★ The lifecycle of physical books

♠ Step 1: buy a physical book — via Amazon, bookstores, classifieds marketplaces (e.g. Craigslist in the US, Kijiji in Canada, Kleinanzeigen in Germany). Bonus points for used copies. This should take up to a week. Step 2: read the goddamn book. This is arguably the hardest part, albeit the most exciting one. As Alex Kotliarskyi puts it (emphasis mine): The 80/20 rule says that 80% value come from 20% effort. What if we apply the 80/20 rule to the first 80%? So 80% of 80% of value come from 20% of 20% of effort. Or 64% of the value come from 4% of the effort. Apply it again and you’ll get ~51% value from ~1% effort. Which is ballpark close to “Dimidium facti, qui coepit, habet” — Well begun is half done. Once you start, it becomes much easier to go through it, I promise. Step 3: Find a way to get rid of the book. There’s no shame. Have gratitude, appreciate it, and then simply move on. I don’t like to stick with physical books forever. They unnecessarily occupy space in my home. There…