Ondrej Markus

Entrepreneur in ed-tech, building the future of education as a founder and CEO at Playful.

I write about the future of education, designing learning games, and running a startup.

I'm a generalist, introvert, gamer, and optimizing to be useful.

stickman sitting at a desk

Startups

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My notes on building useful things people want

How to test product ideas

Case study: How I went from an idea to paying customers in 4 weeks

Make something you want to exist

How to find ideas and start learning by doing.

The fear of being a failure

Story about the fear of failing those who believed in me.

Test your idea in 280 characters

Avoid wasting your time making things nobody wants.

3 levels of becoming an innovator

A summary of essential mindsets, strategies, and tools.

How to become an innovation designer

Solve the right problems in the right way.

Life Design

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How to design and live a good life?

Meaningful work guide

10 steps designed to help you find work that fits your needs and personality

Full-Stack Freelancer

The optimal way of working for generalists.

How to be as useful as you can

Make a positive impact without losing your mind.

Prime your mind for better decisions

How to be your best self and make big decisions.

Build something that doesn't work

A story about how I failed my way into success.

No meetings before noon

The foundation of my daily productivity.

Morning pages: The best journaling method

An essential thing I do every day to stay sane.

Find a productivity system that works for you

How to focus on what really matters

Why don't I do what I say I want

An exploration into words vs. actions.

Use overcompensation to find your balance

It's fine if you go extreme for a while.

Leverage your money-making potential

How to live without worrying about money.

The best thing money can buy

What is it for you?

What's your money motivation?

It's fine if you go extreme for a while.

Fund yourself

How to use money on what matters the most.

What if you made money 1 day a week?

A different kind of life-style.

How to turn bad days around

Design your environment for success.

Feelgood journal

A simple method to train your brain optimism.

Finding yourself as you go

It's fine to start with no idea where to go.

Creative routines: How to do your best work

How people get their creative work done?

Write to learn better

How to use writing to improve at any skill.

Work with your garage door open

How to overcome the fear of being judged.

Daily Design: Template for winning your day

A mindful way to plan your day in five minutes.

Train your brain to be optimistic

How to stop having negative reactions to everything.

Become an expert on yourself

Practice self-awareness and get your life under control.

The power of being lost

How to keep getting lost and find yourself anyway.

Design your lives

Create three different versions of the next five years.

Find meaning

How to create purpose in your life and work?

Follow joy

It's the best navigation system.

Start where you are

You don't need to be anywhere else.

Do the most important work first

Don't fall into false productivity.

How to get unstuck

Overcome your inner critic.

Write public reflections

It's the best way to start writing and improve.

4 ways to do a year reflection

Choose the one that works best for you.

Be bad to get good

Be willing to be bad at first so you can improve.

Rational Artist: The ideal way to work

Do what you enjoy while making enough money.

Be irresponsible

Make your life easier.

Self-determination triangle

What do you need to have a good life?

I will try writing 100 articles in 100 days

(Edit: I failed)

How to write an article in 25 minutes

No backspace. Ignore grammar. Write faster.

Imagine change is possible

Start creating the life you really want.

Go to school but learn yourself

Schools fail at the one thing they should do really well.

The 85 % rule: Be the best by trying less

Trying less is sometimes the only way to get better.

Quantity is the best way to learn by doing

Try this counter-intuitive approach to learning.

How to find the right time to quit

Improve your decision-making based on your past.

7 rules for journaling

My essential tips for writing a journal.

Make your own mentors

It doesn't matter whether they are too busy.

I disagree with everything I write

I always find a way to disagree with myself.

Reflections

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My personal reflections on work and life

2023: Playful beginnings

A brief look at my life lessons from 2023.

What the work happened: Q1, Q2 2023

A quaterly personal reflection on my work-life.

2022: Unanswered questions

A yearly reflection on my work and life in 2022.

What the work happened: Q3 2022

A quaterly personal reflection on my work-life.

What the work happened: Q2 2022

A quaterly personal reflection on my work-life.

What the work happened: Q1 2022

A quaterly personal reflection on my work-life.

2021: The Courage to Try

A very personal reflection on my work in 2021.

#21: Output routine

Set up your inputs, outputs, and results.

#20: How I do my monthly review

A peek into my productivity system.

#19: Big messy projects

My weapons for wrestling with big projects.

#18: Rage

The Flower Thrower.

#17: Killing my Youtube habit

Ending the cycle of procrastination.

#16: When introvert goes super social

I am 9/10 introvert.

#15: How to write books as a designer

Approaching books like products.

#14: Find work you enjoy

Useful books, and the courage to create.

#13: New habits

The Mom test, and being useful.

#12: Bad weeks

Systems, and the power of being lost.

#11: Rational artists

Money, and articles as prototypes.

#10: Work on the right thing

Find freedom and enjoy life.

#9: Build a profitable side project

Ignoring Twitter and daily notes.

#8: Bleeding money

Weekly emails and becoming a solopreneur.

What the work happened #7

Design your work and the Twitter game.

What the work happened #6

My made-up job and building a network.

What the work happened #5

Better systems and The Van incident.

What the work happened #4

A very personal reflection on my work in April 2021.

What the work happened #3

A very personal reflection on my work in March 2021.

What the work happened #2

A very personal reflection on my work in February 2021.

What the work happened #1

A very personal reflection on my work in January 2021.

2020: My ballad for bad work

An unpolished look at 2020, my first year of writing.