Jesse F. Simon

My Favorite Books from the First Half of 2022

My Favorite Books from the First Half of 2022 I managed to read 18 books during the first half of 2022. Below, I’ve included short summaries of my favorites that I’d recommend to just about anyone. You can find the complete list at the end. The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin | Paperback I loved this book.

Beliefs & Mindsets

Beliefs & Mindsets I listened to a thought-provoking podcast recently with Drs. Andrew Huberman and Alia Crum, during which they talk about Dr. Crum’s research on how our beliefs and mindsets can affect our health. Dr. Crum described a study she did as an undergraduate at Harvard in which a group of

Combating Anxiety & Overstimulation

Combating Anxiety & Overstimulation It wasn’t until after finishing my first semester when I realized that I had been overstimulating myself. I rarely took a day off and I was mostly managing my stress with distractions like Netflix, podcasts, or YouTube. As a result, it took me almost the entire first week of

My Study Strategy for Medical School | OMS-I

My Study Strategy for Medical School | OMS-I Meta-MacroMy study strategy is intertwined with my time management system. I use a fixed-schedule productivity approach, only allowing myself to study between 7 am and 5 pm every day, except Saturdays (rest day). Leveraging Parkinson's Law, this forces me to find ways to get work done within an arti...

I just posted my book notes on Deep Work by Cal Newport!

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World You can purchase the book here: Hardcover | Kindle | Audiobook 4/5 — It was good, but not great. I absolutely love his podcast — I listen to it religiously. However, I feel that I didn’t need the book to understand that deep work is important. I’m already committed to this

A new article is up on my blog about my Time Management System. Subscribe to my newsletter on my website and receive new articles straight to your inbox. Let me know what you think!

My Time Management System This article is inspired by Cal Newport’s Productivity Funnel Framework Recently, I’ve discovered Cal Newport through a Tim Ferriss podcast episode and I cannot get enough of this guy. His whole schtick is about getting your work done while prioritizing the importance of living a deep and fulfil...

I just added a new post to my blog:

How to Connect JoyCon Controllers to Anki for Medical School (MacOS)

How to Connect JoyCon Controllers to Anki for Medical School (MacOS) Go to the App Store and download the free app JoyKeyMapper and open the application (Figure 1).Go to System preferences > BluetoothTo make your JoyCon discoverable, press and hold the sync button on your JoyCon until the 4 lights begin flashing.Once discoverable, click ‘Connect’I personally l...

Check out my new book review on Josh Waitzkin's "The Art of Learning"

The Art of Learning You can purchase the book here: Paperback | Kindle | Audiobook 5/5 — a phenomenal book. It’s deeply introspective with many gems of wisdom. Josh Waitzkin is a great writer; he is able to articulate his intuitive feelings in a way that is easy to understand. The chapters are short enough

Check out my new book review on Anne Harrington's "The Cure Within: A History of MindBody Medicine"

The Cure Within: A History of Mind-Body Medicine SummaryThe Cure Within is the third book written by Anne Harrington, a historian at Harvard University whose subject of research includes History of Medicine, Human Sciences, Medical Humanities, Psychiatry, and Neuroscience. This book spans the history of mind-body medicine from the time of demonic....

New article is up! Intro to Anki for medical school

Anki Tutorial & Guide for Beginners | 80/20 Medical School Anki IntroIf you want to use Anki, but don’t know where to start, then this guide is for you. The 80/20 Rule, or Pareto principle, states that 80% of the desired outcome is a result of 20% of the input. For example, 80% of the World’s wealth is

My first post is up on the blog!

Taking the Plunge If I'm being honest, I am terrified to go public with this website — which means it's probably a good thing. So why am I doing it? It's a similar feeling to what I experienced before I posted my first YouTube video (linked below). Initially, I was worried about what people