What better time to reflect on the past year than the no-mans-land between Christmas and New Years. Time doesn't exist and obligations only revolve around eggnog. I should start off by saying that not all of these forms of ambient or self-reported data will make it through to my process for 2019. But they all had their places as experiments this year. I want to spend less time tracking and more time using what works. The way I get to what works is by experimenting freely. In descending o...

What better time to reflect on the past year than the no-mans-land between Christmas and New Years. Time doesn't exist and obligations only revolve around eggnog. I should start off by saying that not all of these forms of ambient or self-reported data will make it through to my process for 2019. But they all had their places as experiments this year. I want to spend less time tracking and more time using what works. The way I get to what works is by experimenting freely. In descending o...

OPEN LETTER TO ALL OF THE AWFUL TRAVELERS OF THE WORLD:There has never been an easier time to travel, or a time when the ability to do so was as highly valued. An ethos permeates the youngest generations that foreign experiences are more valuable than local ones. A couple of hundred years ago, if a stranger showed up in your country it was usually a bad thing. Conquest or disease was coming. Now the people of the world welcome in travellers as second nature. We as a global society have come p...

OPEN LETTER TO ALL OF THE AWFUL TRAVELERS OF THE WORLD:There has never been an easier time to travel, or a time when the ability to do so was as highly valued. An ethos permeates the youngest generations that foreign experiences are more valuable than local ones. A couple of hundred years ago, if a stranger showed up in your country it was usually a bad thing. Conquest or disease was coming. Now the people of the world welcome in travellers as second nature. We as a global society have come p...

Having an epiphany, a eureka moment. Or just finally saying “To hell with it” after hours or days struggling to make up your mind. Somehow or another, for the majority of choices in our lives we eventually get around to the moment of decision. A final push of the stone that sends it throttling downhill. An agreed upon finding among many psychologists is that human beings seem to choose with emotion and then rationalize after the fact with supporting evidence. We tend not to weigh objectively ...

Having an epiphany, a eureka moment. Or just finally saying “To hell with it” after hours or days struggling to make up your mind. Somehow or another, for the majority of choices in our lives we eventually get around to the moment of decision. A final push of the stone that sends it throttling downhill. An agreed upon finding among many psychologists is that human beings seem to choose with emotion and then rationalize after the fact with supporting evidence. We tend not to weigh objectively ...

Just not sure what's driving your decisions anymore?Well since I have no formal training or education in psychology and no clinical experience whatsoever, I'm the perfect person to tell you what might help you! This experiment to me is an easy, tactile way to draw distinctions between things in your life and observe their extremes. Just seeing where the pieces of your life fall can help define their edges and where those things bump up against each other. Try this 10 minute exercise...

Just not sure what's driving your decisions anymore?Well since I have no formal training or education in psychology and no clinical experience whatsoever, I'm the perfect person to tell you what might help you! This experiment to me is an easy, tactile way to draw distinctions between things in your life and observe their extremes. Just seeing where the pieces of your life fall can help define their edges and where those things bump up against each other. Try this 10 minute exercise...

I've always been a heavy experimenter; language learning, productivity-hacking, drugs, sleep deprivation (often goes hand-in-hand with drugs), but it's only recently I've begun keeping data about myself in various states. Gems like "Does it feel better to meditate at 10:37 am or at 2:10 pm?" or "How cheap can I get drunk after fasting for 16 hours?" Mostly useless, totally subjective stuff, in my opinion the root all good self-experimentation. Lots of writers have techniques or...

I've always been a heavy experimenter; language learning, productivity-hacking, drugs, sleep deprivation (often goes hand-in-hand with drugs), but it's only recently I've begun keeping data about myself in various states. Gems like "Does it feel better to meditate at 10:37 am or at 2:10 pm?" or "How cheap can I get drunk after fasting for 16 hours?" Mostly useless, totally subjective stuff, in my opinion the root all good self-experimentation. Lots of writers have techniques or...

Just watched your company implode at your feet over the last couple months? Had a brilliant idea for a product that turned out to be a total flop once you got it out into the world? You may find yourself looking for stories of those who seemed to "get it right" as a solace to your recent fuck up. My reason for watching five back-to-back seasons of ABC's Shark Tank weren't as good as either of those scenarios. But I did it, so before I check into the padded room, let me share what I ...

Just watched your company implode at your feet over the last couple months? Had a brilliant idea for a product that turned out to be a total flop once you got it out into the world? You may find yourself looking for stories of those who seemed to "get it right" as a solace to your recent fuck up. My reason for watching five back-to-back seasons of ABC's Shark Tank weren't as good as either of those scenarios. But I did it, so before I check into the padded room, let me share what I ...

The question I get all the time: Why did you choose to start this business? Which can mean a lot of things, but in my case it means “Why is a 30-something guy who's never so much as mentioned quilting or knitting starting a textile company?" Which is a good question with an answer too complicated to give people in casual circumstances. My go-to is to tell people that I saw an opportunity and now I'm going after it. So here and now I can let you in on what I mean by that. Give you th...

The question I get all the time: Why did you choose to start this business? Which can mean a lot of things, but in my case it means “Why is a 30-something guy who's never so much as mentioned quilting or knitting starting a textile company?" Which is a good question with an answer too complicated to give people in casual circumstances. My go-to is to tell people that I saw an opportunity and now I'm going after it. So here and now I can let you in on what I mean by that. Give you th...

The idea is simple. 168 hours in a week = 168 dollars that you "spend" into your tracking system. The first step is to find out where they go. I'll show you two ways that you can physically log the hours of your day, and get good data out of the process in order to get a better perception of what you're doing and what you could be doing. Improved Version: Check out my current setup. It gives me 12 sections to track hours into and the ability to add/subtract if I feel like the data I...

The idea is simple. 168 hours in a week = 168 dollars that you "spend" into your tracking system. The first step is to find out where they go. I'll show you two ways that you can physically log the hours of your day, and get good data out of the process in order to get a better perception of what you're doing and what you could be doing. Improved Version: Check out my current setup. It gives me 12 sections to track hours into and the ability to add/subtract if I feel like the data I...

Wise words on the perils of willful ignorance have come down to us through the ages from some of our best minds. “We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.” -Benjamin Franklin “The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident which everybody has decided not to see.” -Ayn Rand in The Fountainhead “An age is called Dark, not because the light fails to shine, but because people refuse to see it.” -James A Michener The last one there resonates most strongly with me. ...

Wise words on the perils of willful ignorance have come down to us through the ages from some of our best minds. “We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.” -Benjamin Franklin “The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident which everybody has decided not to see.” -Ayn Rand in The Fountainhead “An age is called Dark, not because the light fails to shine, but because people refuse to see it.” -James A Michener The last one there resonates most strongly with me. ...

How many of us make promises where literally as soon as the words come out of our mouth we are thinking about the ways to break them. How often is it that our resolutions become something that a better version of ourselves aspired too? Our lower selves looks for any daylight in the dark forest to escape to. A chance to tell ourselves that next year or next month we'll try harder. Oh yeah, i'll get back to that...on the 1st of Octember.What if your resolutions were something that you...

How many of us make promises where literally as soon as the words come out of our mouth we are thinking about the ways to break them. How often is it that our resolutions become something that a better version of ourselves aspired too? Our lower selves looks for any daylight in the dark forest to escape to. A chance to tell ourselves that next year or next month we'll try harder. Oh yeah, i'll get back to that...on the 1st of Octember.What if your resolutions were something that you...