Daniel Kim
Daniel Kim
Productivity
Finish smaller things in public. The rest of the system will follow.
Open the Special EditionAbout the Expert
Daniel designs work systems for people who already own too many apps. He cares about calendars, shutdown rituals and the difference between being busy and making a thing that exists. 31 Experts selected him because his advice survives a full inbox.
- Product designer who studies how operators actually spend a Tuesday.
- Special Edition includes a 31-day finish log.
- Known for subtracting tools rather than adding them.
Special Edition
The Top 10
If you could give just one piece of advice to someone starting out in this discipline, what would it be?
Put the important thing first on the calendar, not first in your feelings.
What was the biggest challenge you faced in your career, and how did you overcome it?
A beautiful system I did not use. I now design for bad days.
What is the most important “Never do this…” rule in your discipline?
Never start a second project to avoid finishing the first.
Who inspired or mentored you, and what did you learn from them?
A chef whose mise en place was a form of respect.
What is the biggest discovery you wish you had known on day one?
Energy design beats time design.
What do outsiders consistently misunderstand about your discipline?
That productivity is speed. It is completion.
What decision looked small at the time but changed everything?
A daily shutdown even when the work felt unfinished.
What skill outside your discipline has contributed most to your success?
Photography. Constraints force a subject.
What belief did you hold when you started that you no longer believe today?
That more capture tools would save me. Capture without review is clutter.
When your career is remembered, what do you hope people say you stood for?
That he made finishing feel like manners.
Expert Playbook
One finish per day
Define finish before you start. If it cannot be finished today, it is too big. Cut until it can.
Digital products
Shutdown Checklist
A paper ritual from Finish. Designed for bad days.
Recommended resources
A paper shutdown checklist
If it only lives in an app, it will die in the app.