Deadlines work even when you don’t like them.
1. Productivity: External Commitments Beat Self-Discipline
Like it or not, your best work happens when there’s an external commitment forcing your hand.
Self-directed goals are wonderful in theory. You tell yourself you’ll write that book, build that side project, or finally launch that course.
And then life happens. The conditions aren’t quite right. You’re tired this week. Maybe next month will be better.
Meanwhile, projects with deadlines like client work, speaking engagements, and scheduled launches somehow always get done. Even when you’re equally tired.
External commitments work because they remove the optionality. When a client expects delivery on Friday, you don’t spend Wednesday debating whether you “feel like it” or “this other thing is more important” or “I had no choice!”. You just do it.
So use this strategically. Create an external forcing function:
- Book a speaking slot before you’ve written the presentation.
- Announce a launch date publicly before you’ve finished the product.
- Join a cohort with specific milestones.
Yes, it feels uncomfortable. But you’ll get it done. And that’s the point.
2. Ops: Opportunity Matters More Than Anything Else
I had a chance to catch up with a self-made friend who has done very well for himself in business (think multi-unicorn level). He mentioned something interesting:
In business, the opportunity matters the most.
We want to believe that other things determine outcomes. That hard work and good execution and a superstar team delivers results. But that’s only part of the equation.
The full equation is: Opportunity + Hard Work + Execution + Team
This is because a rising tide raises all ships.
You can have poor execution, a mediocre team and not even work that hard, but if you’re in the right opportunity, you will still succeed.
3. Tech: Data Structure Unlocks AI Leverage
AI tools work brilliantly with clean, structured, readable formats like markdown files and plain text. They work terribly with locked PDFs, proprietary formats, and information buried in email threads.
Having your information in AI-readable formats is going to be a key theme in 2026.
I started a project towards the end of last year to convert everything I have into markdown files — client notes, strategy documents, project briefs, personal journals and more.
The AI can actually see the information, understand the structure, and provide useful analysis. AI reading 365 journal entries in 2 minutes to help me with my annual review seems like magic but it’s really just good technology.
Yes, APIs and integrations will eventually make this easier. But do you really want to wait for that? The productivity gains are available now if you structure your data properly.
More on this in my new The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity course.
4. Courses
I have a range of online courses that teach business people what they need to know about productivity and AI:
1. Next Level Productivity
A practical, straightforward course that teaches you how to achieve elite-level personal productivity in today’s constantly interrupted world.
2. The AI Agents, Automations and Agentic Workflows Guide
This non-technical course shows business people and non-coders how they can build and use AI agents in ChatGPT and Zapier.
3. The Complete Claude, Claude Code & AI for Work Productivity
A comprehensive course taking you from beginner AI concepts like prompt and context engineering, to cutting-edge AI productivity using terminal-based AI tools like Claude Code for non-coding office work. Usable with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other current LLMs.
4. The AI Playbook
This is my longer premium course on how businesses can deploy AI tools and technology across their processes and teams.
5. ChatGPT for Managers
See how AI can solve complex management challenges in less than 30 seconds. Full prompt library and examples included.
That’s it for this week!
— Aaron