A minimalist traveling in company always ends up lugging around other people’s stuff.

I finally had a moment to follow Frank’s example and create my own Funkopop. It took a few versions (the AI kept giving me a beard) but this one is quite “me”.

Currently reading: Deep Work by Cal Newport 📚

I decided to take it slow for the remainder of the year. I will focus on the absolute necessary things and besides that just do what feels best.

Finished reading: The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande 📚 Very well written book, with lots of anecdotes to see how to apply the principles outside the operating room. Now I have to figure out whether we can implement some of these practices in our business.

Nice! Day One has included journaling suggestions.

📸 Miró

What a great advice: Try to be surprised by something every day. It could be something you see, hear, or read about. Stop to look at the unusual car parked at the curb, taste the new item on the cafeteria menu, actually listen to your colleague at the office. How is this different from other similar cars, dishes or conversations? What is its essence? Don’t assume that you already know what these things are all about, or that even if you knew them, they wouldn’t matter anyway.

Instead of tackling every small task as soon as it arises, you can gather similar tasks and do them all at once. This is called “batching,” and it helps you spend less time starting and finishing work. For example, if you make all your phone calls at one time of the day, you stay in the same mindset and don’t have to constantly switch between different types of tasks. This way, you not only work faster but also feel less mentally burdened.

This is related to your internal biological clock and how your body naturally works. Chronobiology - the science that looks at your biological rhythms - shows that you go through different cycles throughout the day that affect how alert you are and how well you perform. These natural rhythms (also called ultradian rhythms) ensure that your energy and focus do not remain at the same level all day. Research confirms that your productivity is indeed higher in the morning than in the afternoon, and you can use this natural variation to work more efficiently.

When you have less energy, it can change your way of thinking and promote creativity. You are less likely to stick to usual thought patterns and more open to unexpected ideas. Research shows that people are often better at solving problems when they are less alert, such as at times of the day when they don’t feel at their best. Being creative means being able to make connections between things that seem unrelated at first glance.

Today I joined Exist to help organize and interpret my vast array of personal health data. I’ve integrated various tools into the platform, including Apple Health, Oura, my Withings scale, and even my calendar and weather data, in order to gain a comprehensive view of my health and habits. Even though the app is still in the early stages of data collection, it’s already begun to show some interesting correlations. While some are quite predictable and not particularly useful, such as burning more energy when I exercise longer, or waking up later on weekends, others have been surprising.

Currently reading: The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande 📚

Finished reading: Schaamteloos delegeren by Taco J. Oosterkamp 📚 Kort en praktisch, een aanrader.

📸 Ficus Pumila on a Tevaplanter After this summer’s experiments with my Tevaplanter, I decided this weekend whether I could grow something more permanent. So I got myself a small ficus and spend half an hour removing all the soil from the roots, which was more work than expected. I am quite happy with the result. The only doubt I have is where to place it. I would like to have it on my office table, but that is probably too shady, so for the moment it recovers from today’s stress in front of mef the living room window.

Currently reading: Schaamteloos delegeren by Taco Oosterkamp 📚

Finished reading: The Productivity Project by Chris Bailey 📚 A great introduction into personal effectiveness written in a easy to digest style.

This phenomenon, also known as “elimination neglect” or “subtraction neglect,” is deeply rooted in our basic cognition. Research by Gabrielle S. Adams of the University of Virginia and her colleagues shows that people tend to add complexity rather than reduce it when faced with problems. This pattern has been consistently demonstrated in a series of 8 studies, where participants systematically overlooked that removing elements could be an effective solution. This “addition bias” manifests in various contexts, such as building Lego models, planning trips, and even improving universities.

Each day I am loving Tana more. This morning I have been looking at the publish function to convert any node into a beautiful web page. For example this page that automatically shows all nodes I have tagged as music to recommend.

Please bring back Wolfram|Alpha to Soulver. ChatGPT is good with words, but I don’t trust it with my numbers!

People who value spiritual values and social relationships are much happier than those who focus mainly on their own achievements and possessions. How happy you are is directly related to what you value: spirituality is at the top, followed by your social relationships, your physical health, and lastly external achievements like money and status. This pattern shows that the more you focus only on yourself, the less happy you become.

📸 Autumn vineyard

While the concept of a growth mindset, as popularized by Carol Dweck, suggests that people can develop their basic abilities through dedication and hard work, a critical analysis of the literature shows that interventions designed to promote this mindset often do not lead to significant improvements in academic performance. This may be due to inadequate research, poor reporting, and bias in the studies evaluating the effectiveness of these interventions. It is important to emphasize that the lack of evidence for the effectiveness of growth mindset interventions does not mean that the growth mindset itself has no value.

A habit is an impulse plus the behaviour that follows it, learned well enough that your attention is free for something else. Which is also why not every behaviour can become one.

📸 Aïguestortes We have this fantastic national park at just a few hours driving from home, but it has been years since we went there for a good hike. This weekend was a blast and I am sure this time we will return within months, not years.

Currently reading: The Productivity Project by Chris Bailey 📚 We’ll review this book next month on our podcast.

Currently reading: Understanding Variation by Donald J. Wheeler 📚 I learned about this book on the Cortex podcast and so far I like it. Easy to understand and well written.

Finished reading: Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb 📚

Let’s walk! A goal needs a walk, some writing and considerable reflection to make it real. Nicholas Bate https://blog.strategicedge.co.uk/2023/10/surprise-set-yourself-a-12th-october-goal.html

This approach is related to the concept of self-efficacy, which means believing that you can perform certain tasks. If you first succeed with an easy task, you gain more confidence and prepare yourself for bigger challenges. By gradually building your skills and confidence step by step, you improve your self-confidence. The idea is that each small victory contributes to your self-confidence. When you do something that is within or just outside your comfort zone, you slowly expand your comfort zone.

In recent years, our phone usage has increased significantly. Do you know what research shows? We pick up our phones on average more than 350 times a day! That means you reach for your device approximately every two minutes and 43 seconds. These figures are almost four times higher than in 2019, when we checked our phones on average only 96 times a day. This increase is partly due to changes in our daily lives and how we work since COVID-19, with much more online communication.

I am so proud to see our podcast at number 30 in Apple’s podcast ranking for Spain:

I have updated the list of all the tools I use. What are your favourite tools?

Such a great list! A ribeye fresh off the grillWarm sun on your skinAn old favorite song on the radio Brian Comly https://www.mindbodydad.com/mind/100-simple-pleasures

That’s a lot of quantified self data

Observa cuál es el primer podcast recomendado en Apple Podcasts. 🥹

I wish I could reclassify apps in the iOS App Library.

Logistics is not logical 📦

Currently reading: Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb 📚

“Redundancy is ambiguous because it seems like a waste if nothing unusual happens. Except that something unusual happens—usually.” — Nassim Nicholas Taleb in Antifragile Be prepared…

Finished reading: Designing the Mind by Ryan Bush 📚 Interesting and well written book about building proactive life on a cognitive, emotional and behavioral level. I liked how Ryan was able to draw simple schematics for the algorithms in our mind.

A 5-minute unstructured break can be sufficient to restore your concentration. Research from the University of Sydney has shown that a short interruption of just five minutes, without specific activities or structure, is enough to bring your attention back to optimal levels. This means you don’t necessarily have to take a walk or watch a relaxing video; simply doing nothing for a short period can be effective. This finding supports the theory that a short, unstructured break is a powerful way to combat mental fatigue and increase productivity.

📸 Another week, another Tevaplanter update The chia plants on my Tevaplanter are thriving, as shown in the progress from week 0 to week 1 to now: Although I expected all the chia seeds to sprout, there are some areas where growth has not occurred. I suspect this may be due to the high temperatures on my outdoor patio, which make it difficult to maintain proper moisture levels for the plants.

Why does the EU still require a tax on hardware purchases to compensate media enterprises, despite the prevalence of streaming media?

Yesterday my iPad died with no way to resuscitate it 😱. I have decided to hold off on purchasing a replacement for the time being and instead utilize my iPhone for media consumption. Although the smaller screen size proves to be a minor inconvenience, I am managing to adapt. Nevertheless, it is inevitable that I will soon need to invest in a new iPad, as it is essential for running Keynote presentations during my workshops.

Be aware of scatter in your life. Scatter is multiple monitors.Scatter is being busy without making progress. Jason Fried https://world.hey.com/jason/scatter-8a4a1e4a

Research shows that mindfulness meditation, even in short sessions, helps you distribute your attention better. This means that your brain handles the attention needed for difficult tasks more efficiently. In a study, people who meditated briefly performed better on attention tests, such as the Flanker Task and the Attention Network Test, without their reaction time worsening. This shows that meditation helps you concentrate better, even if you don’t have much experience with it yet.

📸 Chia growing on my Tevaplanter After five days, the chia buds are clearly visible and the roots start to grab hold of the Tevaplanter vessel’s surface

📸 Tevaplanter loaded with chia seeds Two and half years after ordering, my Tevaplanter finally arrived. Yesterday I filled the cells with chia seeds for my first experiment to learn how to use it. I will keep you posted on further progress.

Noise-cancelling headphones are often seen as the solution to distractions in open offices. They are designed to muffle ambient noise so you can concentrate better. But you know what’s funny? Research shows that even though you think your concentration improves with such headphones, there is actually no real difference in how well you can focus. You might feel calmer, but you’re not really more productive or focused. In open offices, where it’s often very noisy, noise-cancelling headphones serve another purpose.

Un acto de generosidad. Así es como describiría la recomendación del chef Xanty Elías. De todo corazón y en nombre de todo el equipo de KENSO: ¡Gracias Xanty! 🤗😍

Tana is by far the app that gives me the most pleasure to use. So powerful, so many possibilities …

Research shows that there is a correlation between income and happiness, but this relationship is complex and not straightforward. According to a study by Kahneman and Deaton (2010), happiness increases with income up to a certain point, after which the effect diminishes. This means that there is a threshold above which additional income does not significantly contribute to more happiness. On the other hand, research by Killingsworth (2021) indicates that happiness continues to increase with income, even at higher income levels.

I rely on Kill the newsletter! to manage all my newsletter subscriptions, as I prefer reading them in my feed reader rather than my email app. However, I’ve encountered an issue recently with Substack. They are not allowing me to subscribe using a kill-the-newsletter.com email address, stating that they cannot validate the email domain. This is quite disappointing. ☹️ I attempted to find information on how to validate an email domain on their support site, but there is no relevant information available.

Walk into working Monday with a plan. (Best created Friday mid-PM) Nicholas Bate https://blog.strategicedge.co.uk/2023/07/the-most-powerful-productivity-tips-57.html Until a few weeks ago I always created my week plan on Monday morning and now I usually do it on Sundays to start the week with impulse. Of course, Nicholas is right: Friday afternoon is the best moment to plan the week ahead.

What we believe in: We believe in effectiveness. How little can we do? How much can we cut out? Instead of adding to-dos, we add to-don’ts. Jason Fried https://world.hey.com/jason/effective-productive-acfa210d

Currently reading: Built to Move by Kelly Starrett 📚

Do less and achieve more. Just as an over-stuffed washing machine doesn’t do its job, an over-full day causes its owner to become stressed, fatigued and to lose focus on the true priorities. Nicholas Bate https://blog.strategicedge.co.uk/2023/07/the-most-powerful-productivity-tips-56.html

📸 Sunset in Valdés

📸 Quality of life

The best reading strategy I’ve come across is the idea of a wide funnel and tight filter. Be willing to read anything that looks even a little interesting, but abandon it quickly and without mercy if it’s not working for you. Morgan Housel https://collabfund.com/blog/paying-attention/ I have got the wide funnel in place. Now I only have to tighten my filter…

You can still set up your tiny quiet corner on the web, do your own things, and connect slowly with other people. You can still set up a forum dedicated to something you’re passionate about and create a community with 50 other people, even if Reddit turns to shit. Things can live on the web simply because enough people care about them and pour time and love into them. And that is what makes the web special.

Hiking is dreaming with your feet

Why is it that when we are hungry, we feel like we have to eat something immediately, but when we’re tired, we don’t feel like we need to sleep immediately.

“All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking” — Friedrich Nietzsche The 1000th quote saved in my Quotebook app.

This weekend I will be staying a few days in Göteborg. Any tips? Anything off the beaten path?

Research shows that employees who work fewer hours experience less stress and are less likely to burn out. During a trial period, 39% of employees reported feeling less stressed, and 71% reported fewer burnout symptoms. Issues such as anxiety, fatigue, and sleep problems also decreased, while their mental and physical health improved. This indicates that shorter workweeks can be beneficial for employee well-being. In terms of productivity, the results of shorter workweeks show that productivity does not always decline.

I just found out about Old Reddit. This makes the site so much more usable.

Currently reading: Designing the Mind by Ryan Bush 📚

Finished reading: Attention Span by Gloria Mark 📚

Blogging is whatever you want it to be. There are no rules. A few years ago I gave a short talk about myths that discourage people from blogging. I was chatting with a friend about blogging the other day and it made me want to write up that talk as a blog post. Julia Evans https://jvns.ca/blog/2023/06/05/some-blogging-myths/

📸 Feria del libro de Madrid Cómo he disfrutado esta tarde volviendo a ver mis amigos de KENSO y, más importante, encontrarme en persona con los oyentes y viejos amigos.

🛫 LCG – BCN 🛬

🛫 BCN – LCG 🛬

Currently reading: Attention Span by Gloria Mark 📚

For those who gift with joy, that joy is their reward — Khalil Gibran in On Giving

This footnote brings up so many questions about the discussions there must have been between the authors of this paper.

📸 Back to my mid-morning coffee and reading routine

¿Estás usando la inteligencia artificial en tu trabajo? ¿Me puedes dar algún ejemplo concreto?

Each day I here more and more about Bluesky and little by little I’m getting curious. Does anybody have an invite for me?

Employees lose nearly four hours a week due to constantly switching between different apps. This may seem inevitable in a digital work environment, but it often results from choices companies make about how they organize their work and what software they use. For many employees, there is no easy way to avoid the constant switching between documents, websites, and apps. This is because their tasks are often designed in such a way that they need to use multiple programs, and most business programs do not work well together.

Playing videos, music or voice messages using your phone’s speaker in a public space such as in restaurants or public transport is rude. I guess this is a lost battle for me, as it seems to happening more and more …

BCN 🛫🛬 AMS

This is one of the finest capture apps I have ever used. Especially the voice recordings in combination with Tana’s transcribe function is magic.

I wanted to try out GPT4, but OpenAI rejected my credit cards. So now I have more money and more time (but less fun).

As with many new tools I try out, I found that Wavelength didn’t improve my life in a meaningful way, so I will close my account. It was nice chatting with a few of the Micro.blog users for the first days, but that seemed weird from the beginning. after all, why wouldn’t we have those conversations right on Micro.blog? See you all over here…

I updated some minor details in the list of the tools I use for my daily work.

Why does macOS only warn me about my Magic Mouse’s battery level when it gets to 1%. You know I can’t charge it while working…

Remember before looking at your device: «A wealth of information creates poverty of attention and a need to allocate that attention efficiently» — Herb Simon

Last week I imported my whole tweet archive into Micro.blog to save my insignificant ramblings for the future (since some maniac may suddenly decide to delete them). Until this morning I did not have the possibility to review the results and came to two conclusions: I am very impressed by the work @manton did to make this a frictionless experience. 🙏 I am ver unimpressed by the quality of my tweets.

📸 Golden door I was afraid that the gold paint would look too “over the top”, but it turned out very nice.

Finished rereading: Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman 📚

Oura ring brings back Clippy for April fool’s day

Next week I will be a few days in London. Any tips?

I simplified the site navigation by deleting the “On this day” page. The idea is nice, but I guess nobody besides me uses that page. And I even have a better solution in the form of Day One.

I should use the dictation function more. Each day I write a lot of texts, most of them small. Those text are a fine candidate for being dictated. Just like this text.

I never ever use the skin tones on emoji. To me, yellow is the all-inclusive color and using a skin tone is only appropriate when referring to a specific person.

Something to reflect on: Our brain craves focus. When it is focused, it is happy, still, powerful. But a focused brain is a rarity in today’s world. What do you do to keep your brain focused? Rebecca Toh https://rebeccatoh.co/focus/

📸 Blossom in Aitona

This post is hilarious: Actually, You Should Wake Up at 4:12 a.m.—Don’t Ask Me Why, It Just Sounds Right—and Nine Reasons We Should Cyberbully People Who Wake Up Later Than That Alex Baia https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/winners-wake-up-early-every-article-ive-written-about-my-morning-routine

At the end of each workshop I organize, I always ask for the main takeaway from the session. And almost always the most popular takeaway is something that was not on the training outline, but rather something that they took from an offhand comment by me or one of the other participants. No matter how much I prepare the training or how much I adapt the training contents based on what I know about the participants…

I have renewed my Microsoft 365 subscription for one more your. This is by far the most expensive software I own, coming in at about 5–10€ per use. Indeed, I hardly ever use it, but the times I use it I really need it.

I just noticed that I hadn’t update my Now page since November, so I quickly updated it.

🐦 Twitter lost access to its own API?

📸 A new season is about to begin

Really enjoying the Dance-Punk Essentials playlist on Apple Music 🎶🕴️

Things?

What do I do in those little in-between moments now that micro.blog is down?

Currently reading: Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman 📚

If we did go back to sleeping as much as we need to, as much as we did a century ago, then that would cause a huge recession as people would consume an hour less every day. Charles Czeisler https://atmos.earth/johann-hari-stolen-focus-concentration-span-attention-economy-climate-action/ In other words: If our physical needs were met, it would cause an economic crisis. Once again, a short-term problem (economic crisis) stands in the way of long-term progress (wellbeing).

Finished reading: Finish by Jon Acuff 📚

Dicen que «crecer es aprender a despedirse», pero me sigue costando mucho.

U2’s upcoming album Songs of Surrender looks very promising. I love the minimalist versions in the pre-release. (The old U2 will always be the best U2)

What we believe in, and in fact one of the two key messages from our book #EffectividadKENSO. “Become A Scientist Of Yourself” Eric Barker https://bakadesuyo.com/2023/02/find-your-passion/

Love this quote ❤️ «Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress. Working hard for something we love is called passion.» — Simon Sinek

If Twitter closes its free API, crossposting from Micro.blog will be impossible. I wonder what to do: stop publishing on Twitter or manually copy and paste my posts… 🤔

La «k» de KENSO: Kaizen ¿Es posible seguir tu curiosidad sin plan y aún así tener éxito? @jaime_rdes demuestra que sí. Jaime siempre está curioseando y comparte sus aprendizajes en el podcast con el nombre más KENSO (después de KENSO): Kaizen.

Currently reading: Finish by Jon Acuff 📚

Finished reading: The Effective Executive by Peter F. Drucker 📚 Amazing how it still hold up after more than 50 years. A true classic.

📸 Our book in good company

Poco a poco vamos subiendo en las listas de Amazon… #EfectividadKENSO

📖 It’s book launch day!

He venido a hablar de mi libro: Efectividad KENSO @rahego comparte cómo ha sido su experiencia de escribir y publicar el libro.

This is great: Productivity blocker (via Dense Discovery) Agree with the testimonial though: “wish it worked on Safari“.

Research shows that happy employees are up to 12% more productive. This is because happiness boosts your motivation and energy, allowing you to work better and faster. When you feel good, you are more likely to tackle challenges and come up with creative solutions. Therefore, it is important to make time every day for things that make you happy, whether it’s a hobby, spending time with friends and family, or just relaxing.

Research shows that many knowledge workers check their email within half an hour of waking up. This is because email can be addictive, especially for younger people. They want to know immediately what’s going on and feel productive when they check their email, even before their workday officially begins. However, quickly checking email can also have drawbacks. It can make people feel overwhelmed by all the requests and information they see right away.

Ya he encontrado el soporte perfecto para mi micrófono: Efectividad KENSO. Espero que @jlgomezp también hace el cambio…

📸 Ilusionado y feliz 📖 ¡Finalmente lo tengo en mis manos! Nuestro libro #EfectividadKENSO Siento el enorme satisfecho de tener un resultado concreto después de tantos meses de trabajo. ¡A celebrarlo! 🥂

After all these years, the YouTube algorithm still hasn’t figured me out. All recommendations are either: Videos I have already seen and don’t plan on seeing again Videos that don’t interest me at all Videos from channels I subscribe to and will watch anyway

I wish  offered a hybrid book format that allows frictionless switching between reading and listening on multiple devices

Como los de @Zetatesters no tienen planes para hacer su libro, lo hemos hecho nosotros: kenso.es/libro. Resumen: haz experimentos, conócete a tu mismo y crea tu propio sistema.

This phenomenon has been studied in various studies, involving both students and full-time employees. The results showed that the awareness of working outside of standard working hours has a negative impact on intrinsic motivation. This effect occurred regardless of whether participants were explicitly reminded that they were working outside of normal working hours. An important factor contributing to this undermining of intrinsic motivation is the social norm. People are social beings and tend to synchronize their schedules with those of others.

Currently reading: The Effective Executive by Peter F. Drucker 📚

2022 was a great year!

2022 was a good year

Finished reading: Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday 📚