The Deal
tl;dr: Shortform's* in-depth book summaries are a great way to spend otherwise unproductive time. The app even comes with an AI* that allows you to summarize any piece of text, email, or Youtube video. Start your free 5-day trial and secure 20% off here* »
Heyo, Nik here!
Last week, I had some visitors from London. Unfortunately, on Monday, when everyone was scheduled to leave, the UK's entire air traffic control system decided to take a nap.
The following 2 days of chaos, rebookings, crazy trips via Paris and the Eurostar train — one friend even only made it home on Wednesday, a full 48 hours later — reminded me of the time I was stuck at Heathrow for an extra 24 hours.
So much disruption. So much time lost. But was it actually? Lost time?
According to Robert Greene, that depends entirely on your attitude in such a situation. "There are two types of time," he once told his apprentice Ryan Holiday. "Alive time and dead time. One is when you sit around, when you wait until things happen to you. The other is when you are in control, when you make every second count, when you are learning and improving and growing."
In my case, while waiting for my new flight the next day, I was reading in-depth summaries of Robert Greene's books on Shortform.* Some of my friends spent an extra day exploring Munich, others went to Zurich to see a place they'd never been to.
More travel is of course great when you can afford it, but reading (or listening to) books and their summaries is the next best thing. You can even do it while traveling! And not just then.
With a tool like Shortform,* you can turn dead time into alive time while you're taking the bus, waiting for a haircut, or running on the treadmill — and that's just the beginning of its many cool use cases.
Shortform* offers over 1,000 guides to some of the world's best non-fiction books, and they don't hold anything back. Each of their guides contains all of a book's key takeaways — in detail and with useful exercises to implement what you learn.
After reading a guide on Shortform*, you'll know exactly...
- Which parts of the book are the most useful and why.
- How to ensure you actually implement the ideas in your life.
Instead of just reading a summary, you'll also read an analysis and how-to guide of each book! Look at this table of contents for Good Strategy/Bad Strategy, for example:
"Make a list of challenges." An exercise on implementing the "Anticipate Change" chapter. There's even a case study of Nvidia, the AI giant that's all over the news this year. How timely! That's true, in-depth learning from books!
Shortform* also offers all the usual features you'd expect:
- You can listen to audio recordings for each book. The one for Deep Work by Cal Newport, for example, takes about 30 minutes — but it'll teach you literally everything you need to know!
- You can use it on the go. Mobile apps, offline listening, they have everything you need to make sure you can learn whenever, wherever.
- Get custom book recommendations thanks to Shortform's* smart algorithm.
- Download beautifully formatted PDFs of each summary to save, print, and use forever.
- Discover the best ideas from important publications like The New York Times, The Economist, and The Wall Street Journal. That's right. Shortform* summarizes more than just books!
- Highlight your favorite passages, take notes, and discuss each book with other community members. These interactive features will help you remember what you learn.
There's also a feature you wouldn't expect and that no other book summary app has: Shortform AI* is an extension that can summarize almost any piece of content, anywhere, and it's free with a Shortform subscription!*
Wanna see what it can do? How about...
...complex articles about finance that help you become a better investor...
...long-form essays explaining huge societal and technological shifts affecting our future as a species...
...Youtube videos summarizing some of the greatest non-fiction books of all time (ahem)...
...3-hour-long podcast interviews with people you admire and want to learn from...
...and even foreign-language news articles about an issue you'll soon need to make a decision on?
If Shortform AI* isn't an amazing tool to turn dead time into alive time and learn more than ever, faster than ever, I don't know what is. Want to try it for yourself? Here's how:
- Sign up for a free 5-day trial of Shortform*.
- Install the Shortform AI Chrome extension.*
- Log in, and one-click summarize away!
If you want my personal take, I think that if you're the type of person who wants to get the absolute most out of any book you read, you will love Shortform.*
Also, as a Four Minute Books reader, you get not just a free 5-day trial but also an exclusive 20% off* should you keep your subscription.
Whether you're about to board a plane or won't travel by air any time soon, may you arrive safely at your next destination — and hopefully on time.
Even if the latter doesn't happen, however, remember that it's never too late to take control, to turn dead time into alive time and make the most of every day. Shortform* is a great way to do just that, and I hope you'll give it a try*.
Happy reading,
-Nik
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