Comments on: The Way I Work, annotated

By: Track Thyself: Quantify Your Life For Productivity, Fun | Mecca Bey - Web Curator & Social Media Maven Extraordinaire

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 03:22:41 +0000

[...] 40-plus hours of sitting each week. WordPress creator Matt Mullenweg created new email rules after RescueTime detailed his inbox time. It’s so impressive that some of its users became [...]

By: Emma McCreary

Emma McCreary — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:22:18 +0000

THANK YOU for saying you do your best work mid-morning and from 1-5 am, and that you need a lot of sleep. I struggle constantly with this as I’d like to have a “normal sleep schedule” but when I get really into working at 2am I just can’t stop myself because it’s fun. I can’t force myself to sleep, and I can’t seem to get the hang of napping–when I try it I end up feeling very groggy and strange, like I’ve split my day into two days. Maybe I have to practice napping.

Also, here is how I learned to cook: I turned it into a game. I chose 10 recipes per level and when I “levelled up” I would buy myself cooking gadgets. After a few levels I didn’t need the game anymore because I was excited about cooking by itself. I used to hate cooking and considered it a chore and now I have a lot of fun with it. Turning it into a game made me able to create achievable chunks and easy “wins” that kept me motivated. I think games have a huge potential to help us learn new things.

It’s awesome to me that even though you are famous and successful it sounds like you make your time your own and truly enjoy life. And the heart that comes through in all that you do is personally inspiring to me. Thank you!

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 13:59:41 +0000

Yep, I still do that 99% of the time.

By: David

David — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 11:55:47 +0000

Hi Matt,

Although or maybe because the article is already more than 2 years old, I thought of commenting on it. I bet a lot of aspects you mention have changed in those two years. E.g.: do you still make it to sleep without having to get up to an alarm clock? Maybe kind of strange, but for me this is one of the most fascinating aspects in your article (which doesn’t mean the other aspects aren’t, of course). This is real luxury here, and also quite a healthy thing to do

Regards from Greece,
David

By: Claudio

Claudio — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 09:49:22 +0000

I dont usually read long articles such as this, but i must say, I read the entire thing, very well written. Your working hours sound pretty much the same as mine, afternoons my brain hibernates. In the evening it switches on, then the clock ticks away. Also as for being in the zone with music, I have my iPod on right now, the music helps focus and block out distractions, especially when I paint. Great article Matt

By: Workplace | | rahul gaitonde dot orgrahul gaitonde dot org

Workplace | | rahul gaitonde dot orgrahul gaitonde dot org — Tue, 17 May 2011 00:31:54 +0000

[...] Mullenweg: …my preference is to work from home. We’re very much a virtual company where everyone [...]

By: sophie

sophie — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 12:11:45 +0000

i’m a artist and the minds of programmers and IT people have always fascinated me,
i like the idea of being in ” the zone ”
the same goes for music –
focus and fluidity and a little bit obsessive behavior :3

By: The Way I Work : Round 3 | SwimGeek

The Way I Work : Round 3 | SwimGeek — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 09:35:57 +0000

[...] may recognise some of this from ma.tt‘s [...]

By: Chi ha inventato Wordpress? « Lorenzo Poggioli

Chi ha inventato Wordpress? « Lorenzo Poggioli — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 16:27:11 +0000

[...] bisogno di tradurlo? che dire? bravo.. Il suo sito/blog è molto interessante, e ho trovato questo articolo molto attinente alla mia ricerca. Traduco un po’ di [...]

By: Tony Yet

Tony Yet — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 02:51:42 +0000

Hi Matt, Greetings from China

“For WordPress we’re trying to set up a community that will be around 10 to 30 years from now, one that’s independent from the whims of the market.”

I love this bold statement, reminds me of the LongNow concept: http://www.longnow.org

Great to be in this community.

By: Anjg

Anjg — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 02:41:45 +0000

Hey Matt! I came across your name at FB interestingly because of blogging, browsed your page and pressed “like” then it took me again ages before I seriously starts to read your blogs and one that caught my eye was your post about airport security and led me to this article. It’s funny, coz it feels like you have shared your world by posting this. And when you mentioned Philippines, I laughed my heart out, geez, maybe that’s just we how party here huh. But would love to start my own blogging site, I’m just not very good yet with expressing myself, and got tons of thoughts to download from my head. I’m a newbie to WordPress and The Lonely Marketer was helpful too. SO here I am, about to unleash my yearning desire to blog!! Thanks to you Keep it up, you inspire us all!!

Cheers!

By: links for 2010-10-28 | AndrewKurjata.ca

links for 2010-10-28 | AndrewKurjata.ca — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 06:03:07 +0000

[...] "I’ve heard that the difference between an amateur photographer and a pro is that the amateur… "I’ve heard that the difference between an amateur photographer and a pro is that the amateur shows you everything they shoot." [...]

By: Answers to my open question post

Answers to my open question post — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 06:38:10 +0000

[...] you outsource and how much do you do yourself? I’ve been meaning to copy Matt Mullengweg’s “The Way I work” article for a while now and this is a perfect excuse to get round to it. Hopefully I can get [...]

By: George Mamadashvili

George Mamadashvili — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 19:28:01 +0000

Black Swan – I heard about that book, I’ll mark it as “have to read”.

Thanks Matt for suggestion.

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 19:14:53 +0000

My favorite of the past few years is Black Swan. I’m not very good at keeping a list of what I’ve read, unfortunately.

By: George Mamadashvili

George Mamadashvili — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 17:28:27 +0000

Hey, Matt. Great essay, can you tell us what books you’re reading about business?

By: Art and Photography | 25 Things Design

Art and Photography | 25 Things Design — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 02:55:07 +0000

[...] is currently my favorite hobby. I think Matt Mullenweg from Automattic said it best in his article The Way I work, annotated. I’ve heard that the difference between an amateur photographer and a pro is that the amateur [...]

By: aljuk

aljuk — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 10:32:47 +0000

How’s the Spanish going, and how are you learning it? I’m hitting the Pimsleur course on mp3, which I highly recommend.

I run a web design co. in Spain. WP has changed my life, and business. Cheers for that, Matt.

By: starla

starla — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 19:59:43 +0000

That was a great article. I learned a lot about you and the way you work. I appreciate that your Mom is now blogging and that you were the developer of Akismet to keep your Mom safe. I have said out loud more than once that I loved Akismet. I also liked how you talked about being in the zone while doing your work it reminded me about how I feel painting or writing. Being in the zone is a beautiful thing. I use to write for a newspaper briefly when I did an interview it seemed only natural for me to give them a chance to read it before it went to print. I’m glad you do your own thing with your blog. To thine own self be true. To me thats one of the great things about blogging it is your own world. I’m surprised at how much I’ve been able to learn about myself and the way I look at life and how I think about things, just by blogging. Keep up the good work. Sorry that comment was so long.

By: Leanne King

Leanne King — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 06:52:02 +0000

I always had this vision that you would be coding all day in between taking photos and hiring people. What I’m really pleased to see about your post is that for someone that has achieved so much that you have a pretty balanced life of fun and work.

By: Daniel Pantoja

Daniel Pantoja — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 22:32:11 +0000

Thanks for sharing; great tools. And WordPress 2.9.2 is the first time my parents felt blogging was doable.

Thanks for your work, Matt.

By: hae min

hae min — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 19:06:28 +0000

Well, I have to say I enjoyed the article immensely, though I was a bit shocked at the lifestyle data. You may want to read about circadian rhythms and the functioning of peripheral organs, such as the heart http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythm. Traditional Chinese Medicine also has a lot to say about the functioning of certain organs at certain times of day. For instance, the liver and gall bladder detoxify the body from 11 pm to 3 am. If you are not asleep at these times, then you may be unable to benefit from the body’s trash removal system, or you may be taking out only two-thirds of the trash every day. I have suggestions for your cooking too. Put it into your calendar as if it were an important seminar and do it with others. Fun and food seems to be an infallible motivator. Here’s a link to my friend James Stolich’s cooking classes. He’s really fun. His kitchen is cosy and the classes are very informal. We can go together if you like. http://www.cookwithjames.com/
Happy travels in Calgary!

hae min

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 31 May 2010 13:46:13 +0000

Absolutely!

By: Add Structure To Your Work Day | Plugin.com

Add Structure To Your Work Day | Plugin.com — Fri, 28 May 2010 20:11:33 +0000

[...] of the CEOs and entrepreneurs of all stripes who have shared their secrets, the way I work has changed [...]

By: Kumar

Kumar — Thu, 27 May 2010 15:53:16 +0000

Great article. Knowing some of the insights of life of the pros is always inspiring.

I will do ask you a question here. Have you ever felt being unsocial when you remain busy with coding or with computers while your friends out there are enjoying in some parties or trips?