A prolific publisher shares his daily & weekly routine.

If you're a member of this group, chances are you've heard of Mario Gabriele's newsletter – The Generalist (~20k subs).

Or maybe you know him for his thoughtful analysis of S-1s or the business ideas he shares in Request for Startups.

The point is, Mario is quite prolific.

He was kind enough to let me interview him about his writing process and how he manages such a high volume of creative output.

I thought I'd share an excerpt about how he structures his daily and weekly routines. Here goes:

MARIO'S DAILY ROUTINE

I typically get up between 6 am - 7 am, depending on how much sleep I’ve gotten recently. I try and give myself leeway, especially now that I don’t have to head to an office.

As often as I can (i.e., when I’m not slacking), I’ll workout. For the past year, I’ve been using Future, which provides me the accountability to get in a run or HIIT session. I’ve also been experimenting with the WHOOP band, which has been a fun way to chart the intensity of that exertion.

After that, I’ll take a cold shower, which I’m a bit self-conscious to note on the chance it portrays me as the type of tiresome, self-congratulating ascetic tech person whom we have all met. I have no answers or nifty “hacks” that will “10x” your mental horsepower. But I do enjoy cold showers, mostly because of the test they provide — starting the day with an act of discipline helps me.

Before I start work, I write fiction, usually for about an hour. Since late 2012, I’ve been working on a novel. Before I went into tech and venture capital, I very nearly matriculated to an MFA program. The novel is (very) loosely based on the time I spent living in Kathmandu, as an undergraduate, though transported to the near-future. I must have finished writing it five times, but still, I think I can improve it, which stops me from soliciting a publisher. At some point, I hope I will have the conviction to share it.

This hour has a strong impact on my mood for the rest of the morning. If I feel as if I am in form, fluid, thinking interestingly, and writing decently, then I feel as if the day has not been wasted; at the very least, I will have tapped into the original parts of my brain. I can carry that into whatever comes next.

Typically this involves a mix of research, writing, email, Telegram, meetings, and social media. In a way, I find each of these activities very fun. There is nothing I would rather do than build The Generalist — that clarity, that conviction is something I have not had previously.

MARIO'S WEEKLY ROUTINE

Monday is a gentler day, coming as it does after I send my weekly essay. It is, much of the time, the closest thing to a weekend (I do not mean this self-pityingly; it is fun for me to work), which means I will spend the morning responding to readers, taking a look at metrics (growth, open rates, unsubscriptions), and sharing my work on social media.

If I remember rightly, James Clear suggests spending as much time promoting a piece as you spent working on it; 1:1. That’s something I’ve been trying to be better at. I’m probably closer to 4:1 at this point, but a year ago, it would have looked closer to 20:1. In the afternoon, I’ll usually try to get a draft of RFS cued up, giving contributors a chance to review their idea a final time.

Tuesday is a great day to work on secondary projects. The stress of the upcoming essay has yet to start in earnest, so I feel the freedom to dream a bit. I’ll often spend a good part of the day meeting readers, other writers, venture capitalists, and founders. Increasingly, I’m trying to concentrate on meetings in the afternoon, just a few days of the week. This isn’t because I don’t enjoy these discussions — they are almost always enjoyable and informative. But writing has high switching costs, at least for me. I need time to get into the flow. Once interrupted, it takes just as long to regain it. So for the sake of efficiency, long stretches of unbroken time are desirable.

Wednesday, I write. My calendar says, unflinchingly, “The Big Write.” I try to do nothing but research and put something on the page. At some point during this day, I will decide I hate whatever idea I have been considering, and believe I have nothing novel to say, ever. It’s the same feeling I have had writing virtually every essay or term paper, ever. This means I am used to it and don’t listen (much).

These efforts inevitably bleed into Thursday, by which time I am beginning to feel the heat. Thursday also seems to be a day in which meetings and other bits and pieces cluster — work on the website, podcast planning — so I usually don’t get as much done as I’d like to. I dream of getting Sunday’s piece done on Thursday.

Friday is a day of wrapping-up, but mostly out of habit. RFS will go out in the morning, and I will spend a good chunk of the day sharing it, facilitating connections that arise through the newsletter, and responding to readers. I will also work on Sunday’s piece, which is hopefully at least half done by now. In the evening, I relax with my girlfriend. This is my favorite night of the week.

Saturday I am a bundle of nerves. I wake early, walk to get a coffee and an almond croissant, which is my way of coaxing myself to perform. Then I lock myself in my little study and batter a path to the end. It is usually about 7 pm by the time I finish. At this point, I typically feel good but wary. The bottom could still fall out, and whatever draft I have is hazy and illustration-less.

Sunday, I wake at 5 am, or a little after, and go straight to the study, which is now a bunker. I exit to get more coffee, eat peanut butter on toast, or pace. Around 11 am, I will feel as if the piece is ready and the illustrations are good, and then I will spend another hour on it, somehow. Then I send. Sunday afternoon, I relax, or try to, as I’m usually in a muddy headspace. Namely, over-caffeinated, and very anxious as to what reception the piece will get. Perhaps I should be somewhat more stoic, but I really want readers to receive value and enjoyment from reading.

Then, it all begins again.

If you'd like to read the full interview, here's the link: https://junglegym.substack.com/p/how-mario-gabriele-glimpses-into-the-future