I am a big fan of Cal Newport's Deep Life podcast.
One of his monthly goals is to read at least five books, which he then covers in his podcast.
Fellow podcast fan Bram Adams ([email protected]) has created a database of all Cal has read here: Cal’s Five Books of the Month.
Bram's site also makes fantastic use of Notion.
Thanks, Bram!!
Just like last year, I have created some downloadable PDF files of "continuous" calendars for 2024:
I hopefully did the conversion from 2023 to 2024 correctly. It was especially tricky since 2024 is a Leap Year. If you find an error, then please let me know.
These were inspired by Kairos Cognition very elegant calendar:
This is what the Horizontal PDF looks like (3 copies if you print one):
And this is what the Vertical PDF looks like:
Back in this episode of Cal Newport's podcast "Why You're Always Tired & Exhausted (No Matter What You Do)," there was a funny ad read that Cal did for Jesse Skelton.
It was funny enough that not only did I try to make an audio version of Jesse Skelton saying "Get Off Your Phone" (MP3), but another podcast fan made this site for Jesse Skelton.
Enjoy!
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:
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!
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!
This photo is part of my Blurry collection.
CURRENT HAPPENINGS
The last two months have been going well. Mother's Day in May was great, and so was Father's Day in June.
We have been slowly getting back out to our favorite places to eat, visiting breweries, attending church in person without masks, seeing friends, and having more group events at our house.
Getting vaccinated has a ton of benefits!
Biggest news is that Carson graduated from High School:
Another nice piece of new news is that my niece Hayley and her husband Alex are having a baby girl in December:
I have also been able to teach two Getting Things Done (GTD) classes in-person at work which has been very enjoyable. One class was in May and the other in late June.
LOOKING FORWARD TO
The epic D&D battle I have been DMing for several months has finally ended, and we are on to a new "underwater" related adventure created by our other DM Darren.
We have several mini-vacations coming up across July & August: one week in Mission Beach at a condo rental; a weekend retreat at The Oaks; a couple of days in Las Vegas for Def Con; and then beach camping at San Elijo. It will be nice to get out and about, but also not have to travel too far from home.
TECHNOLOGY, TIPS, & SUGGESTIONS
If I had to pick a single glass style to drink craft beer out of I think it would be this one (Amazon link):
Since May 20th I have been charging all my mobile electronics off-grid using this setup from Jackery (originally purchased just for camping):
This includes: cell phone; iPad (didn't realize what a power hog this was); Garmin watch; bike lights; Go Pro & other camera batteries; all the new Rode podcast/audio recording gear; and a variety of smaller battery packs. Hard to say the total impact to our home electrical bill, but kind of a fun experiment. It will be interesting to see how long I can do it. My cell phone does get charged when it is in the car, so that makes things a little easier. I am not charging my main personal Chromebook computer this way until we go camping this summer.
The solar unit is the SolorSaga 100W (Amazon Link), and the portable battery unit is the Portable Power Station Explorer 240 (Amazon Link).
QUOTE I'M THINKING ABOUT
"Saying no saves you time in the future. Saying yes costs you time in the future. No is like a time credit. You can spend that block of time in the future. Yes is like a time debt. You have to repay that commitment at some point. No is a decision. Yes is a responsibility." - James Clear
I was blessed to attend the 2019 Getting Things Done (GTD) Conference in Amsterdam on June 20 (Thursday) and June 21 (Friday) in 2019.
Here is a blog post about the visit to Amsterdam with my son Conrad.
Here are my notes from Day 1 (PDF).
Here are my notes from Day 2 (PDF).
My favorite photo of the event:
This photo is part of my Blurry collection.
CURRENT HAPPENINGS
All but one of us is vaccinated. Guess which one? Ha Ha! #stay_home_if_sick, #wash_your_hands, #social_distance, #wear_a_mask
Christy and I had a great 2nd retreat to The Oaks to celebrate our 27th Wedding Anniversary. It was super reflective and restful. Here are some photos!
I recently did a Getting Things Done (GTD) related presentation to Manager-Tools' M Conference attendees alumni group. Here is more information about the presentation with an offer to present to other groups or organizations that are interested in productivity.
My work did a virtual Spring Break scavenger hunt (above are some of the photos). It was super fun and collaborative with friends & family helping out. It was also nice to get out-and-about little bit more. I highly recommend doing something like this if you have the opportunity.
LOOKING FORWARD TO
Carson is going to be graduating high-school soon, and has decided to go to Long Beach State to study nursing. We are very proud and excited for her upcoming college season.
Summer vacation plans seem to be coming together: Mission Beach beach house rental, back to The Oaks, Def Con (Las Vegas), and camping at San Elijo State Beach.
I am hoping that my friend's D&D session (mentioned in previous posts) will get us through this epic battle I have been DMing for months, and on to a new "underwater" related adventure created by our other DM Darren.
TECHNOLOGY, TIPS, & SUGGESTIONS
Here are some greate Windows 10 tips from ZDNET. The one about the new Clipboard History is especially useful as I have had to use a 3rd party tool to do this in the past. To open Clipboard History, press Windows key + V. Neat!
I have been experimenting with these Rode Wireless Go Compact Microphone Transmitter & Receiver Systems for The PodCraft Beer Show. So far they are working well, and they definitely decrease the amount of gear I need to drag to each recording. I think they are also making the conversational style of the podcast easier to record, and edit on the back end. I'll probably do a future full review, so standby for more information.
Engadget's article on "Google makes it easy to jump back to the search box by pressing '/' -- The new shortcut makes it easier to refine your search results." should enable you to quickly expand searches to include addition terms.
I knew how to schedule the release of emails, but this article from Wired describes how to do this on Apple iOS devices and on Google Android devices for text messages. Super handy to know.
QUOTE I'M THINKING ABOUT
“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.” - Peter Drucker