The Friday Focus is a weekly newsletter where we highlight:
1) An interesting read/listen/watch we love so you don’t have to scroll to find content
2) A quote that has us thinking
3) Weekend activity brainstorm - take these as a challenge!
To view all our blog posts go to getpresentapp.com/blog.
If you like these posts or have some recommendations of your own, feel free to reach out to us at contact@getpresentapp.com
Article We Love 📰
“The Top Idea In Your Mind” by Paul Graham Paul Graham is a legendary founder & investor. He’s perhaps best known as the founder of Y-Combinator, the startup accelerator where companies like Airbnb, Dropbox, and others got their start. He’s also a prolific essayist. His blog posts have become required reading in the startup community, and this is one of my favorites. But his musing are not just relevant to startup founders. In this blog post, Paul discusses the importance of focus. I think this is a topic we can all relate to, or you wouldn’t have downloaded Present in the first place. His key insight is that engaging in distracting activities unrelated to your goals is not only detrimental while engaging in the activity. The real harm is how it continues to occupying mindshare even when not engaged in the activity, like in the shower. Sometimes where you’re working on hard, important problems, you have invaluable breakthroughs when you least expect it. When you give your mind time to wander, you often come to insights you wouldn’t have found otherwise. But if your mind wanders to unimportant, distracting problems, then you won’t allow yourself the opportunity to find the breakthrough you truly need. I think this problem is really similar to the true harm behind mindless scrolling. It’s not just the time you waste, it’s how it rewires your brain even when you aren’t scrolling. This is a short read - I know I’ve been suggesting some longer ones recently - but it is not less insightful. I hope you enjoy.
Quote That Has Us Thinking 🧠
“The definition of mental health is the ability to wake up and have the energy and drive to start your day.” —Andrew Huberman I’ve been thinking about this quote a lot. I feel like it really highlighted to me how my physical and mental health are so intertwined.
Weekend Activity Brainstorm 💪
Give your parents a call 👴👵
Visit a local planetarium 🪐
Go rock climbing 🧗
If you end up doing one of these challenges, send us pictures at contact@geptresentapp.com and you can be featured in a future newsletter!