Make your own end of year lists. Choose your own important memories. Pick the songs you loved and share it with the world. You don’t need an algorithm.

Yes, yes, yes!

Life any other tool, you should first learn what it can and can’t do.

While AI struggles to do any one thing better than an experienced human, it can elevate anyone to a better beginner status in many skills they’re unfamiliar with. Whatever you’re an expert in, chances are, AI will look weak in comparison. But take off your expert hat, and voilà, you might find it helpful here and there.

Una consejo muy atrevido en la guía de Microsoft Outlook:

No es necesario (y en el caso de grandes volúmenes, probablemente no pueda) leer todos los mensajes que le envían.

I forget about this one all the time.

There’s not much point in packing light unless everyone is packing light.

Efficiency is getting stuff done.

Effectiveness is getting the right stuff done.

Technology aids us with the first.

Your brain facilitates the second; ensure it is rested, stress-free and well informed.

Learn the distinction.

Email is not your manager.

YOU decide what you do according to YOUR objectives. E-mail is at best an assistant, a reminder, a support mechanism.

It is not your manager.

The reason I stayed in bed for an hour longer today:

No list, app nor productivity app will work if you are simply tired.

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. Experience this one thing for what it is, not what you think it is. Be open to what the world is telling you. Life is nothing more than a stream of experiences — the more widely and deeply you swim in it, the richer your life will be.

Let’s walk!

A goal needs a walk, some writing and considerable reflection to make it real.

Such a great list!

A ribeye fresh off the grill

Warm sun on your skin

An old favorite song on the radio

Be aware of scatter in your life.

Scatter is multiple monitors.

Scatter is being busy without making progress.

Walk into working Monday with a plan.

(Best created Friday mid-PM)

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.

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.

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.

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.

Do you have your own tiny quiet corner on the web? I do!

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.

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?

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

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.

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).

What we believe in, and in fact one of the two key messages from our book #EffectividadKENSO.

“Become A Scientist Of Yourself”

“Because of the need for being more professional, more polished, more branding for your company, for your business, for your organization, there are more virtual backgrounds that are being created,” Golden says. “It helps you look more credible, trustworthy.”

I have to disagree here. Using a virtual background makes you look less professional and less polished, unless you use a proper green screen and good lighting. In most cases, you’ll look more profesional and polished if you simply fix and arrange what’s behind you on camera.

Mastodon could use a well-designed client. This is great news.

Hello people of the Fediverse! Some of you may have heard that a new Mastodon client, Ivory,  is in development for iOS (and Mac!). This is true! Tapbots is going all in on Mastodon and we hope this place continues to grow and thrive. Tweetbot will continue to be developed alongside Ivory as a lot of code is shared.

The story you tell yourself creates your reality.

Part of the activation energy required to start any task comes from the picture you get in your head when you imagine doing it. It may not be that going for a run is actually costly; but if it feels costly, if the picture in your head looks like a slog, then you will need a bigger expenditure of will to lace up.

Slowness seems to make a special contribution to this picture in our heads. Time is especially valuable. So as we learn that a task is slow, an especial cost accrues to it. Whenever we think of doing the task again, we see how expensive it is, and bail.

That’s why speed matters.

And yes: that’s certainly how a lot of capitalist cultures think about time — as something that can be wasted or optimized. It’s often predicated on the idea that you should be focused on doing one thing, and one thing only, very efficiently: time is money, etc. etc. But that itself, sometimes referred to as a “monochronic” understanding of time, is no more or less “natural” than other ways of conceiving of time, like “polychronic” culture, which understands time as dynamic, flexible, and filled with several tasks at once, each of which will take the time that they need. Monochronic cultures may be more “efficient” in their use of time, but in their treatment of time as a commodity, they lose the richness that comes with allowing tasks, conversations, and interactions to move forward at a more natural and sustainable pace.

My quest for the rest of this year: get better at living a “polychronic” life.