How Entrepreneurs Can Increase Productivity By 500%

Drivel.

What the hell was that? That sounded like self important self help advice. And it rambled.

I will not set up Gmail filters for my thoughts and I'm still wondering where that 500% number is coming from.

Everyone's got their productivity booster but this one sounds silly. The 500% claim makes me want to stay away from it from the get go. Sounds like bullshit to me.

Edit: I was pretty harsh in my criticism and then I thought about how I'd feel if someone said that stuff about me after I posted something sincerely. So I'll try to add so,etching more constructive here:

I hope those sad stories were from when he was very young, like 18. Don't make outrageous claims like "500% productivity boost". A lot of TC audience will want some proof of that besides anecdotal evidence. Then, inevitably, almost everything on TC ends up on HN where we're far harsher so please think of who will read this before writing it. I think this article belongs somewhere else, not on TC.

"This is, of course, the path of insanity, and not the good kind of insanity." - from Paul Buchheit's 'I am Nothing'. Mr Altucher's persona of his past self is a caricature of seeing the world through a lens of self-identity and ego.. walking boldly down the path of insanity.

Not surprisingly, I think that PB's way of modeling the 'gmail labeler' is more efficient than JA's. Specifically, 'use these emotions as a cue to remember, "I am nothing"'. This frees you up to put an appropriate labeler for accomplishing your goal without bias.

Cool article though, I really enjoy JA's candor, experiences and insights.

There's some decent points about how negativity and pessimism can be debilitating. And that applies to everyone, not just entrepreneurs. But it's hard to see that through the rambling.

If you're more interested in how negativity and pessimism have measurable effects on success, I suggest reading Martin Seligman's Learned Optimism. I found it pretty eye opening.

http://www.amazon.com/Learned-Optimism-Change-Your-Mind/dp/1...

This is a terrible article don't waste your time; rambling mumbling article about the brain being a gmail inbox.