I made my recent home move backwards. I sold my house and then had to decide where to move and find a place. Which wasn’t easy in the hot seller’s market of 2021!
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Prairie Valley #2: A Life In Boxes
Moving is hard. And not something I like to do. I lived at my last house for 22 years. And, if you stay in a place for that long, you begin to accumulate things. In my case, a lot of stuff! And those things have to be moved.
Read MorePrairie Valley #1: The Stars
2020 brought a lot of things, arguably many of them harmful. Working (primarily) from home certainly affected how I felt about where I was living in the suburb of a large metropolitan city. And so, I joined the great migration of 2020/2021 and decided to leave town.
Read MoreTechnology: Bluetooth Woes - Start With The Obvious
in Technology
In a weirdly coincidental series of unfortunate events, I ran into problems with both of my Macs this week. The displayed effects didn't show an apparent cause. It was only through a lucky and logical conclusion that I found the problem, which was basically the same on each computer.
Read MoreReflections: The World Needs More Ted Lasso
in Reflections
Last year, 2020, was a horrible year for many. Even for those not sick or losing friends and family, lockdown life often impacted people negatively. One of the brightest spots of the year was an originally little-known streaming series on Apple TV+ called Ted Lasso.
Read MoreThe evolution of SSDs!
in Technology
My M1-based MacBook Pro started throwing errors this week. It warned me that I was running out of disk space, and my poor 16GB computer couldn't generate the large swap files it needed. The culprit - heavily edited podcasts were downloading onto my hard drive.
Read MoreReflections: An extroverted dog teaches me about introversion
in Reflections
I've never seen such a marked example of the difference between an introvert and an extrovert until last night. And it was my dog that showed me!
Read MoreNew Productivity Podcast, New Episode
in Podcasting
Stationery Adjacent is a new weekly podcast hosted by myself and my international colleague Stuart Lennon at the intersection of analog and digital productivity.
Read MoreMy Water Bottle Comes With An EULA!
in Technology
Everything has an app these days. Some useful. Many distracting. And some are just trying to harvest your data with the promise of a free widget. And occasionally, you'll find an app that is unique and life-changing. Of all the weird uses I've seen, my latest game-changing tool is an app that talks to my water bottle. Preposterous!
Read MoreThe discontinuation of the HomePod is indicative of a bigger problem at Apple.
in Technology
As a fan of fruity-labeled technology, HomePod is one of my favourite accessories. Yes, it’s obscenely expensive, and its digital assistant can’t hold a candle to other manufacturers. Still, as a high-end audio speaker, the sound is divine. Apple recently canceled it, and I think that is a bad omen for Apple’s possible direction.
Read MoreA Cautionary Tale about Cloud Storage
in Technology
Cloud-based storage works very well and is extremely convenient. Until it fails and you loose data. This cautionary tale will encourage you to reconsider your back up system.
Read MoreThe incredible power of binary answers combined with identity-based questions
in Productivity
Do you ever find you justify your decision to do something you know you shouldn’t with a qualified answer, rather than a straight yes or no?
The next time you find yourself using a qualified answer to an internal decision - or any answer that is not binary - ask a habit-based question and then ask the question again. I’ll bet the answer is clear and that it is likely the opposite of the qualified answer that your mind was giving you.
Read MoreModel Car Podcast: Episode 57
in Podcasting
John and Justin discuss the latest releases - featuring a huge dump from Hasegawa, reflect on the recent monthly build day, and introduce a new 2021 build-off based on The Race Of Gentlemen. The jury is still out on whether we qualify!
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A notebook cover made from wood?
in Stationery
A notebook cover made of wood! I’m intrigued! It’s a cool concept, well executed and I had an excellent use case for it (writing from my couch in this WFH age!). Check out the full review.
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Model Car Podcast: Episode 53
in Podcasting
I don’t usually cross-post my content, but I wanted to share the latest episode of the Model Car Podcast, a podcast where we discuss our hobby.
In this episode, John and Justin discuss all of the latest kit announcements from AMT, Tamiya, Hasegawa, and Aoshima, and then try to close up 2020 by looking at something positive - our favourite kits. And we kind of agree for a change! It must be a Christmas miracle.
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Productivity 101: The Why of Productivity
in Productivity
If you talk about productivity, you are often speaking to a group of people who are already well versed in the nuances of the productivity space and discussing the nuances of any particular system can feel like cult-like. It can be intimidating for people interested in beginning their journey towards adopting a more productivity-focused mindset and toolbox to discover why or where to begin. The first question I recommend anyone ask is: why should I be interested in productivity systems at all? I answer this in my first of a series of articles written to give an introduction to productivity systems and help anyone develop a system that meets their own needs.
Read MoreRethinking efficient email processes with Hey.com
in Productivity
If you follow technology news on Twitter, you have probably heard about Hey.com. If you haven't, it is a new subscription product based on a different way of looking at email. Hey has a great heritage, as it is made by the team that developed Basecamp. Hey is not just a new email client; you can't use an existing email address with the product. Instead, for good or bad, you have to embrace the Hey way of processing and reviewing email. While I disliked it at first, the Hey email way has grown on me. And it's not bad. In fact, it is terrific.
Read MoreEmail is the largest workplace distraction
in Productivity
We all know the evils of social media - at least as far as easily encroaching into your productive time. The bunny trails of infinity pools of content that draw you down into distraction. But as career-minded business people, we are unlikely to be surfing Facebook at work. In business, the biggest distraction trap we have is email. Email is truly evil!
Read MoreWords Have Power - Lessons for Public Speakers
Words have power. From relearning how to write with exactness and specificity to lessons we can learn as public speakers, you always must consider the power of words.
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Living the digital minimalism life
in Productivity
After a 30 day digital declutter, I found I didn’t want to put all of the distractions back at my finger tips. I am, over 3 months later, still living the digital minimalist life. And it’s glorious.
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