brain tags: Recent Episodes
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Whenever I listen to interviews with Seth Godin, I feel inspired to write more on my blog.
While I may not be able to post as often as Seth does, Iâm determined to increase my publishing frequency. However, Iâve made similar intentions in the past without much success, so I canât guarantee anything.
Additionally, I want to focus on creating content that is genuinely helpful to readers, rather than just sharing my own struggles with publishing.
Weâll seeâŠ
After a lengthy hiatus, I decided to revisit Twitter. Two observations emerged from this return: despite exclusively following intriguing individuals (never brands), the majority of messages failed to captivate; I engaged with just one post. Surprisingly, I found myself investing more time on the timeline than anticipated or desired.
After adding my list of blog recommendations to my Micro.blog profile, I now have created a dedicated page on my website specifically to display my blogroll.
My blogroll is inspired by the work of Frank, and Iâve also taken cues from giants like Dave Winer and Manton Reese.
Speaking of Frank, whenever I notice that heâs included me in his blogroll, it motivates me to publish new content so I feel like Iâve truly earned my place there.
Email is not your manager.
YOU decide what you do according to YOUR objectives. E-mail is at best an assistant, a reminder, a support mechanism.
It is not your manager.
Nicholas Bate https://blog.strategicedge.co.uk/2024/03/the-most-powerful-productivity-tips-92.html
Murphyâs Law struck again: I was trying to get everything ready for this morningâs workshop, so I restarted my iMac. But just 15 minutes before the workshop was supposed to begin, my iMac wouldnât start up. đ
I am extremely busy today, so what did I do this morning?
Exactly, add recommendations (AKA blogroll) to my profile.
The SMART acronym: is not based on scientific theory; is not consistent with empirical evidence; does not consider what type of goal is set; is not applied consistently; is lacking detailed guidance; has redundancy in its criteria; is not being used as originally intended; and has a risk of potentially harmful effects.
Related: Implementation intentions, Invest
I truly appreciate the conversation awareness feature of the Apple AirPods. However, it would be even better if this feature could distinguish between my speaking voice and when Iâm singing, adjusting the volume accordingly.
Finished reading: Drive by Daniel H. Pink đ
The self-determination theory holds significant importance, yet many businesses overlook its application for employee motivation. Despite its relevance, the book tends to become somewhat repetitive in its exploration.
The reason I stayed in bed for an hour longer today:
No list, app nor productivity app will work if you are simply tired.Nicholas Bate https://blog.strategicedge.co.uk/2024/02/the-most-powerful-productivity-tips-85.html
You derive most of your happiness from anticipating and planning the holiday trip.
Related: Joy, Productive happiness
People who sleep well are more positive.
Related: Joy, Morning productivity, Productive sleep
I still havenât found any use for the desktop widgets in macOS. The only widget I would probably use, a âNow Playingâ widget, is precisely the one widget Apple decided not to make.
Finished reading: Deep Work by Cal Newport đ
Already a classic work, explaining a concept which is very needed in current times.I feel, however, that Cal emphasizes too much how good his particular way of working is and doesnât give many alternative ways of doing deep work.
It looks we returned a week too early from the Netherlands. I would love to be able to skate on natural ice again. Look at those images: nos.nl/l/2504465
Having fun preparing a trip for my wifeâs 50th birthday. Her wish is to wake up in a place sheâs never been to and she will not believe her eyes when she does.
Finished reading: Designing the Mind by Ryan Bush đ
Interesting and well written book about building proactive life on a cognitive, emotional and behavioral level. I liked how Ryan was able to draw simple schematics for the algorithms in our mind.
An unstructured 5-minute break from thinking is all you need to get your concentration back.
Related: Work cycle, Deep work, Focus training, Time to flow
đž Another week, another Tevaplanter update
The chia plants on my Tevaplanter are thriving, as shown in the progress from week 0 to week 1 to now:
Although I expected all the chia seeds to sprout, there are some areas where growth has not occurred. I suspect this may be due to the high temperatures on my outdoor patio, which make it difficult to maintain proper moisture levels for the plants.
To further explore and determine the best setup and purpose for the vessel, I plan to conduct an indoor experiment using chia seeds. This will help me make an informed decision on how to proceed.
Why does the EU, in the middle of the streaming media era, still obliges is to pay a tax to compensate media enterprises whenever we buy hardware?
Yesterday my iPad died with no way to resuscitate it đ±.
For the moment Iâve decided not te buy a replacement yet and do my media consumption on my iPhone. The small screen size still bothers me, but Iâm getting byâŠ
However, soon I will have to buy a replacement iPad, since I need one for running Keynote during my workshops.
Be aware of scatter in your life.
Scatter is multiple monitors.Scatter is being busy without making progress. Jason Fried https://world.hey.com/jason/scatter-8a4a1e4a
Even just one ten-minute guided meditation can improve your ability to pay attention for longer.
Related: Focus training, Impulse, Scatterfocus
đž Chia growing on my Tevaplanter
After five days, the chia buds are clearly visible and the roots start to grab hold of the Tevaplanter vesselâs surface
đž Tevaplanter loaded with chia seeds
Two and half years after ordering, my Tevaplanter finally arrived. Yesterday I filled the cells with chia seeds for my first experiment to learn how to use it.
I will keep you posted on further progress.
Active noise cancelling headphones have no effect on your concentration capacity in open office spaces.
Related: Noise pollution, Open-plan workspace, Deep work
Un acto de generosidad.
AsĂ es como describirĂa la recomendaciĂłn del chef Xanty ElĂas.
De todo corazĂłn y en nombre de todo el equipo de KENSO: ÂĄGracias Xanty! đ€đ
Tana is by far the app that gives me the most pleasure to use. So powerful, so many possibilities âŠ
I rely on Kill the newsletter! to manage all my newsletter subscriptions, as I prefer reading them in my feed reader rather than my email app.
However, Iâve encountered an issue recently with Substack. They are not allowing me to subscribe using a kill-the-newsletter.com email address, stating that they cannot validate the email domain. This is quite disappointing. âčïž
I attempted to find information on how to validate an email domain on their support site, but there is no relevant information available. Even if there were, it wouldnât make a difference since itâs not my domain.
Nevertheless, I still do not want those newsletters cluttering my email inbox, so I have decided not to subscribe for nowâŠ
Walk into working Monday with a plan.
(Best created Friday mid-PM)
Nicholas Bate https://blog.strategicedge.co.uk/2023/07/the-most-powerful-productivity-tips-57.html
Until a few weeks ago I always created my week plan on Monday morning and now I usually do it on Sundays to start the week with impulse. Of course, Nicholas is right: Friday afternoon is the best moment to plan the week ahead.
What we believe in:
We believe in effectiveness. How little can we do? How much can we cut out? Instead of adding to-dos, we add to-donâts. Jason Fried https://world.hey.com/jason/effective-productive-acfa210d
Do less and achieve more.
Just as an over-stuffed washing machine doesnât do its job, an over-full day causes its owner to become stressed, fatigued and to lose focus on the true priorities. Nicholas Bate https://blog.strategicedge.co.uk/2023/07/the-most-powerful-productivity-tips-56.html
The best reading strategy Iâve come across is the idea of a wide funnel and tight filter. Be willing to read anything that looks even a little interesting, but abandon it quickly and without mercy if itâs not working for you.
Morgan Housel https://collabfund.com/blog/paying-attention/
I have got the wide funnel in place. Now I only have to tighten my filterâŠ
You can still set up your tiny quiet corner on the web, do your own things, and connect slowly with other people. You can still set up a forum dedicated to something you're passionate about and create a community with 50 other people, even if Reddit turns to shit. Things can live on the web simply because enough people care about them and pour time and love into them. And that is what makes the web special. Manuel Morale https://manuelmoreale.com/on-the-state-of-the-web
Do you have your own tiny quiet corner on the web? I do!
Why is it that when we are hungry, we feel like we have to eat something immediately, but when weâre tired, we donât feel like we need to sleep immediately.
âAll truly great thoughts are conceived by walkingâ
â Friedrich Nietzsche
The 1000th quote stored in my Quotebook app.
This weekend I will be staying a few days in Göteborg. Any tips? Anything off the beaten path?
Increase employee wellbeing without productivity loss by reducing the workweek to four days.
Related: Hard work, Free time, Indifference, Work about work
Blogging es whatever you want it to be. There are no rules.
A few years ago I gave a short talk about myths that discourage people from blogging. I was chatting with a friend about blogging the other day and it made me want to write up that talk as a blog post. Julia Evans https://jvns.ca/blog/2023/06/05/some-blogging-myths/
đž Feria del libro de Madrid
CĂłmo he disfrutado esta tarde volviendo a ver mis amigos de KENSO y, mĂĄs importante, encontrarme en persona con los oyentes y viejos amigos.
This footnote brings up so many questions about the discussions there must have been between the authors of this paper.
ÂżEstĂĄs usando la inteligencia artificial en tu trabajo? ÂżMe puedes dar algĂșn ejemplo concreto?
Workers lose 9% of their time at work by toggling roughly 1200 times per day between applications and websites.
Related: Multitasking, Task switching, Attention residue, Screen size
Each day I here more and more about Bluesky and little by little Iâm getting curious.
Does anybody have an invite for me?
Playing videos, music or voice messages using your phoneâs speaker in a public space such as in restaurants or public transport is rude.
I guess this is a lost battle for me, as it seems to happening more and more âŠ
This is one of the finest capture apps I have ever used.
Especially the voice recordings in combination with Tanaâs transcribe function is magic.
I wanted to try out GPT4, but OpenAI rejected my credit cards.So now I have more money and more time (but less fun).
As with many new tools I try out, I found that Wavelength didnât improve my life in a meaningful way, so I will close my account.
It was nice chatting with a few of the Micro.blog users for the first days, but that seemed weird from the beginning. after all, why wouldnât we have those conversations right on Micro.blog?
See you all over hereâŠ
Why does macOS only warn me about my Magic Mouse’s battery level when it gets to 1%. You know I can’t charge it while workingâŠ
Remember before looking at your device:
«A wealth of information creates poverty of attention and a need to allocate that attention efficiently»â Herb Simon
Last week I imported my whole tweet archive into Micro.blog to save my insignificant ramblings for the future (since some maniac may suddenly decide to delete them).
Until this morning I did not have the possibility to review the results and came to two conclusions:
- I am very impressed by the work @manton did to make this a frictionless experience. đ
- I am ver unimpressed by the quality of my tweets. đ€ą
đž Golden door
I was afraid that the gold paint would look too âover the topâ, but it turned out very nice.
I simplified the site navigation by deleting the âOn this dayâ page. The idea is nice, but I guess nobody besides me uses that page. And I even have a better solution in the form of Day One.
I should use the dictation function more. Each day I write a lot of texts, most of them small. Those text are a fine candidate for being dictated. Just like this text.
I never ever use the skin tones on emoji. To me, yellow is the all-inclusive color and used a skin tone is only appropriate when referring to a specific person.
Something to reflect on:
Our brain craves focus.
When it is focused, it is happy, still, powerful.
But a focused brain is a rarity in todayâs world.
What do you do to keep your brain focused?
This post is hilarious:
Actually, You Should Wake Up at 4:12 a.m.âDonât Ask Me Why, It Just Sounds Rightâand Nine Reasons We Should Cyberbully People Who Wake Up Later Than That
At the end of each workshop I organize, I always ask for the main takeaway from the session.
And almost always the most popular takeaway is something that was not on the training outline, but rather something that they took from an offhand comment by me or one of the other participants.
No matter how much I prepare the training or how much I adapt the training contents based on what I know about the participantsâŠ
I have renewed my Microsoft 365 subscription for one more your. This is by far the most expensive software I own, coming in at about 5â10⏠per use.
Indeed, I hardly ever use it, but the times I use it I really need it.
I just noticed that I hadn’t update my Now page since November, so I quickly updated it.
If we did go back to sleeping as much as we need to, as much as we did a century ago, then that would cause a huge recession as people would consume an hour less every day.
In other words: If our physical needs were met, it would cause an economic crisis.
Once again, a short-term problem (economic crisis) stands in the way of long-term progress (wellbeing).
U2’s upcoming album Songs of Surrender looks very promising. I love the minimalist versions in the pre-release.(The old U2 will always be the best U2)
What we believe in, and in fact one of the two key messages from our book #EffectividadKENSO.
âBecome A Scientist Of Yourselfâ
Love this quote â€ïž
«Working hard for something we donât care about is called stress. Working hard for something we love is called passion.»
â Simon Sinek
If Twitter closes its free API, crossposting from Micro.blog will be impossible.I wonder what to do: stop publishing on Twitter or manually copy and paste my posts⊠đ€
ÂżEs posible seguir tu curiosidad sin plan y aĂșn asĂ tener Ă©xito?
@jaime\_rdes demuestra que sĂ. Jaime siempre estĂĄ curioseando y comparte sus aprendizajes en el podcast con el nombre mĂĄs KENSO (despuĂ©s de KENSO): Kaizen.
Finished reading: The Effective Executive by Peter F. Drucker đ
Amazing how it still hold up after more than 50 years. A true classic.
He venido a hablar de mi libro: Efectividad KENSO
@rahego comparte cĂłmo ha sido su experiencia de escribir y publicar el libro.
This is great: Productivity blocker (via Dense Discovery)
Agree with the testimonial though: âwish it worked on Safariâ.
Do things that makes you happy everyday, since happy workers are 12% more productive.
Related: Joy, Motivation, Time to flow
82% of knowledge workers check their email within the first 30 minutes of their day.
Related: Frog eating, Deep work, Multitasking, Task switching
Ya he encontrado el soporte perfecto para mi micrĂłfono: Efectividad KENSO. Espero que @jlgomezp tambiĂ©n hace el cambioâŠ
đž Ilusionado y feliz đ
ÂĄFinalmente lo tengo en mis manos! Nuestro libro #EfectividadKENSO
Siento el enorme satisfecho de tener un resultado concreto después de tantos meses de trabajo.
ÂĄA celebrarlo! đ„
After all these years, the YouTube algorithm still hasn’t figured me out. All recommendations are either:
- Videos I have already seen and don’t plan on seeing again
- Videos that don’t interest me at all
- Videos from channels I subscribe to and will watch anyway
I wish ïŁż offered a hybrid book format that allows frictionless switching between reading and listening on multiple devices
Como los de @Zetatesters no tienen planes para hacer su libro, lo hemos hecho nosotros: kenso.es/libro.
Resumen: haz experimentos, conĂłcete a tu mismo y crea tu propio sistema.
Working outside standard work time undermines peopleâs intrinsic motivation for the job, since they they are more likely to consider how the day could have been spent better had they not worked.
Related: Motivation, Free time, Inspiration, Indifference, Boundaries
âBecause of the need for being more professional, more polished, more branding for your company, for your business, for your organization, there are more virtual backgrounds that are being created,â Golden says. âIt helps you look more credible, trustworthy.â
I have to disagree here. Using a virtual background makes you look less professional and less polished, unless you use a proper green screen and good lighting. In most cases, you’ll look more profesional and polished if you simply fix and arrange what’s behind you on camera.
Is there any way to change the sort order of the reading list in Safari?I prefer to see the oldest saves post first.
Is there any browser plug-in for Safari to remove those irritating Google login popups?
Ya tenemos libro para la prĂłxima reseña en el podcast: Ego is the Enemy de Ryan Holiday đ
I really like the idea of receiving a yearly activity summary such as Spotify Unwrapped or Apple Music Replay⊠but now now!
We still have a full month to go and thereâs a lot left to be listened, read, watched and done.
Please, send me the final report on January 1st. đ
Mastodon could use a well-designed client. This is great news.
Hello people of the Fediverse! Some of you may have heard that a new Mastodon client, Ivory,  is in development for iOS (and Mac!). This is true! Tapbots is going all in on Mastodon and we hope this place continues to grow and thrive. Tweetbot will continue to be developed alongside Ivory as a lot of code is shared. Ivory https://tapbots.social/@ivory/109433914793802708
The story you tell yourself creates your reality.
Part of the activation energy required to start any task comes from the picture you get in your head when you imagine doing it. It may not be that going for a run is actually costly; but if it feels costly, if the picture in your head looks like a slog, then you will need a bigger expenditure of will to lace up.
Slowness seems to make a special contribution to this picture in our heads. Time is especially valuable. So as we learn that a task is slow, an especial cost accrues to it. Whenever we think of doing the task again, we see how expensive it is, and bail.
Thatâs why speed matters.
James Somers https://jsomers.net/blog/speed-matters
Today I received my invite to access Tana and immediately imported my Roam Research database.
So far, I like what I see, but will have to do a lot of work to recreate a trusted system in Tana.
There is still a lot to figure out, including some very basic stuff such as how to create an inline hyperlink and how to capture information from my phone and tablet.
Love it how an insurance company sent me my username and password in two separate mailings several days apart, but since international postal delivery is flakey, the mailman handed me both envelopes at the same time.
With Mastodon I get the same feeling as email in the early days.
Remember the hassle to change from yahoo.com to hotmail.com to gmail.com?
Having and using your own domain name makes switching email providers a breeze and should also be the norm for Mastodon. You can follow me at @jeroen@jeroensangers.com on Mastodon.
And yes: thatâs certainly how a lot of capitalist cultures think about time â as something that can be wasted or optimized. Itâs often predicated on the idea that you should be focused on doing one thing, and one thing only, very efficiently: time is money, etc. etc. But that itself, sometimes referred to as a âmonochronicâ understanding of time, is no more or less ânaturalâ than other ways of conceiving of time, like âpolychronicâ culture, which understands time as dynamic, flexible, and filled with several tasks at once, each of which will take the time that they need. Monochronic cultures may be more âefficientâ in their use of time, but in their treatment of time as a commodity, they lose the richness that comes with allowing tasks, conversations, and interactions to move forward at a more natural and sustainable pace. Anne Helen Petersen https://annehelen.substack.com/p/the-diminishing-returns-of-calendar
My quest for the rest of this year: get better at living a âpolychronicâ life.
Para un proyecto estoy buscando un proveedor acreditado para el #KitDigital con experiencia demonstrable en diseño web con Squarespace.
Whatâs the benefit of 4K video when YouTube by default fills only a third of the screen (at most!) with its video player. I always maximize the player, but know Iâm an exception.
Now that everybody is migrating to Mastodon, I suddenly remembered that a few years ago I created an account on mastodon.social to try it out.
It has been abandoned ever since, so today I deleted the account just to prevent people from subscribing to the wrong account.
If your interested in following me on Mastodon, you can follow my personal site (the one true source of all my writings, toots and tweets) at @jeroen@jeroensangers.com.
Once in a while I go through the ever growing list of Roam Research extensions and find something useful that apparently had been available for a while already. Is there a newsletter, Twitter account or RSS feed to get notifications of new additions to the Roam Depot?
The expectation that you will always check your email outside of working hours is linked with negative health effects, relationship issues and anxiety
Related: Indifference, Work cycle, Hard work, Free time
Why am I still using 1Password? A few days ago I asked myself this question, and the only answer I could come up with was âBecause thatâs what I have been doing for yearsâ.
Now donât get me wrong, I like 1Password and in the past it was vastly superior to any alternative. I loved that it could handle two-factor authentication without needing an additional app, and I liked their password suggestions.
But most features are now also available in the iCloud Keychain.
So today I migrated.
For a moment I thought that this would be the perfect occasion to clean up my list of passwords and delete services that donât exist anymore, update easy to guess passwords. But that would change a 30-minute project into a 30-day project.
The migration itself was fairly simple. I followed the procedure from Simon B. StĂžvring: simply exporting all items from 1Password and importing them into the iCloud Keychain. Then I did an advanced search in 1Password for all items with two-factor authentication and created a locked note in Notes to store the backup codes.
Easy peasyâŠ
It is simple:
Early is on time. On time is late. Late is unacceptable. Kurt Harden https://culturaloffering.tumblr.com/post/700722179727310848/punctuality
Via @Patrickrhone
I dedicated some more time to reflect on yesterdayâs thoughts and decided to map out my whole personal information workflow in Roam Research.
It probably is incomplete and misses a lot of small nuances, but it looks complicated enough already and serves its purpose of getting a high level overview.
Today I should throw a party to celebrate this blogâs 25th anniversary.
But lately I am not too proud of my blog. In contrast to the early days, when I was very inspired to write, I feel like the blog has fallen outside my regular informationâ and content workflow.
That said, I should probably have a closer look at all parts implicated in that workflow and maybe even draw a diagram to get an overview. And maybe (just maybe) I will find a way to incorporate more original thinking to post here.
Anyway, cheers to all my readers! đ»
It has only been a little over two weeks that I upgraded to macOS Ventura, and already got my ass saved twice by the âUndo Sendâ button in Mail.
Nicholas is as inspiring as usual:
Read. But the original. The long version. The fresh thinkers. Don't accept the hyperbole...Become your own expert. Nicholas Bate https://blog.strategicedge.co.uk/2022/11/7-decisions-for-a-crazy-world.html
Not so much for focusing, but simply because it solves a practical problem for me.
You see, just like many people of my age I need reading glasses. Now, when I am working at my desk, I usually have a pair handy, but when I am out and about I usually leave them at home.
My solution in those cases is incrementing the text size in iOS to Extra Extra Extra Large, so I can read everything without glasses. The issue is that when I get home and use my phone with my glasses in the text is way to big and I have to set the text size back.
Now to make these text size changes easier, I took a two-step approach.
First, instead of changing the size in the phoneâs settings, I used Shortcuts to create a very simple one-step automation:
And in iOS 16, I can use focus modes to automatically trigger these shortcuts by creating automations in the Shotcuts app:
Now all I have to do is switch my phone from one focus mode to another, and since I have smart activation configured, my phone quickly learned when to activate each mode, so usually I have the correct text size.
Just five minutes after reading Create link rel-me tags on micro.blog by @muhh, I already have the meta tags plugin for micro.blog installed and my link rel-me tags created.
đž Wet leaves đ Is autumn finally coming?
Lleida, 12:20 CET A Day in the Life of Micro.blog
While waiting to get access to Tana, I have watched some videos from current users. No doubt it is a very powerful tool, but in 75% of the videos I have the sensation that the person over complicates thing that could (and should) be simple.
Today I was so focused that I forgot to post an image. But I donât feel guilty, since there is no true commitment, just good intentions.
Now that most âsocial mediaâ services by default show an AI-generated feed that has nothing to do with our contacts, why do we still call them âsocial mediaâ services?
I agree with @jack:
First, I don't need a Zettelkasten. If you're being honest, you probably don't either. Jack Baty https://rudimentarylathe.org/2022/personal-knowledge-management/
For most people, a simple notes app to store a curated selection of bits of information is more than enough. A full-blown Zettelkasten is overkill.
However, if youâre a thought leader and/or writer and need a systematic way to develop original thinking and store and retrieve those thoughts to combine them into new work, you may want to look at a Zetterkasten.
Finished reading: The Subtle Art of Not Giving A - by Mark Manson đ
This book did nothing for me. No new insights. Also, the language Mark uses doesnât connect with me.
Employees with private offices have 70% more face to face interaction compared to workers in an open-plan workspace.
Related: Open-plan workspace, Indifference
Ha sido un gran placer poder conversar con @DVC_tw. PrĂłximamente en tu reproductor de podcastâŠ
I am tired and feel like I am running around doing things the whole day. But when I look objectively at my day I see I get plenty of rest and downtime. More than usually even.
So what should I do? Tell my emotions to get over it and accept reality or listen to my mind and body to hear what they are actually telling me?
This quote merits to be converted into a nice poster in most offices:
If you do anything at the last minute that takes more than a minute, youâre not organizing your project properly.
The last minute is not a buffer zone, nor is it the moment to double-check your work.
The last minute is simply sixty seconds to enjoy and to remind yourself that you successfully planned ahead.
Seth Godin https://seths.blog/2022/09/the-last-minute-3/
Long working hours negatively effect cognitive performance
Related: Free time, Monthly map, Time to flow, Indifference
Explore a map for each monthâs cycle that not only includes things to do, but also things to avoid
Related: Implementation intention, Scatterfocus, Work cycle, Getting things done, Effectiveness, Joy, Prudence, Free time, Invest, Hard work
The optimal amount of free time seems to be between 2 and 4 hours per day.
Related: Effectiveness, Monthly map, Walk, Joy, Hard work
Every time I visit Twitter, which is not very often, I wish there was a way to remove the individual messages of threads from my timeline.
Finished reading: The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris đ
Recommended for anybody who sometimes gets stuck in his/her own thoughts.
An open office is a short-term financial solution with huge intangible long-term costs.
Related: Deep work, Time to flow, Noise pollution, Indifference
Combine and massage instrument and vocal recordings to get a cohesive and clear sounding song
Three weeks ago I decided to get into music mixing and today I âfinishedâ my first mix. I put the word âfinishedâ in quotes, since any creative project is never truly finished. There is always more to tweak and polish.
Anyway, for now I am quite happy with the result of this first project, though it is nowhere near a professional level, as you will hear.
Selecting the song Since I am no musician, I first had to find the music tracks to mix. After looking around a little bit I the perfect multitrack (as a collection of the individual tracks of a song is called) on YouTube.
The Produce like a pro published a review of the Audient iD14 MKII audio interface, which happens to be the audio interface we use for recording the KENSO podcast.
Anyway, they used the interface to record the song Hold On To Me At The End Of The Night by Steve Maggiora and offer the multitrack to their subscribers.
The editing process Before starting this edit, I had already read and watched quite some material about music editing, so I had a rough idea on the steps involved in this process. I learned about gain staging, drum EQ and compression, how to solve âmuddyâ mixes and the use of sidechain compression.
Of course, this was all theoretical knowledge, which I had never applied in a real project. And that turned out to be a lot harder than I thought.
My main problem was that my ears are simply not trained to hear the subtle differences in the music. That obliged my to do a lot of work in soloed out tracks, something most expert recommend not doing because itâs better to work on the complete mix.
Anyway, the mix is now at a point where I think it is quite good and, as promised, I will share the results here.
The song OK, here we go. I could not find any copyright notice in the downloaded files, but the song is available on all platforms, si I assume I am not allowed to publish the final mix here. However, I hope it is fine if I share just a fragment of the song.
This is what the original tracks sound like. I simple added them all together and did not any processing.
Jeroen · Mix Fragment â Raw Files And here is my mix:
Jeroen · Mix Fragment â Final Mix And finally, this is the same fragment from the final, professionally mixed, release:
Jeroen · Mix Fragment â Professional Reference As you can notice, I have been able to improve the unprocessed files significantly, but my mix is still less clear and more muddy than the professional mix.
And that is alright, since my goal is to learn and improve over time.
Now letâs find the next song to edit.
Most people (myself included) should reduce the amount of information input and increment the amount of output (which may be public or not).
Learn to say these words more often:
No. Nope. No thanks. Not at this time. Nuh-uh. Nah. Sorry, but no. Shawn Blanc https://shawnblanc.net/2022/08/words-you-can-say-to-help-you-focus/
Every person is unique. Instead of trying to follow the daily schedule of your heroâs, you should carve out your own path.
Their Daily Ritual, to whatever extent it was truly daily or truly a ritual, was likely an emergent phenomenon. They did not read tons of productivity books and then pick the routine that seemed best to them, as many of us feel compelled to do. They worked, and over time, their ideal routine for sustained output emerged. They started walking and reinforced the paths with concrete as they went. Nat Eliason https://blog.nateliason.com/p/perfect-work-routine
For the past four years I have edited a weekly podcast. At first using free online tools, the in GarageBand and lately using Logic Pro.
And the more I edit, the more I like it. At the same time I also realize that I still have a lot to learn.
So I took some courses about voice-over editing, EQ, compressors, limiters. I read quite some manuals and watched many hours of videos on YouTube.
I am now on a point where, if I really want to improve my podcast editing skills, I should start working on other podcasts to oblige myself to get out of my routines and templates.
But that would make podcast editing my main job.
Instead, of that, I decided to start mixing and editing music in my spare time.
Music is fun and cannot be confused with work. And to properly mix music, I will have to learn several new skills (I donât play any instrument myself and canât sing), most of which will probably be useless for podcast editing.
But I feel that I will also find things that could improve my podcast editing.
Si this is the plan: once a month I will mix a song and post the before and after tracks here on my site.
Next step: find an interesting song in multitrack format to download.
Does what you do during a day line up with what you said you are going to do?
When we give away our day, we give away our future. Seth Godin https://seths.blog/2022/08/time-and-focus-and-energy/
Going slower can mean more thoughtful and better.
Related: Effectiveness, Invest, Clutter, Reading is digesting
Why doesnât have Amazon a language filter?
Each time I search for a book by a best-selling author, I have to wade thought dozens of translated books in languages I donât understand.
To get the most and best ideas, have group members write down their ideas individually and then evaluate and elaborate these ideas in a group setting.
Related: Invest, Originality
Esto explica muchas cosas: «Lentos, apåticos y con pequeñas pérdidas de memoria, asà afecta el calor al cerebro».
La efectividad tiene ciclos. Hay Ă©pocas en funcionas de forma Ăłptima y Ă©pocas en que sencillamente debes aceptar que no da para tanto.
Apple is very fast!
This morning I received an apology for a message they sent me by accident. That message arrived this afternoonâŠ
I work from home, so my regular commute from the dining room, where I eat my breakfast, to the office is about four steps. Nine steps if I pass through the kitchen to get me a bottle of water.
I have always thought that not having to waste precious time on a commute was one of the perks of working from home.
But lately I found that there are some benefits that I am missing out on.
Last autumn I experimented with what I call an âextended commuteâ and really liked it, but I did not make it into a habit. And today I decided that I wanted to try it again.
So what exactly is an âextended morning commuteâ?
Very simple: my extended commute means that I take a detour and instead of walking the shortest route from the dining room to the office I pass through some outside space.
My aim is to walk about 2 kilometres on my detour, but I will allow myself a shorter commute to our patio or balcony in case of rain or lack of time. Of course, I am may also decide to extend my commute even more if I feel like. After all, I am my own boss.
I try to accomplish several things by extending my morning commute. The main benefit is an increase in energy during the morning because I activated my body. Then there are the positive effects of light exposure early in the morning and the clear transition ritual telling my brain exactly when it is time to switch to âwork modeâ.
A final benefit is the opportunity to explore my neighbourhood. I use the eRoutes app to generate three random walking routes with the length I specify and today it already surprised me by passing through a street I havenât traversed for many years.
A little bit of time pressure when working on your tasks will help reduce attention residue.
Related: Task switching, Multitasking, Intention, Implementation intentions