🌱 Merlin Mann Words of Wisdom

If you don’t remember what an app does, you can probably delete it.

If the person with whom you’re negotiating finds it impossible to give you a budget or an estimate, ask them to put it between two orders of magnitude. Discovering your ballpark figures are 2 to 4 zeroes apart from each other will save you a LOT of time.

Any project is a triangle made of time, money, and quality; and that shortening the length of one side necessarily lengthens the other sides. Less well known is that inexperienced clients tend to shorten the side that they understand the least.

In project management: if the client estimate for any given aspect feels poorly thought-through, mentally double the budget for money and time. At the end of all estimations, add at least 20% to the time and budget. You’re gonna need it and you’ll definitely earn it.

When estimating the time it will take to do anything involving a child, add at least twenty minutes per child.

Always have at least a six-pack of Diet Coke. A lot of people drink Diet Coke and most of those people drink a lot of it.

Whoever wants the meeting least usually holds most of the power.

Archive any email that’s older than 30 days. If it kills you to archive a given email, immediately turn it into a task, and then archive it.

Most office culture comes out of a combination of what is rewarded and what is tolerated. If you want that culture to improve, change what you reward and what you tolerate.

Any Slack is only as good as the person who always posts last.

Avoid any children’s movie whose trailer includes more than one fart or butt joke. That’s their idea of the funniest parts of the movie.

The earlier a kid is around books often (and in any way), the earlier and easier they’ll start reading.

Avoid any food whose name has been altered for legal reasons.

Any time you locate a piece of digital information you were hunting for, tag it “outboardbrain.” Chances are you’ll want to find it again, and chances are you’ll definitely forget it again.

Avoid vegetarian dishes that try to recreate something that’s primarily based on meat.

In any large store, choose the line that’s mostly young people who are by themselves.

Always make all the bacon.

Never try to bribe someone unless the amount you’re offering them seems shockingly high.

Three is two, two is one, and one is none.

If you really want a glass of water at a restaurant, always order that first.

You’ll need to listen to three episodes of a podcast before you’ll know if you could really love it.

If you want an honest opinion, ask for the second superlative. People will think about their answer more and are less likely to give a rote answer.