A few days ago, I read Interest is Everything by Oliver Burkeman.
The core idea is simple: A good life isn’t built by optimisation or constant problem-solving. It’s built by following what genuinely interests you.
It sounds obvious. Yet very few people actually live this way.
So I decided to make this practical and map out how I want to organise my days around genuine interest, rather than around the pressure to “do whatever it takes”.
Here’s how I’m starting to apply that:
1. Make “What am I genuinely curious about right now?” my daily filter.
Before work blocks, content, reading, or training, I ask:
What topic, problem, or angle do I actually want to explore?
Then let that decide what I work on first.
2. Rebuild my schedule around my energy.
Mornings: light admin + warming up my mind.
Peak energy hours: writing, thinking, strategy, creation.
Evenings: training, walks, guitar, reading, reflection.
We thrive when we’re not forcing ourselves into unnatural rhythms.
3. Let interest be the driver behind my content.
Instead of asking “What will perform?”, I ask:
What am I trying to understand better right now?
What am I seeing that most people are missing?
What am I personally wrestling with or refining?
This has been the mindset behind my best content.
4. Use “interest over outcome” as an anti-burnout rule.
When I feel resistance or flatness, I don’t push harder. I ask:
Where am I working against my grain?
What part of this process feels dead?
What would reignite my interest?
Then redesign the process, not my willpower.
5. Optimise for aliveness, not just output.
I’m wired for mastery and creative expression, not for blind hustle.
So I’m constantly checking with myself:
Am I living in a way that is true to my nature?
Instead of asking: What’s the optimal move?
Ask: What would make today genuinely interesting?
"Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent and original manner possible." —Richard Feynman
This isn’t about ignoring responsibility or doing only what feels easy.
It’s not a call to abandon discipline, long-term goals, or the realities of work and money. It’s about choosing the direction in which you apply them.
Effort is inevitable and structure is necessary. But interest determines whether that effort works in your favour or slowly exhausts you.
When you build around what interests you, discipline stops feeling like self-coercion and starts feeling like commitment to something you actually care about.
You still work hard. You just stop working against yourself.
Until next time, keep creating!
Omara
