Issue #12
A weekly newsletter that helps you discover the useful and makes your inbox a happy place once again in under 5 minutes! 💌

Hello there! 👋

First of all, I'd like to thank you for showing so much love towards last week's issue! I did not expect such an overwhelming response for something I almost postponed for a day. ❤

In case you missed reading it, you can access my full Newsletter Archive here.

I'm currently reading How To Take Smart Notes by Sonke Ahrens. This book helped me come up with this small framework on how to get the most out of your ideas 💡:

1. Do not dismiss simple ideas. More often than not, simple ideas might lead to bigger projects.
2. Lower the threshold to capture ideas. Have a book & pen or an app handy. Yes, even while you're taking a shower.
3. Review the captured ideas & elaborate on them at the end of the day. There's no point in taking fleeting notes or ideas if you can't reflect and make them more permanent.
4. Tag them under "contexts" rather than "topics" or "subtopics". Here's an example of what I mean by a context.

I hope this framework will help you as well. Let me know how it goes. I would love to share it with 350+ curious readers!

Oh and, what are you working on today?

Alright! On to this week's finds...👇

1. Why you should define your fears instead of goals.
13 minutes | Tim Ferris

It's already February! I feel like the days are moving too fast. Are you in the same boat or am I alone? Anyway, I thought I'd do a monthly reflection blog post or at least a personal one where I list out things which worked and did not work for me this month. 

But I changed my mind when I came across this TED Talk by one of my favourite writers, Tim Ferriss. He explains how he overcame his depression, his intense periods of mental breakdown with this simple exercise called fear-setting instead of goal-setting.

Do yourself a favour and watch the video. If you're interested in diving deeper, read the full post.

"We suffer more often in imagination than in reality." - Seneca

➡ Watch Video

2. 20 Things I Learned While I Was in North Korea
5 minutes | Tim Urban

I love Tim Urban's long-form articles! I find myself enjoying his well-researched articles (and goofy stick figures) more and more now-a-days.

This is one of those rare, interesting, and quite intriguing posts that I've come across on his blog. He takes you on a trip to North Korea (!) through his captivating wit and humour. 

Sit back and enjoy reading this piece but also learning about the real North Korea along the way.

➡ Read the post

3. Ideas that changed my life.
6 minutes | Morgan Housel

I've unearthed this amazing piece written by Morgan Housel, author of The Psychology of Money while I was lurking on his blog 2 days ago.

We have a very short life, and it is impossible to learn all the lessons or experience everything to gain enough wisdom. That's why I try to learn from others' and their experiences.

In this article, the author summarizes the 7 ideas that shaped his thinking:

1. Don't underestimate the influence of your tribe on your thinking.
2. Don't ignore history. Learn from the dead.
3. Acclimate yourself to multi-discipline learning.
4. Self-interest can lead people to believe and justify nearly anything.
5. Let yourself make mistakes.
6. Learn, Empathize, Communicate, Fail, Wait Longer.
7. Don't presume. Not everyone is informed on everything.

➡ Read the post

1. The First Question To Ask Yourself When You Sit Down To Work
4 minutes | Laura Vanderkam

Next time you sit for work, especially if you're working from home like me, ask yourself this: "What will I work on if I had only until 10.30 AM and after which I will not be having access to the internet?"

Many of us do light procrastination in the morning by clearing out our inboxes and browsing through social media. In no time, you realize that it is already 3.00 PM and you haven't exactly finished any task for the day.

What if there was a news informing you that there will be a power outage or internet outage for the rest of the day after 10.30 AM? Wouldn't you prioritize the most important task and get it done right away?

This simple question helps you boost your productivity first thing in the morning. I'm looking forward to do this tomorrow!

➡ Read the post

2. How I Became a More Productive Writer by Doing This One, Simple Thing.
2 minutes | Carol Tice

I don't believe in multi-tasking. I never really worked on multiple things at a time and I don't think anyone ever did that effectively.

Here's one really simple (but effective) tip a writer shares that I've been following for quite some time now and it works wonders in getting things done!

➡ Read the post


3. How I use Zettelkasten in Notion | Best Note-Taking Knowledge Management System
15 minutes | Mukul Khanna

I've been sharing quite a lot of content and articles, both in my newsletter issues and twitter, about effective note-taking methods. Many of you have DM'd and asked me on Twitter regarding my workflow for taking notes. I found Zettelkasten to be the most popular and effective.

I'm a RemNote fan but I always try to find ways so that I don't diverge into too many Apps at once. That's when I found this video where Mukul explains how you can build a Zettelkasten Note-Taking or Knowledge Management System using Notion.

This is for all those notion lovers!

➡ Watch Video 

1. How To Build Carrd Sites (Free Course + Free Template Included)

I'm sure most of you are aware of my landing page for the newsletter: The Curious Bunch. It took me just 3 hours to set up the website and I did all of that with no coding experience in HTML or CSS or JavaScript.

Here's a FREE course that will help you in learning the basics of designing landing pages and get you up to speed with Carrd.

If you need more inspiration, have a look at these websites that are made with Carrd:

• Course of Carrd
• Cubex Designs
• Webflow in Carrd

Can you believe all these are done with zero coding!?

P.S: I found this gem in Mind Your Bite newsletter. Check her out!

➡ Take the course

2. Mapping the Creator Economy
8 minutes | Hugo Amsellem

In the past, one has to go through gatekeepers to reach out to their audience or even to *build* an audience. When the internet came along, many people found freedom in expressing their thoughts and thus becoming creators.

But, who is a creator?

In the author's words: "... a creator isn't someone who creates but an individual who scales without permission. They are to the individual what startups are to the organization. They are the future of scalable entrepreneurship. As a result, a new economy is growing up around - and through - them: The Creator Economy."

I quite agree! 

Read on to find out the mapped version of it and if you're a creator, use it to pick up some cool new tools to optimize your workflows.

➡ Read the post

3. Hustle Traps: 10 Guaranteed Paths To Burnout For The Self-Employed Creator

I often practice more avoiding than implementing something new to improve my workflows and it works!

Hustle Trap is a mental model built on legacy ideas of how one should work and live that leads to burnout, anxiety or the sense of being trapped. Often obvious in retrospect.

I see many people, especially those who are in creative fields, often overwork themselves when they could easily avoid it. It's important that we recognize the symptoms of this *hustle* culture and tone it down a bit so you don't fall in the hustle trap.

The 3 things I try to avoid:

1. I don't chase audience. I chase people with whom I can have meaningful connections.
2. I accepted that I cannot do everything alone. I made new friends, joined new communities.
3. I don't have an income goal as a metric of success.

➡ Read the post

⭐ LAST WEEK'S MOST READ

1. 33+ Best No-Code Tools you will love. 😍
2. How To Take Smart Notes: A Step-by-Step Guide.
3. A list of 3,400+ ideas to grab.
4. A visual library of 650+ books with summaries & key takeaways.
5. Anything You Want by Derek Sivers.

📌 OTHER INTERESTING STUFF

• Cold Email for Interesting People - FREE Course!
• 108,210 free open source icons & illustrations (no email address required)
• A system to turn information into knowledge by Naomi Pham
• What if I told you that you can buy land for $10k, and make $1,500 a month on it?
• How to find product ideas?
• How to validate almost any idea in a few days?

🙏 THANK YOU

My heartfelt thanks to Curtis, Santosh, and VJ Reddy for supporting The Curious Bunch by sharing coffees with me. ❤

Want to support this newsletter? Buy me a coffee. ☕

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