This week started off awesome, then I was down on the couch sick all Tuesday. No video was recorded. I wrote for about 50 minutes and spent 20 minutes deploying a client site, then laced on the couch and tried to sleep. Luckily I was only tired on Wednesday not sick, so back to a full day for me.
This made me thankful that I was ahead on video and writing work. I’ll try to sneak in the Tuesday recording time tomorrow when my family is out of the house so that I stay a few weeks ahead on my content, but if it doesn’t happen I really don’t have to worry about it.
Do you work to stay ahead, or are you a last minute person?
“The world, even the smallest parts of it, is filled with things you don’t know.” – The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Page 97
I think the hardest part of this statement is that we rarely take the time to see what it is we don’t know. We don’t give people around us a chance to show us what they can teach us.
That is one of the things I try to remember with everything I encounter. It’s one of the things I think about as I share links here.
We all need to look for the things we can learn every day.
Also, this was the best piece of fiction I read this year. Nothing else was even in the same league.
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
Monday I shared my workflow for automating Things 3 with iPadOS. If you’re using Shortcuts, I’d love to hear what you’re doing to automate your processes. If you have questions about building automations, also reply and I’ll see about answering them.
Wednesday I wrote about Stillness is the Key by Ryan Holiday. I very much enjoyed the book, but without giving away with end, I’ll read it in a different manner next time.
I’m writing for the Nexcess blog now and over there I had an article posted about special considerations for mobile checkout with WooCommerce.
Friday Five
1 When do Women Peak in Sport?
My wife and I have been wondering a bunch lately about how women peak in sport. At what age to they peak? How does biology affect their output?
Sadly, as we learned in Invisible Women, there really isn’t much out there for research no women in sport.
This video from Mary Cain, highlights sports systems that are built for men, by men, that seem to be damaging the bodies of the female athletes they train.
If any of you have other articles/research on this topic, I’d love it.
2 Staycation Means Errands
It’s totally OK to do nothing. Your life could use a pause button. But even on vacation, we feel the need to run errand after errand to keep family and/or friends happy. That’s not needed with camping. You’re expected to hang out on a hammock for a few hours, getting up only for food, drinks, or something fun. Even at resorts, someone is always trying to interrupt this real fun, for their idea of fun. No thanks.
This is one reason we take our kids camping every summer. They get to play, and parents get to lay around and relax. While there is a bunch of work to making meals, getting people dressed properly for the day, and other things, there is also so much more downtime that makes it awesome.
3 Notebook Reading Chart
Nice reading chart from Jamie Todd Rubin. Tempted to build one into my notebooks somehow, I do go through two notebooks a year with my reading notes so I’d have a transfer it all the time.
4 It’s Not the People That Are the Problem It’s the Environment
What too many leaders of organizations fail to appreciate is that it’s not the people that are the problem. The people are fine. Rather, it’s the environment in which the people operate that is the problem. Got that right and things just go – Leaders Eat Last Page 97
I think that the biggest problem for leaders here is admitting that they may be the problem because they’re the ones responsible for the environment in their workplace. Instead of admitting that they fire someone and blame it on that person.
Much easier to abdicate responsibility.
5 Automation Isn’t Good or Bad
Automations aren’t good or bad. They’re a powerful tool that can make your life more livable, or take the life out of life.
I’ve automated parts of my Friday newsletter like collecting all the links I post in the week and putting them in the newsletter. I haven’t automated commenting about my week, I mean I could, but I won’t.
I could type up 10 – 15 generic paragraphs about what’s going on and no one would ever notice.
When it comes to automation, I want to automate the routine things that are done the same way every time without variation. Then I can invest in the things that need my input.