The world can seem large and chaotic sometimes. Every day we are bombarded with news about events we can’t control in locations far from us. This can result in anxiety and hopelessness, especially during times of crisis like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. But what if we told you that that stuff doesn’t really matter? Enter stoicism.

Stoicism is the philosophy of focusing on the things that you can control, whether it be your daily routine to your own reactions to events. Originating in ancient Rome, the practice of stoicism is valuable more now than ever with our 24-hour news cycles and doom scrolling.

In this episode of The Productivity Lab Kyle & Mark try out Stoic Week, a one-week exercise incorporating the stoic principles into their daily lives. From morning meditations to nightly journaling, could stoic week be what we need during the crazy year of 2020 (and now 2021)? Find out in this episode of The Productivity Lab!

Resources & Fun Stuff

* Meditations by Marcus Aurelius* Letters from a Stoic by Seneca* Ryan Holiday* The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday & Stephen Hanselman* Kenosis* Mr. Rogers’ Song before Congress* Toni Morrison* Karl Ove Knausgård* Theme System Journal

More from The Productivity Lab

* TheProductivityLab.show* Follow us on Twitter @ProductiveLab* Check us out on Instagram @ProductiveLab

More from Mark & Kyle

* Mark’s personal website: askmark.io* Mark’s Instagram & Twitter* Kyle’s personal website: quadrantnine.net* Kyle’s Instagram & Twitter

Credits

Logo & BrandingDesign for The Productivity Lab is provided by Adam Dodson DesignsMusic“Getting it Done” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0