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My First Million

How To Get Sh*t Done Without Being Busy

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Sam ParrhostShaan Purihost

Apr 3, 202426mWatch on YouTube

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CHAPTERS

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Chapter summaries

What an Unscheduled Life Means
Sam Parr says he's envious of Shaan Puri's tweet about an unscheduled life. Shaan defines it as doing the most important or interesting thing right now instead of what a calendar dictated weeks ago, and describes deleting his calendar entries.
- •The unscheduled life means acting on what's most important or interesting in the moment
- •Shaan deleted everything on his calendar rather than letting it run his days
- •He told a friend to call right away because inspiration is perishable, like an avocado
- •Sam asks how so much gets done with nothing scheduled
Maker vs Manager Schedule and Sprints
Shaan explains that he can live this way because he is no longer a manager, citing Paul Graham's maker vs manager schedule post. He breaks his day into 90-minute to two-hour sprints and leaves the rest of the calendar open.
- •A manager's schedule is a zebra calendar of 30-minute meetings that left him feeling busier but less productive
- •A maker's schedule has a morning, afternoon or night sprint of about 90 minutes to two hours
- •Open time can be used for family, exercise, calls or lunches
- •Shaan uses three venues: office, bedroom lounge chair and walking, and time-boxes his work
No To-Do List: The One Big Thing
Sam asks where Shaan keeps his to-dos since Sam uses his calendar as one. Shaan says he has no list and instead picks the one outcome that would make the day a win.
- •Shaan asks each morning what single outcome would make today a win
- •Most people build long checklists from recent emails
- •Not all to-dos are created equal
- •Anything else done that day is gravy
Getting There from a Managerial Job
Sam raises the objection that most people have jobs where others tell them what to do. Shaan says to decide how you want life to be, then carve out one protected day and expand from there, as he did as a product manager.
- •Managers and operators will see more meetings than creators and builders
- •Shaan started by keeping Thursdays clear and later added Tuesdays
- •He suggests working toward a role where this is the default style, possibly over nine months
- •The goal is to batch meetings into one day and leave other days for high-impact work
Show Me Your Calendar and I'll Show You Your Priorities
Following a HubSpot sponsor read, Sam asks how Shaan handles future commitments. Shaan says he says yes when revenue is involved but doesn't default into meetings, and offers his Munger-style line that your calendar reveals your priorities.
- •Shaan isn't the sales person in his companies, so few meetings require him
- •His version of the Munger quote: show me your Google Calendar and I'll show you your priorities
- •Stated goals like getting in shape or launching a project don't fit a calendar that is 89% filled with other things
- •He suggests screenshotting your calendar and asking what outcomes it implies
Naming Your Top Three Priorities and Avoiding Autopilot
Shaan asks Sam for his top three shifts for the year, and Sam names morning workouts, finishing by 6:00 for family, and focusing on content. They discuss how most people lack that clarity and drift into autopilot, which is why Sam reviews quarterly.
- •Sam's three: 7:00 am exercise, wrapping up by 6:00, and focusing on content
- •Shaan says priorities not at the tip of your tongue are unlikely to be acted on
- •Sam describes sleepwalking through life after having a kid
- •Sam prefers quarterly priorities because annual ones fade by month six
- •Autopilot is the default and checking whether your calendar matches your priorities takes effort
Notifications Off and Playing Offense
Sam notes that Shaan is slow to reply to important texts but writes long ones on random topics, and asks whether his notifications are on. Shaan says he keeps most off, framing it as offense rather than defense, and cites a quote about the news making others' problems yours.
- •Sam describes waiting two weeks for replies on important matters, while casual brainstorms get long text threads
- •Shaan only gets text notifications
- •Offense means throwing full weight at what's important without being sidetracked by others' priorities
- •He mentions a quote, which he thinks is from Naval, that the news makes someone else's problem your problem
Be Effective, Not Efficient; Big Thing First
Shaan shares quick phrases that help him. He argues for effectiveness over efficiency, picking the right lever even if it's done inefficiently, and for doing the big thing first rather than procrastinating with small tasks.
- •Efficiency is work per unit of time, and motion is easy to mistake for progress
- •Shaan may spend an hour or three days choosing and doing the right thing
- •Stuff done isn't his goal
- •Big thing, first thing prevents needing to work more and more hours
Morning Workouts and the Sahil Bloom Quote
Sam says Sahil Bloom inspired him to work out in the morning, and the two joke about him. Shaan recalls Sahil's line about not knowing losers who work out first thing, and says it led him to move his workout from a mid-afternoon slot to the morning.
- •Sam and Shaan both credit Sahil's YouTube vlogs with pushing them
- •Sahil said on their podcast that he doesn't know any losers who work out first thing in the morning
- •Shaan's calendar showed his workout squeezed in at 3:00 pm
- •He decided to build the habits of a healthy person, starting with waking up and working out
The Barbell Strategy for Relationships
Shaan argues that people settle for 30-minute Zoom calls instead of real connection. He describes a barbell approach from John Coogan: many quick, casual texts paired with occasional full days or half days with people.
- •Thirty-minute Zooms become the default atomic unit, a death by a thousand paper cuts
- •The light end is quick one-off texts such as voice notes, links or short remarks
- •The heavy end is clearing a full day or half day to go deep, as he proposed to a new acquaintance named Luke
- •He does this once or twice a month and says it isn't costly once the Zooms are gone
- •A side talk covers how Shaan fits a workout and podcast in the morning
Trade-Offs: Ignoring Requests and Collateral Damage
Sam says Shaan's approach differs from his own because Shaan isn't easily bothered, while Sam feels guilt over inbound requests. Shaan accepts that the unscheduled life has trade-offs, such as an investor-founder who was put off when he didn't get coffee.
- •Sam says he turns off DMs and says no to everything because of guilt, while Shaan agrees to things and forgets
- •Shaan says the lifestyle isn't compatible with highly scheduled people
- •He doesn't feel that being asked means he must comply and finds it selfish to make others' priorities yours
- •A founder was put off after Shaan delayed a coffee, which Shaan accepted as collateral damage
- •Shaan says charisma when present is the saving grace; Sam jokes about COVID and kids as schedule shields
Disclaimers and Working Toward This Life
Shaan closes with three caveats: he started at 25 as a junior product manager, the trade-offs are real, and it's a privilege that can be worked toward. He says it took about a decade, and the hosts wrap up.
- •He cites The 4-Hour Workweek as built on owning your time
- •Some people think he's a flake or unresponsive, and he accepts that
- •If you want this lifestyle, ask what job, career and financial independence you'd need
- •He decided at 24 or 25 and, at 35, says it has come to fruition gradually

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