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so could you tell us a little bit about how you're so productive what are your
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secrets you can't edit a blank page so sometimes I think to myself I have a project and I don't have any words and
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there's nothing for me to edit so why don't I put words and then I'll have
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something I can edit and it'll sometimes start like with a paragraph that's
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terrible and I'll give up or the next paragraph won't be terrible and I'll have something to add up or
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sometimes I ever feel this that you wake up in the morning and you're kind of
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excited that you're there and you know you're dis habituated because you were
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asleep and you didn't see how amazing life is and so and you have a project and you're in a mood to take a risk and
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you think maybe is this completely idiosyncratic and a little crazy but you might think I I have I'm in a mind to
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take set to take a risk so and then something will be a first paragraph that's in your head and then you can
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write that first paragraph or even it can be a first sentence and if it makes you if you have excitement and uh a
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feeling of Mischief about it then there can be momentum to keep going I mean everyone's different or or you'll write
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that sentence and that page and you'll say no that won't work and then try
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something else I have uh a a great willingness to give up on a project that isn't working which
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is freeing and and also if I have an hour to write something and I have something
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to say I I will do that so I don't have high it's like a a sprinter who can get
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going pretty quick maybe not that fast but can get going pretty quick and if I get an email from an amazing co-author
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who's asked me to track changes what am I going to do go to lunch I'm going to
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track changes I think Thor says you think with your fingers that's also true
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that's completely true uh and maybe that's good advice for for those of us
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who struggle to write is just you know sit down and think with your fingers I can say I've written a lot with Danny
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conoman and we have very different styles he's also a complete hero and he likes to talk and and he said early on
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in our collaboration he said I think by talking you think by writing complet like a complimentary um
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relationship yeah especially if you end up writing the paper um so uh I want to know about your morning routine because
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on the topic of productivity I want to know what you eat for breakfast and you know like if this were
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Tim Ferris and we were asking you about like like like so yeah tell us your morning routine okay and also when you
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wake up in the morning so if I'm in Washington most of the time and in Cambridge some of the time if I'm in
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Washington my do my laborator retrievers will wake me up typically at 5:30 uh the boy lab will bark and the
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girl lab will uh forgive the word use her tongue and that means uh I need to get up because they need excitement and
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then I'll be up at 5:30 and maybe go back to sleep after I fed them and then
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get up at 6:30 or 7:00 then I'll have one cup of coffee and maybe if there's a
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doughnut or something sweet I'll have that and it and then I I would like to
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get writing and I usually have energy for that at like after the after the coffee 7:30 so what's easy for me is if
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I have a Dr I right now have a book that's exists but it's bad and I'm
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having fun cuz I'm hopeful I can make it at least uh not good as high aspiration but
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I I'm hopeful in the short run it will be okay I'm liking that to start something new it's harder and you you of
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course you need to have an idea and something to inspire