ah, okay.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah.
- YUYusef
I'm not doing it to fall asleep. It's like an evening, like, wipe the slate clean.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm-hmm.
- YUYusef
There's even a visualization they get you to do where it's like, "Imagine your inbox is clear."
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- YUYusef
"Imagine all of your tasks are complete." And I just thought, like... As I was listening to it, I was like, "This guy knows me." (laughs) "He, he knows the game. He knows what's going on." But yeah, it's just really good.
- JOJonny
Oh, yeah.
- YUYusef
Like, 3Chai or something.
- CWChris Williamson
I've noticed a lot of adverts for calm-
- YUYusef
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
... sleep stories. Harry Styles from, like, One Direction has been, "I'm Harry Styles, and tonight I will be telling you my sleep story. It was the local night of France's first twilight moon."
- JOJonny
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
Okay, Harry. I, I understand, mate. In fact, Stephen Fry did one. Like, I don't know. I don't know. I, I...
- JOJonny
Wow.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, I'm unsure on those.
- JOJonny
When, when you find yourself as a celebrity, like, just in situations.
- YUYusef
Right. Yeah. How has, how has it got to this point? We're on a meeting.
- CWChris Williamson
Harry, yeah, mate, we've got a... Yeah, the guys from Calm have been on again.
- JOJonny
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
Um, I know that we can't play any live shows this year. Do you... Should we just say the sleep stories thing? Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's the France one.
- JOJonny
(laughs)
- YUYusef
All right.
- 53:07 – 55:24
Tea + microplastics: ditch pyramid ‘silky’ bags, use loose-leaf strainers or paper drawstring bags
- JOJonny
So, um, I can't remember if I mentioned this one before, but I'm quite big on loose-leaf tea, and I know, um, (clears throat) Johnny has been when doing cycling without caffeine. Either a tea strainer, or you can buy tea bags on Amazon that just have a little drawstring, and are made of, like, sack material, and... Or, like, not sack. Like, just kind of, um-
- YUYusef
I don't use them.
- JOJonny
... like, eco, eco paper. And, uh, it's great, 'cause you just put a bit of tea in, tighten the thing, throw it away.
- YUYusef
Is it... The mesh that's used in, um, like, Teapigs and other things is bad, right? For some reason.
- CWChris Williamson
Estrogen.
- JOJonny
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So in Teapigs and, like, the, the silky tea bags that are in, like, the Pyramid-
- CWChris Williamson
(clears throat)
- JOJonny
... and are, like, really kind of... They are the worst. They release loads of nanoparticles, um, or microparticles, whatever, of plastic that just... that don't get, um, excreted. So you end up with just a buildup of estrogen in your body, and you can only really, um... There's something about it being, being able to bypass liver metabolism, and so you need to kind of sweat it out-
- CWChris Williamson
Oh, wow.
- JOJonny
... um, which is pretty bad. The normal tea bags have less of it. The only plastic in normal tea bags is the glue sealant they use to stick the two sides together, um, which you may or may not be worried about. I think you've got to pick your battles with, with estrogen.
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- JOJonny
Um, so, but-
- CWChris Williamson
Well, as opposed to you, who is an all-out, full-on war-
- JOJonny
I've, like, gone... Yeah, I've got, like, a helmet on, and, um, the, the full-
- CWChris Williamson
Body armor.
- JOJonny
Well, yeah. It was the bazooka.
- YUYusef
It's a, it's a metal helmet, though.
- JOJonny
Yeah, ma- of course. (laughs) Metal or silicone.
- CWChris Williamson
Why don't you just get, why not just get one of those cages, it's like a steel cage, you can just put the leaves into it, it's like a little Orbez ball and-
- JOJonny
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
... steel on the top. W- shouldn't that would be-
- JOJonny
You should get one with like a squeezy thing at the end.
- CWChris Williamson
... reusable, and then you can just keep-
- JOJonny
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
... reusing that. Why not that?
- JOJonny
Yeah, you can do. So I, I alternate between both. So I've got, it's not actually a ball that I use, it's like a, a dippy one, um, but yeah-
- CWChris Williamson
Very dippy.
- JOJonny
... same concept, so like a, a metal dippy tea strainer, either ball with a squeezy thing, eBay, 80p.
- CWChris Williamson
Wow. Nice, I like it.
- JOJonny
Very nice.
- 55:24 – 1:07:45
Communication hack: respond to criticism by asking ‘What would you do?’ + goal-first thinking
- CWChris Williamson
Uh, anyone who's doing y- loose leaf tea, I guess that would be good. So we've done sort of quite a lot of explicit, appy, foodie ones so far today. One that I've been using for quite a while is ask for a solution when someone poses a problem. So this reverses a lot of the, um, typical ebb and flow of a conversation, especially at work, but also with relationships, interpersonal relationships with your partner or friends. It's very easy for someone to criticize anything that you've decided to do or that anyone else has decided to do, "I don't like that particular piece of artwork. I think that this is not very good." I, "Why are you taking that route?" Whatever it might be. The easiest way to shut down their force toward you and also to move the conversation, firstly, not in a, an antagonistic way, and secondly towards a solution-based conversation is to just say, "All right, well, what, what would you do?" And the number of times, remembering that I have a lot of young lads that work for us, and they're all full of caffeine and testosterone and they're 18 years old, they're very opinionated, they often have a lot of strong opinions about things, but they're quite unexamined so they don't actually know why they think the thing that they think. "I don't like. No, no, it's fucking shit, that. Fucking shit that, mate."
- JOJonny
Oh, why?
- CWChris Williamson
"Okay, what would you do?"
- JOJonny
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
Not even just asking the why, 'cause asking the why, they can often just justify stuff out of nowhere. It's like, it's not enough just for you to-
- JOJonny
What's
- YUYusef
Specific.
- CWChris Williamson
... identify a problem. What is the solution that you would do? "Don't h- h- hit, hit the track on that video, mate. It's just shit." "Okay, what would you put in its place?" And that, it moves the conversation in one question by using it almost like the, a, a trigger for you to say, as opposed to, "You're wrong," or trying to justify, even if you think that you're right, even if you think the track on that video is the one that you should have used, just asking someone, "What would you put instead?" doesn't, doesn't necessarily mean that you're ceding ground on how strongly you feel about your side of the argument. But I've just found, even in group conversations as well, it reminds everyone we're here to, uh, find solutions, not identify problems.
- JOJonny
We're here for a common goal. So, so Tim Ferriss recommends this with conversations with yourself as well, that if you're, if you find yourself complaining about something internally, to always propose a solution. It's part of his, like, 21-day no complaint challenge.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm.
- YUYusef
Cool. I really-
- JOJonny
So this is if someone comes to you saying, "I've got this problem," or, like, complaining about something, is it?
- CWChris Williamson
Um, mostly-
- JOJonny
Or either.
- CWChris Williamson
... most- mostly if there's a complaint that someone puts forward, especially if it's someone, if you're dealing with someone who tends to be a little bit more emotional, either, uh, aggressive or negative or even overly positive, and they decide to have a problem with something which is going on, just ask them for what their proposed solution is. A lot of the time, it forces them to examine why they have the problem, and they realize actually it's not that big of a problem or it's unjustified, it's just emotionally driven. And sometimes they actually have a ready-made solution which is even better than what you put forward. Or if they have a ready-made solution which is worse than what you put forward, you're now debating solution versus solution as opposed to solution versus criticism to the solution.
- JOJonny
Mm.
- CWChris Williamson
You get me?
- JOJonny
Yeah, makes sense.
- CWChris Williamson
Useful. Johnny.
- YUYusef
So I have one s- similar to that, um, which I wasn't going to say because I thought it maybe wasn't app or, um, tactic-specific enough, so I'm glad that you went down that route, (clears throat) which is again, something a coach that's working with us at the moment is kind of encouraging us to think in this way, which is whenever you're, I think really whenever you're doing anything.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm-hmm.
- YUYusef
So, like, any personal behavior or anything you're, like, in the process of doing is come back to the question of, like, what is the goal? Like, what am I trying to achieve with this? And then, like, what is my ultimate goal? What is the specific goal? And then list out the possible things you could do to achieve the goal, and then the possible problems you might encounter. And you, it takes you from a position of if you're, like, not sure what to do, so you're like, "I really want to lose weight or, like, im- like, deal with stress better or improve my sleep or whatever," you then find yourself taking this like, "Oh, but I could do..." Like suddenly you're, like, dealing with three possible paths, vectors to that thing, and then three problems you'll encounter with each one, and then you can just pick one and do it for two and try it for two weeks and see what happens. And you can take confusion to like, "I'll just do that really, really quickly." Or, so I've done this with like all of my morning routine and habits and stuff like that, is I- I now do like a third or a quarter of what I used to do 'cause you just apply the question of like, "What is the goal with this thing, like with this behavior?" And then, "Can I achieve that with just something simpler?" Or like, "Could I not do that and still achieve the same thing?" Like, always trying to sort of simplify and cut waste, 'cause I think, I think morning routines, especially me, don't know whether you two fall into this or like any habits or anything like that, there's a tendency to, like, do as many of the things that everyone says you should do as possible-... and then when you just reframe as, "Well, what am I, why am I actually doing these things?" It's to, like, feel more mindful. It's like, well, okay, does, does like half an hour of meditation achieve that? Yeah, it probably does. How about I just do that for a month and see if that achieves the outcome, rather than meditation, journaling, blow up like 10 other things? So that's, that's something that's really helped me recently, in like work, training, everything.
- JOJonny
That is very cool. So what, what's the, what's the process if you were to say, like, problem... how would you put it through that?
- YUYusef
So define, just define the goal for the thing, like for that area. So like whatever it is you're thinking about, like what, what's the end point I'm trying to get to? And then what are the things I could do to reach that? And then what are the problems I might encounter? Try and troubleshoot the problems.
- JOJonny
So problem, proposed solution, obstacle...
- CWChris Williamson
And then ... m- go on.
- JOJonny
... test.
- YUYusef
Then off you go.
- CWChris Williamson
I think a lot of the time, the things that we have in life, we're just overwhelmed with this sense, we have like just notions.
- YUYusef
Mm-hmm.
- 1:07:45 – 1:12:33
Home heat therapy: ‘poor man’s sauna’ infrared bag + benefits of heat/cold contrast
- JOJonny
I was sent a poor man's sauna, which is the-
- CWChris Williamson
Fucking Mihai, I've seen you using this.
- JOJonny
... Mihai, Csikszentmihalyi-
- CWChris Williamson
I've seen you using this.
- JOJonny
You have? I, um, I did a live stream trying it out for the first time, um, and it's called the Mihai Shinealan. Um, it- it's called MIhi, so I think it's pronounced Mihai, 'cause their tagline is Get MiHigh. Um, and it's-
- CWChris Williamson
Csikszentmihalyi.
- JOJonny
... very clever. Csikszentmihalyi. It's- it's a sauna in a plastic bag-
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- JOJonny
... or made of, like, anorak material, and you wrap yourself up in it, and it's got two heating elements on the front and back, so it sandwiches you in with far infrared, and you get the health benefits of infrared exposure without having to have a wooden set-up.
- CWChris Williamson
You get to have the health benefits of a sauna without enjoying it at all.
- JOJonny
(laughs) Well, so it is-
- YUYusef
That's how I feel about saunas full stop, Chris, so it's win-win for me really.
- JOJonny
Yeah. I- I mean, it's obviously the- the experience of sitting in a sauna, part of it is the social experience, and the other part is not- not being in a plastic bag. Um...
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs) That's one of the main reasons that I go in a sauna, it's because it's one of the few places on this planet I know I'm not going to be in a plastic bag.
- YUYusef
So is- is this the same as the thing that we've seen at, you might not have seen it, Chris, but- but Paul Moore puts himself in this, like, tent-
- JOJonny
Oh, similar. So, yeah.
- YUYusef
... what he calls a portable masturbation tent, which is just his head in a, on a, basically on a box. Is it the same idea?
- JOJonny
It is, it's the same idea, yeah.
- YUYusef
Right.
- JOJonny
This is more specifically infrared, and so-
- YUYusef
Right.
- JOJonny
... you do get, um... There- there's a lot of benefits associated with it, but I did it wrong first time 'cause I was just doing it in pants, which means you're sweating directly onto this waterproof material, which is quite unpleasant as you can imagine. Um, they advise actually wearing sports clothes.
- CWChris Williamson
Okay.
- JOJonny
And being inside. And you don't ha- you don't sweat that much. Like, a half an hour session, you'll- you'll break a bit of a sweat even though it's quite hot. Um, so you can tolerate it quite well and it definitely lifts your mood. You can then have a cold shower immediately afterwards.
- CWChris Williamson
How much are they?
- JOJonny
Um, 300 pounds, I think, or slightly under.
- CWChris Williamson
How expensive are they to run?
- JOJonny
Pretty efficient electricity-wise. You just need to spray it down when you finish. Um, compared to having an infrared sauna installed, for a one-man one it's going to be $1,200 and for a... You don't want a one-man one though, 'cause you're just sitting on your bill. Um, for a two or three-man one, it's going to be three grand. So, significantly cheaper to-
- CWChris Williamson
10% of the price for the same-
- JOJonny
Yeah.
- 1:12:33 – 1:20:30
Evening rules: no TV after shower, read instead; plus living-room TV-free social design
- CWChris Williamson
What am I gonna do? Oh, here's one that I've been doing all this year, um, which is a hard rule of no TV on a nighttime. So I wanted to read more. I also know that I tend to break my sleep time when I'm watching something because it's passive rather than active. It affects my melatonin release because there's blue light and a whole host of other things. Also, it's, I'm watching usually Netflix, which is at best acceptable and at worst mind numbing. So, I wanted to set myself a rule that I wouldn't do that. I tend to have a shower on a nighttime, so I have a trigger point...... which is usually about an hour before I go to bed, that's the shower, and I set myself a rule that I would not watch TV after I have a shower. Now, I have two choices. I can either go to bed an hour early, which is maybe a bit boring but would probably be fairly beneficial seeing as I'm still only averaging about seven hours a night, or I can read for an hour. Reading tends to set me up better for sleep. Um, the research around e-readers is that they do not affect your melatonin release anywhere near the same as using an iPad or a phone or a television. The, uh, light that they emit doesn't impact your melatonin release in the same way at all. Um, so I've gone through tons of books, like I've 2Xed my book reading by just having a hard stop of TV, plus I've improved my sleep quality, plus I've actually read a bunch of stuff that I'm interested in. Uh, I wake up on the morning feeling better. I, I notice a couple of nights, let's say I've gone in the living room, I've had a shower earlier in the day, which has removed the trigger, I've stayed in the living room watching something on TV and then I try and go to bed and I'm just in a completely different head space.
- JOJonny
Stopping TV, hard stop, and then reading before bed?
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah. Reading fiction I think particularly helps. Like, trying to read, or reading narrative non-fiction, like biographies and stuff. If you're trying to read self-development at 11 o'clock at night, I just think you're sending yourself... Y- the whole point of reading self-development books is the retention and then the application. Going to bed immediately afterward, unless it's some real clever Josh Waitzkin sandwich your sleep in the thing that you want to really en- e- ingrain into yourself, and there's probably some argument to be made for that. But for the most part, just find a good fiction series, like Red Rising is amazing. I'm really, really enjoying that, and everyone that I've sent it to has become fully, fully addicted. Also, Pierce Brown, the author of Red Rising is coming on here once he finishes the next book in the series, which will be really, really fun. And I'm gonna, this could two for one, I'm gonna jump in again and do another one, which is one of yours, actually, Skobe. So no TV on a night for me I think would benefit a lot of people. You could potentially look to partition this and say no TV on weeknights, um, and then on a weekend you might allow yourself a little bit of a break. But again, just set hard and fast rules about when, find a trigger, use the trigger, and then also set yourself some, uh, bright lines around, uh, if there's breaks in that and when they're acceptable. Uh, and another one, which you have, is don't have a TV in your living room if you want to have better conversations. So I don't know anyone else's house that I go to where we talk more when we go round than yours because we don't have the distraction of watching TV. Every time that we go to your house, we always sit in a circle. It's not like we're all in a, like, weird sort of line, like at a football match or like at the cinema, all facing the same way. Everyone kind of sits in a circle and we just have a chat. Uh, I, I-
Episode duration: 1:40:27
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Transcript of episode RxpWy-be89U
