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
This photo is part of my Blurry collection.
CURRENT HAPPENINGS
All is good health-wise and no major COVID-19 impacts. We are looking forward to vaccines. #stay_home_if_sick, #wash_your_hands, #social_distance, #wear_a_mask
Some how I didn't get around to a February post. Things have been pretty focused at home (taxes, CISSP Continuing Education (CE) credits, ThePodCraft, etc), and work (new role) which is probably why it never got to the top of the priority list.
LOOK FORWARD TO
Our visit to the The Oaks (our photos from our 1st trip) to celebrate our 27th Wedding Anniversary is coming up soon. And I am going to be taking some annual leave from work the first full week of April just after Easter.
I continue to be Dungeon Mastering (DMing) for my Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) group. We have been slogging through the "epic" battle over 5 or 6 sessions (3-4 hours of real-time) to play 5+ minutes in game time (each turn has been 6 seconds long). I think the "snatch-&-grab" adventure I was planning is going to be something to do later, as our other DM is ready with his next adventure.
TECHNOLOGY, TIPS, & SUGGESTIONS
Wired recently published some great Gmail tips that are worth reviewing if you are a Google Gmail user.
I learned a few things about how to better use Virtual Desktops on Chrome OS in this article. I am currently using four: Main, GTD, Social, & Media.
I am not much of a wine drinker but I thought this graphic I found on Reddit to be helpful enough that I saved it into my REFERENCE library in Google Keep:
I believe I have a pretty good online password strategy. Here are some times related to cracking common password patterns. This is why your passwords need more complexity as of 2021. The bad news is that every year going forward the time to crack passwords is going to get less as processors/memory/storage/cache/technologies/approaches/etc. get better:
I have been using LastPass for several years (paying customer), and I still find it to meet my needs: works across many devices, Family Plan, easy to have different passwords per site, and complex generated passwords can be customized.
QUOTE I'M THINKING ABOUT
“If you don’t like something change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. - Mary Engelbreit
This photo is part of my Wood Collection. Also check out my Nature Collection!
CURRENT EVENTS
We are AOK on the COVD-19 front. We continue to be vigilant and focused: #wear_a_mask; #wash_your_hands, #social_distance, and #stay_home_if_sick.
My candidate for President of the United States in 2020 continues to be Jo Jorgensen. I think she would have been great in the 1st debate (#letherspeak, #letherdebate), but that didn't happen. I think the Presidential Debates need to move back to a non-partisan group like League of Women Voters as the Presidential Debate Commission is just run by the Republican & Democratic parties with no interest in real republican democracy and a free marketplace of ideas.
Christy and I had a wonderful opportunity to do a self-guided retreat with COVID-19 protections at The Oaks the last weekend in September. It was an amazing weekend -- where we were able to relax, connect, and grow. Here are some photos of the amazing facilities and grounds. And here are some pictures of nature from around the area. Highly recommended! If you have any questions, then please let me know.
I also managed to record the event bell on the last day. There are two versions. One with little changes from the original recording:
And another where I tried to clean up the audio a little bit:
OTHER THINGS THAT ARE GOING WELL
EXPERIMENTING WITH MEDITATION
I'm still enjoying my emerging meditation practice. I got a couple of emails about my meditation post from last month, and the benefits others have had with meditation. The Oak app that I have been using to help me build out my practice has three main functions (HOME, COURSES, GROWTH):
Under the HOME you will see (I use the Meditate > Unguided):
And under COURSES you will see (at the time of this post) just one available course (but more are planned):
If you press on GROWTH you will see your personal tracker on how you are doing by day. I can see my current streak and my longest streak for Meditate > Unguided since this the only one I am using at this time. It is pretty simple and well designed. I recommend it if you are looking for something to experiment with.
TECHNOLOGY, TIPS, & SUGGESTIONS
My favorite audio editing program is still the open-source application Audacity. It works on Macs, Windows, and Linux.
The two days a week I am riding my bike with a stationary-trainer on our backyard porch, I am nearly always watching videos from this You Tube channel Indoor Cycling Videos. They are excellent!
For the last month or so, I have been trying to look at my Getting Things Done (GTD) Next Action lists and my Projects list as something doable in the next 7 days. So far, I've seen more throughput in completing more projects and tasks. Items that are outside of 7 days are moved to the Later list in Nirvana for my personal system, and a similar Next Actions (Later) list in Microsoft Outlook Tasks for my work system. These Later lists are then reviewed using a lens of -- "is this doable in a month" -- and if the answer is "No", then the item moves to Someday/Maybe. This has definitely increased the number of "Someday/Maybe" items, but that has been manageable since I am reviewing them once a week during my Weekly Review.
QUOTE I'M THINKING ABOUT
“Having resentment against someone is like drinking poison and thinking it will kill your enemy.” ― Nelson Mandela