Blog
Do you ever find that you often solve a key problem, or have a novel idea when in the shower, just to find that you have no ability to jot those ideas down? I call those Shower Thoughts. Have you ever wondered why you get these epiphanies in the shower? Well, there are a number of scientific reasons why, but let’s focus on just one of them today, Boredom. When you’re in the shower, you don’t have your TV, computer, phone. (If I’m being honest, I sometimes I have my phone, but I don’t recommend that). Because you don’t have these things you’re forced to be one with your thoughts, and from a dopamine perspective they can be pretty boring in comparison to those devices, but Boredom breeds creativity...
This is not a particularly new idea, but I was feeling it this morning, so I decided to write about it. In the modern internet, social media and collective culture, arrogance is rewarded with more attention, and in this case more clicks. There is little space for “this is how I do things” in hopes of someone sharing alternative approaches that perhaps you didn’t know about or had not stuck for you. Instead, “The Ultimate Guide to X” is rewarded, even if it’s not the Ultimate Guide at all. I suppose bravado and arrogance has always been rewarded in sales, but I still wonder why that’s the case...
A prompt from a recent E-Ink Roundtable was: If you no longer had access to any of your E-Ink tablets, and had to go out and buy one with your own money, which would you not buy? From a completely personal preference perspective, I would not buy the SuperNote. This is not because is it’s a bad device, quite the opposite, it’s actually an amazing device that is practical, and I love their team’s philosophy and their software. The challenge I have is that my writing style is just not compatible with that device. I want to reiterate, this is completely my personal preference...
A prompt from a recent E-Ink Roundtable was: If you no longer had access to any of your E-Ink tablets, and had to go out and buy one with your own money, which would you buy? My use-case is one that rewards focus and creativity. My primary goal is to have a digital sketching and note-taking space that enables me to effortless share what I’m sketching in real-time or immediately afterwards with my team. For me, I feel like the reMarkable 2 does the best job of giving me that creative space and getting out of my way. They also have painless screen-sharing and export baked directly into the platform...
Digital Tools are excellent and essential, but they are a terrible place to start. When you’re working on a new idea and the possibilities are still endless, the linear flow of modern digital tools is a recipe to build something like the things you’ve already built or someone else has already built. Starting with digital also increases the risk of missing the point of the project altogether by working in high fidelity before you’ve truly figured out the essence of what you’re trying to make. For years, I used paper notebooks for this step in my process, but about 2 years ago, I gave E-Ink a try, and I haven’t looked back...
Experiences (in no particular order) Winning the Broadway lottery and having front row seats for Six w/ Charlie Hamilton Wicked with Marshie and Charlie Taking Charlie to see the Lion King Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge time with Marshie and Charlie Cory Wong concert at Friday Cheers with Marshie thanks to a recommendation from Jake Saw Movements at Canal Club with Bryson Such an amazing Landmvrks and Miss May I show Started Playing Tennis with Robert Took a Tennis lesson with Holger Schmidt Started playing Tennis on Wednesday nights with Marshie and Charlie and then going to Galley afterwards..
A term I coined on 2022-11-21 for the success I have observed in design when using smaller chunks of work over longer periods of time. Instead of brute forcing a project over a single session or two, work on aspects of it over a handful of smaller work sessions across a few days. This enables you to have multiple fresh looks at the project (and your work on it), and I find that it leads to better overall quality. I find in design, you can no longer see your work clearly after spending too much time with it. You need to leave it, do something else and re-evaluate it with “fresh eyes”...
I have been creating videos on YouTube for a little over a year now. It started as a little experiment in sharing my favorite tips and tricks with the world, but has slowly grown much bigger than I originally expected. I recently took a look at my YouTube stats, and they are by no means staggering, but when you try to translate them into “in-person” or human terms it is quite wild. Over the last 28 days here are some raw statistics from YouTube: 2,284 Subscribers 85,000 Views 55,300 Viewers 6,500 watch hours Let’s translate those numbers into terms we can more easily wrap our heads around: 2,284 people have watched a video and at the end decided they would like to see more videos like that in the future...
I’ve been using the reMarkable 3.0 Beta for the past week. Here are my initial impressions. Being able to extend a page beyond A4 size is a huge improvement. Often I am forced to start a new page to continue a thought. Being able to have one page per ideas is very nice. Being able to extend a page also opens up a better workflow to have one page per day. Previously, I couldn’t fit my notes for a given day on one page, so I didn’t attempt this. This works well now! The ability to scroll pages is excellent, but I wish it remembered my scroll position when I leave the document and come back...
As someone who notoriously stays up late, I can finally say it is a bad tradeoff. For 8+ years, I have gone to bed after midnight. For a good portion of this time, I was going to bed around 2am. Only in the last year have I started going to bed reliably before midnight. Now I realize that staying up late (at least for me) is trading your fresh, creative hours in the morning for sluggish robotic hours in the evening. I was wasting my Most productive time of the day. My ability to think creatively is significantly diminished in the evening, and staying up late to get a few more of those hours at the expense of a productive morning the next morning is just a bad deal...
So you are a current AirPods Pro user, and you are trying to figure out if the new Second Generation AirPods Pro are worth the upgrade. In this video I will walk you through where they’ve improved, where they’re the same and ultimately if I think they are worth the $250 upgrade over the AirPods you already have in your pocket. Initial Impressions Quality of life Changes Charging via Apple Watch charger is a nifty gimmick Charge chime Legitimate Find My support Battery life was already very good, it was nearly never an issue, but it is even better. Better sound quality Old AirPods Pro were acceptable sound quality...
This is out of date and the current process is in: YouTube Production Checklist Write an Outline Write a script and/or Intro Is there a video I can mention or reference in this video? Come up with 10 title options Determine what the thumbnail should be Make the thumbnail (before recording the video) If the thumbnail sucks, no need to go any further Record the A-Roll (Dialog) Do an initial cut of the dialog Note B-Roll we need with markers (Blue) Note chapters via markers in another color (Purple) Take that list from DaVinci Resolve and record all the B-Roll Write a description for moc/YouTube Be sure to add relevant tags Create named clips of that B-Roll in DaVinci Resolve Overlay those B-Roll clips on the markers Change the markers to green as you have filled each This gives us a todo list of remaining tasks Rewatch at 2x Speed and do a final edit Chop up any long-running clips to stay interesting Add chapters via markers in another color Add Intro, Subscribe callouts and outro This needs to be updated, but I’ve started using Descript
I recently read Tiago Forte’s Building a Second Brain and I think that book has a good explanation of the PARA method and the CODE Method, but should you be using PARA in your Obsidian vault? I think the PARA system is good and has merit, but no I don’t think it is a great fit for Obsidian or your modern graph PKM systems because it is not flat enough. A file can only be in one folder and I think that makes sense in a traditional file system, but one of the benefits of Obsidian is that the structure of your files emerges through the references and use of that note via your graph database...
If you know of a great keyboard shortcut that you adore, that is not mentioned here, email (this domain at gmail.com) or DM me on Twitter so I can add it. The keyboard shortcuts references here are expressed in terms for the Mac, but you can typically convert them for use on Windows by swapping OPT for ALT, CMD for CTRL and CTRL for the Windows key (sometimes) macOS / General CTRL + CMD + F for Full Screen CMD + , for preferences Close current window with CMD + W Close current app with CMD + Q Change active application with OPT + Tab Changing Spaces with CTRL + Left or Right Function + Backspace functions as a forward delete key CTRL + CMD + SHIFT + 3 or 4 for Screenshots Make sure you know how to play/pause your music & change volume with keyboard shortcuts General Text Selection CMD + Left or Right to jump to the ends of the line OPT + Left or Right to move a word forward or back Add SHIFT to select the word while you’re at it Google Chrome CMD + L to highlight to URL bar CTRL + Tab to switch tabs CMD + R to refresh the current tab CMD + [ to go back a page CMD + ] to go forward a page CMD + OPT + Down Arrow to Deselect the Browser Bar...
In this post, I will show you how I have optimized my phone to have more focus and ultimately a more healthy relationship with my phone. Along the way, I will show you 5 tips to have a healthy balance with your phone Many videos talk about decluttering your phone, and I am in favor of this, but ultimately for a different reason. Everything in your life is vying for your attention, and your phone likely most of all. A big point of emphasis with my iPhone is making it as much of a distraction free tool as it can be...
Create a document with the following dimensions: 1404px x 1872px (Note that the reMarkable 2 and Supernote A5 X also have these same dimensions) The resolution is 227px per inch (Shouldn’t matter, but just thought you should know). Use your favorite image editor to create your image. Export your image as a PNG Connect your Boox device via USB to your computer and drop the exported file in the noteTemplate folder. Enjoy! Your template is now available within the notes app on your Boox Note Air 2 Plus. P.S: you can follow these same instructions to customize your Screensaver and Shutdown images...
rM2 Template Making rM2 Template Helper & Custom Screens https://youtu.be/7FHBSLMShVc Whitelines for Remarkable https://github.com/Templarian/Remarkable https://rm.ezb.io/ rM2 Highlights Python Library for pulling Remarkable highlights Screensharing https://github.com/rien/reStream https://github.com/bordaigorl/rmview Screen Alignment Issues Example and how to fix magnetization Remarkable Hacking DDVK Hack Stylus Hack for use with DDVK Standalone Stylus Hack GitHub - funkey/recept: Pen event interception for line smoothing on the reMarkable 2 tablet https://www.reddit.com/r/RemarkableTablet/comments/78u90n/passwordless_ssh_setup_for_remarkable_tablet/ (Optional, but helpful) http://www.davisr.me/projects/rcu/ Meta reMarkable 2
There is something satisfying about getting into flow state. As a creative (or anyone who likes to solve tough problems), flow state is where you make progress. I sometimes call this Progress Time. Everything else you do is to keep the lights on, and to improve the chances that you find yourself in flow state. Factors effecting flow state: getting good sleep the night before have my to-dos for the day in order so that they aren’t nagging at me know that I have a block of time allotted where I’m not going to accidentally miss my next meeting Coffee (not too much) Noise cancelling headphones (even if nothing is playing), there is something about separating myself from my surroundings that is especially helpful...
Why do weekly reflection? The progress you are making in your life can sometimes be difficult to see in realtime, but is fairly easy see after the fact if you go look for it. By spending 5 minutes each evening writing about your day you can learn so much about yourself and it’s rewarding to look back and see the all the good things that happen in life and your progress. I’m constantly amazed how easy it is to forget the great things that happen in life if you don’t take a moment to write them down. Often when I sit down for weekly review I will be reminded of great things that I had already forgotten about...
I’m fairly confident that I’m going to get a bunch of hateful comments from this article, but please hear me out. I really like the idea of VIM. The ability to move around the page completely with your keyboard is right up my alley. So much so that I use Vimium within Chrome. The ability to find and jump to any element on the page or click on any button with a few keystrokes is amazing. If you’re interested in that, I have a video all about Vimium. The issue is that every app you use has to support VIM movements to make the payoff worthwhile...
Desk Boox Note Air 2 Plus — My favorite eInk tablet and has replaced traditional pen and paper for me. Samsung S-Pen S6 Lite — My preferred stylus for use at my desk LAMY AL-Star Black EMR with POM Tip — My preferred stylus on the go due to the cap. Kindle Oasis — If you’re buying today, buy the Paperwhite instead. My thoughts on Kindle. Endgame Gear XM1 — I have a wireless XM2w on order, but this mouse fits me better than all others, and I have tried a ton. Fully Jarvis Desk — A little shakey, but ultimately excellent price to performance...
So you’re thinking about publishing your Obsidian Vault online, but you’re not sure if you want to pay for Obsidian Publish or not. I’ve been there, that was the exact same situation I was in when I considered publishing my vault. Call me cheap, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to pay $20 a month for the rest of time. Would I keep writing meaningful content, would people actually ready it? So instead, I decided I was going to figure out a way to publish my vault without the monthly fee. I now publish my vault online, and I don’t pay anything for hosting.
What shortcuts do I use? O Launching Originally found it watching a YouTube Video by Jesse Skelton which you can find here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaJSjgVEhMQ M -> Music -> Spotify I -> IM -> Messages F -> Files -> Open Downloads Folder G -> Google Chrome -> Chrome C -> Calendar -> Fantastical T -> TickTick -> TickTick Z -> Zoom -> Zoom D -> Obsidian -> Obsidian E -> Editor -> Sublime Text S -> Slack -> Slack Hyper Key This gives me an extra set of Keyboard Shortcut triggers without having to develop Carpel Tunnel or having to leave my home row...
Setting up your Obsidian Vault for Personal Knowledge Management can be daunting. You start from scratch, there are 1000’s of plugins to chose from, and honestly it all becomes one big distraction from actually generating thoughts and ideas. In this video, I will share my approach to managing an Obsidian vault in hopes it will save you a few headaches when starting from scratch. Note: I publish my Obsidian Vault using Github Pages and because of this I use more folders than most vaults you will see. Having folders that I can hide away makes making sure I only share what I intend to share with the Internet...
Arc Obsidian Akiflow Cleanshot X 1Password Loom Readwise MeetingBar DaVinci Resolve / Gling IZotope Rx Postico Sublime Text / VS Code Discord Honorable Mentions Drafts Things 3 Apple Music iTerm2 Parcel Fantastical Previous GoodNotes TickTick Amethyst HandMirror Spotify / Tidal Command
Chrome Extensions This video is by no means an exhaustive list of everything Vimium can do, but I can walk you through the features I use everyday that I think are a good starting point and then you can decide if you want to mix in anything else. Features I actually use: J/K Arrow Keys F to tap on any button / to search for any word on the page and then double tap enter to click on that link If there are multiple instances of the word on the page you can tap enter once to commit the search and then use n to jump to the next instance of it...
#1. Use a Window Manager I use Amethyst to give specific Monitors and windows focus which was a common thing I would have to pick up my mouse for Hyper + ZXCV for moving Windows Around Hyper + ASDF to move focus #2. Learn Text Cursor movement Command + Right or Left to jump to the end of the line Alt + Right or Left to move a word at a time Add shift to select the word while you’re at it #3. Scroll with your arrow keys Most websites let you use up & down arrow keys I use Hyper + HJKL as my arrow keys so that I don’t have to leave the home row (optional) You can also use the Vimium Chrome Extension to do this and much more...
Don’t play “catch and release” with your thoughts. Your ideas have value, but tend to arrive when you least expect them. By making it a habit to “capture” and save them, you can allow them to live forever in a trusted system that reflects your goals and interests. This also leaves your mind free and clear to come up with even more ideas. — Thiago Forte Quick Capture I get ideas & inspiration often while working on others and TickTick’s quick capture allows me to quickly jot that down and get back to what I was doing without missing a beat...