Hey Reader,

One of the dumbest things I’ve ever said came, unsurprisingly, as a teenager.

My high school partnered with a local travel agent (who also happened to be a parent at the school) to organize a 2-week trip to Italy and Ireland…for just $900.

Even in 2003, that was super cheap for a 2-week international trip. My dad urged me to go. “I’ll even pay for it. It will be a great experience.”

“Why do I need to go when I can just look at pictures online?”

17-year-old Joe: you were so stupid. Having rectified this terrible statement, first by going to Ireland for 2 weeks in 2005, then Italy for 2 weeks in 2016, I know the incredibly stark difference between looking at pictures and actually experiencing it, and I’m a better person for it.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot because once again, I’m hearing a lot of buzz around AI being good enough to write for us.

But just like looking at photos of Italy doesn’t mean you’ve been to Italy, telling AI to write something doesn’t mean you wrote it…or even that it’s a faithful execution of your idea.

And I get it: writing is hard. Coming up with ideas is hard. Setting time aside to actually do it is hard. But that’s what makes it worth doing.

So what can you do to make time to write? Try this:

1. Make it easy to capture ideas. I recommend a voice notes app.
2. Block 45 minutes off at a time when you do your best work (for me, that’s the morning).
3. Give yourself a hard constraint of 300-500 words.

When the time is up, take a look at what you have. I’m willing to bet you get further than you think.

Until next time,

Joe

P.S. If you feel like you lose your best ideas, I can help with that. My Systems Roadmap Sessions help you build an ideas capture system that actually works for you. Just reply with "ROADMAP" and I'll send you the details.