How the Founder of RadReads Finds ‘Extreme Simplicity’

I'm fascinated with how the smartest people in the world get their work done. That's what Superorganizers is about: seeing all of the little habits that make up a great work day and a great life. Artificial intelligence has changed what it means to be productive and efficient at work, so we decided to revisit some of our favorite interview subjects to understand how their routines have changed in the era of AI models. Recently, we spoke to designer Marie Poulin, newsletter writer Polina Pompliano, former Holloway CEO Andy Sparks, Indistractable author Nir Eyal, and Kickstarter cofounder Yancey Strickler. Today, we’re back with the founder of RadReads and executive coach Khe Hy.—Dan Shipper

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When Khe Hy traded his career at the investment firm BlackRock for a life of writing and entrepreneurship, he built an intricate set of systems to manage his complicated new world. 

But as his newsletter, RadReads, grew over the past decade—now counting 50,000 subscribers—along with an executive coaching business, Hy has found himself craving "extremely simplicity" in both life and work. He's regressed when it comes to productivity systems, he says, but that's a good thing—it's actually freeing.

Hy's minimalist approach was on full display as we caught up on his productivity, organization, and life more than five years after he first shared his systems with Every's audience: his dedication to Tiago Forte’s PARA method, his compulsive to-do lists, and his vow to never go “overboard” with productivity hacks. Sometimes the most sophisticated approach is also the simplest one.

Are you still keeping up with the PARA method and all of the complex systems you mentioned in 2019?

I have moved into a mindset of extreme simplicity. I use Notion as a Google Docs substitute and Omnifocus for just a few projects. I occasionally use Drafts to quickly Capture ideas.

What does it mean to have a “mindset of extreme simplicity”?

One of our family’s values is “simplicity over complexity.” It shows up in so many decisions and actions. For example, we prefer renting over owning a home, and we automatically only buy into one index fund, to limit decision-making fatigue.