Timothy Ferriss's Blog, page 133
August 4, 2009
Design Competition: Want to Design My Next Cover?
(Photo: monkeyc.net)
If there is one thing I've learned from this blog, it's that the readers here — that's you — have some stellar ideas and skills.
For the next book, tentatively titled "Becoming Superhuman", I would therefore love to invite any designers out there to throw their hat in the ring for the cover design.
This is a 7-day competition, and the clock is already ticking…
The last book is now in 35 languages, and I'm hoping the next book will be much bigger. I'll be firing all cylinders
July 30, 2009
Scientific Speed Reading: How to Read 300% Faster in 20 Minutes
(Photo: Dustin Diaz)
How much more could you get done if you completed all of your required reading in 1/3 or 1/5 the time?
Increasing reading speed is a process of controlling fine motor movement—period.
This post is a condensed overview of principles I taught to undergraduates at Princeton University in 1998 at a seminar called the "PX Project". The below was written several years ago, so it's worded like Ivy-Leaguer pompous-ass prose, but the results are substantial. In fact, while on an airp
July 28, 2009
The Big Question: Are You Better Than Yesterday?
Big goals? Learn to think small. (Photo: H. Koppdelaney)
The following is a guest post from Chad Fowler, CTO of InfoEther, Inc.
He spends much of his time solving hard problems for customers in the Ruby computer language. He is also co-organizer of RubyConf and RailsConf, where I first met him in person.
Our second meeting was in Boulder, where he was kind enough to use his musical background and natural language experience (Hindi, among others) to teach a knuckle-dragger (me) the primitive b
July 12, 2009
Going to China, Language Reactivation, and Other Mischief
Greetings from Kunming, China, land of Pu-erh tea! I've been offline for a week and feel fantastic.
Kevin Rose, Glenn McElhose, and I are up to no good and having a blast. The above video is the first of several to chronicle our experience exploring the incredible world of tea in China, so be prepared for footage no foreigners have seen before. Not into tea? Don't worry — it's an inside look at strangers in a strange land, culture shock included.
This volume covers our trip preparation, Pu-erh
June 29, 2009
How to Build a High-Traffic Blog Without Killing Yourself
The above video is one of my favorite presentations I've given in 2009, an opening keynote at the last San Francisco WordCamp, titled "How to Blog without Killing Yourself". More than 700 people from 32 countries were in attendance, which made for a wonderful experience.
The original title was "Scalable Blogging Behaviors: How to Grow from 1 to 1,000,000 Readers" and the content did not change.
In the above presentation, including detailed screenshots, I cover…
- Why I blog
- How I blog and select
June 22, 2009
THE NEXT BOOK: From Rapid Fat Loss to Strongmen: A Guide to Becoming Superhuman
(Photo: vramak)
It's finally time to tell you all.
My next book will be a hacker's guide to the human body. The working title is "From Rapid Fat Loss to Strongmen: A Guide to Becoming Superhuman." It has actually been planned for more than two years.
I've recorded almost every workout I've done since age 15, and my house looks like an ER, with dozens of gadgets and medical devices for capturing data. I've had hundreds of blood tests performed and have been doing this since 1996, with costs now
June 10, 2009
The Practicality of Pessimism: Stoicism as a Productivity System
This is a recent 5-minute presentation I gave at Google I/O Ignite called "The Practicality of Pessimism: Stoicism as a Productivity System."
In it, I discuss the two most effective productivity techniques I've found since 2004, both borrowed from Stoicism. I include personal usage examples, as well as several from Seneca and Cato. The audio is quite low, so you'll need to up the volume.
Ponder this: could defining your fears be more important than defining your goals?
Suggested and related pos
June 9, 2009
Exclusive First Look: SU.PR – Stumble Upon's New Traffic Builder
I'm so excited about SU.PR, it's hard to contain.
For the last few weeks, the brilliant team at StumbleUpon and I have collaborated on the creation of a new product designed to do one thing: get you more traffic in less time.
It might just become the hub of your social media empire…
Prior to SU.PR (pronounced "super"), I had to use ping.fm for updating Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn at the same time, bit.ly for basic analytics like click-through, scattered tools for viewing retweets, and nothing allo
June 1, 2009
Tim Ferriss and Kevin Rose Discuss Their Top 5 Must-Read Books
Up to no (coherent) good once again, The Random Show returns.
In episode 3, Kevin Rose and I discuss our top 5 must-read books, how we use them, and who should read them.
The 10 books are…
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing
Getting Real
Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-term World Travel
Seneca: Letters from a Stoic
Leaving Microsoft to Change the World
Envisioning Information
The Tipping Point
8 Weeks to Optimum Health
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
The Intelligent Investor
Others mention
