You can find out what I'm up to in near real-time via: Twitter (@sholden) Instagram (@sholden), or Facebook (sholden). I also recommend checking out my AztecMedia.net produced sites: Chvrches Fan Podcast (@chvrchespodcast), ThePodCraft Beer Show (@thepodcraft, @techguysteve, Untapped, @techguysteven); Tech News Radio (@technewsradio), Air Gapped Networks (@airgapnet), Jersey Boys Podcast, and Veteran Stories. [Updated: May 9, 2021]
Photo by Frank Holleman on Unsplash
In a recent episode of Cal Newport's The Deep Life Podcast -- Episode 238: The Joys Of The Reading Life -- Cal provided his well-thought-out ideas on how to have a deep reading life and how that intersects with our digital technologies.
I agree with Cal that reading deeply needs concentration and is free from distraction. Physical books are excellent for those that want that experience.
I also agree that reading on the Kindle (or other dedicated eBook readers) can be a deep reading platform. My Kindle Paperwhite is my primary device for all my reading with my eyes. [NOTE: Listening to audiobooks is reading. Don't get me started.]
He is also correct that reading on most people's standard mobile phones or digital tablets like an iPad is not a deep reading platform.
If you do end up reading on a phone or tablet, here are my recommendations.
My phone already has very minimal alerts, but with a quick swipe, I turn on "Do Not Disturb." And in my Kindle application on the phone, I have changed the background color (Layout > Page Color) from white (default) to green. The other options are: tan, white, or black. I'd choose tan if you don't like the green color.
I find having that green background - uncommon like the tan - tells my mind that I am now in reading mode and not scanning mode (like with a white or black background). This lets me read more deeply when I don't have my Kindle and only my phone. Once I finish reading, I turn off "Do Not Disturb."
Reading on my iPad is more straightforward, as I have 'Do Not Disturb' always on. And I am only reading content on my iPad with colors: comic books, WWII books with maps, Star Wars guides, recipe books, etc. I don't change the background color on my iPad.
Thoughts? Comments? Feedback is always welcome!
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash
Back in 2019, I embarked on a daily morning personal devotion and growth plan by reading these two books on my Kindle Paperwhite (no ads):
Since then, I've rotated the faith devotional book yearly, but I have kept re-reading the The Daily Stoic (it is really that good). The previous faith devotionals were:
In addition to reading these, I have been practicing journaling whatever comes to mind before my readings. Looking back over my journaling, I see some themes: what happened the day before, or what is going to happen soon; prayers; concerns/worries; and insight into how I am feeling or how I am doing professionally and personally. I also capture some thoughts or ideas that stand out from my readings. I have tried to journal both on paper and digitally. I have currently settled on paper. I am currently using a Moleskin that was given to me by Manager-Tools.com.
Another practice I have been doing is high-lighting those verses mentioned in the faith devotionals in my Bible (NIV Faithlife Study Bible: Intriguing Insights To Inform Your Faith). It is becoming very interesting to see what verses get used across different authors, and those that only get one or two mentions. An additional insight is how much of the Bible hasn't been referenced. It is also especially interesting to me when my "Faith Daily Devotional" is very aligned with the "Stoic Daily Read."
This year I am going to read in the morning:
I am looking forward to Rolf's book as I've been listening to his podcast for years, and he inspired me to take this Europe Trip in 2019.
NOTE: Links to things you can buy go to Amazon Prime.
#human_generated_content
Just like last year, I have created some downloadable files of "continuous" calendars for 2023:
I hopefully did the conversion from 2022 to 2023 correctly. If you find an error then please let me know.
These were inspired by Kairos Cognition very elegant calendar:
I learned a lot about Adam Smith that I didn't know about in this three part podcast from Freakonomics.com: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
Here are a few examples:
While this cup is no longer available, the quality of Skeletal Dropkick cups, mugs, etc. is excellent and uniquely designed. Plus there are great sticker options. So enjoy!
I recently picked up some fun stickers for my new work laptop from Etsy:
I highly recommend them.
About two weeks ago I decided to move my personal David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) system (aka "External Brain/Trusted System") to Obsidian.md (a "free" personal knowledge management application -- note I previously thought that Obsidian was open-source but it is not).
I don't have a huge set of reasons for the switch, it just seemed like something I was very interested in doing after testing Obsidian over the last 6 months for writing, note-taking, organizing, etc.
My previous personal system was Nirvana (for everything GTD-related, but Reference), and Google Keep (for Reference). This system was up and running from January 2019 until now. Before that, I had a customized GTD-system in Google Keep. The full Google Keep system was ~5 years old. Before that, it was all Microsoft Outlook-based.
My work GTD system is Microsoft Outlook based with all my References in Microsoft OneNote or in the Windows filesystem.
My first step was to relieve my concern about being able to work across all devices. So, my first three next-actions were:
This was pretty straightforward and was probably working seamlessly in less than 10 minutes.
Then I had to figure out how to get things to work on my Android Phone and Apple iPad:
Now that I could trust that data would be synchronized, and available no matter which device I was using, I just started learning more about what other people have done:
The current setup is pretty minimal after migrating my current Tasks and Projects from Nirvana, and my current active Notes (Project Support, References) in Google Keep.
I have used this tool -- keep-it-markdown 0.4.3 -- to migrate all my notes out of Google Keep into .md files to Google Drive. However, I still need to import those into Obsidian.
I also need to migrate a couple of lists in Nirvana -- Later & Someday/Maybe -- to Obsidian.
There is also an effort to figure out if there are other Obsidian plugins, themes, or templates I should be using.
Questions, comments, suggestions, etc. welcome!
The play-by-play instructions (started via this recipe post):
Questions?
Last Spring 2021, I made a decision to upgrade our beach camping solar power options by picking up this setup from Jackery:
Portable Power Station Explorer 240 + SolarSaga 100W Portable Solar Panel
And then in June, I had this idea why not use this setup at home day-to-day to power up the following devices (vice using a power plug), and stay off the grid:
So, since June I have not plugged any of these personal devices into a home power plug that was pulling power over the grid.
However, I was starting to notice that the Jackery solar panel was starting to take some sun/weather damage. So I did some research, and upgraded to:
Renogy Solar Panel + SolarEnz Solar Connector
The Renogy panel is significantly more weather resistant and should allow me to re-charge the Jackery with the SolarEnz cord much easier.
This is working great. I'm very happy.
All product links are to Amazon.
Last year I was inspired to share my own version of Kairos Cognition's 2021 Continuous Calendar, and they now have their 2022 version available for sale:
Unfortunately, I don't have a good place for such a large calendar in my workspace, so I created my own versions for 2021.
Here are my personally updated ones for 2022. First a vertical version (prints 8.5 x 11-inch):
2022 Vertical Continuous Calendar PDF Download
And a smaller horizontal version that I have cut out, and laminated so I can easily place it right on my desk right under my monitor:
https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/am/2022_Horizontal_Continuous_Calendar.pdf
Please let me know if you have any comments, suggestions, or corrections. Thanks! Happy New Year!