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]
What percentage of New York Times best sellers are a result of Maria’s coverage? [4:55]
How to live a meaningful happy life. [10:00]
The importance of writing for an audience of one. [12:10]
Contending with the temptation to create Buzzfeed-like content. [15:45]
Maria Popova’s daily rituals, beliefs on sleep, distraction-avoidance habits, meditation, and exercise routines. [23:25]
Maria Popova’s note-taking system. [31:45]
Seneca and the time-tested challenge of presence vs. productivity. [37:36]
Start-up opportunity? Build a note-taking tool for heavy readers/highlighters. [41:58]
About the team behind BrainPickings. [48:45]
Maria Popova’s process for editing within her team. [51:12]
Self-reliance pathology and how to overcome it. [53:56]
How to find a professional personal assistant and delegate. [56:40]
What Maria Popova’s weight lifting regiment looks like, plus her favorite bodyweight-only exercise. [1:02:14]
Blogging strategies [1:05:22]
Social media strategies [1:15:00]
How cultivate a personal inner circle, how to pre-screen book review requests [1:20:30]
Why there are no dates on the posts on BrainPickings? [01:12:30]
Scheduling (and automating) social media [01:22:10]
How do you deal with friends who want you to read their books? [01:27:10]
What donation model works best for site revenue? [01:31:45]