Jake Knapp on Work, Rest, and Mortality

Welcome to Rest Easy with Ximena Vengoechea, a show about navigating ambition, work, and rest in our busy lives.

In this inaugural episode, we speak with Jake Knapp, New York Times bestselling author, designer, creator of the design sprint, and fellow multi-hyphenate about his relationship to work and rest.

I first met Jake back in 2020 when I was publishing my first book, which he very generously blurbed. Being a writer and illustrator in the world of UX can be a lonely endeavor—there aren’t many of us hybrid types working across both the publishing and tech industry out there, and the two fields are not often in conversation. (This is starting to change, bit by bit.) I immediately felt a kinship with Jake: he’s one of the few people I can talk both startup life and writer’s block with, and we are both Big Ideas people who love a good brainstorm.

I’m delighted to share a small slice of Jake in our first episode of the show. We talk about Jake’s early hobbies and how they led to the work he does today; a milestone moment that changed the way Jake thinks about work, rest, and mortality; Jake’s go-to recovery techniques to bounce back from working too hard; and the lessons he learned from his parents that shaped his relationship to rest. To learn more about Jake and sign up for his newsletter, check out his website.

Special mentions in this episode:

• Jake’s books: Sprint, Make Time

• Getting Things Done, David Allen

• Deep Work, Cal Newport

• Mad Max, George Miller

• Ximena’s latest book: Rest Easy

Thanks so much for listening as we embark on this new show ☄️. If you enjoyed this episode, hit the heart button, drop a comment, or share this with someone you think will love it, too. Be sure to subscribe to ximena.substack.com for future podcast episodes, newsletter updates, and book news from me. Until next time!