The guest
Lex Fridman: AI researcher and host of the Lex Fridman Podcast, known for long-form conversations on science, technology, and the human condition. This is a solo day-in-the-life video, so the host is the guest.
What this episode covers
In this solo 'day in my life' video, Lex Fridman details the highly structured routine he uses to maximize productivity and stay low-stress. His day centers on two four-hour deep-work sessions (here, debugging TensorFlow Lite on a Galaxy S20), bookended by a morning mantra covering rules, gratitude, five-year and near-term goals, daily visualization, and personal principles. He keeps strict limits on social media and email, runs at least six miles fasted while listening to audiobooks, does David Goggins-style nickel-and-dime bodyweight workouts, and eats one keto meal a day. He winds down with guitar, science papers, and re-reading Dostoevsky, closing with a gratitude meditation.
Recommended on this episode
ProductRecommended
Eight Sleep Pod (AC bed)
Eight Sleep
“this ac bed has been nice”
“this ac bed has been nice it lets you set the temperature throughout the night so for me what i like is for it to cool the bed”— Lex Fridman
ProductRecommended
Autonomous standing desk
Autonomous
“i still love them ... you should check it out”
“the desk by the way is a standing desk they don't sponsor anything but i still love them it's autonomous you should check it out”— Lex Fridman
ProductRecommended
Kinesis ergonomic keyboard
Kinesis
“my first love ... i still love it”
“my first love my home is the kinesis keyboard it's this weird ergonomic keyboard that's probably way too expensive but i still love it”— Lex Fridman
ProductRecommended
Emacs editor
GNU
“i'm surrounded by things i love and emacs editor”
“i'm surrounded by things i love and emacs editor although i use a lot of modern ids”— Lex Fridman
ProductRecommended
Fender Stratocaster electric guitar
Fender
“the warm boozy sound ... brings joy to my heart”
“mostly electric fender strat the warm boozy sound of offender kind of like the eric clapton jimi hendrix brings joy to my heart”— Lex Fridman
BookRecommended
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
William L. Shirer
“recommended highly great book”
“i'm currently listening to the rise and fall of the third reich recommended highly great book rough but important for our times”— Lex Fridman
ProductRecommended
Athletic Greens
Athletic Greens
“an amazing thing that i love whether their sponsor or not”
“i break the fast with athletic greens i sponsor the podcast but actually an amazing thing that i love whether their sponsor or not it covers all the bases”— Lex Fridman
ProductRecommended
Public Goods fish oil
Public Goods
“it's all good i love the minimalist design of public good stuff”
“i'm mentioning another sponsor but i will public goods they sell a bunch of different kinds of stuff including fish oil it's all good i love the minimalist design of public good stuff”— Lex Fridman
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
ProductReferenced
TensorFlow Lite
“today i'm working on tensorflow lite on a samsung galaxy s20 doing some deep learning on the smartphone”— Lex Fridman
ProductReferenced
Samsung Galaxy S20
Samsung
“today i'm working on tensorflow lite on a samsung galaxy s20 doing some deep learning on the smartphone”— Lex Fridman
MediaReferenced
Rocky (We're Gonna Fly Now soundtrack)
Bill Conti
“it could be as cliche and cheesy as uh the rocky soundtrack we're gonna fly now i think it's the the first solo is the one minute mark”— Lex Fridman
MediaReferenced
Fortunate Son
Creedence Clearwater Revival
“or uh fortunate son by ccr or uh if i really need a boost i'm an old school metallica fan”— Lex Fridman
MediaReferenced
Master of Puppets
Metallica
“i'm an old school metallica fan as well so master puppets i think when he starts singing is the one minute mark”— Lex Fridman
ProductReferenced
Magnesium glycinate
“then there's magnesium glycinate when i first started keto i think i was getting headaches for the first few days”— Lex Fridman
MediaReferenced
2001: A Space Odyssey shirt
“by the way wearing a 2001 space odyssey shirt this is where i might be wearing a suit if i'm doing filming”— Lex Fridman
ProductReferenced
Netflix
Netflix
“i can just lay down and watch some netflix watch some documentaries on youtube hang out with friends”— Lex Fridman
ProductReferenced
Jack Daniel's
Jack Daniel's
“i got some jack daniels i got some stoli smirnoff vodka i got some peanut butter flavored whiskey”— Lex Fridman
ProductReferenced
Smirnoff vodka (Stoli)
Smirnoff
“i got some jack daniels i got some stoli smirnoff vodka i got some peanut butter flavored whiskey”— Lex Fridman
ProductReferenced
Adobe Premiere
Adobe
“today as far as i know it's tensorflow adobe premiere some email then some papers and some dostoyevsky”— Lex Fridman
BookReferenced
The War of Art
Steven Pressfield
“this is where that war of art the battle for focus for gaining focus and holding on to focus that's what it's all about”— Lex Fridman
BookReferenced
The Idiot
Fyodor Dostoevsky
“i'm re-reading dostoevsky i finished the idiot i'm not working through crime and punishment reading it in english”— Lex Fridman
BookReferenced
Crime and Punishment
Fyodor Dostoevsky
“i finished the idiot i'm not working through crime and punishment reading it in english but i'm also going to try to get to listening to it in russian”— Lex Fridman
BookReferenced
GPT-3 paper (Language Models are Few-Shot Learners)
OpenAI
“i'm also doing a deeper read still this is the second session of it for the gpt3 paper i'm thinking of making a couple videos on gpt3”— Lex Fridman
Big reveals from this episode
- Strict rule: he checks social media only when he posts, one to three times a day for no more than 10 minutes.
- His morning mantra includes meditating on the idea that today might be his last day alive.
- Describes being 'single' but in an 'open relationship' with his guitar, cheating on the electric with the acoustic.
- Does a David Goggins-inspired nickel-and-dime workout: 5 pull-ups and 10 push-ups every minute for 15-20 minutes.
- Trains and runs completely fasted, 14-16 hours without food, taking a salt pill for electrolytes.
- Eats just one meal a day on keto: about two pounds of 85% grass-fed ground beef plus vegetables, ~1800-2000 calories.
- Re-reading Dostoevsky's major novels in both English and Russian to prepare for an upcoming Paris interview with translators.
- Reveals the podcast is fundamentally a side gig to a 'main dream' he is quietly still putting hours into.
Worth remembering
- He says he has more sponsors than he needs, so he only accepts ones he genuinely loves using.
- Calls moderating social media harder than quitting it entirely, which he sees as an easy way out.
- Dreads the daily four-hour deep-work session but hits it first thing, early, like a machine, without reflecting.
- Likens his Fender Strat's 'warm boozy sound' to Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix.
- Believes his ability to thrive fasted is rooted in 'eastern european genetics' of ancestors going without food.
- Studying 1936-37 Nazi Germany via audiobook forces him to confront the nature of evil and his own mental weakness.
- Uses songs whose one-minute mark he has memorized (Rocky theme, Fortunate Son, Master of Puppets) to power through cold showers.
- Jokingly declares his side in the 'politically divisive world' is cauliflower against broccoli.
- Falls asleep while continuing to read Dostoevsky, going back and forth between desk and bed by energy level.
More from Lex Fridman
All 5460 recommended