The How This Works show

We recorded this episode in Sep 2020 and we talked about Jake's work as a designer and creative director, the notion of focused work, why he started You're Better Than Brunch, and cofounding Caveday with Jeremy Redleaf and Molly Sonsteng.

Like so many of us working from home these days, you'll hear Jake's daughter waking up just after the introduction questions before we get into main discussion about focused work and distraction. We also talk about the 2017 University of Chicago study where they look at the effect of brain drain with smartphones — even when your phone is upside down on a table, even on airplane mode — and how it challenges our cognitive abilities. Did you know that Microsoft did a parallel study that showed that the average focus time in the office is 40 seconds?

Stay tuned after the outro music for a funny bit of tape asking about the background noise and a strangled pause from Skipper.

Special Guest: Jake Kahana.

Links:

• Parkinson's Law

On How This Works, we will talk to people about some topic that they know incredibly well.

Earlier this year, the COVID-19 pandemic came upon us — shutting down workplaces, schools, and, basically, our lives came to a standstill. And with it came lots of questioning facts, opinions, and authority in general. And so, we wanted to find out more about how other people had come into their beliefs and how they've become an expert in their specific worlds. Maybe it's something they do for work, maybe it's a hobby, maybe it's something in between. All of that to say, we're going to talk to 100 people — some are folks we already know, many of whom we haven't met yet — and have them explain how this works, this being something they know very well.

The first episode with Jake Kahana will launch on Dec 1, 2020.

p.s. You know that feeling, of being so excited that you can hardly wait for the first day of school and yet you're so nervous you're afraid you're going to throw up? That's how we feel right now.