Finishing a Decade-Long Trilogy Brings Unbelievable Relief
Just wrote THE END on a trilogy a decade in the making. Oh what an unbelievable sense of release and relief.
Upgrade Your Zoom Webcam—Don’t Settle for Poor Quality
Just a reminder the webcam you're using for Zoom calls sucks (and you don't have to put up with it)
Fewer Reply‑guy Bots Could Boost Organic Reach
Now that reply-guying may be dead, will the algorithm become more generous with post exposure?
Finishing Projects Is a Deliberate, Unnatural Choice
Finishing creative projects is something you choose despite your instincts. Like exercise, sobriety, non-violence, and monogamy it’s unnatural, inconvenient, and entirely up to you.
Exploring a Year Without Screens—And Other Media
A year without screens is a very cool experiment. I would like to try something similar but not sure screens would be it. A year without images? A year without video? A year without color?
Mystery: 50k‑selling Book Abruptly Stalls in Jan 2025
As long as I live I don't think I'll ever know what the hell happened in January 2025 to cause a book that had sold 50,000 copies to suddenly flatline. https://t.co/tyGrHKvNVa
Finishing Creative Work Defies the Universe’s Constant Flux
There’s something unnatural about finishing a creative project. Creativity involves being open to new ideas, and finishing requires closing yourself off from them. The universe is constantly in flux, so to finish something, you need to hold a bunch of...
You Wouldn't Trade Places with Anyone
The cure for envying any individual is asking yourself, Would I trade places with one randomly selected person of the 8 billion alive? (The answer is no, you wouldn’t.)
Finishing Art Demands a Steel Heart, Delacroix Warns
Painter Eugène Delacroix: "To finish requires a heart of steel.... I think it will kill me." https://t.co/NVkzUw2pz5
Desire Pulls, Fear Pushes: The Project Finish Line Paradox
The finish line of a big project is like a histrionic, manipulative ex-girlfriend. The desire to express attracts. ↔️ The fear of judgement repels. The desire to be done reels you in. ↔️ The fear of the unknown resists. The desire for accomplishment...
Project Ends, You
At the end of a project you’re in the odd position of feeling you’ve done your life’s work, yet wanting to live to see it.
Houston‑Austin Bus: Expect Endless Delays, Plan Ahead
How awful would a bus from Houston to Austin be? Scheming after annoying close-call delays in my last trip.
Near Completion Amplifies Fear of Losing Your Masterpiece
I was having dinner with a friend almost done writing a book. He told me, "If I was in an accident tonight, as I was dying in the ER, I would feel very distraught." It sounds crazy that's what he'd be...
ChatGPT Adds Teaser Prompts to Boost Engagement
A subtle change I’ve noticed with ChatGPT is it is teasing juicer promises at the end of responses to try to motivate follow-up chats…starting to optimize for time engaged, to sell ads? https://t.co/nIT2COuzRc
Embrace Boredom to Reset and Observe Freshly
After an intense three-month sprint my mission as I get on a plane to Austin will be to sit with the boredom. To allow my mind to once again be open to new stimuli, yet to observe from afar rather...
Lingua Latina Immerses You in Latin Instantly
Lingua Latina is a great Latin-learning resource and maybe the best language-learning tool I’ve ever seen. Just open it up and boom, first page you’re reading and understanding Latin, soon thinking in Latin. https://t.co/wo1hEFkyBp
Improvised Bricks Become a Masterpiece of Architecture
You like to think you're stacking bricks, but more often you're collecting bricks. You expect to have a plan of where the next brick goes, but just make the brick then figure out where it goes. It will actually make...
Project Work Demands Energy, Focus, and Sacrifices
Life when you're working on a project looks different from life when you're finishing it. It takes more energy, more focus, more space – important things have to be pushed aside. https://t.co/aJu6egbB44
New Ideas Must Prove Two Benefits or Stay Ignored
When you put a project on hold for a new idea, ask yourself, How would this make my original course of action easier or more effective? If you can't immediately think of two convincing ways, it's probably a distraction.
Procrastination Can Be Rational Amid Unclear Goals
Procrastination is often a perfectly rational reaction to a situation with unclear direction and uncertain payoff.
Small Steps Build Foundations for Grand Achievements
You have to collect bricks before you can build a cottage. You have to build a cottage before you can build a fortress. Tiny actions -> Big plans 🧱 -> 🏠 -> 🏰 https://t.co/Uy2b9Xh7rV
Turn Shiny Objects Into Strategic Multipliers, Not Distractions
Shiny Object Syndrome: New ideas waste effort Shiny Object Strategy: New ideas multiply effort https://t.co/ih5duOIBiU
