Yesterday I was stuck driving home behind a car who had the audacity to stick to the speed limit (I know. The nerve of it!). At first I tried to spy moments to overtake and thought ahead to the prime spots on the road for overtaking. Then something changed. My perspective. I realised I was in no … read more

It was my daughter’s 5 birthday yesterday. We did all her favourite thing: opened presents went to the local softplay had curry for lunch went to the playground had ice cream in the park made a plastercast unicorn she got from her uncle. watch a couple of episodes of Paw patrol had pizza for … read more

Last week I made a shocking discovery. Fruit is great in hot weather. I know, revolutionary insight but if you looked at my habits, this idea was a real shock. I don’t have anything against fruit and eat it when offered, but I just don’t choose fruit or go for it. Instead I’m more … read more

My kids are almost 2 and 5. Both of them are going through a period of temper tantrums. It’s annoying and frustrating. Especially when the elder one turns around and sets off the younger one, usually with a punch or a poke after being asked not to. On my better days I stay calm and manage to … read more

It’s the end of my Friday workday so I’m doing my simple weekly reflection. It’s called plus, minus, next and I heard about it from Anne-Laure Le Cunff of Ness Labs. I like using the symbols / - / ➡ Plus is for the good things from the week Minus is for the bad things from the … read more

There’s a movie going around that’s getting some major press. It presents an anti-trafficking group as the saviours of children caught in the child sex trade. The only problem? It’s a fantasy. Sure, there’s elements of a real story — organisation, people, even rescue missions … read more

I used to be a massive defender of the Oxford comma, now I think most examples where it adds clarity are usually the result of poor writing. For example, “He met with his parents, the Pope and Barak Obama.” Is this a list of three people or are the Pope and Obama his parents? All that needs to be … read more

For the last few years I’ve felt like tech companies and tech journalists are all trying to tell me I shouldn’t be happy with the “amazing revolutions” that came out only a year ago (but of course these new ones will all fix my problems). It’s things like the iPad which was finally a pro device when … read more

🔗 What if you could only use ONE APP on your iPhone? – Shawn Blanc

What if you could only use ONE APP on your iPhone? – Shawn Blanc

So this is a completely random but fun experiment… but what app would you pick if you could only pick ONE?

I read this quick post from Shawn a few days back and knew my answer almost instantly – Drafts.

I’d certainly miss the camera (but I have a ricoh gr), podcast, and the sat nav in some situations, but with drafts I’d cover the other 80% I use my phone for. I could even manage my tasks there too if I needed.

Continuing with the other devices… I’d probably pick

• Mac – Arc (cheating I know, but I’d need it for work). excluding that, Obsidian.
• iPad – Reader from Readwise

I’d never choose obsidian on the iPhone, it’s just not fast enough. In fact, it almost makes me wonder if I could just switch to drafts…

What about you?

I’ve noticed (and I feel the temptation too) to think of task management/PKM/bullet journaling/jorunaling/whatever as a binary thing — either you have some incredible complicated system which you use everyday the way the gurus on YouTube use theirs, or your “not doing it right”. … read more

Writing what you’re grateful for is a common journaling activity and for good reason. Practicing gratitude is one of the most effective ways to increase your happiness. If you aren’t doing it, I highly recommend you start. But it’s easy to stop there. To feel better about ourselves … read more

I’ve been less patience recently. It’s been a growing issue since my daughter learned the word “why” and now her brother is “stealing attention” from her, at least from her perspective. Blaming my situation is the easy and half-true option. While I certain have … read more

Today I came across a writer with a boring site. He has a single profile picture at the top along with links to navigate to his various writings and podcastings. It was wonderful. I was soon on a wikipedia-like spelunking trip through his various article. His site feels like such a breath of fresh … read more

I am not a consistent journaler. Over the last 8 years, I’ve tried lots of different system with varying degrees of success, but every time I keep the habit going, I gain a lot from it. In my experiments, I’ve found three prompts which have helped me more than any others. So I thought … read more

UPDATE: I’ve realised that even these thoughts aren’t completely correct. I’ve noticed exceptions to my main issue. My new working theory is that I just wished we were all a little self obsessed, and when someone is less obvious with it, it make me realise the issue in myself. … read more

I disconnected from the electric grid for 8 months—in Manhattan | Ars Technica On May 22, 2022, I began an experiment. I unplugged everything in my apartment, with the goal of drawing zero power from the electric grid for one month. I had no idea how I would make it past a few days. Nevertheless, … read more

I’ve been thinking about minimalism again. My main prompt is reading “The Life We’re Looking For” by Andy Crouch. He lays out how “devices” can take as well as give and advocates for technology that makes us more engaged with our whole being rather than passive. As is common, I’ve started to see … read more

I’ve got the week off work (but my daughter is still going to pre-school) so I’ve drawn up a list of things to do that I would normally struggle to do due to lack of time or her presence! There’s a lot of big topic conversations with my wife plus making sure I’m fully present … read more

I had to renew my phone contract and had a chance to upgrade my four year old phone. In the end I decided against it. The offer sounded good but I wouldn’t have wanted to upgrade this year anyway so it was just spending money I didn’t want to spend. As I reached the conclusion that I should … read more

The end of the year is in sight. And while there’s still time for me to purchase a new piece of tech, I think it’s safe for me to create this roundup list (especially with my current financial situation). I haven’t bought too many items this year, but these three stand out above … read more