Tara McMullin’s post on overcommitting and the validation spiral was exactly what I needed to read today. She makes wonderful use of simple diagrams to show how we begin to overcommit, and then we don’t have enough resources to fully meet our existing commitments (disappointing ourselves and others)
My first habit tracker app was called HabitBull and I think it was on my very first smartphone. It had a grid of habits, and you could select how often you intended to do them. It didn’t have to be daily, it could be three times a week, or
I recently finished Duly Noted: Extend Your Mind Through Connected Notes, by Jorge Arango, an experienced information architect. (I spent most of the book drooling over Arango’s information processing approach, which uses several Mac-only tools, like DEVONthink and Tinderbox. Will my next computer be a Mac?) In some
Trying out an exercise I designed to help get to know your creative practice and understand what challenges might exist and what can change to help work around those challenges. Initial inspiration for this exercise was drawn from an exercise in Abby Covert’s book, How to Make Sense of
I’ve just spent the last half hour searching around for the right way to go about a book idea I have. Was I wasting this time? Or was it a real investment, the way a comfortable office chair is an investment? Tools for writing, and thinking carefully about my
My public existence was not an equation to be solved to other people’s liking.
"Practice telling and retelling your story. Over time, it will clarify."
What had seemed like a willpower issue—(why am I not writing?) or an intelligence issue (am I not smart enough?) or a time issue (when can I write, I have a baby)—was really an issue of workflow and tools.
All the smart people had a particular way that they processed and synthesized information, so I figured I should get one too. Maybe it started with Sarah Chappell’s series on how she researches. Maybe Tara McMullin had posted something similar about her process. Maybe I vaguely dreamed of having
I tried out the Minimalist Phone app last week. I just happened to see it and was seduced by the prospect of a pretentiously blank lock screen. Simplicity to the point of ostentation. But most of all, I was seduced by the idea that maybe then I’d have some