This is brilliant. 'I write a paragraph about why I should take a meeting.' If you should take the meeting it's easy to do, but if you start writing and you're like “I don’t want to do this,” then the meeting is a waste of time. "For the things... that I think are really important when I’m like, “I got to write that paragraph, I could write 20 pages. It's easy” A lot of otherwise smart people, don't spend enough time thinking about what they're working on.show more

i do this for meetings AND deals. if i can't write a clear paragraph on why it's worth pursuing, the answer is already no clarity test > calendar bloat

Definition of rule

Incredible idea

So simple yet so effective.

The comfort zone is useful for supporting a person’s resources. But real development is possible only beyond it. Trying to repeat even the most successful combination of actions inevitably leads to degradation—this is also something to understand about the limitations of AI.

It’s the ultimate friction test. If you can’t pitch the value of a meeting to yourself in a single paragraph, you have no business sitting in it. Most people waste hours on a calendar just to avoid the cognitive heavy lifting of deciding what actually matters. True productivity is aggressive elimination.

This sounds like a cheap version of of the meeting memo of Amazon

Writing it out forces you to confront whether the meeting has a real purpose. Half of mine fail the test the moment I start typing.

Its always easier to do something when you should be doing something else.

Clarity shows up in how easily you can argue both for and against the same decision without forcing it.

It takes an acute awareness of how finite your life resources are and the working reality of life being a billion opportunity cost decisions.

This is a way to price the meeting – on an ongoing basis. Twice a year, I price meetings differently: at the time budget level. Time-track every 30 minutes for two months. Set targets per category. I end up trading 0.25% here and there b/c time is so finite. Painful way to surface and cut out what's non-essential. Then compare results to intentions. And cut again for next round. Meetings cut themselves. But they come back. Curious how the paragraph discipline could keep them out.

Wild how many meetings die the second you try to justify them on paper. Makes you realize how often “let’s sync” is just procrastination with invites.

A lot of productivity problems are actually decision problems.People delay simple choices then hide the friction behind overthinking and busy work.

That’s a sharp way to filter decisions. And on the flip side, when something is important, our mind doesn’t resist expression it expands into it.

Brilliant insights. This young man communicates with clarity. I want to watch the interview.

the writing is the thinking - if you can't articulate why a meeting matters, you probably don't actually know if it does. the blank page is a filter, not a constraint.

Busyness creates movement, but thinking creates direction. If a meeting can't survive one paragraph of reasoning, it probably shouldn't survive your calendar.

Amazing how writing does so much more than just put words to paper.

Clear thinking usually creates clarity on priorities and if you cannot explain why something matters it is often a sign it should not take up your time @shaneparrish