Just Start: 5 Useful Things I've Started Doing In 2024

Thank you, Wilkie Collins

Last year, I did a quick list of helpful things I started doing over the year, which helped me out in various ways and sort of streamlined my life. This year, I thought I’d up the ante — as all of us productivity + learning types are legally obliged to do — by doing even more of them. Maybe some of them will work for you!

1. Doing things “dailyish”
   This is a term I’ve stolen from Oliver Burkeman’s excellent Meditations For Mortals, and it basically refers to the practice of aiming to do most things that are important to you…dailyish. Not every day, but most days, unless you’re busy, in which case 4-5 days a week is fine. Previously I’ve tried to stick to a system of never skipping two days of anything important in a row, but this is a) Less stressful b) Involves less admin and c) Seems to actually result in me doing stuff more.

2. Actually using an Anki app

   I’ve been pretty sold on the benefits of spaced repetition for a couple of years now — the research on it is good! — but this is the first year that I’ve committed to using an actual app for it. AnkiDroid is the one I use: it’s free on Android, and has literally thousands of user-generated decks to riff through, covering everything from languages to works of art. It’s the perfect thing to do when you’ve got a couple of spare minutes, and it’s actually had the beneficial side effect of getting me off Twitter (in nutritional science, you’d call this ‘crowding out’). Strong recommend.

3. Doing an extra 7-12k steps a day
   This one wasn’t voluntary — my son’s school is now an extra 20 minutes from my house, and I do dropoff/pickup once or twice a day, which means a lot of walking. But that’s great! Apart from the fact that I’ve got noticeably leaner while still eating cronuts (thanks, lovely bakery on my walking route), the extra time is a great way to get away from my desk and think about things, listen to podcasts, or go on the Anki app. It helps that it’s a nice walk with a lot of greenery, though.

4. Reading 19th-century literature

   Wilkie Collins’ the Moonstone was a real on-ramp for this: it’s action-packed, told via several narrators, and keeps up the pace with a gradually-revealed mystery that’s super-compelling to read. I’m glad I read it, because it helped me get into the more dense, sub-clause-stuffed style of Victorian literature, which (I’m learning, very late) is full of social critique and brilliant writing. Next year: Russians.

5. Having a permanent pullup bar

   I’ve had one of these everwhere I lived for about twenty years, but I abandoned the practice when I moved to my current home on the basis that a) There weren’t any good doorframes for it and b) I go to the gym 2-3 times a week anyway. This was a mistake: having a permanent pullup bar means you do more pullups naturally, but it’s also just a good way to dangle the tension out of you while the kettle boils and work on your shoulder health. I actually wrote a thing for the Guardian about this.

Have you done something that’s been useful, fun, or life-changing this year? Please let me know!

Have a great weekend,

Joel x

Stuff I like

🎶 Hype Music - The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song by the Flaming Lips

If there’s one word to describe this song, it’s jaunty. Is it deep? Not really, but it’s a belter to listen to on your way to the gym.

🎙️Podcast - A Fat Loss Masterclass by Dr Mike Israetel

A format I love in almost everything is a very smart and experienced expert explaining things from first principles so simply that anyone can understand anything: and hoo boy, this delivers. Dr Mike starts from the very beginning — explaining why evolution predisposes us to store fat — then gets into everything from the mechanics of fat loss to food choice, exercise selection and the dynamics of behaviour change. Listen to all of this — it’s about 2.5 hours — and you’ll know more than probably 90% of people about getting lean.

🎥 Video - Nigel Richards, Conqueror of (Scrabble) Worlds

Nigel Richards was already the only player to win world titles in more than one language after his French language win in 2015, which he repeated in 2018. But this year, he won a championship in Spanish without understanding the language — and this video explains why that’s even more impressive than it sounds, while also making Scrabble sound like a breathtaking spectator sport. Spoilers: at one point he successfully intuited a game-winning move that took the world’s most powerful Scrabble computer hours to verify.

🧐 This week I learned

That the inventor of the guillotine, Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, tried to distance himself from the machine during the guillotine hysteria of the 1790s, and his family later unsuccessfully petitioned the French government to change its name in the early 19th century.
From this fascinating piece on the history and origins of the guillotine

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