Maria Popova Interview (Full Episode) | The Tim Ferriss Show (Podcast)

Maria Popova has written for amazing outlets like The Atlantic and The New York Times, but I find her most amazing project to be BrainPickings.org. Founded in 2006 as a weekly email to seven friends, BrainPickings now gets more than 5 million readers per month (!). I read very few blogs regularly, but BrainPickings is one of the few that makes the cut. It’s a treasure trove. In this in-depth conversation, we cover just about everything: how it happened, her workflow, how she writes (and workarounds to problems), how her site generates revenue, her workouts, and many more details. If you want to know the habits of a hyper-productive person, this episode is for you. Connect with Maria Popova: Like Maria Popova on Facebook:   / brainpickings.mariapopova   Follow Maria Popova on Twitter:   / brainpicker   Follow Maria Popova on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brainpicker... Maria Popova on Writing, Workflow, and Workarounds Show Notes: http://fourhourworkweek.com/2014/10/2... SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/1dSzTkW About Tim Ferriss: Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 200 million downloads and been selected for “Best of iTunes” three years running. Connect with Tim Ferriss: Visit the Tim Ferriss PODCAST: https://bit.ly/2rYjUBr Visit the Tim Ferriss BLOG: http://bit.ly/17jDHw3 Like Tim Ferriss on FACEBOOK: http://on.fb.me/1avYUxq Follow Tim Ferriss on TWITTER: http://bit.ly/17d94TE Follow Tim Ferriss on INSTAGRAM: http://bit.ly/2IfH37J Follow Tim Ferriss on INSTAGRAM: http://bit.ly/2IfH37J Start 00:00 How Maria answers "What do you do?" [09:22] How Maria answers "What is BrainPickings?" [09:49] Maria's influence on the NYT Best Sellers list [12:00] How to live a meaningful happy life [16:51] The importance of writing for an audience of one [19:06] Contending with the temptation to create Buzzfeed-like content [21:40] Daily rituals, sleep, habits, meditation, and exercise [30:20] Maria's note-taking system [38:33] Seneca and presence vs. productivity [35:10] Build a note-taking tool for heavy readers/highlighters [48:59] The team behind BrainPickings [55:59] Maria’s process for editing [58:15] Self-reliance pathology and how to overcome it [1:00:55] How to find a professional personal assistant and delegate [1:04:38] Maria's weightlifting regiment and favorite body-weight exercise [1:10:13] Blogging strategies [1:12:29] Social media strategies [1:22:03] On personal inner circles and how to pre-screen book review requests [1:27:17] What donation model works best for site revenue? [01:31:57] On upgrading one's website [1:37:01] Final thoughts and where to start on BrainPickings [1:39:09]