8 Lessons from 2024

The Sunday Night Review #171

I hate to start this email with some positive affirmations, but 2024 was a great year.

And there were some key things I did that really made a difference to my overall levels of energy, productivity and happiness.

I jotted them down throughout the year as I learned them.

Here are the top 8.

Turn off 95% of phone notifications

Around halfway through last year, I became overwhelmed by how many random notifications were coming through on my phone.

Deliveroo discounts. Bank notifications. Instagram summaries. Emergency calls from my family (joking haha).

But I realised I didn’t need most of them. I turned off every notification except for WhatsApp and iMessage (and muted some chats in there too).

The other things I need to check, I check enough anyway.

I’ve never looked back.

Install a screen time app

Another phone one. They’re pesky blighters, and they need management.

Over a year ago, I installed the app Opal on my phone.

You can set up blocks for offending apps like Instagram and YouTube (that I don’t want to fully delete) on recurring schedules.

For example, I can only go on Instagram for 15 minutes between 6-9.30pm during the week (most of the time I forget). And I can’t go on half the apps on my phone before 11am on any day.

I have the hardest setting so you can’t override it.

This single £80 subscription has given me more time back than anything I have ever bought.

I’ve accepted I can’t trust myself with my phone. I need help.

It’s completely changed my life, and lots of friends who I’ve told about it. You can check out Opal here if you want (and if you use this code “XJJZA” you get 30 days of the Pro plan free, I get some random gems in the app in return).

1 hour of morning focus can change your life

Last year, I switched from trying to work on side hustles in evenings and weekends, to mornings only.

From Monday to Friday, I’d wake up at 7am and work from 7.30 - 8.30 on fun side projects I had going on. I then started my job at 9 and worked until 6.

I used to start my job at 8 because that’s when I’m most focused, but I rarely had much motivation left in the evening for side projects.

Plus, it’s easier to block out mornings because they’re not competing with my social life.

So I pushed my job back by an hour, to focus on my own stuff first. I made so much more progress when I did this.

The work I did in the mornings last year was critical to me having the courage to pursue my dreams and leave my job.

You can do anything you want, but not everything you want

For 3 of the past 4 years, I’ve felt like I’ve been trying to do too many things.

But then a few months into last year, I heard the idea “you can do anything, but not everything”.

It was the right message at the right time. If I wanted to make actual progress on something, I needed focus.

So I paused a few projects, including this email, in sacrifice of one main project. It might not seem like a hard decision, but I’d been sending this one every week for over 3 years. It had become part of my identity and routine.

Even though it only took an hour or two to write, it was taking up energy and headspace.

I ended up making more progress than I ever have, by doing less.

Eat real food

I’m surprised I had to wait until 28 to internalise this.

Over the summer, I met a neuroscientist called TJ Power when he was being interviewed by Ali.

During the podcast, he said “eat things that could have existed before humans got here like veg, fruit, nuts, milk, eggs, fish, meat”.

It’s obvious and simple, but it was a great reminder.

I still eat my share of junk, but I eat less. And with time, I expect it will reduce more. Of course, I’ve always known this, but again it was the right message at the right time.

Fake food bad. Real food good.

Optimise your digital environment

This tip is niche.

A few months ago, I changed the default page that appears when I open Chrome from Google Search to my Google calendar.

As a result, I see my calendar a lot more (I often close windows and open new ones to keep my desktop clean).

This helps me stay on top of my life.

Remind yourself of your goals

I’ve written down a list of goals at the start of every year for the past 7 years.

Some years went well, others not so much.

But last year, I made a conscious effort to do one simple thing. Look at my goals much more frequently.

For me to make progress, I need to remind myself of what I want and why I want it.

That small act is often enough to get you to take another small step towards your goals that day.

I have a list of my goals in a few places on my phone and laptop. Then I also look at them during my weekly reviews.

Speaking of…

Do a weekly review

I started this weekly email almost 4 years ago because weekly reviews changed my life. Hence the name The Sunday Night Review.

I’ve kept up this habit in some form now for over 8 years.

I don’t do it every week without fail, but I do it enough for it to be useful.

If there was one single productivity practice I could maintain (other than actually doing the work) it would be the weekly review.

Doesn’t matter too much what you do, how you do it or for how long. But taking 10 minutes out each week and checking in on your goals, can do wonders. Especially over a long period.

I hope at least one of those resonated, and that 2025 is a great year for you.

Have an epic week!

Tintin 🫡

P.s.

Last week, I wrote about why I quit my job with Ali Abdaal.

I’ve just posted a video about it on YouTube.

If you want to watch 9 minutes of me chatting about the last couple years, check it out here.

Thanks for reading The Sunday Night Review!