Admiring the Dyrdek Machine

I've got a few podcasts on repeat, sacred texts in the gospel of "Figuring It Out." One of them is a Guy Ritchie masterpiece I've devoured about eight times.

Then there's this gem with Rob Dyrdek.

Yeah, that Rob Dyrdek: skateboarder turned mogul, the man who practically prints his own money these days. Whether you idolize him, can't stand him, or couldn't care less, the fact remains – the dude's a financial wizard with a Midas touch.

A net worth busting through the $100 million ceiling, a portfolio of companies under his belt, and practically squatting on MTV's prime time like it's his living room. There's a truckload to unpack here about the man, and I'm diving headfirst into it.

Rob Dyrdek doesn't just live life; he engineers it with the precision of a Swiss watchmaker. This guy took the grueling marathon of shooting a TV show and turned it into a 100-meter dash without breaking a sweat.

How? By dissecting every minute of his day with the cold, hard logic of a chess grandmaster.

Back in the day, Dyrdek was drowning in a schedule that would have lesser mortals waving the white flag. Here's what he said about shooting his show on for MTV:

"I used to shoot 60 episodes a year, and it would tear the soul out of me. I didn't even want to shoot the show anymore because it just took too much energy. It would be five weeks straight where I would shoot four days a week, and by the end of it, I would be so exhausted. I didn't even enjoy doing it; I didn't care what it paid me. It was simply too much of my energy and well-being."

This part starts at 14:24 if you wanna listen to it from the man himself.

But here’s where Dyrdek flips the script. He takes a hard look at the inefficiencies plaguing his production schedule – the devil in the details.

• Driving to Glendale for voiceovers? Gone. Swapped hours of driving and prep for a swift 15-minute digital glance.
• Voice-overs? Tightened. Merged them into the shoot, slashing a grueling hour to a brisk 35 minutes.
• Reduced clip shot count from 6 to 4. Only edited 4 anyway, cutting episode shot time to 29 minutes.
• Upped the daily shoot count. From two a day to six (3 before and after lunch), now just a couple times a month instead of whole weeks.
• Wardrobe changes? Minimized. Saved an hour by nixing two changes and shortening lunch. On track to hit 8 episodes a day with that.

From 60 episodes to 336 a year. Same 42 days, now only 4% of his life, with a passion reignited and profits up.

Dyrdek's journey from a five-week slog to a twice-a-month gig showcases a master class in efficiency, turning a dreaded task back into a lucrative love affair.

The lesson? It's not about working harder; it's about working smarter. It’s about questioning every "that's just how it's done" in your life and finding a better way.

How can you apply this to your own life?

• Commute killing you? Ask to telecommute on certain days. Can't? Take some calls from the road to free up time in your day. Or shift your hours to dodge the peak traffic times.
• Meeting marathon? Cut those hour-long snooze fests down to 15-minute power sessions. Send agendas or content ahead of time. If it can't be said in 15, it's probably not worth saying. Be merciless with the agenda and stick to it like glue.
• Email avalanche? Set specific times to check them. Once in the morning, post-lunch, and before you clock out. Turn off notifications. The world won't end, but your productivity might just begin.
• Task juggling? Automate the mundane. Bills, reminders, even some aspects of your job—there's an app or a bot itching to take that off your plate. Use it.
• Lunch hour? More like power hour. Take a walk, hit a quick workout, or meditate. Turn that midday break into a recharge station, not just a food refill.

Dyrdek showed us the playbook: dissect, discard, and dominate. Your life's too damn precious to spend it in a cycle of inefficiency. Break the mold, toss out the rulebook, and for heaven's sake, stop doing things because "that's just how it's done."

Remember, it's not about reinventing the wheel; sometimes, it's just about greasing it a bit better.

So, ask yourself, where are you just accepting the grind instead of rewriting the rules?