Nathan Baschez's information diet

Here's the new episode of a series of tiny interviews with our favorite thinkers, creators, writers, technologists.

It's a way to get a glimpse into their daily routines and information diets.

After Julian Lehr, we're joined this time by Nathan Baschez.

Who are you, and what do you do?

Hi! I’m Nathan, and I’m a co-founder of Every, a writer collective focused on business. We offer a bundle of newsletters and podcasts on everything from productivity to strategy and culture, created by some of the smartest people in tech.

What’s your usual day like?

I wake up at the last possible moment before I need to have a phone call or record a podcast 😆 I’m an incurable night owl. My schedule is something like this:

• 9am - Wakeup
• 10am–4pm - Meetings and the occasional sprint of focused work
• 4pm–6pm - Walk or hike with my wife, Sonia, and our corgi, Porter
• 7pm–9pm - Dinner and any house stuff
• 9pm–2am - Writing time

It’s weird, but it works for me!

What’s your information diet like?

I’m extremely inconsistent about what I read, and I like it that way. I get obsessed with something and consume it until I feel it has nothing left to offer, then I move onto the next thing. I think this is partly because I have ADHD, but also partly because of the nature of my work.

My reading time is mostly dedicated to exploring ideas that I might want to write about. So usually I’m more engaging with something I’ve pulled from a random corner of the internet than whatever is getting pushed to me today. (Except Twitter, of course.)

That being said, some consistently great sources:

1. Scuttleblurb - in-depth company analysis
2. SlateStarCodex - self-recommending
3. Ezra Klein Show - really enjoy his conversations
4. Accidental Tech Podcast - nice way to zone out of stressful world events and talk about fun computer things
5. Anything Rachel Jepsen tells me to read - I do a weekly podcast with her on writing, and she consistently has the most wonderful literature recommendations. Of special note are Alexander Chee and Carmen Maria Machado.

Who’s an interesting person we should follow right now?

Is it a conflict of interest if I say my wife Sonia? I don’t care! She legitimately has fire tweets 😅

With so many distractions, how do you stay focused and productive?

Honestly, I really struggle with this.

I feel like part of my job is to understand what people are interested in, and to stay on top of what people are talking about. That means looking at Twitter. But I also know I do way too much of it and I’d be better served most of the time by reading a book. I have no easy answers.

I think for me it’s much easier to get focused later at night for some reason. My mind is calmer and I can get into a state of flow after a long day.