Inspiration can create great art, massive companies, and world-changing theories, but it might have a very short shelf-life.
Naval Ravikant, the philosopher-entrepreneur behind AngelList and one of Silicon Valley’s most influential thinkers, has built a career on counterintuitive wisdom. But perhaps none of his insights cuts quite as sharply against conventional productivity advice as this one: forget the schedules, abandon the planners, and act on inspiration the moment it strikes. In a world obsessed with time-blocking and systematic routines, Ravikant argues that the most profound learning and creative work happens not through discipline, but through spontaneity.
“Another thing that I really believe is that inspiration is perishable,” Ravikant explains. “Act on it immediately. So when you are inspired to do something, do that thing. If I’m inspired to write a blog post, I want to do it at that moment. If I’m inspired to send a tweet, I want to do it at that moment. If I’m inspired to solve a problem, I want to do it that moment.”
The principle extends beyond creative pursuits into learning itself. “If I’m inspired to read a book, I want to read it right then. If I want to learn something, I do it at the moment of curiosity. The moment the curiosity arrives, I go learn that thing immediately. I download the book, I get on Google, I get on ChatGPT, whatever. I will figure that thing out on the spot and that’s when the learning happens.”
This approach stands in stark contrast to the scheduled, regimented learning that dominates both educational institutions and corporate training programs. “It doesn’t happen because I’ve scheduled time, because I’ve set an hour aside, because when that time arrives, I might be in a different mood. I might just want to do something different,” Ravikant notes. “So I think that spontaneity is really important.”
The comparison to formal education is particularly pointed. “You’re going to learn best when you’re having fun, when you genuinely are enjoying the process, not when you’re forced to sit there and do it. How much do you remember from school? You were forced to learn geography, history, mathematics on this schedule, at this time, according to this person. Didn’t happen. All the stuff that sticks with you is you learned it when you wanted to, when you genuinely had the desire.”
Ravikant’s philosophy aligns with emerging trends in both workplace culture and technology. The rise of remote work has already challenged the notion that productivity requires fixed schedules and physical presence. Meanwhile, AI tools like ChatGPT have made just-in-time learning more feasible than ever—eliminating the friction between curiosity and knowledge acquisition. Companies like Shopify and GitLab have experimented with “no-meeting” days and asynchronous work cultures, recognizing that mandated collaboration often kills the spontaneous deep work that drives innovation. Even in education, the explosive growth of platforms like YouTube tutorials and online courses reflects a shift toward self-directed, curiosity-driven learning over institutional curricula.
The implications are profound for how we structure our work lives and learning environments. If inspiration truly is perishable, then the traditional productivity stack—the carefully blocked calendars, the pre-planned learning schedules, the rigid meeting cadences—may be inadvertently destroying the very moments when our best work could happen. Perhaps the future belongs not to the disciplined schedulers, but to those who’ve mastered the art of capturing lightning in a bottle the instant it strikes.