Good morning, everybody.

This week, I want to paint a clear picture of what I mean when I talk about work-life integration—because it’s not theoretical. It’s real, messy, physical, and deeply productive.

Here’s the reality:

Work-life balance is a myth.

The idea that you can clock out at 5 p.m., shut the door, and become a totally different person is outdated and, for most of us, impossible. You're not two different people depending on whether you're in Slack or in your kitchen. You have one nervous system, one brain, and one life. Integration—not separation—is the answer.

Take a look at this day:

🛠 HIIT at 5:30 a.m.

🌱 Yardwork. Housework. Mulch. Dishes. Trees.

📞 Five client conversations.

✅ Closed a new coaching deal.

📈 Total activity: 19,492 steps, 4,276 calories burned, 2.5 hours of logged movement.

And all of it—every conversation, every piece of coaching—was done asynchronously.

No Zoom calls. No calendar chaos. Just real-time life.

This is the Less Doing philosophy in motion:

• Asynchronous work lets you show up fully—when you’re ready.
• Physical activity fuels deeper focus.
• Presence isn’t about time—it’s about energy and intention.

If this resonates with you, start by asking:

What are you still doing in real-time that could be done better async?

Also in this week’s roundup…

🛠 From ChatGPT to Junk Removal CEO

A Less Doing community member helped his teenage son start a junk hauling business—using AI. The son uses a voice agent from Retail.ai, price estimating from a custom GPT, and Twilio for texting. Clients send a photo, get a quote, approve the job, and the teen shows up with a truck. That’s real entrepreneurial education.

📦 IKEA Customer Support… Actually Improved?

I’ve been very critical of IKEA’s customer service in the past. But honestly, it's getting better. My recent interaction—missing parts, DHL confusion, and a delivery that magically showed up marked “paid”—was weirdly smooth. Clunky, but better.

🧠 AI Email Tools—Why I Still Say No

There are more and more tools now claiming to help you “reach inbox zero” with AI. I still don’t recommend them. Tools like Serif are slick—they learn your voice, draft replies—but the core problem isn’t your inbox.

The problem is decision-making.

Email is where leaders make hundreds of micro-decisions. Offloading those to AI too early undermines clarity and ownership. We don’t need faster emails—we need better decisions. I break this down in detail in last week’s message (which includes an invite to a July webinar I’m co-hosting on async coaching with Carbon).

🚨 Some Very Cool Stuff Worth Checking Out

🎯 Carbon’s coaching feature comparison – Compare tools like Voxer, Marco Polo, and Loom against the async power of Carbon Voice.

🎤 Webinar: Async Coaching in Action – I’m joining a fellow coach to talk about how async changes the game.

🚫 Portable Mosquito Defense – Yep, I backed it.

🎵 I made a song with Suno just for fun – It’s weird. You’re welcome.

📱 Snacker.ai – Turn content into bite-sized audio with AI.

🧠 Cactus – AI-powered insight tracking. Think journaling meets reflection meets automation.

📺 [Two faceless YouTube experiments I made with OSSA and GPT:]

• Brilliant But Doomed
• World’s Oldest Companies

📹 This Loom explains everything async – Watch this if you're still not sold.

🚪Coming Soon: Less Doing Labs Group Coaching

Yep, it's happening. I’m relaunching group coaching:

• Monthly live calls
• Two in-person events in Princeton each year
• Deeply async, highly actionable

Interested? Ping me directly at www.talktoari.com.

P.S. Whenever you’re ready... here are 4 ways I can help you optimize and grow your business:

Grab a copy of my books

• Less Doing, More Living: It’s the roadmap to optimizing your life and business. — Click Here
• On Productivity: Learn the strategies to become more productive and efficient. — Click Here

Join the Less Doing Lab

• Connect with like-minded individuals and get access to my weekly broadcasts where I share the latest tips, experiences, and stories completely FREE. — Join Now

Take my Courses

• Overwhelmology: Learn how to manage overwhelm and increase productivity. — Enroll Here
• The Replaceable Founder: Discover how to build a business that thrives without you. — Enroll Here

Work with me and my team privately

• If you’d like personalized guidance to take your business to the next level, join the Outliers, my 1:1 coaching program delivered exclusively on Carbon Voice. Just reply to this email with the word “Private,” tell me a little about your business and what you’d like to work on together, and I’ll get you all the details.