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A STUPENDOUSLY Productive Day in my Life

2021-03-08 · Vlog or day in the life · Ali, Matthew Le Mottee, Sheen · recording, 10:06 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Relationships and personal life (also: Productivity and time, Health, sleep and habits, YouTube, writing online and creators) · mode: Demonstration and walkthrough · tags: His own products discussed, Feel-Good Productivity thesis, Sponsor segment present

In a self-mocking "stupendously productive" weekend vlog, Ali has an art lesson, writes with his daily Zoom co-working group, works out with his trainer Dan, prepares his Magic Circle entrance performance with Matthew Le Mottee, takes freestyle rap coaching, runs a Notion workshop for Part-Time YouTuber Academy students and tries an Oculus Quest with Lucia.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Waking up and an hour's art lesson: drawing Doctor Strange, two months into concept art

  • ★ Ali wakes just before 9 a.m. and takes off his mouth tape. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ In an hour-long art lesson at his desk, Ali works on a drawing of Doctor Strange, from the basic sketch to the details. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Two months into his New Year's journey of trying to become a concept artist, Ali has definitely noticed an improvement. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Ali particularly enjoys revisiting human anatomy as an artist, drawing reference photos he finds on the internet, and finds learning art really rather enjoyable. — 00:00:29

00:00:58 — Huel sponsors the video: banana Huel for breakfast

  • ★★ At Ali's daily Zoom co-working group, 150 people of all ages from around the world work together using the Pomodoro technique while his Spotify instrumental study-with-me playlist plays. — 00:01:27 · Zoom, Pomodoro technique, Spotify
  • ★★ Ali is running free Zoom co-working sessions every weekday for the next few months, for accountability and community while he writes his book; anyone can register to join for free. — 00:01:27 · Zoom

00:01:42 — Writing with the daily Zoom co-working group

  • ★★ At 11 a.m. Ali has a Zoom workout with his personal trainer Dan, who is helping him towards six-pack abs, a quest, he jokes, to look like Zac Efron. — 00:02:11 · Zoom

00:02:22 — Zoom workout with Dan, shower, skincare and crepes

00:03:26 — Close-up magic coaching with Matthew Le Mottee for the Magic Circle entrance exam; finding fun as the book's idea

  • ★★★ Over Zoom, Ali's friend Matthew Le Mottee, one of the best magicians in the UK, helps him craft a performance for his entrance exam to join The Magic Circle; in return Ali coaches him on YouTube. — 00:03:26 · Zoom
  • ★ Ali calls The Magic Circle one of the most prestigious magical organisations in the world. — 00:03:26
  • ★★ Joining The Magic Circle has been Ali's dream since he started close-up magic ten years ago, which he jokes was to raise his "sexual market value". — 00:03:26
  • ★★ For The Magic Circle entrance exam, Ali and Matthew Le Mottee are building a 10-minute performance, discussing its storytelling and exchanging sleight-of-hand methods for some of the tricks. — 00:03:26
  • ★ Asked what other big topics he likes to share besides making money, Ali names entrepreneurship: starting a business or a side hustle. — 00:03:55
  • ★★★ Ali thinks the book he is writing might be about the idea of finding fun in the things you do. (hedged) — 00:04:24

  • ★★★ Ali says getting ahead involves doing lots of boring things; if you can make them fun, everything becomes better and you are more productive as a result. — 00:04:24 · feel-good productivity (concept)

    “if you can make them fun, then everything just becomes better and you're more productive as a result of it.”

00:04:53 — Savoury Huel and freestyle rap coaching with Gavin from FlowFam

  • ★★ Ali has a freestyle rap coaching session with Gavin from FlowFam; he is learning to freestyle rap, he jokes, to increase his street credibility, and Gavin takes him through exercises to unlock flow. — 00:05:23

00:06:31 — Notion for beginners workshop for the Part-Time YouTuber Academy cohort

  • ★★ Ali gives a live workshop on Notion for beginners to the students of the current cohort of his Part-Time YouTuber Academy. — 00:06:31 · Part-Time YouTuber Academy, Notion
  • ★★ Notion, which Ali and his team use for most of their video work, can seem intimidating to newcomers, so he shows 60 academy students how to start with it in a minimalist, non-intimidating way. — 00:06:31 · Notion, Part-Time YouTuber Academy
  • ★ Ali's friend Lucia has talked him into getting an Oculus Quest, and he joins a call with her at 5 p.m. — 00:06:31

00:07:17 — Oculus Quest with Lucia, a photo shoot for Sheen and freestyle rap with Michael

  • ★ On the Oculus Quest Ali and Lucia play Topgolf and Beat Saber, which he finds ridiculously fun; she wins both by a mile. — 00:07:17
  • ★★ Ali finds the Oculus Quest ridiculously immersive and really, really good. — 00:07:17
  • ★ Ali does a photo shoot for his housemate Sheen, who is filming a TED Talk the following week and wants to try out outfits for it. — 00:07:17 · Sheen
  • ★★ Ali has another freestyle rap coaching session with his friend Michael, who runs Ultra Speaking, a public speaking course Ali has been doing for the past few weeks. — 00:08:02

00:08:20 — Indian takeaway with Sheen, The Mentalist, Kapoor and Sons, chamomile tea; sign-off

  • ★ Over an Indian takeaway Ali and Sheen watch The Mentalist and then the Bollywood film Kapoor and Sons; Ali meant to read on his iPad meanwhile, but the film is really good and he watches it all. — 00:09:29 · Sheen

Humor (significant)

  • Opening his weekend vlog, Ali explains what his productivity is really for — 00:00:00

    “where I worship at the altar of productivity to avoid having to think about what the wider purpose of my life actually is.”

  • Inviting viewers to join his free Zoom co-working sessions — 00:02:11

    “and then I'll feel like I've actually got friends.”

  • Fresh from a gruelling workout with his trainer — 00:02:40

    “Exercise is very bad for you. You shouldn't do it.”

  • Ali explains why he took up close-up magic ten years ago — 00:03:26

    “in an attempt to increase my sexual market value.”

  • Ali explains why he is learning to freestyle rap — 00:05:23

    “in an attempt to increase my street credibility”

  • Ali meant to read on his iPad but watches the whole Bollywood film — 00:09:29

    “I end up watching the whole thing like a total wasteman.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Matthew Le Mottee · The Magic Circle

Also: People: Dan (trainer, mentioned from 2021) · Lucia · Sheen · Zac Efron

Projects: Part-Time YouTuber Academy

Works: Beat Saber · Kapoor and Sons

Organizations: FlowFam · Ultra Speaking

Concepts: feel-good productivity (concept) · mouth taping · Pomodoro technique

Products: Notion · Oculus Quest · Spotify · Zoom

Only in the description or credits: Huel

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