Weekly Quote: William Zinsser on Learning Through Action
You learn by doing.
This week’s quote is from a favorite of mine, On Writing Well: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction, by William Zinsser. You become what you spend your focus on. If you want to do something, acting on it regularly and with intention means you will improve.
This is easier than it may seem. If you don’t have an hour to dedicate to the thing you’re trying to do, plan for fifteen minutes. Don’t put it off because you can’t achieve immediate success, start now so you can attain that goal differently. Perfect is the enemy of the good. To get great at something, you have to work at being good consistently first.
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The latest newsletter will be going to subscribers on Monday. I'm writing about Threads, sharing more thoughts on time blocking, and offering a media recommendation that illustrates what can happen when talent and luck find each other.
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Weekly Quote: Seneca on Delaying Your Anger
These ancient words from Seneca ask you to remember a foundational part of Stoic philosophy: delaying your reaction to anger offers a few moments to find the correct response. This action can bring clarity in the best cases and, at minimum, may allow you to quiet yourself and mute what could be an unreasoned response.
Try this. It takes practice and will only work some of the time. Yet, when it does, you will feel differently, like you’ve made less of a mistake, and that makes this effort worthwhile.
You can find Letters From a Stoic in both print and audio. Ryan Holiday’s The Lives of the Stoics is also an excellent resource to learn more about Seneca and the other Stoic philosophers.
Benjamin Franklin Was Time Blocking Before it Was Cool
Source: Wikimedia/The Atlantic
Benjamin Franklin’s daily schedule in all of its nerdy splendor. It’s useful for those of us trying to get stuff done to see that people have been trying to do time-blocking for a long time.
The morning and evening journaling prompts may be my favorite piece of this. These could be as helpful today as they were a couple hundred years ago. I’ll keep banging the drum for journaling; it helps people figure stuff out.
My role as a stay-at-home dad doesn’t allow for as much time blocking, although I’ve done it at work. At my last job, I had a lot of meetings that I was invited to (and required to attend), but I made an effort to keep Monday and Friday as free of them as possible so I could start and end the week by moving the departmental needle. Wednesday was the day that I set meetings and one-on-ones. Every day I had an hour in the morning to work on reviews and team member feedback and an hour in the afternoon dedicated to hiring and reviewing job applications. On my most successful days, I went through a shutdown routine where I cleaned up email, tidied up my task list, and reviewed the next day’s calendar and tasks.
There’s value in this kind of planning, although I’ve learned that the plan doesn’t always work out. Sometimes, life has a plan or, perhaps more appropriately, doesn’t, and you just have to ride it out. Be your best friend about this, don’t beat yourself up. So much is beyond your control; remember that.
Weekly Quote: Ryan Holiday on Gaining Confidence From Empathy
Ryan Holiday reminds us about the strength of empathy from Courage is Calling: Fortune Favors the Brave. Understanding the context of where a person is in their life means you’ll be able to meet them where they are instead of pushing or pulling them unnecessarily.
This idea is helpful and worthy of your attention anywhere, whether at home with your kids, at work with the team you lead, at the grocery store, or anywhere. Everyone goes through stuff. The more context you have, the better prepared you will be.
Weekly Quote: Austin Kleon on Letting the Right Stuff In
This week’s quote comes from Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon.
Austin's reminder is simple. Control the inputs where you can. Read the books that inspire you. Spend time with your family. Call your best friend from middle school and talk for twenty minutes while your kids nap. Find people who make you better and listen to them. Just be prepared to do that for others, too. Your inputs inform who you become; you must be your best for others too.
Weekly Quote: E.B. White on Wonder
This week’s quote comes from the author and essayist E.B. White. White spent nearly his entire career at The New Yorker, wrote classic children’s books, including Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little, and The Trumpet of the Swan, released several essays and collections of his work, revised The Elements of Style, and contributed to the voice and style of a generation of writers.
He also gave excellent advice with this simple quote from Charlotte’s Web. We spend a lot of our time distracted. We take incredible things for granted, perhaps because we can see anything we want to with a quick web search. Maybe it loses meaning when it’s all there for the taking virtually.
Listen to the birds. Open your eyes. Look at the horizon as you go for your morning walk. Glance around at those waiting in line at the coffee shop. Put your phone away when you come home from work. The emails can wait. No, they really can. Your partner and children need you. You need them too.
It takes practice to get good at this. Everyone struggles. Make today count.
Weekly Quote: Embracing Perspective for Personal Growth with The Practicing Stoic
This quote from The Practicing Stoic reminds us that taking a broader view offers perspective, something of value that we all need more of.
Good or bad, whatever is happening right now won’t last forever. In fact, It probably will be over sooner than you expect. Time is indifferent to our joy and sorrow. It just moves ahead. Our best bet is to understand how we fit into the bigger picture.
Take some time today to pull back the camera for a wider view. Write in your journal and reflect on all of this, then use what you learn to become a better human.
I send a monthly newsletter about the power of reading and journaling, the benefits of finding focus and productivity through intentionality, and how tech can help you grow in the ways you want. I also share a recommendation of something I'm enjoying or finding helpful. You can read past issues and subscribe here.
Weekly Quote: Finding Clarity in Motion with Thomas Mann
On a beautiful day last week, I loaded my son into the stroller and walked through a nearby park. We do this regularly, although this time, my primary focus was to find clarity around a difficult decision.
About twenty minutes into the walk, my conscious thinking had gently drifted into unrelated topics. I was considering the birds and beautiful sunshine, thinking about what to make for dinner, and recalling how much my children have changed in the last year. I was becoming more relaxed, but my subconscious was working.
We wandered quietly for another fifteen minutes. Then I took my iPhone from the cupholder of the stroller, opened my Personal Reflection journal in Day One, and began using voice-to-text to dictate my stream-of-consciousness thoughts on the situation.
We arrived home shortly after, me feeling relieved and my son ready to play. The day moved on. It wasn't until that evening that I had a chance to review what I had dictated. I was surprised by what I read. I was able to come to new conclusions and organized a jumbled mess of thoughts into something actionable.
The walk with my son isn't the first time I've had this experience. I've learned that movement is a force multiplier for separating meaningful thoughts from distractions. Dictation is a helpful tool, a bridge to push those thoughts to where real work can begin. The result of combining these two actions can be clarity.
Our ancestors and their distant relatives knew this too. While their lives were different in so many ways from our modern existence strewn with convenience and comfort, the human concerns that they struggled with were very similar to what we deal with today. They knew the power of movement. We need to relearn it. It can be the difference between feeling stuck in the mud and finding the path forward.
I send a monthly newsletter about the power of reading and journaling, the benefits of finding focus and productivity through intentionality, and how tech can help you grow in the ways you want. I also share a recommendation of something I'm enjoying or finding helpful. You can read past issues and subscribe here.
Finding Focus: Using HazeOver to Tame Distraction
I sometimes find It difficult to concentrate while trying to get creative work done on my Mac. Like most people, I have a lot of demands on my time, and even when I want to really get into a project, distractions are plentiful. One tool that has helped me improve my focus and stay on task is HazeOver, an app I've been happily using as part of my SetApp subscription for several months.
HazeOver, a productivity tool developed by Maxim Anavov, creates a translucent layer that darkens the desktop behind the currently active window. It is customizable, offering options to adjust the opacity or change the color of the layer. HazeOver also supports multiple displays, the option to highlight one window or all windows of an active app, and a rules based tool that disable any features for specified apps.
HazeOver is contextual for me. I toggle the app via keyboard shortcut when it's time to write or take notes from research and shut it off when doing admin work or general tasks. I have made minimal changes to the settings, with the opacity set at 75%, the default black color option, and only one active window highlighted at a time.
There are a lot of distractions in our lives, and I appreciate the simple and effective way that HazeOver works to try and minimize some of those while I get work done. If you have a tool you like that helps you stay focused, let me know. I’ll give it a try and may include it in a future post for this series.
HazeOver is available for purchase on the App Store and via Setapp, where new users get a 7-day free trial. If you subscribe to Setapp using this link, you get one month free, and it supports the work I do as well.
Weekly Quote: Tiago Forte on The Second Brain
This week’s quote comes from Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte. I’ve been familiar with Tiago’s work for some time. Still, it wasn’t until a series of conversations over the last month with my friend Jim from Original Mac Guy that I decided it was time to dig into this book and give the approach further consideration.
I have lots of data, ideas, and things collected in too many places. I need a better system as I do more and create more. I hope this book can help me learn how to accomplish that
I’ll share more thoughts as I go through Tiago’s book. I’m taking it slow, trying to make highlights and digest and reflect on what I’m reading.
I send a monthly newsletter about the power of reading and journaling, the benefits of finding focus and productivity through intentionality, and how tech can help you grow in the ways you want. I also share a recommendation of something I'm enjoying or finding helpful. You can read past issues and subscribe here.
Paul Mayne, Creator of Day One, on Apple’s Journal App
Day One Creator Paul Mayne shared his thoughts on Journal, Apple’s new iOS app coming later this year.
From the Day One blog:
Rather than seeing this as competition, we embrace Apple’s entry into digital journaling as a testament to its growing importance. This evolution is not just beneficial for Day One, but also for our valued users.
I’m thankful that Day One and other apps will be able to access the Suggestions API. I remain curious what exactly that will look like, but it’s always fun to see how app developers take these API’s and run with them in ways that best suit their users.
You can read Paul's whole post and what I wrote about Journal earlier this week. Apple releasing this app will get more people into journaling, and that's a win. Most people I've encountered who journal are better for it, and those who don't could find so much value in starting a practice.
Apple Unveils Journal at WWDC 2023, Coming to iPhone Later this Year
During Monday's WWDC conference, Apple announced Journal, a new app coming to iPhone later this year.
From the iOS 17 feature page at Apple.com:
Using on-device machine learning, your iPhone creates personalized suggestions of moments for you to remember and write about based on your photos, music, workouts, and more.
Other highlights include:
Reflection and writing prompts
The ability to mark important or meaningful entries for review later
Scheduled notifications at the beginning and end of the day as well as reminders to record your thoughts about important events
Apple's typical and appreciated approach to security, including end-to-end encryption, on-device processing, and locked journals
On Upgrade, co-host Jason Snell mentioned that other developers should be able to use the Suggestions API, giving tools like my favorite journaling app, Day One, an opportunity to integrate these features.
I’ll share more as Apple continues to release details.
Weekly Quote: Cato the Elder on Embracing the Wisdom of Others
This week’s quote comes from Cato The Elder. Cato was a Roman soldier, senator and historian who was also the first Latin prose writer of importance.
At the start of a new week, remember this quote. We must be open to learning from others, regardless of our perceptions about what they may or may not know. Those perceptions are often based on the biases we hold and bring around as unwanted emotional baggage.
Remain discerning, but do not rashly refuse, as Cato reminds us, just because you believe you already know what they will say. You may be surprised by what others know.
The May Newsletter Arrives this Week
The May newsletter will be heading to inboxes on Wednesday. This month I’m sharing thoughts on the importance of getting out of the house and taking a break, as well as more insights into my new M2 Mac. I’ll also have a media recommendation featuring a show with a season finale that left me eagerly anticipating more.
If you’d like to become a part of this, you can check out recent issues and subscribe here.
Unleashing Apple Silicon
I've finally joined the modern Apple Silicon era!
This is my recently acquired M2 MacBook Air. I chose Space Grey with 16 GB of memory and a 1 TB SSD.
I have been using a MacBook Air since 2019, and it's struggled to keep pace with my needs. The Silicon Air is a different beast than what was on offer during the Intel era, thanks in large part to Apple's system on a chip processors using ARM architecture.
Looking for a new Mac? Start with the M Series Air. I love my M2, and the previous M1 generation is still blazing fast and is often on sale at places like Amazon.
This is the best and most responsive computing experience I've ever had. People told me I'd feel this way, and they were right.
Weekly Quote: Ryan Holiday on Overcoming What Other People Think of Us
This week's quote comes from Courage is Calling by Ryan Holiday, reminding us that we shouldn't let what others think get in the way of being who we are and accomplishing what is most important to us.
The vast majority of people aren't paying attention to you or, honestly, anything else. Instead, they're distracted by social media, exhausted by life, or obsessed with what others think of them.
While many people aren't paying attention, you are. This makes a difference.
Make this your superpower. Don't let your perceptions of what others think stop you.
Be the parent you want to be because you aren't worried about embarrassing yourself for being silly on the playground. Buy the car that suits your needs rather than the more expensive one because no one will notice. Be responsible and fruitful at work, but remember to shut things off when you go home to be with your family because most of what will come up can wait until the morning.
Do not live with the manufactured fear of others' opinions. Be bold and take inspiration by remembering the few who are watching you and who matter. Your friends and family, trusted colleagues, and mentors, they are paying attention because they care.
David Sparks on Journaling as a Maker, a Manager, and a Consumer
Last week I wrote a piece for the Finding Focus series about the benefits of waking up early and quoted podcast host and MacSparky Labs founder David Sparks' idea that, as creators, we should make before we manage.
David wrote more on this idea a few years ago and shared his thoughts about how being a maker, a manager, and a consumer impacts the purpose of his journaling process. He writes about the evolution of his journaling:
My purpose in journaling is tracking how I'm spending my time in these roles. I don't view any of them as inherently good or bad. The magic is in the balance. While making is most important to me, both managing and consuming enable making. I want to spend more time making than consuming. I need to spend time managing, but not go down the management/productivity rabbit hole so far that I don't make anything.
So with this in mind, I've been focusing my journaling lately not so much on what I had for lunch, but what I make, manage, and consume. Using tags, I can then see it on a daily, weekly, and even monthly basis. If I look at my week and realize I spent most of my time sharpening pencils and sorting tasks (manager) and not enough time producing content (maker), I know I need to make changes. You can get similar information by tracking your time, but I think there is something more concrete looking at a list of things you've made, managed, and consumed over a period of time.
David suggests using Day One and assigning a tag to each role as an effective way to aid in planning and review. More good advice from someone who, to quote another often used Sparks phrase, pays for his shoes as a self-employed creator.
A journaling practice is a powerful way to see where and what you've been doing. Of course, your journal cannot predict the future, but you can certainly use it to forecast where you might end up.
I’ll be doing more writing about journaling here and in the monthly newsletter. The April issue focused on the topic and offered some ideas on how to get started or stick with your own practice. You can subscribe here if you’re interested. Just be sure to check your email (and spam folder) for the opt-in confirmation that’ll get sent. If you're interested in the April issue, let me know and I’ll get it to you.
Weekly Quote: Reframing Problems with Insights from Todd Henry's The Daily Creative
This week’s quote comes from The Daily Creative by Todd Henry. Todd has written five books and founded The Accidental Creative, where he shares insights, workshops, keynotes, and other resources for creative people and teams.
When his clients get stuck, Todd urges them to ask themselves, “what are we really trying to do here?” This simple but easily ignored question offers a chance to reframe the situation, bringing a new perspective and an opportunity to move forward on a project or task. It’s not a panacea, but it can help get the gears moving again.
Subscribe to the monthly newsletter for stories, ideas, and insights on reading and journaling, the benefits of finding focus and productivity through intentionality, and how tech can help you grow in the ways you want. Every issue also features a studio update and a media recommendation. Check out the sample issues and join today!
Finding Focus: Why Waking Up at 5 AM Helps Me Get More Done
I've long been the kind of person who likes to wake up at 5 AM. The time before the day starts is one of reflection and personal development for me, whether through physical exercise, journaling, or reading. I've discovered since launching 24 Letters that this time is where some of my most productive work on content and ideas comes from.
Here are a few reasons why being an early riser helps me get more done.
It's Quiet
I get distracted easily and also have plenty of responsibilities once the kids are awake, so having a quiet house helps me get into the writing groove. Once I've made coffee and fed the cats, I come into the studio and get started. I use a focus mode to keep the digital distractions at bay, and I have a shortcut to launch my preferred mix in Dark Noise. My mind is quiet, and if I can keep it from getting polluted with notifications and calendar items for the coming day, I'm much more likely to get work done.
It's my Margin
Whatever you're doing with your day, you likely have something that takes up the bulk of your time that, in most cases, is not your creative endeavor or passion project. I'm a stay-at-home dad, which requires a lot of attention and care. Finding the margins means figuring out the time that works around your other priorities. Unless my kids are awake extra early, the predawn time is usually available for me.
It Starts the Day Strong
When I get some work done on a post or a draft of the next newsletter started, I start the day with an accomplishment that is meaningful to me. As a result, I find myself in a better mood and can better focus my attention during the day instead of becoming distracted by the projects I'm falling behind on.
It's Incremental Growth
An hour or 90 minutes a day may not seem like much, but that adds up to a few weeks' worth of writing time if you do it every day. Realistically, it doesn't happen daily, but even three or four days a week moves the needle. For me, it's about progress over time, and I’m happy with that as long as I can build content that helps people.
It's my Peak
In his book When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, Daniel Pink writes about Your Daily When, the natural fluctuations in energy and alertness that everyone feels throughout the day. Dan's research shows that most people peak in the morning, and I'm in that group. I'm often happiest and most effective at getting things done between 5 am and 12 pm.
What I Work On
I try to make before I manage, as David Sparks frequently says. The early hours are reserved for creative work. I either get stuck into an ongoing draft in Ulysses or begin pulling ideas and sources together to prep for a new piece. This work usually takes place in apps like Craft and Mindnode.
I have a weekly planning document in Craft that I use to roughly map out what I want to get done with the week, and I also have a simple review process built-in with that.
Navigating the Ups and Downs
We sometimes have less attention or time to devote to the things we would like to get done than we would like.
It's frustrating to have a plan and then watch it not happen. We all have more practice with that than we realize, yet it's still difficult to experience. My rule is to start with kindness and understanding. It's helpful to remember the first principle of Stoicism, shared by Ward Farnsworth in The Practicing Stoic:
I like starting the day by acting on something important to me. It improves my mood, sharpens my senses, and helps me achieve the goal of creating content that can help people become a better version of themselves by learning something new. It doesn’t always work, but it did today and I will try for tomorrow too.