How To Stop an Anxiety Spiral, The Best Protections Against Financial Ruin, and a Workaholic's Guide to Productivity (and Self-Care) | Andrew Ross Sorkin
Andrew Ross Sorkin, an award-winning journalist and co-anchor of CNBC's Squawk Box, discusses managing money anxiety, avoiding emotional financial decisions, and his personal productivity hacks. He shares insights on human nature in finance and his meditation practice.
Deep Dive Analysis
15 Topic Outline
Introduction to Andrew Ross Sorkin and his new book "1929"
The enduring lessons of the 1929 stock market crash
Human nature, FOMO, and the need for humility in finance
Warren Buffett's approach to emotional detachment in investing
Dan Harris's personal investment strategy and Sorkin's endorsement
Assessing the current market bubble and potential for a crash
Coping with financial anxiety and the danger of excessive debt
Personal finance hygiene: budgeting and managing debt
The "Would It Help?" mantra for stopping mental spirals
Andrew Ross Sorkin's Transcendental Meditation practice
Benefits of meditation for managing a demanding career
Productivity hacks: calendar blocking and time management
Balancing productivity with personal relationships and serendipity
The importance of a "polite no" for managing commitments
Reflections on sharing personal stories as a public figure
6 Key Concepts
Human Nature in Finance
People tend to believe good times last forever, dressing hope as certainty, which leads to collective fever and irrational decisions. The antidote is humility, recognizing that no system is foolproof, no market is fully rational, and no generation is exempt from these tendencies.
FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)
A powerful human drive that can lead to euphoric, speculative periods in markets where everyone desperately wants to buy stocks. While it can sometimes drive progress, it can also get out of hand and lead to excessive risk-taking.
Financial Detachment
An approach to investing, exemplified by Warren Buffett, where one avoids emotional decisions, doesn't get caught up in fads, and invests based on understanding and long-term principles. This involves viewing market downturns as opportunities to buy assets on sale.
Serviceable Debt
Debt that an individual or family can realistically manage to pay the monthly payments for, even if unexpected financial difficulties (like job loss) occur for a period. The focus is on ensuring financial stability and avoiding debt that could become unmanageable.
Calendar Blocking (Time Blocking)
A productivity technique where all tasks, including calls, writing, and even sleep, are explicitly scheduled and blocked out on a calendar. This helps to accurately estimate the time needed for tasks and prevents overestimation of what can be accomplished in a day.
The "Quick No"
A strategy for managing commitments and productivity, where if the answer to a request is going to be "no," it is communicated immediately and politely, often without extensive explanation. This prevents spiraling anxiety for both the person making the request and the person declining.
8 Questions Answered
The enduring lesson is about human nature, specifically how easily people forget past mistakes and succumb to collective fever, dressing hope as certainty. The true antidote is humility, not just regulation or skepticism.
Cultivate humility, maintain constant curiosity, and avoid taking on excessive debt, especially for investing. Having an emergency fund to survive periods of unemployment is also crucial.
For most people, a more economically and emotionally successful approach is to invest in broad market index funds (like the S&P index), consistently save, and hold investments for the long term without emotional reactions to daily market fluctuations.
Andrew Ross Sorkin believes we are in a bubble and another crash will invariably happen. However, he doesn't think it has to be as severe as the Great Depression, as policymakers have learned lessons to prevent exacerbating crises.
Focus on what is within your control, such as avoiding excessive debt and ensuring your current debt is "serviceable." Use a mantra like "Would it help?" to question whether frantic worrying is productive or merely a mental spiral.
Detailed budgeting provides a real sense of income and expenses, allowing for decisions based on reality rather than "a neismatic fog of unknowing and dread," and can be oddly soothing by providing clarity and control.
Andrew Ross Sorkin uses calendar blocking for all tasks, including calls and writing, and employs timers to stay focused. He also uses app blockers to limit distractions and prioritizes quick "no" responses to non-essential requests.
The key is whether the disclosure is useful to the audience, normalizing common experiences or providing valuable insights, rather than merely inserting oneself into the story or serving up information of no real value.
18 Actionable Insights
1. Minimize Debt, Avoid Risk
Avoid borrowing money, especially to invest, as debt is the primary danger during economic downturns. Assess your ability to survive for 6-12 months without work and save accordingly to avoid risking necessary funds in volatile markets.
2. Detached Investing, Avoid FOMO
Practice emotional detachment from market fluctuations and avoid getting caught up in the ’thing of the moment’ or FOMO. Approach investments with specific principles, focusing on what you understand, and view market downturns as opportunities to buy desired assets at a lower price for the long term.
3. Invest in Index Funds
Follow the advice to buy S&P index funds, consistently put money in, and avoid daily market fluctuations. This approach is considered both economically successful and emotionally less stressful, leading to a potentially nice nest egg over 30-40 years.
4. Cultivate Financial Humility
Recognize that no system is foolproof, no market fully rational, and no generation exempt from irrational exuberance. This humility helps protect against economic pitfalls by acknowledging how easily one can forget past lessons and become overconfident.
5. Maintain Investment Curiosity
Continuously question and be curious about financial decisions, rather than being overly confident. Those who are constantly curious tend to end up on the winning side or at least the better side of economic situations.
6. Optimism for Long-Term Investing
For those who can hold their investments and avoid borrowed money, staying invested in the stock market for 10-30 years tends to yield better results, even through crises and crashes. Being an optimist has historically paid off more than being a skeptic who sits out the market.
7. Detailed Budgeting for Clarity
Engage in detailed budgeting to understand your income and expenses, making decisions based on financial reality rather than ‘a neismatic fog of unknowing and dread.’ This practice can be surprisingly soothing and helps ensure debt is serviceable and that you have necessary cash reserves.
8. “Would It Help?” Mantra
When feeling anxious, spiraling, or overthinking, pause and ask yourself, ‘Would it help?’ This question acts as a mindfulness bell, pulling you out of habitual thought patterns and reconnecting you to your wiser self, helping to clarify if frantic thinking will actually change the outcome.
9. Meditate for Calm, Self-Regulation
Engage in a meditation practice like TM to settle yourself and develop an ability to calm yourself in other stressful moments. Consistent practice can lead to quicker access to a state of stillness and provide a familiar place to return to through breathing and focused thought, even without a full session.
10. Calendar Block All Tasks
Schedule every task, no matter how small, on your calendar with an estimated time block. This method, known as time blocking, ensures tasks get done, helps accurately estimate what’s possible in a day, and prevents overestimating your capacity.
11. Deliver a Quick No
If an answer is going to be no, or if a request doesn’t align with your priorities, respond immediately with a ‘quick no’ rather than delaying. This prevents spiraling anxiety for both you and the person awaiting a response, and often no elaborate explanation is needed.
12. Timers & App Blockers
Employ timers to allocate specific durations for tasks, forcing completion within the set time and combating procrastination. Utilize app blockers to prevent distractions like internet browsing and social media, enhancing focus during work periods.
13. Prioritize Sleep with Melatonin
Block out dedicated time for sleep on your calendar to ensure adequate rest, especially when working early mornings. Consider taking 1-3 milligrams of melatonin if necessary to fall asleep at a decent hour and avoid staying up late, which can negatively impact the next day’s productivity.
14. Embrace Frugality as Value
Adopt frugality as a family value, distinguishing it from cheapness by allowing splurges on important experiences (like vacations) while being conservative on other purchases (like cars). This can be framed as ‘recreational frugality,’ making it a game to avoid overspending.
15. Implement Months of Austerity
Periodically declare ‘months of austerity’ within your household to curb excessive spending. This practice helps to re-center financial habits and prevent things from going overboard.
16. Cycle Work, Invest in Relationships
Acknowledge that periods of intense productivity can lead to a ‘complete loss of serendipity’ and harm relationships. To mitigate this, cycle between ‘super heads down’ work phases and periods of ‘over-investing in relationships’ to maintain connections and balance.
17. Strive for Shorter Meetings
Actively work to shorten meetings, recognizing that much time can be wasted in longer sessions. This helps to maximize productivity and minimize unnecessary time commitments.
18. Share Useful Personal Details
When considering sharing personal information, evaluate if the revelation is useful to the audience, normalizing experiences and providing value. Avoid oversharing details that are not genuinely helpful or relevant to the broader conversation.
4 Key Quotes
The antidote to irrational exuberance is not regulation by itself nor skepticism, but humility. The humility to know that no system is foolproof, no market fully rational and no generation exempt. The greater the heights of our certainty, the longer and harder we fall.
Andrew Ross Sorkin
Would it help?
The Spy (from Bridge of Spies, quoted by Andrew Ross Sorkin)
It actually has paid much better to be an optimist than to be a skeptic. And here I am, as a journalist, I'm, you know, I'm the professional Cassandra in the room, but the winners have been the ones not that have sat it out because they've been worried something bad's going to happen tomorrow. The winners have been people who have been optimists actually.
Andrew Ross Sorkin
I hope a quick no is almost as good as a yes.
Vince Gilligan (quoted by Andrew Ross Sorkin)
2 Protocols
Andrew Ross Sorkin's Productivity System (Calendar Blocking)
Andrew Ross Sorkin- Put everything on a calendar, literally, including calls, writing, and even sleep.
- Estimate time needed for each task and block it out (e.g., "9 a.m. to 9:15, call Dan Harris").
- If a task is not completed at its scheduled time, move it to another available time slot later in the day.
- Use timers for specific tasks (e.g., writing for an hour) to maintain focus and prevent procrastination.
- Employ app blockers on devices to limit internet distractions.
- Actively try to make meetings shorter to avoid wasted time.
- Schedule "sleep" on the calendar and adhere to it, using aids like melatonin if necessary.
Andrew Ross Sorkin's "Quick No" Strategy
Andrew Ross Sorkin (inspired by Vince Gilligan)- If the answer to a request is going to be "no," or if it cannot be prioritized, respond immediately.
- Communicate the "no" quickly and politely.
- Avoid feeling obligated to provide extensive explanations for the "no."