Episode 338: Ambush Site

FromBack to Work

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Episode 338: Ambush Site

FromBack to Work

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Length:

87 minutes

Released:

Aug 22, 2017

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

TOPIC: It's like elevator buttons.

This week, Dan and Merlin talk a lot about komodo dragons. Also, homework sucks, seed codes rule, and @Movesapp drools.

How do we get so scared about things? How cool did flying used to be?

Your hosts respond to listener questions about the state of self-tracking, and the scourge of extraneous device notifications.

Released:

Aug 22, 2017

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

Back to Work is an award winning talk show with Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin discussing productivity, communication, work, barriers, constraints, tools, and more. Hosted by Merlin Mann & Dan Benjamin.

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25: My Food Court of Functionality: Dan and Merlin talk about nerds getting problems and about using Markdown in BBEdit, Textmate or any text app because you need to find tools that remove friction, not distractions. by Back to Work
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1: Alligator in the Bathroom: In the inaugural episode of Back to Work, Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin discuss why they’re doing this show, getting back to work instead of buying berets, the lizard brain, and compare the Shadow of the Mouse to San Francisco, and eventually get to some p by Back to Work
89 min listen
19: Corner Casey Kasem: Merlin and Dan talk about mindful tool adoption, screwdriver museums, why Vi users may (or may not) be cannibalistic insects—plus debate on whether a home video of a toy horse falling down in someone's bathroom is about Humanity. Also, Dan effs with Merli by Back to Work
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13: The Kid's Great: Dan and Merlin talk about "Cranking" - Merlin's latest post at 43folders.com. by Back to Work
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8: Little Velvet Hands: This week, Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin eighty-six their restaurant jobs—emptying grease traps, handling logs of meat, and sharing what they learned by bringing mostly bad food to America's table. Dan burns velvet hands, Merlin's Mom gives the guy with th by Back to Work
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33: The Hypocrite You Can Live With: Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin have a totally natural emotional reaction to the unreasonable demands they place on themselves after reading The Spongebob Report. Maybe they wouldn't have offended non-ex-Marines if they had just taken some time and consulted by Back to Work
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6: Expectational Debt: Merlin Mann is back from Webstock and ready to recap with Dan Benjamin, which leads back to caring first, performance and fear, meditation, hypnotherapy, and why you really need the hard answer instead just more tips. by Back to Work
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7: Vocational Wheel: Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin relate to Richard–a listener in the middle of a quarter life crisis working jobs he doesn't like–with stories from their pasts, suggestions to combat the cascade of seriousness, and some first steps for breaking out of the voc by Back to Work
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11: Johnny Heuristic: Merlin Mann joins Dan Benjamin to talk about evolution, investing in roulette, taking smarter chances and futureproofing your passion. by Back to Work
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14: Velocity of Disappointment: Merlin Mann joins Dan Benjamin to talk about problems that are impossible, problems that are boring, problems that you're scared of, and why you need to differentiate between fear and anxiety so you can be scared of something interesting. by Back to Work
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44: Circuitous Bridge of My Own Design: Topic: Moving from dumb nouns to awesome verbs. by Back to Work
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15: Marionette of my own Design: Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin are here to discuss the awareness of fear, asking yourself why, and knowing the problem instead of chasing fake confidence, patches, and hacks. by Back to Work
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23: Failure is ALWAYS an Option: This week, Dan and Merlin determine that even the Chico Marx of notebooks is the right one if you're writing in it, failure is ALWAYS an option: fully committing didn't do Pickett any good, but you should commit to narrowing scope and deciding what succes by Back to Work
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21: Assistant TO the Regional Monkey: Merlin and Dan talk about the problem of permanent zeroes, desiring not to desire, why "hypocrisy" is killing you, stepping back on the path without apologizing, Merlin's new tattoo, and—yeah—going a little easier on yourself. Also, how almost everythi by Back to Work
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22: My Baby Likes Aluminum Foil!: This week, Merlin and Dan share their Pick: The Macintosh Computer. Also, a 17-minute experimental startup sound, catching conflicts, shivving the stagecoach, machine-gunning with SoundMaster, the dangers of ResEdit, and the future of recumbent bike ba by Back to Work
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30: I'm Not Working in an Abattoir: With Dan on sabbatical, Merlin is joined by Jonathan Coulton to talk about traveling, horn sections, and Jonathan’s new album, "Artificial Heart." by Back to Work
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12: Chewie's Medal is Not Canonical: Merlin Mann has some "followup" before he and Dan Benjamin discuss entrusting your agency to others, how to reclaim it, and picking the right balance between expertise and challenge instead of fixing your metadata. by Back to Work
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28: One Little Red Egg: Dan and Merlin talk about kid stuff, including the threat of Hot Wheels® donation, the inevitability of skinned knees, the nefariousness of the hospital gift basket, plus an important way every Dad has to go pro. by Back to Work
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31: You Can Polish AC/DC All Day Long: With Dan on sabbatical, Merlin is joined by John Roderick of The Long Winters to talk about life as a bull in a china closet, craving real-world constraints, making better records, and being banned for life from Interpol's corn chip bowl. by Back to Work
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17: Brick Building Full of Lies: Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin talk about checking email under the table to catch up on your 27 high priority tasks, a good time to use the word priority, blowing cycles on meeting with Narnia's stakeholders, and getting tasks out of your dreamcatcher. by Back to Work
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24: The Daddy for your Destiny: Dan's in a closet, but Merlin has a lot of FU from the last show: good jobs don't get posted on Craigslist and while you may not know what's gonna happen next, you're not just gonna install Xcode and retire on your angry bird so either do your research, g by Back to Work
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38: Sorry. You Can't Have a Candle.: On improving presentation culture. Dan and Merlin talk about bombing the deck, advancing the slides, and striving to improve the self-perpetuating bad culture of presentations. Slide?!? (Also, kid germs in the spaghetti, meeting the angry corn gu by Back to Work
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82 min listen

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Episode 338: Ambush Site

Episode 338: Ambush Site

Description

Titles in the series (100)

More Episodes from Back to Work

Related podcast episodes