Okay, I totally missed last week and I knew it and thought about rushing out the post/email and opted out of it. So your inboxes got a week long break.
Since then I’ve had some biggish changes around here. I’ve got a Statamic site up and running as a demo because I’m super tired of WordPress. Too early to say what’s going to happen, but so far I very much like it. I’ll convert a single page business site I run for a friend and then start looking at all the pieces that are running on my decade old site that will need to be moved over.
If you’ve found my content helpful then new in 2019 I’ve opened up a Patreon page. You can help ensure that more helpful content keeps coming.
I Shipped
Last Monday I shared my review of the Brydge Keyboard for 12.9″ iPad Pro. I’ve had another few weeks with it, and I still like it but I’m looking forward to the TouchType Pro because I think it will have some advantages over the Brydge keyboard.
Last Wednesday I shared my thoughts and notes on Lab Rats by Dan Lyons. An update to those notes, I know someone that worked with him during his stint at HubSpot, and they didn’t think he had a good handle on what it was like to work there. It wasn’t their experience and they loved the job. I’ve known this person for years and trust them..take that extra note into account when reading my thoughts above.
This Wednesday I published a review of It Doesn’t Have to be Crazy at Work by those people over at Basecamp.
Early this week my long review of the best research app (or Evernote replacement) was published on The Sweet Setup. We’re lucky that there are lots of good contenders out there, but 30+ hours of research was a lot of time to spend on the article. I’ll have more content coming based on that research in the future.
Friday Five
1. I Only Work Part-Time
Like the author, I really only work part-time though I’ve managed to figure out how to earn a full-time income on maybe more than 30 hours a week.
The reason a lot of people work full-time – though they’d rather not – is obvious: part-time jobs as they exist today are often pretty crappy, low-paid, and with no health benefits, irregular schedules and few opportunities for advancement.
I also do write this from Starbucks on Saturday after writing 2k words, editing some client stuff and reading. My wife was suddenly sick yesterday so I took the day of, but this time I have deadlines so I work. I can’t tell you the last time I had to work on a weekend though.
2. Nothing to Hide…Can I have your phone for 10 minutes?
Read this if you’ve got nothing to hide:
If someone says they have nothing to hide, ask them to unlock their phone and give it to you for ten minutes. If they hesitate they will have realized it’s nice to keep some things to yourself.
Many of us (including myself) have been far to permissive in the value we give away with our personal data.
The article above has four good arguments for taking privacy seriously even if you think you have nothing to hide.
3. Your iPhone May Not Be as Private As You Think
From Fast Company, who says that there are a bunch of apps that are regularly phoning home because the free or $.99 you paid for them wouldn’t support their development unless they sell your information anyway.
This is why I don’t question the prices I pay for my software even on iOS. I want he developers to be able to support themselves without shady back office things. Subscriptions do this as well, but I’m feeling lots of subscription fatigue.
The thing about subscriptions vs a high initial purchase is that with a subscription I’m betting I’ll have money in the future. With an initial purchase of … hundreds of dollars even … I’m looking at my bank account right now and if I have the money I can buy it.
I always go for buy out if I can because I don’t like making bets with future money.
4. Put your Marriage on Pause
If you think you can just press pause on your relationship for a decade or more while you both focus on raising children and having careers it’s likely that you won’t have a relationship to pay attention to when you’re finally ready. – Startup Life
I have three kids 8 and younger. I’m running a business and still finishing out a transition in exactly what I do day-to-day. My wife is moving into a new position at the local figure skating club and is working to grow it. The skating club is very much like getting a new business off the ground.
It’s hard to find date time, at least in the traditional adults head out and a babysitter comes version. True, we’ll do that tomorrow but last week’s date was some restaurant food after the kids went to bed.
Most date’s have been that lately. Cuddling on the couch…and sometimes more adult fun.
Don’t put your marriage on pause if you want to have one in 10 years.
5. BS Called on 70 hour weeks
From Jason Shen on Fast Company:
Have there been times where I was stressed and working long hours to get everything done? Sure. Has it ever been anything near 80 hours in a single week? No way. I can feel my mental sharpness decline in the late afternoon, and the best way for me to push past eight or nine hours of work in a single day is if it’s on a completely different project, like, say, a board meeting or an article for an outside publication. Long hours should be rare, because productivity always takes a hit afterward.
At the end of my days I often read a few things and link to them…like right now. It’s good to sort through the article collection from the day and it doesn’t take the same mental power of deep development or writing.
Then on the relation to a sports team and working long hours:
Training 70 hours a week would be a nonstarter. Even if NCAA didn’t regulate training hours, it would be such an obviously bad idea that any coach proposing such a schedule would be fired immediately. Great performance in athletics requires short bursts of concentrated, intense effort, followed by rest and recovery. That’s why using elite athletics to justify long hours is so foolish.
Many thanks to Ben Brooks for pointing me to this, and yes I am a member of Ben’s site.
Photo by: bobsfever