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- Issue No. 144: AI in 2024 vs 2025 -- what you need to know
Issue No. 144: AI in 2024 vs 2025 -- what you need to know
"Weekend warrior" strategy shows persistent cognitive benefits
Jenae Spry
January 03, 2025
Productivity Express
Issue No. 144
The Best in Evidenced-Based Productivity
for Small Business Owners, Freelancers & Founders
Helping You Work Smarter and Live More
The Rundown
"Weekend warrior" strategy shows persistent cognitive benefits
Meet the oversavers: Older Americans who have plenty for retirement but wish they'd worked less and vacationed more
How Emotionally Intelligent Leaders Use the 10-10-10 Rule to Make the Right Decisions
Read These 10 Books To Master Content Creation In 2025
In 2024, artificial intelligence was all about putting AI tools to work
Add this book to your reading list
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🔥Quote/Prompt
Take time first thing to visualize an incredible day.
Use the quote as a writing or thinking prompt to finish your week strong.
A bit from mine:
(posted in our Doer Entrepreneurs Free Community — off social media)
If you know me, you know that I'm pretty anti what a lot of people call "woo woo" in business. I like practical. I like logical. I don't think that things just magically happen because we think of them....BUT
I do think that if […]
Did someone forward this to you?
📈 Performance
Consistency is often touted as king — and that’s not necessarily wrong. But if that’s also your Achilles heel, there's some good news. New research suggests that cramming your workouts into just a couple of days per week (aka the "weekend warrior" approach) might actually be better for your brain than daily exercise.
The "weekend warrior" approach—which condenses physical activity into just a few days each week—produced longer-lasting cognitive benefits compared to daily exercise routines. Most surprisingly, these mental performance boosts persisted even after a week of inactivity, suggesting this sporadic exercise pattern might be particularly effective for busy professionals who can't maintain daily workouts.
Key Insights:
Quality over quantity matters. Two focused exercise days produced better results than spreading out the same amount of exercise over the week.
Mental benefits outlast the actual exercise. Memory improvements continued even after 7 days without exercise.
Consistency isn't everything. The intermittent exercise group maintained cognitive benefits longer than the daily exercise group.
Read the full article for detailed insights into the brain mechanisms behind these cognitive improvements and practical guidelines for implementing your own "weekend warrior" routine.
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⚙️ Optimization
Is optimizing for early retirement really all it’s cracked up to be? Maybe not. Running a business means constantly balancing growth with actually having a life. But what happens when we optimize too much for future security and forget to live in the present? New research from Business Insider reveals a concerning pattern among successful professionals who wish they'd found better balance.
Financial consultant Ryan Viktorin sees three categories of "oversavers": those who experience unfortunate events that prevent them from using their savings, those paralyzed by healthcare cost fears and market volatility concerns, and those who keep working because they haven't mentally prepared for a different lifestyle. Many continue saving out of habit, even when they've more than met their goals.
Key Insights:
Balance beats pure optimization. Veterinarian Joshua Winston saved $3M but missed countless date nights with his wife while running an emergency helpline.
Lost experiences can't be recovered. Kirk skipped a helicopter tour with his children to save money, now regrets missing that shared memory.
Use financial planning to enable life, not restrict it. Setting clear income needs for retirement helps identify where there's room for experiences without compromising security.
Read the full article for in-depth stories from retirees who overoptimized their savings and their advice for finding better work-life balance while building wealth.
⏲️ Time Management
I love this rule for especially overwhelming times when it feels like a million decisions need to be made and they all seem important. The simple but powerful framework from NYU Business professor Suzy Welch helps you cut through the noise and make choices you won't regret.
The 10-10-10 Rule encourages you to evaluate decisions through three time frames: How will this decision affect me in 10 minutes (immediate impact), 10 months (medium-term consequences), and 10 years (long-term implications)? This framework forces you to zoom out and consider both emotional reactions and rational consequences that typically fly below the radar.
Key Insights:
Define decisions clearly first. Instead of "Should I launch this?" ask "Should I launch a new product line when my team is already stretched thin?"
Consider immediate emotional impact. Short-term chaos vs. excitement and momentum.
Look for unintended long-term consequences. A successful product launch could position you as an industry leader, but burning out your team (or burning yourself out) could lead to costly turnover…or even medical issues for yourself.
Read the full article for a detailed breakdown of how to implement this decision-making framework and real business examples of the 10-10-10 Rule in action.
💻 Tools & Technology
We know that running a business also often means being a content creator. And things seem to be evolving at the speed of light making it that much harder to balance content and running our businesses. This curated reading list helps you master both - with a special focus on staying human in an AI-dominated landscape.
As content demands increase and AI tools promise quick solutions, mastering the fundamentals of authentic storytelling and human connection becomes more crucial than ever. These books balance timeless wisdom about audience building and creative resilience with practical frameworks for modern content creation - helping you stand out in an increasingly AI-saturated world.
Key Insights:
Focus on audience-first storytelling. Building a StoryBrand's framework for making your audience the hero, not your brand.
Master the psychology of sharing. Contagious reveals the STEPPS framework - Social Currency, Triggers, Emotion, Public, Practical Value, Stories.
Build genuine connections in an AI world. Superfans provides strategies for turning casual followers into dedicated community members.
Read the full article for detailed breakdowns of all 10 must-read books and specific insights from top creators on how they're applying these principles in 2025.
🤖 AI
Remember when everyone was wondering if AI would take over the world? In 2024, we got practical - figuring out how to make AI actually useful for running our businesses without breaking the bank.
"The main thing that was wrong with generative AI last year is that companies were releasing these really powerful models without a concrete way for people to make use of them," explained Princeton professor Arvind Narayanan. "What we're seeing this year is gradually building out these products that can take advantage of those capabilities and do useful things for people."
Key Insights:
AI is becoming more focused on real applications. Moving from raw AI models to practical tools for specific business needs.
The cost reality is setting in. Companies are grappling with the massive computing and energy costs required to run AI systems.
"AI agents" are emerging as the next frontier. Tools that can work together like a team to solve complex problems rather than just handling isolated tasks.
Read the full article for a detailed look at how AI evolved in 2024, from its integration into everyday tools to its impact on medicine and creative industries.
👀 Read, Watch, Listen
This week’s awesome books, YouTube videos, newsletters, etc. to add to your list!
"Atomic Habits" by James Clear presents a practical framework for behavior change based on small, incremental improvements. Rather than focusing on goals, Clear emphasizes the importance of building effective systems and routines. He argues that tiny changes compound into remarkable results over time. Drawing from science and real-world examples, the book provides actionable strategies for forming good habits and breaking bad ones by making small changes to your environment and daily routines. Clear explains why traditional approaches to habit formation often fail and offers proven methods for lasting behavioral change.
🎉 Celebration Corner
Every week Doers Inner Circle members do a weekly review & get help when they need it — check out the progress they made this week!
I managed a lot of billable work
Set up the payment and onboarding automation for my [business]
The biggest win is that I scheduled the interview with [business-related person], who came highly recommended
I made progress toward strategy lesson.
What did you do this week? We feature non-member successes too. Just post them here!
🔒Inner Circle: Events & Announcements
DEADLINE MONDAY: Raffle entries are due for the 90-day planning formula! Push and get it done! Click here
Monday: {EU Time} Work ON Business. Theme: 2️⃣ Process & Productivity RSVP here
Tuesday: Work ON Business. Theme: 2️⃣ Process & Productivity RSVP here
Wednesday: Doers Book Club — Get Rich, Lucky Bitch RSVP here
Monday/Friday: Goal Setting + Plan Your Week Party
Accelerators: Jan 10 is your Monthly Goal Setting Workshop RSVP here
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I hope you found this valuable!
Wishing you much productivity!
- Jenae :)
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