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Reflections

A collection of 71 issues

☄️ You Can't 10x Your Productivity

I recently came across a popular Thread captioned "10 images to 10x your productivity." The graphics are cute, and there are some underlying principles that are solid. But: You cannot 10x your productivity. There is no magic tool, approach, notebook, writing device, philosophy, mentality, or habit that can

☄️ In Search of Equanimity

My system surfaced the right highlight for me at the right time: Thanks, system! (having highlights across PDFs, articles, and books feed into a single place that allows me to review a handful of old highlights a day has been wonderful for recalling material I've found valuable in

☄️ I Just Don't Wanna

Today is one of those days. The to-do list is full, the calendar is set, and the clock ticks ever forward, but the brain just isn't fully there. It isn't just today either. I've been in somewhat of a fog for a little while

☄️ Preemptively Closing Loops & Go Bags

Yeah, that's right. Another post about loop closing — do the thing immediately or write it down. It's just too darn effective to put on the back burner. See Exhibit A, a couple messages I received a week or so ago: A few weeks back, I opined

☄️ The Onion Attention Challenge

When The Onion nails a headline, it nails the headline. It's concise and relatable, spurring some odd type of introspective chuckle. Those in search of productivity maximization tend to over-index on time management and under-index on attention management. If only we could properly harness each moment, we'

☄️ Externalizing Gratitude

A few months back, I wrote about my new process of starting each day with gratitude. While I can't report perfect consistency, I can happily share that I still stick to this as a general practice. It's helpful to have it at the top of my

☄️ Joy in Saying No

I am, to put it mildly, a fan of the "closing loops" method. I believe it to be one of the highest impact productivity tools one can implement, based in no small part on my own experience. I used to get really frustrated with having a lackluster memory,

☄️ Thanks For Your Patience

I typically steer away from productivity "hacks." Even when they work, the gains are ephemeral. You get some type of boost for a day, maybe a week, and then you're back to your old ways. But from time to time, there really is that one weird

☄️ On Feedback — Soliciting, Listening, and Responding with Intention

I get a lot of feedback in this job. A lot. Students, alumni, staff, board members, donors, partners, colleagues, strangers…there's no shortage of folks who opine on how I'm doing. We keep tight feedback loops rolling throughout our busy summer season, but there's

Artificial Knowledge

Jurassic Park holds up. I mean that not only in a holy-cow-this-mix-of-anamtronics-and-CGI-is-actually-passable-in-2024 kind of way but also in a this-movie-has-some-oddly-prescient-things-to-say-about-AI kind of way. One of the many iconic lines comes from Dr. Ian Malcolm: "your scientists were so preoccupied over whether or not they could, they didn't