Read [challenging] books with your eyes, not your ears.

I read books to learn shit. Learning requires focus. When listening to an audiobook, most of the time I’m also doing something else. It’s extremely rare for me to sit and listen with full attention to the book. Usually, I’m washing dishes, working out, or traveling (car, train, walking).

That’s called multitasking. No wonder the content doesn’t stick as well. It’s much more difficult to trick yourself into multitasking when reading a book with your eyes.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve listened to more than 150 audiobooks. I’ve definitely been able to extract value from a lot of them.

However, if an audiobook contains challenging content, I walk away with much less. Here’s why I think it happens.

When reading challenging content…

• I read at a much slower pace when reading challenging material.

• I will re-read passages over and over again.

• I highlight excerpts in order to come back to them later, maybe share it with a friend to discuss.

All of these are extremely difficult with an audiobook. Slowing down the narrator’s audio won’t solve the problem. After all, one of the most important practices when reading difficult content is to read at YOUR own pace. That pace is variable.

Let me paint you another scenario. You’re talking with a friend about a new mental model for thinking about the nervous system, but you can’t recall important details. No worries, just relocate it in the book. In a visual book, you can skim very quickly since you can relate to where you are in space. You might even remember the “shape” of the passage.

In an audiobook, you’re looking for a needle in a haystack.

The weight loss drug that hates alcohol.

We’ve all heard of the new class of “miracle” drug for weight loss: GLP-1 receptor agonists. If you haven’t, it’s a medication that you inject into yourself once per day or week and it makes you lose a ton of weight.

I’ve been taking the brand-name WeGovy for a year and a half and have lost around 35 lbs which is ~18% of my starting body weight.

For weight loss, I’ve never experienced anything like it. I’ll save my full review for another day. Let’s focus on how it’s impacted my social drinking habit.

When I first started taking the med, the normal side effects happened as expected. One of those side effects is actually a “feature vs a bug”. Anytime I would even slightly overeat, I would get terrible acid reflux. Essentially, the medicine would punish me for overindulging. How great! It’s teaching me how to better size my portions by making my mouth and burps taste like puke. True innovation.

But it didn’t just affect my relationship with food. Alcohol hit different.

I’m not a heavy drinker. Even before WeGovy. I’d have around 4-6 drinks per week. In a rare "rager” of a night out, I’d consume 2-3 drinks max. I was already a lightweight.

But WeGovy has transformed me into a certified featherweight. Half a beer provides a legit buzz. A cocktail gets me dancing - a good sign that I’ve hit my perfect level for a night out.

So not only am I slimmer, but I’m saving a wad of cash on drinks. Miracle drug indeed! But, as we know, it’s difficult to stop at just one drink, especially when drinking with normies.

Slightly overdrinking, even just a sip or two more, flips a good night into a bad one. It’s that sensitive. I’ve had way more bad than good in the past year.

It doesn’t stop at puke-flavored burps. First, intense nausea hits. That’s the first sign. Sometimes I keep on sipping through it like a dumbass. Next, a dry heave. Now the drink is down. Ain’t no way I’m picking it back up.

This is the point of no return.

Usually, this ends with me having to cut in early. All I have to look forward to is misery on the couch for the next 2-4 hours. I puke once, maybe twice (moar weight loss?!) and it’s barely relieving. I down some Pepto Bismol just for the ritual - it does nothing. Sleep is impossible. My only remedy is finding as much distraction on YouTube as possible until I’m able to fall asleep.

tl;dr: Two drinks will cause a sleepless night of restless discomfort.

A track to flow to - Pleasantries

Laid back, spacious, lush. Write, code, paint, whatever.

Just make sure to breathe.

That’s it for this week!

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