Forte Labs

The modern frontier of productivity.

Jul 25, 2018

Why I’m Moving to Mexico

My partner Lauren and I are moving to Mexico City later this year. This post explains why, both to clarify for myself, and to be able to sha

May 23, 2018

Just-In-Time PM #9: Placeholders

In Part 8, we looked at divergence and convergence as the two fundamental modes of all creative work. Now let’s see what this looks like in

Mar 11, 2019

My 10-Step Book Publishing Strategy

In The Four Pathways of Modern Book Publishing, I described the main routes for a writer to get published today, and in The Case for Traditi

May 7, 2018

Just-In-Time Project Management: A Digital-First Framework for Modern Projects

Technology has transformed every aspect of business, from the tools we use to communicate and collaborate, to how products and services are

Jun 25, 2018

PARA Part 8: Core Principles of Digital Organization

Over the past year, I’ve seen P.A.R.A. implementations of all shapes and sizes. I’ve seen them from every corner of the globe, in languages

Oct 17, 2020

Evaluating Your Book Idea

In the beginning, is a message. You have something to say. A message that wants to get out of you. That needs to get out of you or else it w

May 1, 2019

Superhuman: The Fastest Email Experience Ever Made

This is a recording of a live walkthrough of Superhuman, an email client that works in the browser and on iOS and connects to any Gmail acc

Dec 7, 2018

The Enrolling Pitch: How To Structure And Deliver A Pitch That Sells, with Julia Beauchamp

This is a presentation and Q&A with Julia Beauchamp, a public speaking coach I recently worked with for an important speaking gig. Her

Oct 17, 2020

The Ins and Outs of Offers

After you’ve written your proposal and sent it to publishers, the future of your book is in their hands.  If you’ve done your job effectivel

Jun 10, 2018

Just-In-Time PM #20: Speed as a Capability

In Part 19, I argued that continuously finding new sources of motivation was the most important challenge for knowledge workers, and that th

Oct 28, 2018

Just-in-Time PM #21: Workflow Strategies

Now it’s time to look at the JIT Project Manager’s toolkit. How do we put these ideas into practice in our day to day work? Through Workflow

Dec 10, 2018

The Structure of Information Revolutions

In 1962, philosopher Thomas Kuhn published his landmark work The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, forever changing our view of the histo

Oct 14, 2019

Interview with Billy Broas of Email Boss

This is an interview with my online course marketing coach and creator of the Email Boss program Billy Broas. It is an in-depth discussion i

Dec 28, 2017

Progressive Summarization II: Examples and Metaphors

Let’s look at how a single source can proceed through the layers of progressive summarization. These are Layer 1 notes I took on an article

Oct 9, 2018

A Maker’s Ethos in the Era of Networked Attention

Once upon a time, we faced the scourge of Information Overload. Too many emails with too many details producing too many open loops to keep

May 22, 2018

Just-In-Time PM #6: Evolving Deliverables

In Part 5, I introduced The Iron Triangle of Project Management and the idea that any given deliverable can be reduced or expanded in scope

Dec 4, 2018

10 Things I Learned as a VA with Tiago

By Kathryn Tongg 1. Establish the preferred method of communication right away. Everyone has a way they prefer to communicate. Whether this

May 20, 2018

Just-In-Time PM #5: The Iron Triangle

In Part 4, I introduced the idea of “intermediate packets.” Instead of delivering value in a big project that spans huge amounts of time, we

Jun 10, 2018

Just-In-Time PM #19: Explosive Inspiration

In Part 18, I introduced the idea that our states of mind come and go in “waves of motivation,” and that we should try to use them to our ad

May 27, 2018

Just-In-Time PM #10: Structure, Features, and Purpose

In Part 9, I explained why it is so important to create placeholders for your work-in-process: to allow you to pursue multiple projects acro

May 19, 2018

Just-In-Time PM #3: Flow Cycles

In Part 2, I described the sublime and powerful experience of flow, which could be considered the “holy grail” of productivity. I argued tha

May 31, 2018

Just-In-Time PM #13: Component Thinking

In Part 12, I described the shift from a just-in-case to a just-in-time philosophy of work, using late starts as an example of the benefits

Mar 9, 2019

The Four Pathways of Modern Book Publishing

In The Future of Ebooks, I laid out a vision for what books could become in a world free of technological constraints. But the modern realit

May 20, 2018

Just-In-Time PM #4: Intermediate Packets

In Part 3, I argued that having a personal knowledge base is the linchpin of success in a creative economy. A knowledge base allows you to r

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