Morgan Housel

Morgan is a Partner at Collaborative Fund and a former columnist at The Wall Street Journal and The Motley Fool. Collaborative holds notable positions in Blue Bottle Coffee, Beyond Meat, Lyft, Reddit, Whoop, and Sweetgreen.

On his morning routine.

This might be a disappointing answer, but there aren’t any specific habits. Or maybe that’s the interesting part?

Some days I’m working literally seconds after waking up because ideas are fresh and I can’t wait to get them out.

Other days I casually read until late morning, then jump into work.

Other days I can tell from the moment I wake up that I’m not in a working mood and I try to embrace that reality with both hands and do something productive — hang out with my kids, start reading a new book, knockout non-work things from my to-do list, etc. I’m a fan of habits, but I’m not obsessed with structure.

I do creative work, which can’t be forced or fit into a schedule.

I think the harder you try to structure it the worse it is. It comes when it comes. 

On information filters.

I like to think of it as a huge funnel with a strong filter.

I try to read anything and everything that looks even slightly interesting to me — business news, investing news, economic news, political news, all types of analysis, research, opinions, things I probably disagree with, etc.

That’s the big funnel. It might sound like a lot of reading, but it’s not overwhelming because I have a strong filter.

I can tell quickly whether something is interesting or relevant to me. If that’s the case, I stop reading immediately. 

The opposite of this, only reading things that you know you’ll like or trying to finish everything you read, is a sure path to information overload. 

On tactics to refocus.

Two things.

One, I feel like I can tell pretty quickly if an article is working or not.

Sometimes an idea feels good, but when you start writing you can tell within minutes that the juice isn’t flowing. I quit those early, without mercy, and regret when I don’t. My worst articles are the ones I try to force.

Two, I walk a lot. Several times a day, just around my block.

My neighbors probably think I’m crazy. But I think so much clearer when I’m walking. It’s where I “write” most of my stuff.

There’s a lot of scientific research on the mental benefits of walking. Most are based on the idea that sitting wasn’t a big part of our evolution; walking was.

So whenever I’m stuck on a piece, I walk. 

On peak flow state.

I work alone, from home, in a closed room, with noise-canceling headphones. I can’t do the coffee shop thing — not even close.

Everyone has their preference. Mine is 100% solitude.

During my career I’ve worked at home for 10 years and in an office for three. I’ve done my best work at home, by far. If distractions exist, I’ll cave to them. 

On writing selfishly.

One system is that I only write for myself.

I only want to write things that I personally would find interesting.

That’s different from asking, “What would my audience like to read?” or even “Who is my audience?”

I’m writing for me. And I don’t think it’s selfish. You’ll always do your best work when you’re personally interested in the topic you’re writing about.

Writing for yourself is fun, and it shows.

Writing for others is work, and it shows.

I have a lot of independence when writing, but every time I’ve worked on a topic that someone else asks to write about, the results aren’t pretty.

I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but selfish writing is what I aim for. 

On early bedtimes.

I have two young kids, so my evenings are devoted to them.

And I’m a morning person, so I’m usually asleep by 9 pm.

I usually watch Netflix in bed, but rarely make it more than 20 minutes before nodding off. It takes me months to finish a series.