Podcasts about AlphaSmart

In this captivating episode of "The Chris Abraham Show," which is part of Season Six, Episode 25, titled "Vente Cinco," Chris Abraham takes us on a mesmerizing journey through his enduring fascination with Alpha Smart writing devices and the enchanting world of mechanical keyboards. Prepare to be transported as he regales us with tales of his early adoption of Alpha Smart typewriters and how these remarkable contraptions became the cornerstone of his prolific blogging exploits. Join Chris as he navigates the nostalgic landscape of Alpha Smart models, from the NEO to the Alpha Smart 3000, and shares his fervent excitement upon discovering a uniquely modified Alpha Smart 3000 equipped with a delightful mechanical keyboard. Throughout this episode, Chris delves into the depths of his gadget-loving soul, pondering the impact of these intriguing devices on his writing productivity and creativity. He also contemplates the allure of distraction-free writing with Alpha Smart and provides a poignant anecdote about a recent health incident. Tune in as Chris embarks on a quest to rediscover the timeless charm of Alpha Smart devices and their profound influence on his creative process. Glossary of Terms: Alpha Smart: A renowned series of portable word processors celebrated for their simplicity and durability, offering a distraction-free writing experience. Mechanical Keyboard: A specialized keyboard featuring individual mechanical switches beneath each key, providing tactile feedback and a unique typing experience. LCD Display: A Liquid Crystal Display, a flat-panel screen technology that Alpha Smart devices utilize for text output. iOS: Apple's iconic mobile operating system, used in various Apple devices like iPhones and iPads. Palm OS: An erstwhile operating system developed for Palm PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), known for its stylus-driven interface. NEO: An Alpha Smart model cherished for its compact design and portability, often associated with the device's simpler iterations. E Ink Display: An Electronic Ink Display characterized by its low-power consumption and high visibility in direct sunlight, though not commonly used in Alpha Smart devices. Wi-Fi: A ubiquitous wireless networking technology enabling internet connectivity and data transfer. Reddit: A popular online social platform known for hosting discussions, sharing content, and forming communities. Printer Cable: A physical cable used to establish a wired connection between a computer and a printer, facilitating data transmission. IR Adapter: An Infrared Adapter, which allows wireless data transfer via infrared signals, a technology once used in Alpha Smart devices. Linux: An open-source operating system renowned for its versatility and extensive user customization options, which Chris uses in his laptops. X220 ThinkPad: A laptop model from Lenovo's ThinkPad series, celebrated for its robust build quality and reliability. French Army Musset Bag: A durable canvas bag inspired by the classic design used by the French Army, favored for its practicality. Indiana Jones: A fictional archaeologist-adventurer, famously portrayed by Harrison Ford in a film series, known for his iconic satchel. SEO: Abbreviation for Search Engine Optimization, the practice of enhancing a website's visibility on search engines. Shingle Shot: A vaccine designed to protect against shingles, a viral infection causing a painful rash. Sinus Rhythm: A normal heart rhythm characterized by regular contractions and a consistent heartbeat pattern. Mahalo: A Hawaiian expression of gratitude and appreciation, used to convey thanks. Ciao: An Italian salutation often used to bid farewell or say goodbye. Join Chris on this captivating expedition into the realm of Alpha Smart devices and the enduring allure of mechanical keyboards. Whether you're a tech enthusiast or simply curious about unique writing tools, this episode promises to provide profound insights and a wave of nostalgia. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/chrisabraham/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/chrisabraham/support

Jack Smith is an entrepreneur. He previously sold his company Vungle to Blackstone for $750 million in 2019. But in this conversation, we didn't discuss his company (too much). Instead, we spoke about how Bill Gates' Think Week impacted Jack, what happens when we play roles, how to get into flow, and the questions he asks himself during his quarterly relationship reviews. 0:00 Intro 1:11 How Bill Gates Inspired Jack 9:45 Tips For To Have The Best Think Week 27:22 “I'm Playing The Role…” 38:42 Entrepreneurs Who Sell Their Company 42:56 The Moment Jack Realized He Was Playing A Role 49:00 Quarterly Relationship Reviews 53:11 How To Get In Flow 1:07:10 Challenge Links Mentioned: Timed Locked Box – https://www.amazon.com/Timed-Locked-Phones-Snacks-Medium/dp/B00E9J3MLM/• https://www.vipassana-for-hackers.org Book Stand – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005IV6U0U/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 AlphaSmart – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AlphaSmart GetFreeWrite.com https://www.balisilentretreat.com The New Toughness Training for Sports by James E. Loehr – https://www.amazon.com/New-Toughness-Training-Sports-Psychologists/dp/0452269989 Jack's Links Twitter – https://twitter.com/_jacksmith Portugal Nature Gateaway – https://www.portugalnaturegetaway.com Other Podcasts Jack's Been Featured On My First Million 470 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVwLEocqK0E My First Million 6 – https://open.spotify.com/episode/4mJ4NmfRM5luSwfsPSRAfR?si=e9e8ced7bd994f78 My Links  ✉️ Website: https://dannymiranda.com

C'est l'option par défaut, à tel point qu'on ne l'interroge même plus ; mais y a-t-il des options, des moments pour s'éloigner judicieusement de l'écran ? Mélanie est attachée à l'ordinateur ; elle tape plus vite qu'elle n'écrit, mais cherche cependant, en conséquence, à limiter son temps d'écran hors du travail. Elle met aussi en avant les dangers des distractions toujours présentes à portée de clic ! Estelle tape aussi au clavier (avec un doigt) mais passe par le papier pour les scènes difficiles. Cependant, dans son travail, l'ordinateur est l'outil crucial pour tenir les délais de sa vie d'écrivaine. Lionel aime l'ordinateur aussi, mais met en garde contre la facilité de correction qu'il offre, laquelle peut engendrer un mode de pensée critique permanent très toxique pour la créativité. De la machine à écrire connectée aux options des logiciels, il propose plusieurs façons pour préserver l'état de "flow". Références citées - Neil Gaiman - Dean Wesley Smith - Kristine Kathryn Rusch - Thomson et son MO5 - Le Minitel, fierté télématique française - Machines à écrire connectées Freewrite : https://getfreewrite.com - Machines à écrire numériques primitives Alphasmart (à chercher sur eBay) - La disposition de clavier BÉPO https://bepo.fr/wiki/Accueil - Typing.com

In this week's bonus episode, Marissa and Joanne (the Happy Writer Social Media Captain and writer of several middle grade books) chat about the topic they most frequently get asked about from authors and aspiring authors: how to be more productive. In this conversation Marissa and Joanne share their best tips on how to be a productive writer, maximize time management, maintain joy in the process, tackle big goals, find the perfect work/life balance, and more.  Some of the methods/suggestions discussed:Alphasmart: https://hackaday.com/2020/11/05/alphasmart-neo-teardown-this-is-the-way-to-write-without-distractions/The Pomodoro Method: https://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/the-pomodoro-technique-is-it-right-for-you.html NaNoWriMo: https://nanowrimo.org/ Write or Die: https://v2.writeordie.com/ The Ivy Lee Method: https://medium.com/the-ascent/the-ivy-lee-method-a-profoundly-simple-yet-effective-way-to-get-more-out-of-your-to-do-list-71dea851e3cBooks discussed in this episode can be purchased from your local independent bookstore or buy them online from the Happy Writer bookshop.org store (that benefits indie bookstores) at https://bookshop.org/shop/marissameyer Find out more and follow The Happy Writer on social media: https://www.marissameyer.com/podcast/

It seems even the most devout techno-utopiasts carry around a Moleskine notebook. They appreciate the way writing longhand on paper alters their thought processes. Yet the same people think writing on a typewriter is absurd, performative, pretentious, or a deliberate troll. Over the past year, I've grown to love writing on a typewriter. I didn't write my first three books on a typewriter, but I am my next one. I use my typewriter to write articles (yes, this one), email newsletters, and even tweets. I think you should try it. Write on a typewriter. The typewriter is the best writing tool ever If you've followed my work a while, you've seen me experiment with progressively more-primitive writing tools. I first used an AlphaSmart – a portable word-processor – seven years ago. Readers of my latest book, Mind Management, Not Time Management will recognize the typewriter as another “grippy” tool. It helps you get a grip on your thoughts, without letting them slip. But, I think the typewriter is the end of this road. I won't be making cuneiform impressions on clay any time soon, and I won't even bother experimenting with a chisel and stone tablet. As the musician John Mayer – who writes his lyrics on a typewriter – has said, “I'm not picking the typewriter because I think it's hip. It's the best version of the idea that's ever come around.” Or, as I say, there is no more pure writing device than a typewriter. Before you dismiss that statement, think about it carefully. Notice I said “writing,” not “editing,” nor “publishing.” Computers are great for publishing A computer is the greatest publishing device ever. I have a computer to thank for my career as an author. It not only helps me lay out the interiors of my books and design my covers, but without my computer, I couldn't then publish my books to a market of hundreds of millions of readers around the globe. None of it could be done without my computer. And since my computer is also what I use to crowdsource editing from my readers and prepare manuscripts, the computer is not only the best publishing device, it's the best editing device. Typewriters are great for writing Write, edit, publish: Those are the steps you must repeat to be a writer, and they have to be done in order. You can take a step backward, but you can't skip a step forward. No device does the first step better than a typewriter. It's for writing, not research Some will protest that you can't look things up on a typewriter. Well, that's “research,” and it can be done before writing, or after writing, while editing. Research, however, is not writing. Only writing is writing. Your first draft doesn't belong on the cloud Some will point out that when you write on a typewriter, your work isn't stored on a hard drive or backed up to the cloud. It's too easy to lose sheets of paper. These people fundamentally misunderstand the writing process. As Ernest Hemingway said, “The first draft of anything is shit.” The typewriter is where you say everything you might want to say and explore how to say it. While it shows up on a page, the real work takes place in your mind – daydreamt in your own personal cloud. As you write, you print Not that your first draft isn't handy to have. This makes the typewriter the better writing device than its cousin, the AlphaSmart. The AlphaSmart has a tiny screen, which is a good forcing-function to keep your fingers moving. But once the writing is done, you mostly have to rely on what new connections you've made in your mind. As you write on a typewriter, you also print. When you're done, you have a page you can pick up and mark on while you pace around or read parts aloud. By the way, if you're thinking that piece of paper is bad for the environment, consider that one hour of computer use is worth about seven sheets of paper. We all have scrap paper lying around with a bare side we can type on. You can save that from a landfill – and a typewriter, too! When you write longhand on paper, you also get something tactile you can review. That is, if you have great penmanship. I, for one, still have illegible handwriting, even after forty years experience holding a pencil. I love how no matter what you write on a typewriter, it always looks the same: Invectives, tirades, and vituperations are printed with the same font as love letters, manifestos, and fan mail. The shapes of the letters impart no meaning, leaving only the words to do their jobs. Typewriters are faster than longhand As someone who wrote a book about how time management is overrated, I have to admit, it isn't the most important thing in the world that you can write faster on a typewriter than by hand. The way longhand writing slows down your thought process has its place – as does the nimble qualities of writing on a computer in those rare cases where you merely need to record something you've already thought through. A typewriter sits right in the sweet spot between speed and deliberation. The keys require more force than those of a computer, and you can only write a dozen words or so before a bell rings, bringing you back to the present moment and reminding you to push the carriage to the start position. Typewriters are tools for thought The typewriter is the best writing tool, which makes it a great thinking tool. This is less about what the typewriter makes you think and more about what the typewriter doesn't make you think. When I wrote about my AlphaSmart seven years ago, I was bombarded with comments about how it was weak to want a device that didn't connect to the internet. If I wanted to avoid distraction, I should just suck it up and focus – at best disconnect my laptop from the internet. By now, more people have realized they aren't infallible masters of their actions, and are prone to distractions. So, the first thing people usually appreciate about the typewriter is that it will prevent them from checking email or their favorite social media vice. The only web you'll find on a typewriter might be made by a spider, but you'll only have those if you aren't a writer. Typewriters are great for what they don't have The typewriter has no software and no firmware – it only has hardware. This means not a single software-update notification. My Smith-Corona has been running on the same hardware since the Truman administration. And isn't it true, man, those annoying software updates, while they promise to improve the interface, are really for security? The typewriter is immune to attacks and hacks. And the NSA can't touch it because there's No Software Aboard, and so No Suspect Apps, thus No Snitching to Apple. No thought crimes will be committed on the typewriter. You can write your thoughts, No Strings Attached. You don't get lost on a typewriter. There's no main menu, no hamburger navigation, no apps to sample – just a writing feast. The only thing that crashes are the keys. Since the typewriter lacks modern features such as the internet or software, that means no spelling- or grammar-check. If you make a mistake, you have three choices: strike it out, paint on whiteout (if you can still find some), or my personal favorite: live with it and move on. There's no fooling yourself when writing on a typewriter: This is a first draft. It will not be televised. Do not collect 200 edits. You can only pass “Go.” Digital Zettelkasten now on Audible! New Audible users listen free through this link. Also available on other platforms. About Your Host, David Kadavy David Kadavy is author of Mind Management, Not Time Management, The Heart to Start and Design for Hackers. Through the Love Your Work podcast, his Love Mondays newsletter, and self-publishing coaching David helps you make it as a creative. Follow David on: Twitter Instagram Facebook YouTube Subscribe to Love Your Work Apple Podcasts Overcast Spotify Stitcher YouTube RSS Email Support the show on Patreon Put your money where your mind is. Patreon lets you support independent creators like me. Support now on Patreon »     Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/write-on-a-typewriter/

The business of creative work is the business of riding randomness. If you want to write a bestselling book or launch a revolutionary company, you’re going to need luck. You’re navigating Extremistan, not Mediocristan, as I talked about in episode 253. How do you increase your chances of having a hit without risking everything? You do it with “The Barbell Strategy.” You can use the Barbell Strategy in many areas of life and work. The Barbell Strategy defined The Barbell Strategy is introduced in Nassim Taleb’s The Black Swan, which I summarized on episode 244. The Barbell Strategy protects you from catastrophic losses that can take you out of the game. Meanwhile, it gives you chances to make big gains. Why “barbell”? Think of a barbell – a very lopsided barbell. On one side of the barbell is a big weight. On the other side of the barbell is a small weight. In the middle is the thin bar that connects the two. The Barbell Strategy is an investment strategy Taleb introduces The Barbell Strategy in an investing context. This is the strategy Taleb has used as a financial trader. As we’ll see, you can apply it to other areas as well. Taleb says: If you know that you are vulnerable to prediction errors, and if you accept that most “risk measures” are flawed, because of the Black Swan, then your strategy is to be as hyperconservative and hyperaggressive as you can be instead of being mildly aggressive or conservative. (emphasis mine) In other words, you have to accept that the world is full of Black Swans. As a review, Black Swans are outlier events with extreme impact. We think we can explain Black Swans after the fact, but we really have no idea. They can be positive, or negative. Things like financial market crashes or mega-best-selling books. By being hyperconservative, you avoid the negative Black Swans. By being hyperagressive, you expose yourself to positive Black Swans. 85% hyperconservative investments, 15% hyperaggressive investments Most people go with the “safe” investment. I’m not a financial advisor, and nothing I’m saying is investment advice, but for most people, that’s the index fund: Keep putting money in an S&P 500 ETF. Expect to get a 7% return over your lifetime. The strategy Taleb espouses is to avoid so-called “medium risk” investments. Instead, put 85% of your portfolio in hyperconservative investments – places where you won’t lose money. Invest the other 15% of your portfolio in hyperaggressive investments – places where you might lose your money, but where there’s also no limit to how much money you could make. When you’re invested in the index fund, your entire portfolio is exposed to Black Swans. The stock market dropped nearly 90% during the Great Depression, and swift drops of 30 or 40% are not uncommon. If 85% of your portfolio is spread across hyperconservative investments, you’re unlikely to need to weather such storms. With 15% of your portfolio in hyperaggressive investments, you can only lose 15% of your money. Meanwhile, there’s no limit to how high those hyperaggressive investments can go. Imagine you put 1% of your net worth in Bitcoin five years ago. Multiply that by 100, and that’s your current return. Even if you lost all the other 14% of your net worth in hyperaggressive investments, you would have nearly doubled your money, with little downside risk. The Barbell Strategy in creative work As you learned in episode 253 about Mediocristan vs. Extremistan, creative success is unpredictable. As award-winning screenwriter William Goldman said, “Nobody knows anything.” Most creatives expect their success to go “up and to the right.” When someone suggests they take some chances, to justify not taking those chances they abuse survivorship bias – as I talked about on episode 251. So they stick to “the middle.” They do the thing they feel will get them a little success. For authors, this is the strategy of cranking out a formulaic novel every month that’s sure to sell some copies – but for which nobody is ever going to camp in line outside a bookstore to be the first to get. Maybe they make the graph go “up and to the right,” but they’ll never have a breakout success. Find some “sure bets” – protect your downside To play the Barbell Strategy in creative work, first, you need to find some sure bets. Protect your downside, so you can stay in the game. Remember on episode 251 when I told you about my poker-player friend who needs a certain “bankroll” to make $100 an hour? That’s what you need. You need some room to explore long enough to let ergodicity take over. That could be a literal bankroll. I personally invested a lot when I had a secure job, knowing that some day I’d use the bankroll as runway to start something on my own. Some creatives like to have a secure day job, and spend a little time creating before or after work. Anthony Trollope and Charles Bukowski worked at the post office. Octavia Butler’s many jobs included potato chip inspector. Comedian Mark Normand was a janitor, which allowed him to think about his bits while he worked. When I first started on my own, after I had gone through savings I had bookmarked for exploration, I spent ten hours a week freelancing – the rest of the time I spent building passive income streams. I told you on episode 214 how one passive income stream made me $150,000. I now live in Colombia, where my three-bedroom apartment costs less than $700 a month – which takes off a lot of financial pressure. To play the Barbell Strategy, you need to protect your downside. There are no guarantees in life, including life itself – so this means something different for everyone. Figure out what it is for you. Play some “wildcards” Now, play some “wildcards” (Note that “sure bets” and “wildcards” are my own terms. Taleb hates gambling analogies because in gambling the actual odds are known – but you get the idea.) Wildcards are things that – as Seth Godin would say – “might not work.” In fact, they probably won’t work – but they have unlimited upside potential. They’re the “asymmetric opportunities” Tynan talked about on episode 145. “Asymmetric” refers to the risk profile: The potential downsides are small, but the potential upside are huge. The profile is not symmetric, it’s asymmetric. For example, it costs little to write a blog post. You have little to lose, but you may gain a lot. I’ve written many hundreds of blog posts in seventeen years. Two of those have led to positive Black Swans: One got me my first book deal, and catapulted my status online from nobody to somebody. Another got me an advisory position with a company that sold to Google, and became the subject of my latest book. Numerous others brought smaller benefits, but I can’t think of any I regret. Your wildcards have a chance to become positive Black Swans. You can’t predict what will work, so make lots of small bets with unlimited upside. Avoid “the middle” Finally, avoid “the middle.” There’s a few reasons for this. One, the middle is crowded. As restauranteur Nick Kokonas said on episode 213, most people aren’t as afraid of failure as they are of success. They want to do okay, but they don’t want to do great. At the same time, we have a loss-aversion bias. We hate losing an investment twice as much as we enjoy gaining from an investment. So, everyone goes for the middle. And there’s more competition in the middle. Two, the middle is where the negative Black Swans happen. You’re only investing a little in the wildcards, so you can afford to lose it all. We tend to go all-in on the middle, so when an unexpected catastrophe happens, we lose a lot. Three, the middle has little chance of bringing positive Black Swans. Your index fund is supposed to return 7% a year. It could lose 40% of its value in a day or two. Meanwhile, does it have any chance of gaining 1,000% just as fast? Very unlikely. What’s hot is usually “the middle” Look at what is hot in your field, and you’ll probably find “the middle.” In writing, it’s churning out formulaic fiction series for Kindle Unlimited. In blogging, it’s making sure you’re sharing every blog post to every social media channel. In SEO, it’s manufacturing mediocre articles on high-volume keywords you have little chance of ranking for. In SaaS entrepreneurship, it’s A/B testing to make minuscule gains in conversion rate. Some of these things might bring a little progress, which is why people do them, but they have no chance of big upside. Avoiding the middle protects your downside, and gives you a chance for more upside. With less invested in the middle, you can invest more in the wildcards. The Barbell Strategy in other areas The Barbell Strategy is useful in investing, and it’s useful in creative work. If you look around, you can also apply the Barbell Strategy to other areas. The Barbell Strategy for exercise “The middle” for exercise is steady-state, medium-intensity, training. Taleb himself is an advocate of doing power lifts, as heavy as you can. This certainly exposes you to upside, but I think it also exposes you to the downside of injury. I think the true Barbell Strategy for exercise is Body by Science, which I summarized on episode 160. It’s a very intense and short protocol, with little chance of injury. Other than that, go for long walks or do physical activities you enjoy. The Barbell Strategy for technology use You can apply the Barbell Strategy to your technology use. Some technology exposes you to potential serendipity. Surfing around on Reddit or social media is fun, and you never know when you’ll happen across a breakthrough idea. But like a risky investment, it’s risky to spend all your attention in these areas. The “sure bets” in technology are to use specific tools for the job you’re trying to get done. I talked about “grippy” and “slippy” tools on episode 230. If you’re a writer, get an AlphaSmart, or a typewriter for the initial brainstorming phases of your work. High-powered technology such as smartphones and laptops can be sure bets, too. But just use them for short bursts for specific tasks. What you want to avoid is the always-on use of the highest-power technology available. If you’re always glued to your smartphone or laptop, you’re connected to the internet, but you’re disconnected from your own mind. You can’t use technology without technology using some part of you. Marshall McLuhan, whose book, Understanding Media, I talked about on episode 248, would say that as technology extends, it also “amputates.” Another “wildcard” for technology is to not use technology at all. When I took Naval Ravikant’s meditation challenge, which I talked about on episode 246, I found that during meditation I thought more about asymmetric ideas, which I later implemented when I was using technology. The Barbell Strategy for time management You can apply the Barbell Strategy to time management. “The middle” is trying to get the most done in the shortest time. It’s being on clock time instead of event time, like I talked about on episode 235. The “sure bets” for time management are to have clear priorities, build habits, document processes, and automate what you can. These tactics help you use time and energy more effectively, without stressing you out and disrupting your creativity. The “wildcards” for time management are mostly the opposite of the sure bets. Meditate, daydream, go for walks, take naps, tinker, play, and discuss. As Taleb says, “Go to parties!” Instead of having clear priorities, spend time on “anti-priorities”: Things that don’t seem important, but that you want to do anyway. What you want to avoid is the stuff most people try to do to “save time”: full schedules, tight deadlines, last-minute crises, mindless outsourcing, and complexity creep. These tactics lead to negative time Black Swans: When one thing goes wrong, everything collapses, you lose time, and stress yourself out. Live the barbell life Let’s close with a quote from Nassim Taleb: I will never get to know the unknown since, by definition, it is unknown. However, I can always guess how it might affect me, and I should base my decisions around that. To apply the Barbell Strategy to any area of your life and work, avoid the middle, find sure bets, and play some wildcards. It’s the best way to stay in the game long enough to get lucky. Last chance to join the True Fan Patreon tier I'm offering the special "True Fan" Patreon tier through May. Join today and get lots of benefits at a discounted price. Learn more here » About Your Host, David Kadavy David Kadavy is author of Mind Management, Not Time Management, The Heart to Start and Design for Hackers. Through the Love Your Work podcast, his Love Mondays newsletter, and self-publishing coaching David helps you make it as a creative. Follow David on: Twitter Instagram Facebook YouTube Subscribe to Love Your Work Apple Podcasts Overcast Spotify Stitcher YouTube RSS Email Support the show on Patreon Put your money where your mind is. Patreon lets you support independent creators like me. Support now on Patreon »     Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/barbell-strategy/

I recently got a message from a reader, who said, “I don’t know if it’s meditation or you reaching a new level professionally, but I feel like your writing is on FIRE!” I do feel my writing has improved over the last year. They’re right to think the meditation I talked about on episode 246 has helped. If I had to pick one thing that has improved my writing, it’s starting to use the Zettelkasten method I talked about on episode 250. But I wouldn’t be able to manage my Zettelkasten if it weren’t for a recent breakthrough in how, physically, I write. It wouldn’t be possible without my new low-EMF computing setup. What are EMFs? On episode 206, my Non-Tinfoil Guide to EMFs summary, I talked about evidence suggesting non-ionizing EMFs, or electromagnetic fields, may cause health problems. EMFs are emitted by electronic devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and computers – even the electricity these items run on emits EMFs. (I’m cautious to use the term “radiation”, since – as the irrationally rational are always quick to point out – it’s non-ionizing radiation. But it is radiation). When I learned about these potential health effects, I started to look more closely at my day-to-day exposure. What I discovered through trial-and-error has changed the way I use electronics, and it has improved my well-being, and thus the clarity of my thoughts and the clarity of my writing. Your Mileage May Vary I’ll preface this with a couple things. One is that I have long struggled with a mysterious illness. I won’t go too far into details here, but my worst symptoms are chronic muscle tension, brain fog, and a wide breadth of food sensitivities. One doctor thinks it’s chronic Lyme disease, and I’m one of the unlucky people highly sensitive to the contents of amalgam fillings, as I’ve been responding very well to replacing my fillings and following a heavy-metal chelation protocol. Everything I just said is controversial in traditional medicine, and I remain open-minded about the true sources of my suffering. The fact remains I’m one person, living in this body for what remains of this life, and I can’t wait for definitive answers when it comes to treatment and management – especially when all traditional avenues have repeatedly failed me. But I mention these things to say, also, that Your Mileage May Vary. You may have zero sensitivities to EMFs, and you may deem the potential health risks worth the benefits. I am not here to convince you that I am sensitive to EMFs, nor that you are sensitive to EMFs. I’m only here to share what I wish I had known years ago. Electrohypersensitivity (EHS): Is it real? I’m 95% sure that I have electromagnetic hypersensitivity, or EHS. This, once again, is controversial in the medical establishment. Some say this is totally a thing. Others say it’s all in my head. Governments such as France and parts of Sweden recognize EHS as a disability. But The World Health Organization does not recognize EHS as a medical condition, despite the fact a former head of WHO claims to suffer from EHS. The WHO suggests – in addition to searching for other root causes such as noise or flickering lights – Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Still, as much as 10% of a population have reported they suffer from EHS. Well, I’ve done plenty of therapy, and I’ve done a ton of meditation. I’ve pushed the edges of self-control and self-knowledge in emotional, behavioral, and dietary interventions. I’ve systematized and tracked diets and symptoms, trying to reduce noise and find patterns. I’m an active student of the many biases and errors of observation that can cause one to fool oneself. Still, reducing my exposure to certain bands of EMFs has been one of the biggest breakthroughs in my health struggle. I can’t be 100% sure, but I’m sure enough that I’ve changed how I use technology, and I feel much better since I’ve done so. Which types of EMF to reduce? When I started trying to reduce my exposure to EMFs in my daily computing, I was thinking only of WiFi, Bluetooth and LTE. I started using a wired Ethernet connection at home. I reduced my use of Bluetooth devices. I felt better, but it wasn’t a dramatic improvement. Then, I noticed something strange: On my iPad, I could write for hours. On my computer, I quickly got fatigued. I had long used a program on my computer that reminded me to take a break every hour. Whenever that reminder came, I was already having trouble concentrating. I didn’t have that program on my iPad, and I didn’t need it. I got fatigued less often on my iPad. No, a wired keyboard is not magically low-EMF I got a wired external keyboard, and distanced myself from my computer, thinking maybe my fatigue had something to do with being close to the computer itself. Again, I saw an improvement, but whenever I returned after a break, I could feel muscles in my chest twitch and tighten, and my breath shorten. Even far away from my computer, on a wired keyboard, I needed to limit my computer use, and take long breaks. I tried to do as much as I could on my iPad. But, strangely, I had to use a lightweight keyboard to use my iPad without symptoms. If I hooked up my heavy-duty keyboard to my iPad, I soon had the muscle tension and shortness of breath. Bluetooth may be your best bet (than again, maybe not!) It wasn’t until I distanced myself from anything physically connected to the computer that I could use it for hours without fatigue and trouble concentrating. Surprisingly, this meant using a wireless trackpad, and a wireless keyboard. That’s right: Bluetooth. When I finally bought a meter, I realized that in the electric field band – AC power is 60Hz – my computer emitted way more EMFs than my iPad. My wired keyboard I had carefully selected also emitted high EMFs in this band, when connected to my computer. And, this same keyboard emitted high EMFs, even when connected to my iPad – which helped explain why I had symptoms when using it with my iPad. Based on my personal experimentation, I’m not terribly sensitive to Bluetooth, nor WiFi, nor LTE. I think I am a little sensitive to all of them, but it’s nothing like when I’m exposed 60Hz radiation. That’s when my symptoms are at their worst. I optimize my EMF exposure more to be able to actually work than to avoid health effects. Bluetooth and WiFi are possibly not good for you – then again, maybe they’ll make no long-term difference to your health. I avoid unnecessary exposure when practical, but am mostly concerned with being able to work. Know which band(s) you’re sensitive to If you suspect you are EHS, keep an open mind about which bands of EMF, specifically, you are sensitive to. I feel better when I reduce exposure to 60Hz. I’ve met other people who say Bluetooth and WiFi are their nemeses. For others, it’s LTE. Others are sensitive to the new 5G technology (I can’t believe I have to say this, but please don’t lump EHS sufferers in with 5G conspiracy theorists.) After I discovered I was sensitive to electricity, it made sense why I needed to take such frequent breaks when using my laptop, but not my iPad. It also made a lot of sense why I had gravitated toward writing on an AlphaSmart. At first, I thought my improved concentration on either of these devices had to do with the lack of ease with which I could access other information – which would effect my propensity to think about other information (the characteristics I called “slippy” and “grippy” on episode 230). I posit this affects my stress response, and thus my symptoms, but I don’t think it explains the drastic differences in my symptoms across these devices. My low-EMF computing setup So, Your Mileage May Vary, but here is my low-EMF computing setup. I keep my laptop a few feet away at all times I keep my laptop a few feet away from me at all times. Yes, this means that I never use my laptop as a laptop, and I use an external display. You may wonder, Why don’t I get a Mac Mini or a desktop computer? I’ll explain why in a bit. I keep my laptop far away, and use an overbed table to keep distance from the monitor, using a Bluetooth keyboard and trackpad. I experimented with keeping my laptop several feet away, in a closet, and considered constructing an EMF-blocking enclosure for it – called a Faraday cage. This would be nice, but since Bluetooth is my best option for peripherals, a few feet away provides the best mix of lower EMF exposure, and somewhat-reliable connectivity for my keyboard and trackpad. The only times I’ve used my laptop as a portable computer over the past coronavirus year has been to take it into my recording studio. I still try to stay as far away from my computer as possible, but in these cases I’m using the screen on the laptop, and EMFs are emitted by my microphone. So, the time I can spend recording is limited, before my thinking gets cloudy. It takes time to recover if I get to that point. I use battery power whenever possible My laptop emits less electric field radiation when running off battery power, so I use battery power on my laptop whenever possible. I keep my laptop plugged into an AC power switch. In this way, it is plugged in, but not pulling power, because the switch is in the “off” position. For reasons I don’t understand, my laptop emits a weaker EMF in this way – perhaps this grounds it. When I’m low on battery power, or when I’m leaving my office for a while, I switch the power on, to recharge the battery. This AC power switch makes it easy to run my laptop on battery power Anything that is connected to AC power emits an electric field. Even dormant outlets themselves emit one. Peripherals connected to the laptop also emit this radiation. When I use battery power, that lowers the power of the electric field emitted by my laptop, and by any peripherals connected to it – such as my monitor, a webcam, or a microphone. There is still some, but it is lower. And that is why I don’t have a desktop computer – it’s better for me to run on battery power. I use an external monitor I use an external monitor, attached to my laptop. I don’t use my laptop screen at all. I point the laptop screen away from me so it doesn’t distract me. I wish I could operate my laptop with an external monitor and the laptop closed, but on my laptop this only works when it is connected to AC power. That of course would greatly increase the power of the electric fields the computer and all peripherals emitted. I have not experimented with different monitors to find which ones emit less radiation – I just bought the cheapest and smallest monitor I could find. The monitor has to be connected to AC power to operate, but the radiation emitted is lower when the laptop is running off battery power, as radiation travels through the HDMI cable. I suppose I could get a large tablet and use that as an external monitor, with battery power, perhaps even connected through AirPlay. I have not experimented with that yet. As I write this it seems like a clearly better idea. I keep my distance with a rolling overbed table I have a rolling overbed table, which I bought to write on while laid back in my recliner. My favorite new writing setup: In a recliner, with one of those over-bed tables you might see in a hospital. Laid back, with my mind on writing and writing on my mind. pic.twitter.com/5tpvF67rr0 — ? David Kadavy (@kadavy) July 30, 2020 I now also use this overbed table to keep my distance from my monitor when at my computer. Since my monitor is connected to AC power, it emits a lot of 60Hz radiation, and I notice if I get too close. Since I stay back a few feet, I’ve adjusted my display settings to display things larger. Again, being so far from my display probably wouldn’t be necessary if I used a large tablet, on battery power, as my monitor. I don’t feel sensitive to my iPad when I write on it from quite close. It emits very little radiation. Larger tablets probably emit more, though in comparison it’s probably negligible. I use a Bluetooth keyboard The first keyboard I tried was a mechanical iKBC CD87 v2, based upon another article on low-EMF keyboards. This article had said that mechanical keyboards emit less radiation. I now realize it didn’t specify what band of radiation. I still developed muscle tension, fatigue, and brain fog when using this keyboard far from my computer, and even when connected to my iPad. I experimented with using, on my computer, the portable keyboard I use with my iPad, in Bluetooth mode. It was a big improvement. This was when I realized I was not nearly as sensitive to Bluetooth radiation as I am to AC power. So, I set out to find a nice Bluetooth keyboard. I decided on the Mistel Barocco MD770, which is a mechanical split keyboard with both Bluetooth and wired capability (I went for the extra-clicky Cherry MX Blue switches). Like any Bluetooth keyboard I’ve used, its connection is flakey at times – especially since I use it several feet from my laptop. But for the first time in years, I can work on my computer for hours with little fatigue. I use a Bluetooth trackpad For mousing I use a Bluetooth Magic Trackpad 2. In the beginning of my low-EMF computing quest, I was using this wired to my laptop. Once I realized AC power was my biggest culprit, I switched to Bluetooth, which was an improvement. However, I do wire the trackpad to my iPad without a problem. I use an EMF meter to optimize my setup The EMF meter I use to optimize my low-EMF computing setup is the Meterk. It’s very cheap – only about $35. It only measures electric fields and magnetic fields, so not Bluetooth, nor WiFi, nor radio frequencies. AC power is what I’m most sensitive to, so I’m satisfied with how this meter helps me manage exposure. Anyone sensitive to other bands will want to get a meter that measures the offending bands. Many people like the Trifield. Then again, I’m not entirely sure that what’s measured by a meter in a particular band directly translates into effects EMFs have on the cells in one’s body. This could be part of why scientists are having trouble agreeing on whether EHS even exists. Really there’s nothing better than experimenting until you come up with what works for you. There’s my low-EMF computing setup There’s my low-EMF computing setup. It’s admittedly strange. I hope none of you are sensitive to your devices, because as you can see it’s massively inconvenient – bordering on debilitating – when you work with computers most of the day. Still, the effort and extra expense has paid off big for me. If you’re one of the many people with a mysterious chronic illness, it may be worth experimenting to see if EMFs are contributing to your symptoms. If you are sensitive to EMFs, I hope this gives you some ideas for how you can be productive and feel better when working with technology. Last chance to join the True Fan Patreon tier I'm offering the special "True Fan" Patreon tier through May. Join today and get lots of benefits at a discounted price. Learn more here » About Your Host, David Kadavy David Kadavy is author of Mind Management, Not Time Management, The Heart to Start and Design for Hackers. Through the Love Your Work podcast, his Love Mondays newsletter, and self-publishing coaching David helps you make it as a creative. Follow David on: Twitter Instagram Facebook YouTube Subscribe to Love Your Work Apple Podcasts Overcast Spotify Stitcher YouTube RSS Email Support the show on Patreon Put your money where your mind is. Patreon lets you support independent creators like me. Support now on Patreon »     Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/low-emf-computing/

NaNoWriMo is coming -- it’s time to pick the tools that will save you from DISTRACTIONS, be there to MOTIVATE you and help you PLOT & PLAN. This week Nicole shares some of her favorite tools as well as some that come highly recommended for all of these purposes. This episode was sponsored by The Creative Ways Podcast. Head to https://emmaisaacs.co.uk to get your fun freebie today! Visit the Stop Writing Alone website to sign up for the email list to get The Stop Writing Alone Reusable Writing Prompts pdf, and to find links to all of the Stop Writing Alone shops! https://stopwritingalone.com/  Mentioned in this episode:   Article on APPs for DISTRACTION (including Forest APP, StayFocused and LeechBlock https://freedom.to/blog/8-website-blockers-for-studying-productivity-focus/  Write or Die https://v2.writeordie.com/ 4thewords https://4thewords.com/nanowrimo Article about the AlphaSmart https://www.inputmag.com/guides/the-alphasmart-neo-2-is-the-best-distraction-free-writing-tool-you-can-buy-right-now Reedsy Blog Article How To Outline A Book  https://blog.reedsy.com/how-to-outline-a-book/  Join the Stop Writing Alone with Nicole Rivera FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2205774733034348/ Stop Writing Alone Bookshop https://bookshop.org/shop/Stopwritingalone  NV Rivera YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpPlp1EVzQhDFPdGp5w2KoQ?view_as=subscriber  Stay connected to learn about all Stop Writing Alone stuff -- get on Nicole’s email list: https://mailchi.mp/ff8df93e57dc/penpals  Buy Nicole a coffee (AKA support the podcast!) https://ko-fi.com/stopwritingalone   Places to connect to the STOP WRITING ALONE community and introduce yourself: Stop Writing Alone FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/stopwritingalone/ Join the Stop Writing Alone with Nicole Rivera FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2205774733034348/ Stop Writing Alone website: https://stopwritingalone.com/ Join the Stop Writing Alone email list: https://mailchi.mp/ff8df93e57dc/penpals  Stop Writing Alone Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/stopwritingalone/  Nicole’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/nv_rivera  The Stop Writing Alone voice number (call to introduce yourself!): (646) 907-9607    When you find a group of people who lift you up on a daily basis, it is important to share their awesome. Here are links to the women in Nicole’s Mastermind group (currently going by the name The Voxer Vixens!). Please support these women who do so much to support Nicole on a daily basis! Kim A. Flodin https://www.howinthehellpodcast.com/ Lisa Murray https://ihavedreamsdammit.com/ Claire Oldham West https://slimmingstories.podbean.com/ Johanna Jaquez-Peralta https://www.instagram.com/latina_livin_keto/ Emma Isaacs https://www.instagram.com/emmaisaacsdesign/ 

Maya Angelou was right, “People will forget what you said...but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Because I don’t remember what this woman said to me, but I do remember how I felt: Attacked. My heart was racing. I had two options: Lash out and defend my position, or excuse myself from the conversation. My brain hastily searched for the best way out: Slip into the kitchen to get another drink? Go to the bathroom? Awkwardly appeal to my need to mingle? But then I realized something: I felt attacked, but she wasn’t attacking me. She wasn’t even disagreeing with me. She had merely asked a question. Don’t be other people. Be a thinking person. Only now, years later, do I understand why I felt so threatened. I had met a thinking person. Oscar Wilde said it well, Most people are other people. Their thoughts are some one else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation. -Oscar Wilde Forgive the quotation, but it accurately describes who I was. I was someone else. Whatever I had said to that woman at that cocktail party, it wasn’t a thought. It was someone else’s opinion. And I was encountering someone who was not someone else. She was herself. She was someone who didn’t speak in pre-programmed sound bites. Someone who didn’t merely parrot the latest news headline or social media meme. Someone who listened to what you said, asked questions about it, and expected a response. Someone who, in good faith, assumed I, too, was a thinking person. Since that day, I have endeavored to become a thinking person. I’ll never truly master thinking. If I thought I could master thinking, that wouldn’t be very thinking-person-like of me. But once in awhile, I do have a genuine thought. Some people agree with me. Because I’ve tried to become a thinking person, I was proud when an Amazon reviewer of my latest book called me “a very original thinker,” and when best-selling author Jeff Goins called me “an underrated thinker.” (Though it would be nice to be an appropriately-rated thinker.) So, I humbly submit to you the way I think about thinking. How to have a thought. There are four keys to having an original thought: Read widely (not the same shit as everyone else) Stop having opinions (stop defending your “beliefs”) Stop wanting to be liked (start being intellectually honest) Write regularly (explore what you really think) In sum, assume nothing, question everything. https://twitter.com/kadavy/status/1217900835503558656 Now, a little more about each of these points. 1. Read widely (not the same shit as everyone else) Haruki Marakami said, If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking. -Haruki Marakami The same way you are what you eat, you also are what you read. This is a little counterintuitive, because, in trying to become a thinking person, we’re trying not to have all of our thoughts be mere re-hashings of something we’ve read. Don’t think of reading as a way to put thoughts into your brain. Think of reading as a way of trying on someone else’s brain for a little while. This is why a book is such a bargain: Someone spends their whole life thinking. They write all of that down. Now for ten bucks you get a lifetime worth of thinking, sewn into a costume you can try on for a few hours. Charles Scribner, Jr. said, “Reading is a means of thinking with another person’s mind; it forces you to stretch your own.” With a book, you can try on someone else’s thoughts, and see how they feel. You can question those thoughts, and compare them to your own thoughts. Sometimes a book completely reorganizes the way you process the world. Other times, you just get one or two good ideas. But to have original thoughts, you can’t be reading the same thing everyone else is reading. This is tough, because we’re all fishing from the same stream. The stream of information that rushes by each day in the news and in our social media feeds. Every week, thousands of new books are published. A few dozen will be hot. Most of those books won’t have a lasting impact on culture. And they shouldn’t. Most of the books mainstream publishers are publishing are crap. They’re blog posts with 250 pages of filler. They don’t have new ideas in them. Even when the book is written by someone who has done original research, you’re better off reading one or two of their twenty-page academic papers than you are reading their 250-page book. If you want to have a thought, you can’t read the same shit as everyone else. I love the story of Tyler Cowen, who I interviewed on episode 155. He talks about how he drove all over New England going to used book stores. Used book stores are great, because that’s where you can get stuff that isn’t even available on Kindle. And cheap, too. When I graduated college, and recognized that I was still clueless, I did something similar to Tyler. The Omaha Public Library frequently had these used book sales. I’d come out of there with tote bags packed fat with books that were two dollars, one dollar, sometimes twenty-five cents. My policy was basically: If I had heard of it, I bought it. I suppose at some point in my education I was supposed to read Plato and John Stuart Mill, Jane Austen or J.D. Salinger. But somehow, I hadn’t. You might think that if I heard of it, that contradicts this idea that I should be reading something different from everyone else. But honestly, few people have read the classics. They’re too busy reading whatever new book is being shoved in their face. Besides, you’ve gotta start somewhere. Starting with classics, you can start digging into what books are in the bibliographies of the books that really move you. That’s where you come across the really weird gems. If you’re going to break free of The Matrix, you can’t be taking in the same source code as everyone else. Key number one to having a thought is to read widely. 2. Stop having opinions (stop defending your “beliefs”) There truly are few things in this world that any of us know enough about to have an opinion. That doesn’t stop people, though. Mostly, we have opinions based upon emotions, not facts. Yes, we may have enough information to feel 70% confident about an opinion, but after that, it’s all ego. Someone else has a different opinion. We don’t want to be proven wrong. So, we defend our 70% certainty as if it were 100% certainty. Then, we all end up in echo chambers where we’re parroting sound bites to one another and nodding our heads, or we’re talking shit about the people in the other echo chamber. It’s all so we can feel good. This is why many conversations these days are like using Photoshop without realizing you have “snap to grid” turned on. When snap to grid is turned on, you try to draw something in one place, but the grid forces it to show up in another place. With most people you talk to, you say one thing, and they immediately interpret what you said as meaning some other thing. Some other thing that’s only remotely related to what you actually said. You’re not talking to a thinking person. You’re talking to someone filtering everything through their inaccurate opinion. The inaccurate opinion that’s actually someone else’s opinion. Most people get their opinions from the news. This is unfortunate, because Phillip Tetlock has proven that the pundits who show up on the news the most, are also the pundits who are terrible at predicting the future. Here’s why having opinions prevents you from having original thoughts: The stronger you hold onto an opinion, the harder it will be for you to change your mind if you see new information. It’s a threat to your ego. It’s called “motivated reasoning” and Annie Duke talks about it on episode 197. Opinions are like impressionist paintings. They’re fun and may even look beautiful from far away, but up close, you can see opinions are never an accurate representation of reality. It can be fun to hold an opinion and argue the position of that opinion, but you ultimately have to accept that your opinion is not fact. The alternative is to think of your opinions in terms of percentages. As in, I’m 95% certain global warming is caused by humans. Tyler Cowan talks more about using percentages for your opinions on episode 155. 3. Stop wanting to be liked (and start being intellectually honest). Many conversations, in fact much of day-to-day interactions, are just people using their feelings as filters for selecting which pre-packaged sound bites they’re going to repeat. It’s all driven by identity. If somebody identifies as a conservative -- whether consciously or unconsciously -- what they hear is going to be filtered by that identity, what they feel will be dictated by that filter, and how they respond will be dictated by a combination of that feeling and the collection of scripts available for them within that tribe. And it’s no different for a liberal or a libertarian or an anarchist. This identity effect could also be called “tribalism.” It’s human nature to feel like we want to belong to a tribe. From an evolutionary psychology perspective, long ago, being cast from the tribe was the worst thing that could happen to you. You would have no resources and no social contact. You’d be left to fend for yourself, and you’d end up getting strangled by a giant anaconda. So, staying in-line with the tribe was an advantage. If you were ostracized, you weren’t going to survive. Fortunately, we no longer live in tribes. We live in a global civilization. You have to do a lot more than speak out of turn to truly be left to fend for yourself. You won’t be cut out of the meat share from the latest hunt -- you can order Seamless to your house. You won’t be shunned out of finding a partner -- you can connect to millions through the internet. You won’t even miss the next play by the fireside -- you can stream the best actors in the world on Netflix. But that old wiring is still there. It’s still human nature to want to be accepted, and to want to be liked. But wanting to be liked gets in the way of having thoughts. Think about how I felt when that woman at the party asked me a question. My limbic system took over, and my heart started to race. Deep down, I was worried I had said the wrong thing. Deep down, I was worried I would be left to fend for myself. As Tyler Cowen -- there he is again -- said on episode 155, “Develop a thick skin.” Don’t worry about upsetting people with your actual thoughts and questions. This is easier said than done. It’s especially hard in real-time conversation. And really -- fine, have the polite conversation at the party, or at work, avoid the conflict and have a better night or keep your job. But to start having thoughts, you can train yourself in how you react to things people say on the internet. If something upsets you, you can step away and examine that feeling. Meditate on it. Start to develop your own mental model for processing what people say. Train yourself to separate your emotional reaction from your thought process. Remember, just because someone gets upset with you, that does not automatically mean that you did something wrong. People have different conceptions of reality, and sometimes those differing conceptions simply collide. Like, you could tell me, “hey, I like your glasses,” and maybe I’m offended because I hate my glasses, because other kids made fun of my glasses in sixth grade. Nonsense. Feelings are not facts. Dr. Aziz Gazipura talks about this more on episode 219. If you stop wanting to be liked, you’ll also be less apt to the “motivated reasoning” that makes us eager to defend our opinions. 4. Write regularly (explore what you really think) I used to treat words as if they were liquid gold. If I bothered to go through the work of writing some words, those words were rare and precious, and they had to be salvaged. This was an impossible standard to meet. It set up a Catch-22. The words that I wrote had to be great. But it was hard to write great words, because I didn’t get much practice writing, because I thought every word I wrote had to be great. Now, I think of writing differently. It’s not liquid gold. It’s the water in a river that’s constantly flowing by. I’m always writing, and I treat my writing with the attitude of: There’s always more where that came from. Meanwhile, as that river is flowing by, it’s carving through the landscape. Think about it: The Grand Canyon didn’t form overnight. The Colorado River has been there, carving it for millions of years. Not everything I write ends up in some final product, such as a book or a podcast episode, or even a tweet. It’s only after I’ve written something enough times to organize my thoughts that it usually makes it into some final product. Like a river flowing though a canyon, don’t write to have a place to store your words, write to carve out a place for your thoughts to flow. Don’t always write because you plan to publish. You just add an extra layer of censorship onto your writing. This is a sure way to never truly get to what you really think, and to never truly have a thought. My favorite writing ritual is my morning habit with my AlphaSmart, my crappy little portable word processor. I grab it while I’m still in bed, and type at least one-hundred words, with my eyes closed. Sometimes it’s just simple word play. Other times, it’s anything I want to write about. Sometimes it’s my “shadow journal” like Dr. Aziz Gazipura talked about. The place where I write about anything that comes to mind, with no judgements. And when I’m done, I delete it all. Again, it’s not about storing the words that you write, it’s about carving out a space for your true thoughts to flow. Go forth & have thoughts So, there you have it. How to have a thought. Again, those keys are: Read widely (not the same shit as everyone else) Stop having opinions (stop defending your “beliefs”) Stop wanting to be liked (start being intellectually honest) Write regularly (explore what you really think) Then again, don’t take my word for it. Find your own road to having a thought. Image: Siblings, Paul Klee Thanks for sharing my work! On Twitter, thank you to @nextlevel_mind. On Instagram, thank you to @itsjoeranda. Thank you also to the Spark Joy podcast for having me on the show. My Weekly Newsletter: Love Mondays Start off each week with a dose of inspiration to help you make it as a creative. Sign up at: kadavy.net/mondays About Your Host, David Kadavy David Kadavy is the author of The Heart to Start and Design for Hackers. Through the Love Your Work podcast, his Love Mondays newsletter, and self-publishing coaching David helps you make it as a creative. Follow David on: Twitter Instagram Facebook YouTube Subscribe to Love Your Work Apple Podcasts Overcast Spotify Stitcher RSS Email Support the show on Patreon Put your money where your mind is. Patreon lets you support independent creators like me. Support now on Patreon »     Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/device-divorce/

When it came time for me to choose a college, I had no idea what I was doing. For reasons I still can’t explain, I chose to go to The University of Nebraska at Kearney. At least until I recognized my mistake. Kearney is a town in the middle of Nebraska. I grew up in Omaha, a city on the east edge of Nebraska. You may laugh, thinking, What’s the difference? It’s a flyover state. But to most of my classmates, I was a “city slicker.” So, I regularly made the drive. Two and a half hours down I-80. Two and a half hours at eighty-miles-an-hour, with a steady stream of semi trucks passing by. Each time a truck passed, the powerful winds blowing across the plains of the oxymoronically-named Platte River Valley would disappear. Those winds, blocked by the massive eighteen-wheeler, once it passed, would then reappear with more force than ever, sending my little Honda Accord swerving. I couldn’t swerve too far. My tires were firmly embedded in grooves. Grooves like wagon tracks on the Oregon Trail I-80 follows. Grooves pressed into the concrete by the tires of those heavy semi trucks. I made this drive -- often over a mixture of ice and snow and gravel and salt -- to leave a city. A city with plenty of educational options, and arrive in a cow town where one of the main forms of entertainment for my classmates -- and I’m not exaggerating here -- was hunting raccoons. Path dependency: Your future depends on it One time, I missed the exit for Kearney. This was especially frustrating, because I-80 exists mostly for big trucks to drive through Nebraska. It’s not so much for the sparse scattering of people living in Nebraska to get from point A to point B. Which means, there aren’t a lot of exits. So, if you missed the exit for Kearney, that added a bunch of time onto the end of what was already a long trip. You had to drive another twelve miles past your destination, get off the interstate and turn around and get back on the interstate and drive back another twelve miles. So we’re talking an extra twenty minutes tacked onto a two-and-a-half-hour drive, if you missed that exit. It was the kind of mistake that you only made once. And it was a good lesson in path dependency. The concept of path dependency states that once you go down one path, it’s difficult or impossible to go down another path. You’ve passed the fork in the road. Our lives are full of path dependencies. If you eat a bunch of donuts in the afternoon, you won’t have room for a healthy dinner. If you go to one party, you can’t go to another. A single moment can be the difference between dying young, or living another fifty years. Matters of life and death are the ultimate path dependency. In other words, path dependency is really, really important. It’s important to making decisions, and it’s important to designing your behavior. One area of life where path dependency has a big impact is with the devices that we use. Take your mobile phone, for example. Think of your mobile phone as like I-80, running through central Nebraska. Once you get on the interstate, once you touch your phone, at what exit will you get off? There’s Facebook Parkway, or there’s Kindle Boulevard. There’s Meditation Timer Square, or there’s Twitter Plaza. There’s Instagram Alley, or there’s Scrivener Circle. Like any interstate, once you get off at an exit, it takes some time to get back on the road. If you miss an exit, or take the wrong exit, it will take you a little longer to get where you’re going. You can get to the same place through multiple paths There are often multiple ways to get to your destination. I remember one time, I drove home from college on an old highway, instead of the interstate. This seemed outrageously adventurous at the time. The highway is slower, it’s more narrow, it cuts through towns. Part of me wondered if I’d ever make it home. Yet, it turned out to be a nice drive. It took longer to get home, but not much longer. And I didn’t have to deal with so many eighteen-wheelers. It was probably a safer drive. This ties into the grippy and slippy tools I was talking about on episode 230. Sometimes speed isn’t the most important thing. Less time isn’t always more better. Choosing the right road to take is important for designing your behavior, so you can do more of what matters to you and less of what doesn’t matter to you. But once you’re on that road, path dependency also matters a lot. You don’t want to take the wrong exit. If you want to go down Scrivener Circle and get some writing done, it’s a problem if you accidentally pull into Instagram Alley. If you’re trying to settle in for the night to read a book on Kindle Boulevard, it’s a problem if you take a detour on Facebook Parkway. And God forbid, if you mean to go to Meditation Timer Square, you instead end up in Twitter Plaza. Introducing the Device Divorce: Stop taking the wrong turn on your devices This is why I’m a big advocate of divorce. No, not divorcing from a marriage (though, if you need a divorce, get one). I mean divorcing your devices. A “Device Divorce.” When a marriage goes through divorce, you split up. You split up your possessions, you split up your assets, you divide custody amongst your children. You split up the paths. You say, “That path I was going down, I don’t want to go down that path anymore.” A Device Divorce is where you split up your devices. The activities you do with your devices, the paths you can go down once you’re on a device, you split them up. Let’s say you have a computer, a tablet, and a smartphone. Each of these devices can do a lot of things. Just like you can get to one destination through many different roads, you can do one thing with each of these three devices. You can check email with your laptop, your tablet, or your smartphone. You can use social media with your laptop, your tablet, or your smartphone. You can write a book on your laptop, your tablet, and yes, even your smartphone. But, should you? Should you use each device you own to do every little thing each device can do? Fortunately, most of us don’t evenly distribute all of our activities amongst all of our devices, anyway. If we’re going to write a book, we’ll do it on our laptop. If we’re going to make a call, we’ll do it on our smartphone. If we’re going to watch a movie, we’ll do it on our tablet. But, even though we don’t evenly distribute all of our activities amongst all of our devices, we still do a little of everything on all of our devices. Maybe we do most of our social media on our phone, but we also do a lot of social media on our laptop. Maybe we do most of our email on our computer, but we also do email on our tablet. The problem with this is, it exposes us to path dependency, gone rogue. If we take a wrong turn, we end up on the wrong road. Once we’re on the wrong road, it takes that much longer to get where we’re trying to go. Think of it this way: You can do a lot of things with a toothbrush. You can scrub your teeth with a toothbrush. You can also scrub your toilet with a toothbrush. But would you scrub your teeth and your toilet with the same brush? No! So why use the same device to do two things that are completely at odds with one another? Why surf the web with the same device you use to write? Why chat with your friends on the same device you use to meditate? You need to split up. You need a Device Divorce. You need to make it easy to get to the places you want to go, and hard take a wrong turn to the places you don’t want to go. A simple exercise to begin your Device Divorce To begin a Device Divorce, try this exercise: Draw three columns on a piece of paper. At the top of each of the respective three columns, write laptop, tablet, and smartphone. Now, in the respective column, write down the activities that you primarily do on each of these devices. Do you see any contradictions? If you go down one path to do one of these things, will that take you farther and farther from another path to do another thing? Will it break your focus? Will it dampen your momentum? Will it alter your mental state to go down Instagram Alley instead of Scrivener Circle? If so, you aren’t using your devices, your devices are using you. Next, make a decision. Decide what activities you will do on each of the three devices. But, just as important, decide which activities you will not do on each of these three devices. My personal device arsenal Me, I do most of my writing on my iPad, with an external keyboard. I do not do email on my iPad. I do not do messaging on my iPad. I try to do as much email as I can on my iPhone. But, I don’t have Twitter or Facebook installed on my iPhone. I’d be taking wrong turns, left and right. My laptop, I simply try to limit its usage as much as possible. My laptop is a “slippy” tool. Too many side roads and detours. Your Device Divorce doesn’t have to stop at your primary electronic devices. According to a poll I did on Twitter, three out of four of you already have an extra tablet or smartphone just lying around. These old devices often can’t run the latest software (thank you, planned obsolescence). But just because a device can’t do everything, doesn’t mean it can’t do something. I have an extra iPad. It’s so old, I can’t even run most apps on it. But, I use this old iPad for listening to a relaxation recording by former guest Andrew Johnson, I use it for reading on the web, and I use it for reading PDF articles. I have a friend who has an old iPod Touch. When he works out, he listens to music, and writes down his progress on the iPod Touch. But he knows he won’t get interrupted by a message or a phone call, and he won’t be tempted by social media. Love Your Work listener Adam Thomas told me he has a “study nook” in his apartment. In his study nook, he keeps an old laptop. He uses an app called Freedom to block any distracting websites on that laptop. The laptop is only for reading research. Fortunately, product designers are starting to create devices with specialized functions. I recently got a dedicated Kindle, just for reading books. Our former Love Your Work sponsor, Offgrid Mindfulness, has made an awesome meditation timer/alarm clock. Interestingly, you have to go back in time to get one of the best limited-function devices. There have been some attempts to create dedicated word processors, but they still have too many functions and are too expensive for my tastes. I still love my old portable word processor, the AlphaSmart. It was originally intended as a cheap way for schools to teach typing, and it’s unfortunately discontinued, so you have to buy them used. Get creative with your Device Divorce. Look at what functions are important to you, what detours you want to avoid, and what devices you have. Be intentional about what your devices do and don’t do. You’ll have deeper focus, and do more of what matters, and less of what doesn’t matter. Image: Six Species, Paul Klee My Weekly Newsletter: Love Mondays Start off each week with a dose of inspiration to help you make it as a creative. Sign up at: kadavy.net/mondays About Your Host, David Kadavy David Kadavy is the author of The Heart to Start and Design for Hackers. Through the Love Your Work podcast, his Love Mondays newsletter, and self-publishing coaching David helps you make it as a creative. Follow David on: Twitter Instagram Facebook YouTube Subscribe to Love Your Work Apple Podcasts Overcast Spotify Stitcher RSS Email Support the show on Patreon Put your money where your mind is. Patreon lets you support independent creators like me. Support now on Patreon »     Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/device-divorce/

One day, I was in a coworking space, here in Colombia, writing in my Moleskine notebook. One of the other co-workers came up to me and asked me a question. He said, in Spanish, and with a sense of earnest curiosity, “Why are you writing in your notebook? Your computer is right in front of you. You can write much faster on your computer. Why aren’t you writing on your computer?” That question really stuck with me, because I thought the answer was obvious -- though I guess it wasn’t. And it got me thinking about the tools we use to create, and why we use them. Creativity is hard You already know, from listening to episode 218 about the Four Stages of Creativity, that we don’t solve creative problems all at once. We need to go through stages. We need to go through Preparation, learning about the problem. From there, the problem goes through Incubation. Our subconscious works on it while we do something else. Only then can we reach Illumination -- our “aha” moment. Finally, to get it ready to ship, we need to go through Verification. And you also know, from being a human being, that when you’re up against a really tough problem, anything in the world suddenly becomes more appealing than that problem. You’ll get “shiny object syndrome,” and want to escape to another project. Or you’ll check social media. I even find that I sometimes procrastinate on a really tough project by working on a slightly less tough project, that I have been procrastinating on until now. Ayn Rand called it “white tennis shoes syndrome.” That if she came up against a tough problem while writing, she’d suddenly remember that there were some white tennis shoes in the closet that had smudges on them, and needed to be cleaned. Distractions, it seems, are nothing new. Choose the tool for the creative job But, I’ve found, depending upon where you are in the Four Stages of Creativity, the tool you use can make all of the difference in whether you keep moving forward, or fall off the tracks. Through lots of trial and error, I have collected for myself the perfect arsenal of different tools for different situations. Here are some of them. First thing in the morning, I write, with my eyes still closed, while still in bed, on my AlphaSmart. It’s a portable word processor. Discontinued. Available used on Amazon for about forty bucks. I do my morning writing session on an iPad, with a wired external keyboard. I have multiple 9” x 12” whiteboards lying around the house. I jot down ideas when they come to me. Sometimes I’ll even take a whiteboard to a cafe and write on it in long form. Then, I have my 6” x 9” Moleskine Classic notebook. I also carry with me everywhere the tiniest notebook I could find: the Moleskine Volant, which is 2.5” x 4”. And, of course, I have an iPhone SE, on which I occasionally brainstorm, if there’s no better tool around. Sometimes, I even find it useful to simply pace around and talk out loud. Finally, there’s plain, old-fashioned thinking. Just sitting in the park or swinging in my hammock, trying to navigate the twists and turns of a problem in my own mind. Oops, I almost forgot. I also have a laptop. I try to avoid using it, but sometimes I simply need to be on a full-blown computer. Some tools are slippy, some tools are grippy Some of these tools are “slippy.” Some of these tools are “grippy.” Slippy tools are tools are efficient. There’s little friction. You can create your final product quickly with a slippy tool. Grippy tools are inefficient. There’s lots of friction. You can’t create your final product quickly with a grippy tool. Often, you can’t create your final product at all with a grippy tool. Slippy tools sound great, but they have a drawback: Because slippy tools are so powerful, you can more easily get distracted. Yes, I can type fast and switch between documents and quickly do web research on my laptop. But I can also just as easily check my email, putz around on social media, or waste a couple of hours on Reddit. Grippy tools sound terrible. Writing by hand is slow, and worst of all, you can’t even use the writing. When I write on a whiteboard, I have to erase it all eventually. The right tool isn’t about the fastest output Some people will protest: But David, you could get an iPad with Pencil, and you could write by hand, and it would convert the characters into text. Or, David, you could get a special pen that would store the writing as text in the cloud. When I wrote about my AlphaSmart, my beloved portable word processor, people had all sorts of objections and suggestions. Why don’t you just get a Chromebook!?, they’d say. Or, Don’t you know there’s this word processor that costs ten times as much but that syncs with the cloud!? Or, my personal favorite, Why don’t you just get some self control and learn how to focus!? Sigh. It Shakes My Head. This is the sad state of our world. This is how little respect we have for real thinking, and the space and time and mental energy that it requires. If we don’t wake up, we, as a species, are fucked. Your tools & your thoughts are one Fortunately, that was five years ago that I wrote about my AlphaSmart, and since then people are starting to get it. They’re finally starting to realize that they don’t have perfect control over their thoughts and actions. They’re finally starting to realize that others want control of their thoughts, and that others profit from that control. They’re finally starting to realize that the tools they decide to use shape those thoughts -- whether that’s through enabling clearer thinking, or making them vulnerable to disruptions in their thinking. Imagine the most simple example possible of a primate using a tool. Imagine a chimp fishing ants out of an anthill with a twig. In the moments when that chimp has her hand wrapped around the twig, she cannot use that hand for some other purpose. This is the nature of tools. Tools give us new powers, but, in the process, tools take away other powers. Imagine you’re Superman, and you have the power of X-ray vision. Wouldn’t you prefer to be able to turn off your powers of X-ray vision? If you had X-ray vision all of the time, that would actually suck. You’d be bumping into things, because you couldn’t see them. Everyone you saw would be naked. Before you get too excited, remember: Everyone you saw would be naked. Tools help exercise thoughts, or record them. They rarely do both. Here’s another thing that surprises most people when I tell them about my arsenal of tools. Much of what I produce on these tools disappears. My morning writing session on the AlphaSmart? When I’m done, I delete everything I just wrote. The writing I do on the whiteboards? I usually erase it all as soon as I’ve run out of space. When I speak out loud? I usually don’t record it. And when I sit and think? Those thoughts disappear into the ether. Yes, if I really come across something great using any of these tools, I have options. I can write down a thought in a notebook, I can record my own speech, I can take a picture of a whiteboard. I can even hook up my AlphaSmart to a computer, and transfer my writing. But that’s not the point. The point of each of these tools is not what I produce with these tools -- it’s the way these tools enable thoughts. In the early stages of any project, the thinking I do with these tools serves as Preparation, one of the Four Stages of Creativity I mentioned in episode 218. Preparation can be about research, but Preparation can just as easily be the exploration of a problem in your own mind. What do you think about this? What questions do you have? What are the ins and outs and ups and downs of it all? I know that once I’ve done that Preparation, the next stage, Incubation, will take over. I know that when I return to the problem, I may have my “aha” moment. I may have my moment of Illumination. Grippy tools for thinking, slippy tools for producing This is why I want “grippy” tools for the early stages of any project. In a way, your progress on the project is itself slippy or grippy. When I’m in the early stages of a project, it’s like I’m scaling up a wet rock face. I don’t have a firm grasp of the problem. I need all of the grip I can get. I need any threat of dis-traction to be as far away as possible. I don’t need dis-traction. As Nir Eyal would say, I need traction. Yes, after the tools -- like training wheels on a bicycle -- have enabled the thoughts, after I’ve explored the twists and windings of the problem in my head, I eventually have a grip on the problem. The rock face is no longer wet. I don’t need grippy hiking boots to keep going. I can wear more comfortable and nimble cross trainers. When it’s time to turn clear thoughts into finished products -- when the project is ready for Verification -- then I can use a slippy tool, such as a laptop, connected to the internet, and all its myriad dis-tractions. So the next time you’re working on a tough problem, and the next time that tough problem is making distractions more attractive, ask yourself: Am I using the right tool? Let go of the dangerous expectation of an instant breakthrough. Trade in your slippy tool for a grippy tool. Thanks for sharing my work! On Twitter, thank you to @geekosupremo, and @mtr_amg. Thank you to @balancethegrind for naming Love Your Work in their Top 26 podcasts you can listen to about work, life, and balance. On Instagram, thank you to @wepublishhorror @success_from_books @jasonjclement, @ecemtombas, @shelbsimone, @eifgul, @wetherscold, @bluevalewriting, @mel_thecreative, @almahoffman, @michigan_st8ler Image: [Boaters Rowing on the Yerres, Gustave Caillebotte] New Book: Mind Management, Not Time Management (Preview Edition) Read my upcoming book months before anyone else. Grab it, for a limited time, here. About Your Host, David Kadavy David Kadavy is the author of The Heart to Start and Design for Hackers. Through the Love Your Work podcast, his Love Mondays newsletter, and self-publishing coaching David helps you make it as a creative. Follow David on: Twitter Instagram Facebook YouTube Subscribe to Love Your Work Apple Podcasts Overcast Spotify Stitcher RSS Email Support the show on Patreon Put your money where your mind is. Patreon lets you support independent creators like me. Support now on Patreon »     Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/grippy-slippy-tools/

To get exceptional results, you need to do exceptional things. Most things that are normal are normal only because very few people can resist them. Just because it’s normal, doesn’t mean it’s good for you. It often means the opposite. It’s like the Ancient Chinese proverb says, “If five million people do a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.” Don’t let them get a piece of you If you want to carve out your unique place in this world, you need to rise above the noise that other people succumb to. Which means that you have to ruthlessly eliminate the self-destructive things that most people do. The economy runs, like a flywheel, off of exploiting our weaknesses. Sell us addictive and unhealthy substances, then you can sell us drugs to treat the diseases they cause. Hold our attention with news that convinces us we can’t trust one another, then you can sell us suburban developments and home security systems. Then there’s even more attention leftover to sell to advertisers because our social isolation makes us bored and lonely. Getting us to do things that aren’t good for us is great for the Growth Domestic Product. We’re so vulnerable to these things that if you can cut out the things that break you down, and replace them with the things that build you up, you can be way more effective than most people. I say you could be one hundred times more effective than most people. Here are eleven things you can do to be one hundred times more effective than most people. Before I go further, I want to acknowledge that this list really pisses some people off. I posit that it threatens their self-perception. I’m not saying you’re a bad person if you do or don’t do these things. I’m saying you’d be better off if you did all of these things. Let’s be honest -- it’s darn near impossible to do all of these things. I know I don’t. This is just the list I aspire to. Also, some people hear this list and think it sounds like a boring life. I would encourage those people to get a life -- I’ll explain at the end of this episode. Okay, on with the list. 1. No sugar Sugar is an addictive substance. Sugar stimulates dopamine, and the more dopamine you stimulate, the more dopamine you need in order to feel stimulated. If you want to hear more about that, listen to Robert Lustig in episode 186. It is downright criminal how much sugar surrounds us every day. The last time I was in a hospital, the only things in the vending machine were products filled with sugar -- in a hospital. 2. No alcohol Again, why is this normal? Just look at how many bars and liquor stores are on every city street. At some point in my 20’s I realized that each Saturday night I was regularly spending the equivalent an entire working day going from bar to bar -- not to mention the way that drinking affected me the next day (and likely throughout the week). You can accomplish a lot if you cut out alcohol. I’m lucky enough to not be addicted to alcohol, but economist Tyler Cowen shared an interesting perspective on this podcast: that alcohol is so harmful to much of the population -- those who are addicted to alcohol -- that the only responsible thing to do is to not drink, so it won’t be such a normal thing anymore. 3. No caffeine This one is hard for the coffee lovers. Caffeine, again, is an addictive substance. What happens when you’re addicted to something? You don’t use it, it uses you. The more caffeine you use, the more caffeine you need, until you simply can’t get enough. Many people don’t realize that their caffeine use is at the root of other conditions, such as anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, even schizophrenia. Additionally, using caffeine, even in the morning, can reduce the quality of your sleep that night -- whether you know it or not. 4. 8 hours of sleep a night Speaking of sleep, one of the best things you can do for your health and well being is get enough sleep. Sleep is especially important for creativity: To have great ideas, you need to have knowledge to connect into great ideas. To have knowledge, you need to form memories. To form memories, you need to sleep well. Yet another reason to cut out caffeine. Sleep is the new coffee. 5. Throw your TV in the garbage According to Neilson, Americans watch an astounding four hours a day of television. Imagine everything you could do in four hours a day. I think there’s a neurological component to this, too. As someone who watches very little TV, when I do finally see TV, it’s jarring. The way people interact is childish, everything is broken down for short attention spans. Even if you do something productive while watching TV, I bet you would do it better if you would turn it off. 6. Delete social media from your phone Social media can be fun and valuable. Trying to function in this world with no social media accounts is a tall order (though some people manage to do it). A good compromise is to delete social media from your phone. Only use it on your computer. The danger of having social media on your phone is all of those pockets of time and focus that it steals from you. When you’re waiting in line, or on the bus, or just lounging on the couch, it’s way too easy to go straight to social media. If you must be on your phone, why not read a book, or jot down some notes for your next creative project in a text file? 7. Keep your phone in silent mode A great way to keep your phone from sucking up your time and attention is to simply keep your phone in silent mode, or “Do Not Disturb.” This, in addition to eliminating as many app notifications as possible. Check your phone on your schedule, not on your phone’s schedule. If you’re concerned about emergencies, you can set up certain contacts to bypass silent mode. 8. Read 1 hour a day It’s a lot easier to cut out lots of attention-stealers, such as social media and television if you replace them with an attention cultivator. Reading in long form, such as books or long articles, cultivates your ability to focus, which makes it easier to focus. I recently experimented with cutting out reading during a media fast. It was a valuable exercise, but I did eventually notice a drop in my ability to focus. Now that I’m back to reading an hour a day, I’m re-gaining that focus. 9. Meditate 15 minutes a day Meditation rewires your brain for focus. Meditation makes you more aware of what’s happening in your body and mind. And self-awareness boosts creativity. It may not make sense that by sitting and doing nothing for fifteen minutes a day, you can be more creative. But when you let your thoughts settle, each action you take can be more purposeful. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that if you don’t want to meditate, try simply doing nothing for fifteen minutes. Just stare at a wall, or look at birds. Much of the benefits people see from meditation come simply from what they’re not doing. So, try doing nothing. 10. Journal 10 minutes a day I think of writing like training wheels for thought. When you write down your thoughts, whether that’s in a journal, on a scratch file, or on an AlphaSmart, it helps solidify those thoughts. Like meditating, taking some time to journal will help you take more decisive action in your life and work. It doesn’t have to be fancy. You’ll be surprised what mental clarity you can achieve by writing down even your most mundane thoughts. 11. Get therapy When I published this list on social media, some people proclaimed that they don’t need therapy, and that therapy is “for crybabies.” I don’t know where these people got their ideas of what therapy is -- probably from watching too much TV. Therapy, I’m thinking of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in particular, is not about being a “crybaby” or even “venting.” It’s hard work, but it helps undo thought patterns at the root of self-destructive behaviors. It also eliminates the feelings that trigger those self-destructive behaviors. If you try it and stick with it, it can be like magic. One day, you just find yourself not reacting in the way you once did to something that used to make you feel sad or anxious. Here’s the list again: No sugar No alcohol No caffeine 8 hours of sleep a night Throw your TV in the garbage Delete social media from your phone Keep your phone in silent mode Read 1 hour a day Meditate 15 minutes a day Journal 10 minutes a day Get therapy Discipline is a byproduct of meaning Now some people protest that following this list sounds like a boring life. I think that just shows how deep the cultural programming is that we should for some reason seek pleasure at every turn, and avoid pain whenever possible. As someone who follows much of this list, most of the time, I can tell you I don’t find my life boring at all. But that’s because I have meaning. Discipline, if that’s what you want to call this, is not the cause of meaning -- discipline is the byproduct of meaning. “Get a life,” by that I mean find meaning in your life, and the opportunity costs of not being disciplined skyrocket. How do you find meaning? Well, that can be a future episode. Let me know if you want to hear about it. Image: Composition with Grid IX, Piet Mondrian Our Weekly Newsletter: Love Mondays Start off each week with a dose of inspiration to help you make it as a creative. Sign up at: kadavy.net/mondays About Your Host, David Kadavy David Kadavy is the author of The Heart to Start and Design for Hackers. Through the Love Your Work podcast, his Love Mondays newsletter, and self-publishing coaching David helps you make it as a creative. Follow David on: Twitter Instagram Facebook YouTube Subscribe to Love Your Work Apple Podcasts Overcast Spotify Stitcher RSS Email Support the show on Patreon Put your money where your mind is. Patreon lets you support independent creators like me. Support now on Patreon »     Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/100x-more-effective/

Is There a 'Best' Time to File Your Taxes? by Julia Glum Ever since elementary school, I’ve suffered from chronic overachiever syndrome. I used to thrive as the teacher’s pet, clapping erasers and asking “Are you going to collect the homework?” whenever they forgot. I finished tests early so I could write stories on my AlphaSmart typewriter for kids. I once broke my arm playing kickball because I kicked the ball *too* enthusiastically. (I wish I was kidding.

Hallo liebe Besucher der 13. Etage! Warum nach einer längeren Pause einen noch längeren Intro-Text schreiben, in dem wir erklären, warum Ihr so lange nichts von uns gehört habt?! Nein, dieses Mal machen wir es uns etwas einfacher und zitieren DIE ÄRZTE: Ja, ich weiß, ihr habt wieder einmal alle gedacht,es wär' vorbei, dabei haben wir nur Pause gemacht!Jetzt geht es weiter, denn das wär' doch gelacht!Ich prophezeie an dieser Stelle, dass es ordentlich kracht ...Die Ärzte - Rückkehr Viel Spaß mit Episode 24, Der äußerst gepflegte Basti & der frisch geduschte Steffen Die Kapitel 00:00:00 Intro00:01:10 Anfangsgeplänkel00:06:06 "Game of Thrones" - Finale (Serie)00:22:05 "The Avengers: Endgame" (Film) *00:36:32 Spoilerteil: "The Avengers: Endgame"00:48:38 Dr. Liebschner und die Zeitreiseproblematik in "The Avengers: Endgame"00:53:31 Spoilerteil 2: "The Avengers: Endgame"01:16:06 "Red Dead Redemption 2" (Spiel) *01:28:12 "How to sell drugs online (fast)" (Serie)01:40:15 "Aladdin" (Film) *02:01:14 "Good Girls 2", "Roseanne", "Ich versteh die Welt nicht mehr", "AlphaSmart", Bastis erste Goldmedaille02:11:19 Bastis Schwangerschaft und die Zukunft des Podcasts02:39:31 Podcastempfehlung: "Brooks Vermächtnis" (Basti), "Mausgebabbel" (Steffen)02:51:13 Abschlußgeplänkel02:54:30 Outro02:55:15 Outtakes oder so * Affiliate Links An dieser Episode haben mitgewirkt: Sprecher: Basti (DerComicer) [dercomicer.de] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Youtube]Steffen_L [Comic-Cookies] [steffen-liebschner.de] [Twitter] [ADN] [Facebook] [Amazon Wunschzettel] Schnitt: Basti Titelsong Für unser Intro und das Outro haben wir folgenden Song verwendet: Causativity von Justin Morgan [Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)] Wir freuen uns über jede Art von Feedback. Dieses könnt Ihr uns über die folgenden Möglichkeiten zukommen lassen: Hier im Blog: In jedem Beitrag zur Podcast-Episode oder über das Kontakt-FormularYoutubePodcast.deiTunesFacebook-SeiteTwitter-Seite

First Draft Episode #192: Lindsay Smith Lindsay Smith, author of the forthcoming Alchemy of War, as well as Sekret, Skandal, Dreamstrider, A Darkly Beating Heart, The Witch Who Came in From the Cold, and the Saints of Russalka series, talks about growing as a writer through D&D, refiguring her writing process after being diagnosed with ADHD, and learning to value more than just productivity. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode Hear Lindsay Smith’s first episode of First Draft with Sarah Enni here Lindsay has an AlphaSmart keyboard that she takes on the D.C. train system so she can write while she commutes One “What if?” that got Lindsay writing Alchemy of War was, “What if I took Inglourious Basterds (movie) but it was like Stranger Things (TV show)?” Lindsay was inspired to write A Darkly Beating Heart, after visiting Japan and staying in a historically preserved town meant to preserve the Edo Period Lindsay researched Rasputin for the hot villain in the Saints of Russalka series, including reading books about him and also jamming out to “Ra Ra Rasputin,” a disco song by German Euro group Boney M. Lindsay has written short stories for A Tyranny of Petticoats and Toil and Trouble, anthologies put together by fellow D.C. YA writer Jessica Spotswood (hear her First Draft episode here) and Tess Sharpe Lindsay wrote a short story in the universe of the Blue Rose role playing game Stucky: the fandom name for Captain America (Steve Rogers) + The Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnum) Britta Lundin, author of Ship It (hear her episode of First Draft with Sarah Enni here) wrote for Riverdale (TV show) and is open about loving fandom in a similar way to Lindsay (who loves The Winter Soldier) Lindsay collaborated with Max Gladstone for The Witch Who Came in from the Cold, a serial story released by Serial Box (founder Julian Yap approached Lindsay about developing and writing it). The first season of The Witch Who Came in From the Cold was released as a book by Simon & Schuster Lindsay and her husband are in multiple Dungeons and Dragons groups, which she says calls on a whole different skill set from her writing brain Lindsay turned to KBoards, a forum for self-published authors, to discover the ins and outs of the self-pub industry when she released Web of Frost The app “Self Control” has been useful to keep Lindsay focused as she tries to figure out how to balance productivity with self-care Courtney Summers, New York Times bestselling author of Sadie and generally super smart person, told me, “Time is the least free thing.” (Listen to her First Draft with Sarah Enni here) Lindsay was paired with an artist for the Strange Romance comic anthology, Lindsay wrote an angry girl comic for A Soul Divided Slash Caged in Flesh, a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde inspired anthology Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Michael Dante  DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!

I talked to Manish and Ketan Kothari of Edmodo in San Mateo, California about taking their first EdTech company AlphaSmart public, about the importance of teachers, and about the question if technology makes people more or less creative. Manish and Ketan are General Managers at Edmodo, a communication and collaboration platform for K-12 teachers and students with over 100 million users.

You heard me talk last week about morning routines, with the co-author of My Morning Routine, Benjamin Spall. I have a new morning routine I've been practicing this year, and it's been giving me some of my best ideas yet. The amazing part is I'm able to do this routine before I even get out of bed. I'll tell you why in this essay.     Sponsors http://earthclassmail.com  http://weebly.com/loveyourwork  Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/stay-bed-podcast/ 

We're back from the holidays and are ready to chat about pencils and pencil-adjacent holiday gifts we received. Still reeling from the Bomb Cyclone, Andy, Johnny, and Tim present some picks to keep you writing all winter in the Great Outdoors.

Okay. So. Even by 2017 standards, the last two weeks have been a bit much. So Dan and Maureen are stepping back and devoting an entire episode to COPING and YOUR QUESTIONS. First, Dan and Maureen take a quick trip to Puerto Rico with the President. Maureen talks about the potato chip van. Dan remembers the World's Finest chocolate bar. You ask: how do you get things done in 2017? How do you cope with right-wing co-workers? Should there be more debates? Is the Disney Dining Pass worth it? And is there an official Says Who cocktail? We get to it all. The fall is upon us, Says Whovians. We have to take care of each other. Pull up a pumpkin. It's Says Who time! SHOW NOTES: Pub for PR! Bid on an hour of BAD LIFE COACHING from Maureen! Get yourself a $30 word processor! To make Dan's Grey Stuff pie, simply follow this recipe for The Grey Stuff, but scoop it into an oreo cookie pie crust. Try the grey stuff, It's DELICIOUS. Your Intrepid Hosts: Maureen Johnson and Dan Sinker Our awesome theme is courtesy of Ted Leo. Says Who's Logo was made by the one and only Darth

Manish Kothari was co-founder of AlphaSmart Inc, an education technology company that he helped build into a $40MM business. He  was part of the executive team during AlphaSmart’s IPO (NASDAQ: ALSM) in   2004, and the subsequent acquisition by Renaissance Learning in 2005.   He was also co-founder of Root-1, Inc. which was acquired by Edmodo which provides students and teachers a free and easy way to connect and collaborate.   Watch Full Video>> http://www.inspiredinsider.com/manish-kothari-alphasmart-interview/  

Ganesh Natarajan  is cofounder of mindcrest which is an outsourcing  legal services company. They help international law firms and Fortune 1000 corporations with contracts, litigation support,  legal research, compliance and much more. Watch Full Video Interview here>> http://www.inspiredinsider.com/ganesh-natarajan-mindcrest-interview/

Kindergarten keyboarding instruction using AlphaSmart keyboards