This week was great, and then a kid got sick which makes things tougher. It’s harder to find time for work because we need to keep the kid home instead of having someone over to play with them. Usually kids being sick means I loose 4 hours of work at a minimum.

When that happens, I stop everything and look at what’s really important for the week and what I can do in the time I have allotted. This time it meant that I stopped coding and organized all my blog stuff so that I freed up the next day to only code for that client.

Nearly all reasonably healthy people are capable of blooming in differente ways at different ages. – Late Bloomers

Have you ever felt like you’re going nowhere? Like you’re stuck and everyone is passing you by?

I know I have.

Email subscribers are now reading me talk about how you bloom late. If you want to get these extra notes subscribe.

If you’ve found my content helpful I’ve opened up a Patreon page. You can help ensure that more helpful content keeps coming.

I Shipped

For a while now people have been asking me what my desk setup is because it’s ergonomic and focuses on an iPad as the main work machine. Monday I walked you through what makes up my clean ergonomic iPad focused desk.

As I’ve been looking at doing better video, one thing I needed was a better lighting setup. Most lights are many hundred dollars, but that’s not quite in the budget right now so on Wednesday I showed you how I spent $40 to build a video key light.

Friday Five

1 Marcus on No Bad Hires

Marcus on “bad hires”

It’s sure easy to point fingers at a bad hire, especially after they’re gone.

And while this is comfortable, it robs us of opportunities to improve our team, tools, environment, and process.

Maybe there aren’t any ‘bad hires,’ similar to the idea of ‘no bad dogs’ or ‘no bad kids.’

Maybe there are just people doing their best in a new environment, with what they know.

I know I’ve been classed as a “bad hire” before. I’m very much looking forward to the next instalment from Marcus as he’s going to offer us some advice on a #NoBadHires movement.

2 The Word Diversity Makes White People Feel Better

I’ve intentionally tried to stay fairly quiet on diversity talk online. Not because I don’t have any thoughts, but because I’m a white dude and am not sure I have much constructive to add at this point. I have a feeling that I still need to read and listen to what others are saying (not white dudes really, but others that don’t fall into that category).

Today I’m going to start doing a few things. When I get asked to join a podcast I’m going to suggest someone else that’s possibly better qualified. I’m happy to talk about time management and being dad at home and how I’ve struggled with it while I try to be a great dad to three girls. I think that’s the only thing that I may have special experience in.

There are stronger programmers out there that don’t have a platform like I have.

There are other freelancer’s out there that are trying to reach markets and do a better job at it than I do.

Also, this article that I think is excellent prompted me to say anything.

Now I’ll head back to listening mode for a while longer.

3 Doses of Light Help You Sleep

At least get doses of light to sleep well.

Exposure to bright, morning light was particularly powerful: those exposed to it between 8 a.m. and noon took an average of 18 minutes to fall asleep at night, compared to 45 minutes in the low light exposure group; they also slept for around 20 minutes longer and experienced fewer sleep disturbances. These associations were stronger during winter, when people may have had less opportunity to receive natural light during their journey to work.

I’m starting to work on a book about the rules of freelancing (if you want to keep up with it I’ve been giving patreon people walks through the content) and one of the rules there is to get outside every day. I take a walk at some point every day even if it’s raining. On days I run before the sun is up, I take a walk.

The days I walk the most are often my most productive days as measured by tasks accomplished and I leave them feeling the most refreshed.

4 The March of Technology

Rose Everett on the “march” of technology.

And so we’re left with a tech world claiming to be driven by our desires when those decisions aren’t ones that most consumers feel good about. There’s a growing chasm between how everyday users feel about the technology around them and how companies decide what to make. And yet, these companies say they have our best interests in mind. We can’t go back, they say. We can’t stop the “natural evolution of technology.” But the “natural evolution of technology” was never a thing to begin with, and it’s time to question what “progress” actually means.

If you’re looking to opt-out of stuff then check out The Small Technology Foundation. It’s my go to reference as I look to extract myself from big tech.

5 Understanding iPadOS Multitasking

I’ve been using my iPad as my primary device for…getting close to 2-years. I was on the iPadOS beta and still with that extra experience there were parts of the iPadOS multi-tasking interface I just didn’t get.

If you’re in the same boat, Tech Craft has a great video on understanding iPad multi-tasking you should watch.