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In this episode of the School of Podcasting, Dave Jackson shows you how to stop being “just another podcast” and start becoming someone's favorite show (I love that line from Jay Acunzo).You'll learn how to:Clarify what your podcast is actually about in one sentenceChoose (or tweak) your name and description so they signal your unique angleDeliver on the promise of your premise so listeners trust youUse your own stories, quirks, and background as an unfair advantage no AI can copyWhether you're launching a new show or trying to revive an existing one, this episode will help you stand out in a crowded market.The Four C's of Building a Favorite Show1. You Need a Clear “What Is It?” Line (Clarity)If you can't describe your show in one sentence, your listeners definitely can't.Think of it like a movie logline:“A shark terrorizes a beach town.” → Jaws“A lawyer can't lie for 24 hours.” → Liar LiarIf your answer sounds like “me and my buddy talking about stuff and stuff,” you have a clarity problem.2. Your Name & Description Should Create ContrastIf your show is called something generic like “Thinking Outside the Box,” you're competing with dozens of identical names.Simple test: say your show's name to someone and ask, “What do you think it's about?”If their answer doesn't match your actual content, your name isn't doing its job.Your description should:Say who the show is forSay how it's differentPromise what they get every episode - and then give it to themUse your listeners' own words from reviews/emails to sharpen your description.3. Deliver on the Promise of Your Premise (Consistency)Your title, artwork, and description are a promise. Your content has to deliver.Click‑baity titles and vague descriptions might get a first click, but if the episode doesn't do what it says, you won't get a second one.Examples:Joe Rogan: long-form, open-ended conversations where people actually talk through ideas.Podnews and Podnews Weekly Review: global podcast news with strong host chemistry and a predictable format.4. Your Stories and Style Are Your Uncopyable Advantage (Character)AI can write scripts and headlines—but it doesn't have your bike ride, your great nephew, or your specific regrets and realizations.You have stories, you just need to write them down.5. Use “Homework for Life” to Capture StoriesFrom Matthew Dicks' Storyworthy: at the end of each day, ask:“What happened today that might be a story?”Write down one sentence—just enough to remind you later.Use any note tool (NoteJoy, Apple Notes, Google Keep, voice-to-text, etc.).Over time you build a story library you can draw from to explain concepts and stand out from AI‑generated, story‑less shows.Action Steps From This EpisodeBy the end of this episode, challenge yourself to:Write your one-sentence “What is it?” line.If you can't say it clearly in one breath, cut it down.Ask 2–3 non-podcaster friends:Show them your title, cover art, and description.Ask, “What do you think this show is about?”If their answer doesn't match your intention, revise your name/description.Search your show's name in Google and major podcast apps.Is the name crowded? Already used?Is there a dormant show with the name you want? Consider reaching out and asking to take over/buy the feed.List 5 story moments from the last 30 days.Use “homework for life” style notes.Circle 1–2 you can use in upcoming episodes to explain a lesson.Rewrite your podcast description to:Say who the show is forSay how it's differentPromise what they'll consistently get each time they listenResources MentionedStoryworthy by Matthew Dicks – Book on storytelling and “homework for life.”Notejoy captiring toolResearch LinksPodcasting Morning ShowSave the Cat!: The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever NeedHot Ones' Guests Impressed by Sean Evans' Questions | Vol. 6 - YouTubePacino Arrests Everybody (Samuel L. Jackson Cameo) | Sea of Love - YouTubeHomework for Life | Matthew DicksHow Stories Happen: Creators and Entrepreneurs Dissect Their Signature Stories — Jay Acunzo - Jay always says, "Don't just be a podcast, be someone's FAVORITE podcast."Podcast Network Insights - A show About Podcasting networks.Podcast Momentum | Build Podcast Momentum – Geared towards businessesPedal Stomper Podcast. Podcasting Lessons from a Hall of Famer: 20 Years of Wisdom with Dave Jackson - YouTubeWork With DaveIf you want help:Sharpening your “what is it?” lineChoosing or refining a podcast nameRewriting your description so it stands outAnd building a show that becomes someone's favorite…then join the School of Podcasting and get step‑by‑step guidance, resources, and a community of podcasters just like you. You can also sign up for a single podcast strategy session.Mentioned in this episode:Have You Heard About the Podpage Assistant?Here's what it can do: Identify the best search keyphrase to target — The Assistant analyzes your episode and finds the keyphrase most likely to drive organic traffic. Generate optimized SEO titles and descriptions — Get search-friendly titles and meta descriptions written for each episode automatically. Expand your show notes — Turn brief show notes into detailed, search-friendly content that helps Google understand what your episode is about. Create SEO schema — Automatically generate structured data including FAQs and key takeaways, giving search engines even more context about your content. Generate episode transcriptions — If your podcast host doesn't provide transcripts, the Assistant can create them for you. Create companion blog posts — Each episode can get a dedicated blog post that supports your episode's SEO and gives listeners another way to find you. Automatically categorize episodes — Keep your episode library organized without lifting a finger. Start your 14 day trial at www.podpage.com/preview PodpageJoin the School of PodcastingMark from Practical Prepping had been podcasting for a while, but after joining the School of Podcasting, his podcast grew at a faster rate. His Facebook group has over 30,000 members! Join the School of Podcasting and get access to: Step-by-step tutorials An amazing podcast community Unlimited One-On-One Coaching Join today worry-free with a 30-day money-back guarantee!School of PodcastingQuestion of the MonthThis might be harder question to answer because when I ask people, the sometimes freeze. The question? How do you measure success for your podcast beyond download numbers? I need your answer by June 26th, 2026. Don't forget to tell us a little bit about your show and your website address so I can link to it in the show notes.Question of the MonthCheck Out Dave's Newsletter With Behind the Scenes ContentIn each issue of Podcasting Observations, I share my thoughts on what

In this profound exploration of Matthew 25:1-13, Tony Arsenal and Jesse Schwamb unpack the parable of the ten virgins, revealing it as far more than a simple warning about preparedness. Moving beyond dispensational "rapture ready" interpretations, they demonstrate how this parable addresses the spiritual condition required for entrance into God's consummated kingdom. The discussion centers on the critical distinction between outward religious profession and genuine possession of the Holy Spirit's grace. With pastoral sensitivity and theological depth, the hosts examine the meaning of the oil, the significance of the midnight cry, and the urgency of both evangelism and personal examination. This episode challenges listeners to consider whether they possess not just the lamp of profession, but the oil of saving grace that alone sustains faith through the waiting period before Christ's return. Key Takeaways The oil represents saving grace, not perfect obedience - The critical distinction in the parable is not between those who stayed awake versus those who slept (all ten virgins fell asleep), but between those who possessed oil and those who didn't. The oil symbolizes the indwelling, regenerating, sanctifying presence of the Holy Spirit—the grace that comes through effectual calling and genuine conversion. This parable warns against mere outward profession - All ten virgins carried lamps and waited for the bridegroom, representing outward religious activity and profession. The difference lay in the interior spiritual reality—whether that profession was accompanied by the transforming grace of the Holy Spirit or remained empty formalism. The "midnight cry" represents both personal death and Christ's return - Historically, Reformed expositors understood the midnight cry as either the actual cry of Christ's angels at His return or the voice of God in individual death. Each person's death functions as their personal midnight that irrevocably fixes their eternal state. Readiness is not about sinless perfection but possession of grace - The parable is not teaching a fearful "rapture ready" theology where Christians must be perfectly sinless when Christ returns. Rather, it teaches that readiness consists in possessing saving grace through faith in Christ, which sustains believers even when they "sleep" (fall into sin or spiritual drowsiness). There is urgency in the gospel call - The parable emphasizes that the opportunity for salvation has a deadline—"you know neither the day nor the hour." This creates urgency both for unbelievers to trust Christ and for believers to share the gospel, since no one knows when their personal "midnight" will arrive. Calvin's insight: you "buy" oil by receiving it freely through faith - Though the parable speaks of "buying" oil, Calvin notes this doesn't imply paying a price. Just as Isaiah invites people to buy wine and milk without money, we obtain the oil of grace not through merit or payment, but by receiving through faith what Christ freely offers. Key Concepts The Oil as Symbol of the Holy Spirit's Grace The oil in this parable has been consistently interpreted throughout church history as representing the grace of the Holy Spirit—specifically the indwelling, regenerating, and sanctifying presence that comes through genuine conversion. This interpretation aligns with Old Testament symbolism where anointing oil signified the Spirit's presence (as in "not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit"). The crucial distinction Jesus makes is not about external religious activity (both groups had lamps and waited), but about internal spiritual reality. Just as a lamp cannot burn without oil, religious profession without the Spirit's grace has no sustaining power. This oil cannot be shared or borrowed; it must be personally possessed. The parable thus exposes the deadly danger of assuming that outward Christian activities—church attendance, biblical knowledge, moral behavior—constitute genuine Christianity when the transforming work of the Spirit is absent. All the Virgins Slept: Grace Overcomes Human Weakness One of the most important details often overlooked is that both the wise and foolish virgins fell asleep while waiting for the bridegroom. This demolishes any interpretation suggesting the parable is about maintaining perfect spiritual vigilance or sinless living. The wise virgins' readiness was not based on their superior wakefulness or moral stamina—they fell asleep just like the foolish ones. Their preparedness came from having secured the oil beforehand. This has profound theological implications: our salvation and readiness for Christ's return does not depend on our ability to maintain perfect spiritual alertness or sinless perfection. Even when believers "sleep"—when they fall into sin, experience spiritual dullness, or fail in vigilance—they remain prepared because they possess the oil of the Spirit's grace. The parable thus provides comfort alongside its warning: those who have truly received Christ need not live in constant fear that a moment of weakness will disqualify them when He returns. The Midnight Cry and Personal Eschatology The midnight cry in verse 6 functions on multiple levels theologically. Universally, it points to Christ's unexpected second coming at the end of history. But Reformed interpreters have also recognized its application to individual eschatology—each person's death serves as their personal "midnight cry" that ends all opportunity for preparation. This dual meaning creates urgency both for evangelism and self-examination. The parable warns that whether Christ returns globally or death comes individually, that moment will arrive unexpectedly ("at midnight," the hour of deepest sleep) and irrevocably fix one's eternal state. Once the door is shut, no amount of pleading ("Lord, Lord, open to us") can change one's condition. This underscores a biblical truth often denied in contemporary theology: there is no post-mortem opportunity for salvation, no remedial path after death. The time for obtaining oil is now, in this life, before the cry sounds. Memorable Quotes Every man's death to him is the coming of Christ. That's when our state is irrevocably fixed. And so there's an urgency here—an urgency of evangelism and self-examination because the midnight cry may come at any moment. The difference between the wise and the foolish virgins is not that one of them stays awake and one of them falls asleep. The difference between the wise and the foolish is that the ones that are wise are prepared for when the bridegroom comes, even though they fell asleep. The only way to be prepared for the end is to turn to Jesus. It's not about whether or not you've turned to Jesus and have become perfectly sinless. None of us are like that. It's about trusting Jesus. Full Episode Transcript Welcome to episode 494 of The Reformed Brotherhood. I'm Jesse.  [00:01:10] Tony Arsenal: And I'm Tony. And this is the podcast with ears to hear. Hey brother.  [00:01:15] Jesse Schwamb: Hey brother. Looks like you and I need to get a midnight oil check. That's if you know, you know, that's what's coming up on this episode, and we're headed to Matthew 25 to do that oil check. We're still firmly in all of these beautiful parables that Jesus tells us, and this one goes by various names. You might know it as the parable of the 10 virgins, or if you're Petra. That classic Christian rock group who produced a song called Midnight Oil, which is absolutely a banger that that should be like the the theme song of this episode. If you haven't heard that song, go check out Midnight Oil by Petra and then come back and listen to us. Like, I wish we had the rights to that. We could just drop it in right here. But we're not that cool and we're not gonna edit that. So I'm gonna leave it up to you to craft your own version of this podcast with that great backing track. Have you heard that song?  [00:02:09] Tony Arsenal: I actually haven't. I, I came, uh, came into Christianity sort of at the tail end of Petra's Big Influence. So I know, I knew who Petra is. I've listened to a few of their songs, but they weren't mainstream by any sort, sort of, uh, stretch of the imagination when I was listening to Christian music. So  [00:02:28] Jesse Schwamb: this one's so good. It's so good. And it's right on point for our conversation today. So we're gonna get into all that stuff. The oil check, the midnight nature of it, the 10 virgins. What does it all mean? Of course, Tony and me, we have for you what I believe to be the definitive exegetical and hermeneutical reflection on the parable. So that's what you've come to expect from us and we're happy to deliver, but before we deliver on that, we got all the things we have to deliver to you, and that is affirming with or denying against something that's that point of course in the podcast or our conversation where we choose something they firm with that we think is. Undervalued, something we might recommend or conversely to deny against something that maybe is a little bit too overvalued or just not that great. So Tony, as is our customer, I say to you, sir, what are you doing? Are you affirming with something or are you denying against something?  [00:03:16] Denial Memory Blank [00:03:16] Tony Arsenal: I'm denying something. This is like denial. Ception is what's going on here. So, uh, first of all, thank you, Jesse for, uh, pitch hitting a solo episode at like, literally the last minute, last week. Um, I think we normally record at seven 30 on the Lord's Day, and I think I texted Jesse like 6 45 and was like, I just don't have it in the tank today. Can you do something? And he just hopped behind the mic. So that's a bonus affirmation there. But, uh, Jesse and I were, we're having a little bit of a pregame, uh, today, very much, you know, like five minutes of how you doing and are you ready to go? And, uh, I realized I, I had a really great affirmation last week, all ready to rock. I remember being super excited about it. I remember, uh, when I decided, or when we decided you were gonna do a solo episode thinking, I gotta make sure I remember this for next week. Right? And it has totally left my brain. It's gone. And, uh, it's, it's the worst feeling in the world when that happens. And I remember reading at some point, like, there's a biochemical reason why this happens and why it feels so weird. Like, it, it feels like you should be able to just dive into your mind and like search around enough and find it. And that's just not actually how your, how like your memory works. It's not, um. I think we think of memory as though it's like a big filing cabinet and you can just, like, you can just flip through the CAD catalog like long enough and find it. That's not how it works. Um, it's kind of like more organic network kind of stuff. But yeah, the, the, it's gone. It's just gone and I hate that feeling and it's gone. And that's what I'm denying is that feeling and losing your mind and feeling like you don't remember anything.  [00:04:56] Jesse Schwamb: I'm totally with you because incidentally, as we talked, we discovered we both had that experience because I had something too. And it's not just that, well, you know, we try to set aside or do a little prep on the affirmations and denials because you know, we come across something great in life, or again, the opposite. And you think, I gotta remember this because I wanna talk about this with Tony. And the worst part of that is like twofold. One, it never is great to forget something that you had or you knew you knew at one time, but it's all the less satisfying when it was something that you're super excited about and you're like, this is gonna be great. And it's that thing that you've completely forgotten that's like double the worst. So I'm, I'm totally with you in this denial. [00:05:35] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, it's, it's a really frustrating, terrible feeling. And there's not much you can do about it. And the, the secondary denial to that is it always comes back to you in the worst possible part of whatever conversation you're having. It's like you hem and hover it and you think about it and you, and I'm doing it right now. You, you sit here and you, you continue to try to talk thingy. It's gonna come, it's gonna come. Yes. It's gonna get here.  [00:05:59] Jesse Schwamb: Yep.  [00:06:00] Tony Arsenal: And then just when you finally have resigned yourself and, and the conversation moves on, that's when it comes back around. So I don't know if that's gonna happen or not, Jesse. If it does, I will try my best to ignore it, but I probably won't be able to. So No, I think you probably should get moving. So whatever it was the amazing affirmation, I don't remember. It can come back to us.  [00:06:16] Jesse Schwamb: It can come back. Yeah. I'm hoping that it does. And when it does, you guys just tell us you got, just let it, let it rip. Like even if we're like right in the middle of some deep, heavy, robust, thick theology, I just wanna be like. I, I can't even imagine what your affirmation was. It must have been like something pretty, pretty good.  [00:06:33] Tony Arsenal: I don't know. I don't know. I, I'm sure it was something interesting. I don't even, I'm  [00:06:37] Jesse Schwamb: trying to draw it out of you now.  [00:06:38] Tony Arsenal: Course. I can't even like, think of the ballpark of what part of like, what, what the category even was. It's just totally, it's totally gone. Like it never happened. Yep. It's, it's totally, totally gone. So I keep on saying, and you would think with all of my talk of like note taking apps and how important it's to keep a journal and all the stuff we've talked about that I would finally get around to like just jotting down in Apple Notes what my affirmations are and I just never do it. So. Yeah,  [00:07:05] Jesse Schwamb: I have every intention, but then I think, well, this is the record of them and I'll have it available to me when it comes time. The talk that's, and sometimes it just goes away. Has it happened yet? I'm still trying to draw it out of you by talking.  [00:07:15] Tony Arsenal: No, I'm just gonna give up. It's just gone. It's gone. That's just gone.  [00:07:19] Jesse Schwamb: That's, that's fair enough. Maybe. What do you  [00:07:21] Tony Arsenal: got for us, Jesse?  [00:07:22] Prayer and Anointing [00:07:22] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, I was gonna say, maybe I can just help push it along, as it were by my own. So I'm also affirming with something, lemme just read a couple verses from James chapter five. Is anyone Among You Sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and there to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will save the one who's sick and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, they'll be forgiven him. I had really just the profound opportunity and privilege today to participate in this because. My wife at the end of this week, uh, which will be a week past when this is, this airs, is about to go undergo that serious surgery, which she spoke about in an episode, I don't know, maybe several weeks ago. And, uh, my pastor asked if it would, if he'd like us and the elders, um, to come and to pray over my wife. And they did so after our service today. And it was just a really incredible thing. Even I'm still processing it. I don't really know. Like the words to say with what I can bring forward is just like words of gratitude and gratefulness for this kind of living out of the scriptures. What I can say is that the way in which he brought this forward and the elders prayed was just so incredibly loving and genteel and spirit-filled. And I think which is a manifestation of, of God's love for us in this moment as we prepare for this great thing to give us peace, peace, and to increase our faith and to do so by just following what the scriptures say here. So my affirmation is maybe twofold. One, it's for this particular experience, it's certainly for pastors, for elders who make it their objective to care for their flock and to do so under the rubric and the instruction of the scriptures. So I'm grateful, and if you have those kind of pastors and elders in your life, I hope that you'll be grateful to them for them as well, and that you might express that gratefulness. So this was a really incredible and, and lovely thing, and, uh, fills us with a kind of hope and encouragement. And if anything else was a reminder of the feel, there's something different going to experience like this armed fully with the promises of God and asking that he would be glorified, that our testimonies would be strong, and that of course, that he would bring healing through it. So I'm ever so grateful and affirming what this passage and this passage put into practice.  [00:09:51] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And if you are listening to this, when, uh, when it comes out or shortly after, probably not even shortly after, probably for a couple weeks after or months after, um, uh, Jesse's wife Jen did talk about the surgery and the condition she's been suffering under. So, uh, she's part of the Reformed Brotherhood family. She is, uh, just as important to the show, uh, as Jesse and I are in terms of the support that our wives give us and, and the space that we need to do this. So please do pray for Jen. Um, she'll be recovering when you hear this, if it's anywhere near the time that this comes out. Uh, it's a fairly large surgery with a, a, a moderately long recovery time. So please, uh, please do pray for her, uh, and, and make sure that you're lifting her up. Um, we are trusting the Lord for good things, uh, for her. Yes. And uh, we're confident that he, his will will be done 'cause it always is. But yeah, definitely pray for her. [00:10:42] Jesse Schwamb: Yes. Thank you for saying that, Tony. I appreciate that as her husband and. We are encouraged that we've said this before, but this is where our theology matters, isn't it? It's in the times where we come before the Lord in faith and in full trust, because one, there's nowhere else to go. He has the words of life for us. He is our life, but also because. In his son, this beautiful gift of salvation whereby his son is the suffering servant. So he's well acquainted with all of this kind of thing. And so stands with us in every conceivable way to be both so incredibly transcendent and above the nonsense and the noise of our world with full power and sovereignty over all things. And at the same time, to be fully eminent. To be literally with us in all the ways. In all the things. And again, well acquainted with our condition, including the grief and the suffering, the anxiety, the all of this, which we experience as part and parcel of what it means to be human, who is like our God in this way. And so we do sense his great and uncommon care for us, and it would be dishonest of me even in the midst of these difficult and challenging things to say that he doesn't care for us. He has good and he loves us, and he's making a way, even though that way be hired. So we're sensing even from, I think, following that time of prayer, that whether we receive the bread of affliction. Uh, or the, the water of of agony that we hear God's voice behind us saying, this is the way, walk in it, and he's with us. So I hope that's encouragement maybe to others who are also going through their own things and who isn't going through something, right?  [00:12:18] Tony Arsenal: Yeah.  [00:12:18] Jesse Schwamb: So we all have this great promise in the gospel that God is for us, and I love that James here gives us some practical instruction to that end. [00:12:29] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, for sure.  [00:12:31] Support the Show [00:12:31] Tony Arsenal: Well, before we move into our topic for the evening, uh, the internet tells me that I'm supposed to do this at this point in the show rather than at the very end like we usually do. Well, let's do it. Um, we are a listener supported episode, not like PBS, uh, not like other things. Uh, maybe kind of a little bit like PBS Yeah, a little bit. Anyway, uh, we have a, a pretty dedicated group of Patreon supporters who, uh, donate a little bit and sometimes some people, a lot, a bit of their discretionary income, uh, to help make the show go. And we've said before, like, we are not interested in providing special content or special gear or swag every once in a while. I think we did it once and we've, we've got plans to do it again sometime in the future. We'll send out a thank you gift to those who are subscribing through Patreon. Um, but we are committed to producing the show and making everything that we put online and everything that we make available, available to everybody. And really the only reason that we can do that, especially in today's economy, is uh, because there are people who support the show. And so we always want to make sure that we're saying we're thank you to those people. Yes. Um, they are a part of this show. I don't know if we are not gonna do like executive producer credits, but they're as close to that as you can get. Since we don't do that, um, we really wouldn't be able to do the show, at least not the way that it is without that supporting group of people. So if that's something that you hear and you no, I kind of think that maybe I wanna be a part of that. We would love for you to go to patreon.com/reform tears. There's no special swag, there's no early releases or anything like that. Um, but we would love if you would partner with us. Um, this is a lowercase m ministry, and if you've listened to the show for a long time, you know what I mean by that. Uh, we, we do consider this to be a calling, something that God has given us and we, we understand there's a responsibility with it, but we also know that we can't do it alone. So if you're interested after you've fulfilled all your personal finance obligations, your obligation to your local church and your immediate area, if there's a little bit left over that you're looking to spend somewhere on something that is valuable, uh, please do consider going to patreon.com/form Brotherhood. [00:14:39] Jesse Schwamb: And if you've been listening for a while and you've thought, you know what, I wonder who else is out there that's like me, that's listening to these guys on the internet. Guess what? You can actually meet some of those people. They have a little spot where they hang out. It's called Telegram. It's just a chat app, and we have our own little section of that app. If you just go to your favorite browser, whatever it is, you can choose and go to wherever you like, just go to t me slash Reform Brotherhood. And that link will take you into kind of a preview land where you can see the space where everybody's talking, and you can peruse some of the different channels, everything from uh, channels just for prayer, for a crusting, prayer to general conversation, talk about the episodes, talk about baptism, all kinds of things. It is, as we always say, one of the kindest, most charitable, most loving corners of the internet. Guaranteed. You can test us on that. So in fact, you should by going to t.me back slash reform Brotherhood, Tony, back to you. [00:15:36] Eschatology Shift [00:15:36] Tony Arsenal: Well, let's just slam it right into gear. We, we, we haven't figured out how to do transitions into or out of, uh, Patreon announcements, uh, or telegram announcements,  [00:15:46] Jesse Schwamb: right?  [00:15:46] Tony Arsenal: So this, I, maybe this is the awkward charm of the show, or maybe it's just the awkwardness of the show. It's just charm, Jesse,  [00:15:53] Jesse Schwamb: all charm. [00:15:53] Tony Arsenal: We need to talk about some things tonight. We need to talk about some oil. Yes. We need to talk about some lamps. Yes. We need talk about some bridegrooms.  [00:16:00] Jesse Schwamb: Yes.  [00:16:00] Tony Arsenal: It's the parable of the 10 virgins or the 10 lamps, or the parable of the oil flasks. Yes. There's lots of different things that it's called. Uh, it's what it isn't, it's not the parable of, uh, the 24 hour Jiffy Lube, which is what it made, what you made it sound like when you talked about the midnight oil check. Um,  [00:16:18] Jesse Schwamb: I  [00:16:18] Tony Arsenal: didn't even think about that. But yeah. This is, this is a good one. And I think we've, we've sort of. I've sort of observed that the parables do tend to clump around systematic theology themes, and they clump within the narrative of the gospel within Matthew itself around themes. So the last three parables that we talked about were all sort of like parables of judgment against the Pharisees and a, a lot of things like unconditional election and reparation were all baked into that pie. You know, we talked about with the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coins and the lost, um, the lost, uh, brother. We talked about how that has a lot to do with like election. It has to do with salvation and what the gospel looks like in terms of justification in the father's initiative. And we're moving into a section of Matthew, um, where Jesus is starting to teach on the last days. And so the parables in this section start to move toward ha to have more of an eschatological bent. Yes. We talked a little bit about some of the eschatology and the parables when we, we went through the, um, through the, the. Um, my brain just left me. It happened again, Jesse. The, the denial thing, uh, when we talked about the parable of the tears and the wind field and the, the, the different kinds of soils back on track, there was an eschatological element to that. But we are in like straight up eschatology Yeah. In these, these sections now. That's right. So we're coming to the end of Matthew, uh, our plan right now and who knows what the Lord has for us. But the plan right now is once we finish Matthew, to go back and visit some of the parables that are present in the other gospels. And there's not too many of 'em, but that are present in the other gospels that aren't necessarily, uh, present in Matthew. So, like you said, there's not a ton of 'em. Uh, we do want to hit all of 'em. And if there's, if there's time, and I say if there's time as though we have some sort of time constraints, um, if there's time we probably will talk a little bit about some of the I am statements and some of the things in John. 'cause John doesn't do parables quite the same way in quite the same fashion, but he does have sort of some of this. Allegorical figurative language baked into some of his, um, some of his writings or some of the accounts of Jesus that he, he, um, captures that are probably worth talking about in the seam light. So right now we're, we're coming up quick on the end of the parables of Matthew. Um, there's not very many left and then we'll, we'll keep moving on. Uh, that said. We are, it's almost unbelievable to say this. We're going to be coming up to the end of the parable series sometime in the next, I dunno, six to 10 months. Uh, if you've got ideas for what you think the next series should be, start thinking about those now. Bring 'em to the telegram chat. Let's start percolating those ideas up, right? And, uh, like a good coffee maker. And we'll, uh, we'll brew some goodness. How many more parables? How many more, uh, metaphors can I throw in there? Puns, can I throw in there? But yeah, Jesse, let's get started. This is a good one.  [00:19:08] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, that was a really, I think, fine introduction. I always enjoyed this parable because it has some really fun, dramatic elements, but I think I, I really haven't really appreciated all the eschatological underpinnings that you were just mentioning. And when you think about it as we're, I think we're gonna soon find here. That this is one of the most searching and solemn parables, actually, that Jesus uttered, and you start to get a sense for that as we've just kind of been hitting them, one after the other. As you said, this one belongs to the great olive discourse. It's delivered by Jesus to his disciples on the Mount of Olives just days before his crucifixion. It's in direct response to their questions about the destruction of Jerusalem and the sign of his condiment coming and the end of the age. So you're right. I think this carries like unmistakable eschatological weight because it's not merely this fable about preparedness in general, which sometimes is where we go. Yeah. But it's really more of like a precise theological warning about the spiritual condition required for entrance into the consummated kingdom of God at the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.  [00:20:11] Tony Arsenal: Yeah,  [00:20:11] Jesse Schwamb: I think that's the full setup.  [00:20:12] Read Matthew 25 [00:20:12] Jesse Schwamb: We, we've gotta go to the scriptures, right?  [00:20:15] Tony Arsenal: Yeah.  [00:20:16] Jesse Schwamb: Alright. It's time. You want me to read it? [00:20:17] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, yeah, go ahead.  [00:20:18] Jesse Schwamb: Okay. Here we go. Matthew 25, beginning in verse one, then the kingdom of heaven may be compared to 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bride groom. Now, five of them were foolish and five were prudent for when the foolish took their lamps. They took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight there was a shout. Behold the bridegroom come out to meet him. Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the prudent, give us some of your oil for our lamps are going out. But the prudent answered saying, no, there will not be enough for us and for you too. Go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves. And while they're going away to make the purchase, that bridegroom came and those who already went in with him to the wedding feast and the door was shut. And later the other versions came also saying, Lord, Lord, open for us. But he answered and said, truly, I say to you, I do not know you. Therefore, stay awake for you do not know the day nor the hour.  [00:21:27] Tony Arsenal: Yeah.  [00:21:29] Assurance Not Fear [00:21:29] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, this one's heavy. And I just wanna say, kind of coming into this, right, I think a lot of our audience, and I would, I would include myself in this, um, we, we came to sort of like an awareness of faith. And I, I don't say that in a sort of tongue in cheek fashion. What I mean, um. I'll, I'll just speak from my perspective, but I think it's probably one that resonates. I came to faith when I was a, you know, a relatively young teenager, 15 years old, and, um, when you first become a Christian, you're not aware of all the different theological debates or even all of the major implications of the Christian faith. And I think a lot of us and myself, uh, as, as sort of the example when we be started to become aware of the different conversations happening in different dynamics and some of the more, uh, maybe third or fourth tier doctrines that you learn when you're, um, sort of being catechized as a new Christian, uh, catechized in sort of an informal sense, eschatology is probably one of those ones that comes along fairly, fairly late in the game. And I recall, um, when I first became aware of the left behind books, right? And so I, I came to faith in a large Lutheran megachurch, uh, that wasn't really as Lutheran as you would think, cup being a large Lutheran megachurch. It was very dispensational. And I think there is a sense of dread and fear associated with rapture ready theology. And I don't, I don't think all dispensationalist that, um, believe in a, a literal rapture of the church either prior to or following or in the middle of the tribulation. I don't think all dispensationalist fall into this category. But there are definitely dispensationalist out there that would emphasize being rapture ready. And you know, you think of like the song, I wish We'd All Been Ready, you know, and, and this, this sort of existential fear that the Rapture's gonna come and I'm not gonna be ready and I'm gonna be left behind. Right. There's an, the entire book series is about people who thought that they were Christians who thought that they were justified and saved and then weren't. And, and I don't think the book gives all that much explanation other than sort of like a general sense of like, these are sort of nominal fake Christians that maybe some of them think they're saved and some of them don't. I know there were definitely characters in the book who really thought that they were followers of Jesus and then they didn't realize they weren't until they were not raptured with everyone else. The only reason I sort of launch into that progam is I think that the tendency in most circles because of the pervasive. Sort of all expansive influence of dispensationalism in the United States, and particularly sort of this like rapture ready, left behind theology that is a, a major thread within, um, American dispensationalism. There's a tendency to look at this almost exclusively in light of that sort of rapture ready fear that right the end is gonna come and I'm not gonna be ready and. I don't, I'm not a dispensationalist, I don't hold to a rapture in that sense. I don't think you do either. Jesse and I, I think there's an element of this that has that same flavor that we have to acknowledge, but I don't think we should read this in light of like, you think you're gonna be fine, but actually you're not. So you better get it together. I don't think that that's the point of the parable. Um, and I wanna say that upfront because it is easy to read a parable like this and to, to become extremely fearful to the point that it actually shakes whatever assurance you may have had. And I've said it before and, and I, I will say it again, it is not, I am not in the business of robbing the assurance away from Christians. The assurance of faith and the assurance of salvation is the rightful possession and inheritance of all those who are Christ. And so I have no, no desire to shake or rob you of your assurance. That's just not my jam. Um, so I wanted to get that out there. Like I don't think that this parable is here. To scare the daylights out of us and make us question whether or not we actually belong to the bridegroom. I actually think it's here for a different reason.  [00:25:39] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, I agree.  [00:25:40] Watch and Be Ready [00:25:40] Jesse Schwamb: I, I think this may have more in common with like the tears in the wheat parable that we've spoken about before versus trying to promulgate a particular understanding of eschatology. There's no doubt that this is calibrated to the period preceding the perusia. At the same time, the parable is a reminder that describes like the visible professing church on earth as it moves toward that consummation. So this is why I think it is important for us to talk about, well, what do we mean by these 10 virgins? What do we mean about the lamps themselves? What is this saying generally about God's church? And again, him addressing the question of what does it mean for that church to be consummated in his kingdom?  [00:26:18] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And you know, I, I'm, I'm trying to find the specific passage, but um. We also should not miss the verbal affinity here. Uh, at the end of the parable, when it says truly, I say to you, I do not know you. We should really read this in light of, um, the, um, the statements. You know, I was hungry and you didn't feed me. I was, you know, and you say, Lord, we did these things. He said, away from me. I never knew you. We really should read this parable. I think in light of that passage and that phrasing, I think that's, that's actually the punchline of this  [00:26:54] Jesse Schwamb: Yes. [00:26:55] Tony Arsenal: Punchline. That's, that's the point. Parable is that last phrase, and then the, the extra parable, the outside of the parable, um, payoff or sort of like explanation that Christ gives is watch. Therefore, for you neither know the day nor the hour. The point is not, um, you may think you're a Christian. You may think you're, you're on top of things, but you actually, you might be totally wrong. And so you better get your stuff together. The point is what, what happens? Or the point is the same thing as I think it's the author of Hebrew is like, today is the day of salvation, right? Like, do not wait to turn to Christ. Do not wait. That's right to trust in Jesus. Do not wait to enter the kingdom of heaven until the last minute. Do not wait because you don't actually know when the end is coming. And I, I read this when I, when it's watch, therefore for, you know, neither the day nor the hour. I read this less in light of, um. Like universal eschatology, uh, every single person that, that Jesus was speaking to in this original audience that he actually delivered this parable to, did not see that, like, did not see the last days. Right. Whatever the last days looks like. And I mean, like, yes, the last days is from the resurrection to the end of the age. So some of them saw those last days. But what I mean is none of these people saw the return of Christ, like the second return of Christ and that the last judgment. So he would, it would be sort of meaningless to be delivering this parable to those people. With only whatever the last things are with only the rapture in mind with only Right, exactly. The great judgment. None of that would make any sense. So I read this more in light of you never know when your day and hour is coming. Not, not necessarily like the day, like the day of the Lord, although that's true. Yes. There will be a generation on earth who the last day, the final judgment is also their last day in terms of their ordinary human life. But I think this is more of a general call to all of us, and especially to those, um, out there who are in the orbits of the church who are exposed to the gospel, um, and have not yet trusted Christ. [00:29:09] Jesse Schwamb: Yes.  [00:29:09] Tony Arsenal: Um, there is a call to turn to Jesus and to, uh, to, to come into the kingdom of heaven, to be prepared by coming into the kingdom of heaven here. That's, that's the main point of the peril that we have to land on.  [00:29:21] Bridegroom And Virgins [00:29:21] Jesse Schwamb: I agree with you, and I think all of the imagery here points in that direction. So even starting with this image of these 10 virgins, which of course you've been listening to us talk for long enough, or you've read through the Old Testament, you're gonna quickly, and I think cogently see that this is the Old Testament imagery of Israel as the bride or the covenant community. It's also of course, like the Greco Roman custom in which the bridesmaids attended the bride and accompanied the wedding procession when the bride groom arrived to claim his bride. So to your point, what I think is really interesting about this is that we're basically saying that this parable is not speaking of like strangers or enemies, but those who have made a profession of faith. And so even this like idea of the bridegroom who, who's without a question? Christ here, that's a self-identification that's rooted in like John chapter three, where even John the Baptist calls himself merely the friend of the bridegroom and a revelation where you are going already, where the marriage supper of the lamb consummate, consummate redemptive history. [00:30:19] Lamps And Oil Meaning [00:30:19] Jesse Schwamb: So once we get through the idea of we have those whom Jesus is speaking about, and even those who he's speaking to as those who have made some kind of profession, religious or otherwise, to me, where this hinges is in this idea of the lamps or these torches or or burning lamps, which I take to be like this outward profession. And so the question is you have all of them coming with these lamps. Lambs represent this external common to true or false professors alike. But I think to what you are driving at, it's whether within that profession there is a true and actual reliance on Christ himself for righteousness.  [00:30:57] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And you know, oil, I think the oil is really key here too, right? Oil in the, uh, in the scriptures, particularly in the Old Testament. Um, but also in some places in the New Testament, oil is associated with the Holy Spirit.  [00:31:11] Jesse Schwamb: Yes,  [00:31:11] Tony Arsenal: exactly right. So if, if we wanna sort of take the symbolism here, take, take the, the situation sort of as a mixture of, of different kinds of symbols. We have these folks that have all of the outward things necessary to be able to light the lamps. They have the lamps, the wicks are there. Um, they're, they're sort of ready to go. They're, they're ready and waiting for a time. Uh, but what they don't have is they don't have oil, they don't have the Holy Spirit. So yes, we, we need in some senses about false professors, but I do think it's broader than that.  [00:31:43] Salvation Has A Deadline [00:31:43] Tony Arsenal: I think this is, um, again, is a generalized parable about. The, the fact that the hour of salvation, the day of salvation, the opportunity to turn to God, the opportunity to come into God's kingdom is not an indefinite opportunity. It's not going to be out there as a possibility forever. There is a day and an hour and a minute for every single person where that opportunity is no longer available. And of course we're the reformed brotherhood, not the Armenian Brotherhood, right? We're the reformed brotherhood. So yes, God has ordained who will come and who will not. He's ordained the hour and the minute of those who will, and he's ordained that some will never come. But that all operates on God's God's level in God's knowledge. And that's not something we have access to know down here, right? Deuteronomy 29, 29, the sacred things belong to the Lord, but the things that are revealed belong to us and our children forever. And one of the things that's revealed is that God calls us to salvation. He calls us to repent and trust in Jesus. And here in this passage, he is cutting us to do that, to not delay doing that.  [00:32:53] Personal Evangelism Story [00:32:53] Tony Arsenal: I think there are a lot of people, um. I can actually think of a couple really specific examples in when I was in high school. Um, I was, I, I don't do as much personal evangelism as I I did when I was, uh, when I was in high school and younger. I, I don't know for sure what the reason is. Some of it's probably my own cowardice, but I think probably just that's normal, that as you grow and you kind of settle into different kinds of relationships, you have a different context. But I remember a, a friend of mine named Dave, I'm not gonna say his last name, I remember his last name, but I'm not gonna say it, but a friend of mine named David, um, who. All of us were coming to faith, like all, all of our friend group were coming to Faith. There was one of my friends, James was sort of like the first guy who, he was raised in a Christian home and he sort of came to faith in a very real faith, real way. And he sort of brought all of us along with him and sort of one by one we, we sort of like, it was like Domino's falling. And we all came to a genuine, true saving faith kind of all right in a row. And then there was Dave and Dave just didn't like he, he with us. He did all the things we were doing. And I remember having a conversation with him where I was like, what are you waiting for? Like, what's, what's the hold up here? And I didn't have any, again, I didn't have any framework for like what apologetics were, I wasn't trying to make an argument or any sort of like, um, any sort of like persuasion. It was just a real raw like we are all loving this. We're all, we're all so joyful and happy. The lives are changing and we. This is real, Dave, what, what are you waiting for? He never had a real answer. He, he didn't ever make an argument against the faith. He was very clear that he believed that God was real. He believed that God existed, that the sort of the facts of the gospel were true. Like he, he, um, to sort of put like theological language on it, um, he had, he had a ticia and a census, right? Right. He, he acknowledged he knew the true facts of the gospel and he acknowledged the reality that, that those facts were true. He just never actually took the step to trust in Jesus. And I don't know what happened to Dave. Uh, there's another friend of mine named Theo that very similar kind of situation. I don't know what happened to Dave and Theo. I have no idea whether they eventually came to faith or not, but, but it was like, you guys never know when the day in the hours. That's the kind of person that I think this is pointing to.  [00:35:15] Against Rapture Ready Fear [00:35:15] Tony Arsenal: Not necessarily the person within the church, um, who has made some sort of credible profession of faith, but thinks, but like, because like they haven't stopped swearing yet, or because they still have lustful thoughts once in a while. Like I think that's the rapture ready theology is like. You better not hope that like that's the day that a pretty girl walks by and you have a lutful thought. 'cause if Jesus comes back right after that, you're really in trouble. Like those are, those are actually, um, again, this is, this is a caricature of dispensationalism, but it's a caricature that I experienced. It's, it was people who were being characters of themselves. Right? This idea that, look, you better, you better not sin ever. You better not be asleep. And being asleep means sinning. You better not ever sin. Because if you happen to sin right before the rapture, then Jesus is gonna leave you behind. Right? You're not gonna fly up in the clouds if you're not perfectly rapture ready. And like, again, not all dispensationalist are like that. I actually think most dispensationalist these days would probably not fit into that category. Right? But when I was coming to faith in the late nineties and early two thousands, that was the real theology being presented. I don't think that's what this is. This is about a life orientation of preparedness. This is about an entire life. Yes. That is prepared for Christ's second coming or for the hour of our death. And that the only way to be prepared for that is to be happy in Christ, is to be blessed, blessed assurance, like to have your blessed assurance because Jesus is mine. Oh, what a, you know, oh, what a happy delight like that is. The only way to be ready for death, to be prepared for the end is to turn to Jesus. It's not about whether or not you've turned to Jesus and have become perfectly sinless. None of us are like that, right? It's not about, I just got done writing this series of articles on John Piper's affectional theology, affectional Justification, like it's not about perfectly treasuring Christ. There are gonna be times where your emotions do not sync up with what you actually believe. It's not about being perfectly obedient or wanting to be perfectly obedient. It's about trusting Jesus. And there's only one day an hour that that opportunity closes, and you never know when that is, when that day an hour is gonna be. [00:37:26] Wise Versus Foolish [00:37:26] Jesse Schwamb: We know that to be true in this particular parable because of what's written for us in verse two, how Jesus himself bifurcates and labels these two groups. He says five of them were foolish and five were wise. So Christ himself introduces the critical distinction, not of course, with reference to whatever the external practice is, because both of these groups are carrying lamps, both weight, both know the bridegroom is coming, but with an interior character judgment one is literally foolish, which is the same contrast that Christ employs actually in the parable of the two builders at the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, where the wise man hears and does, while the foolish man hears, but does not translate hearing into obedient transformation. So I'm with you on this. The terms carry, I think, significant Old Testament fruit because in the all the wisdom literature, wisdom is synonymous with the fear of the Lord, that true knowledge of God, right? And that practical orientation, I think as you were saying, of one's entire life toward God. The fool is not like an intellectual simpleton, but it's a world spiritual category. It's one who lives as though God does not exist or God does not matter, or refuses in the light of incontrovertible evidence to come before God and to submit to him In this way. They are foolish or they are wise. And so again, I like what you're saying. It's not as if like they've just exhibited some kind of quick departure or they've fallen into temptation or sinfulness, but instead, rather, there's something way larger at stake here with respect to a spiritual category. And I think that's really what Jesus is after, as he's bringing these two groups apart from each other, explaining that essentially that they access the same things. They heard the same stuff, they had the same on the outward, at least the same priorities, but the true internal character, the interior character of who they were, was not compatible. These are not the the same kind of person.  [00:39:20] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah.  [00:39:21] All Virgins Fall Asleep [00:39:21] Tony Arsenal: And this is actually something, um, that I hadn't picked up on before. Right. I think we can get into these ruts when we're reading and understanding, uh, the scripture, especially really familiar passages like this. Um, probably like at some point in the past, someone has taught it to me in this way. I heard a sermon or I heard it at a youth group in a particular way, and I just never really went back. The, the wise virgins also fall asleep.  [00:39:46] Jesse Schwamb: Exactly.  [00:39:46] Tony Arsenal: Like, like that, that's amazing to me, like Right. I've always heard this passage as though like, falling asleep is the equivalent of spiritual death.  [00:39:54] Jesse Schwamb: Yes. [00:39:55] Tony Arsenal: But the reality is, in this passage, the difference between the wise and the foolish virgins is not that they, one of them stays awake and one of them falls asleep. One, the, the, the difference between the wise and the foolish is that the ones that are wise are prepared for when the bride root clump comes, even though they fell asleep and, and actually, uh, they're, they're shown to be even more wise because they all fell asleep. Yes. Right. If they hadn't fallen asleep, then the foolish ones probably would've had time to go get more. But the, the wise virgins in this, uh. And not only were they wise in terms of like they had the stuff they needed, they were ready to go, but so wise that in fact their wisdom overcame sort of this happenstance that they were in a state of, of preparedness being asleep when the comes is a state of Unpreparedness, but they have able to compensate for the ready in every other area. And I think this also kind of like mitigates away away from the idea of like the, um. The, the emphasis of the parable here, the readiness of the par of the virgins is not based on the wakefulness of the virgins, right? Yes. The virgins are ready because they have the supplies they need. Right. They're not Exactly, they're not exactly, they're not un 'cause they fell asleep. They're ready because they've, they've prepared by purchasing the supplies they need, by having the supplies they need when the breadroom comes. That's true. Whether they fall asleep or not. So I think like this whole parable needs to sort of like be reoriented in reference to the way a lot of us have, A lot of us have been taught and understood this parable. I was always taught that the, the foolish virgins were foolish because they fell asleep. Yeah, that's probably partially true in that it's foolish to fall asleep when you're waiting for something, but that can't be the only thing that makes them foolish. 'cause it doesn't make the other virgins foolish. [00:41:51] Jesse Schwamb: Yes, exactly.  [00:41:52] Oil As Saving Grace [00:41:52] Jesse Schwamb: And that's why it's so interesting that Jesus basically doubles down or elaborates in verses three and four by saying for when the foolish took their lamps. They took no oil with them. Yeah, but the wises took flasks of oil with their lambs. I think it's actually, as you're, I think leading us into like the theological height of this whole thing, the foolish virgins took their lambs, but no oil. The wise took lambs and extra oil in vessels. And of course the lambs cannot burn without oil in the same way. I think what we're led to believe here is profession without grace has no sustaining power. So I know like throughout church history, this idea of the oil has been interpreted in various ways, in various forms. I think there's a lot of unification though on the point that the oil is more or less like a representation of the grace of the Holy Spirit. That like specific indwelling regenerating, sanctifying presence of the spirit imparted in effectual calling and genuine conversion. And that's why I think this has a lot in common with both like the tears and the wheat parable. But also what you've been saying about the time that is appointed onto a man to die, either for Christ to return or just for you and I to die. And so this understanding, I think is consistent with the Old Testament symbolic use of, like you said before, anointing oil is a sign of the spirit's presence. Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit. And so I'm seeing here like this oil is, I mean, is it going too far to say almost like a saving grace? It's, it's not common grace, it's not the gifts of the spirit, which the reprobate may possess, but I think we're, we're seeing here like that special sanctifying preserving grace, which is inseparable from true election and calling. [00:43:29] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I mean, I think that's spot on. While you were talking, I was actually just looking up, uh, what Calvin has to say on this. I, I think it's funny because I constantly am saying things that I feel like I'm discovering for myself in real time. But if I actually just took the, a little bit of time to read some of our great sources a little more carefully, I would run into them. This is what he says. He says on, uh, verse five, he says, some interpret this slumbering in a bad sense as if believers along with others abandon themselves sloth. And they were, they were asleep amidst the vanities of the world. This is all together inconsistent with the intention of Christ as structure of the parable. [00:44:05] Slow Down And Read [00:44:05] Tony Arsenal: Like I think it's clear now here as we're working through this and this, and this is the main benefit, um, of taking time to just walk through the parables, any, any text of scripture, but the parables is what we're looking at. Taking time to just actually slow down and read them. I didn't intend to get to like a whole discussion about Bible reading plans, but the typical, I'm gonna read the Bible through, uh, the entire Bible in a year that typically has you reading three to five chapters a day is the average. That's probably too much if you want to be reading for understanding. And there is, there's definitely value. I've, I've commented in the past, there's huge value in reading large tracks of scripture all at the same time. Like if you wanna sit down over 10 chapters of Scripture day and you've got the time and the energy and the discipline to do it, then more power to you. But I think it's not realistic to think you're gonna sit down and read 10 chapters of scripture and have good comprehension and retention of the 10 chapters that you read. This is a really good example of that. If you sit down and you read three chapters, you're gonna be reading this, you're gonna be reading, uh, another parable. The parable of the talents you are gonna be reading. You know, the all of it discourse all at the same time, all in one sitting. Um, it's not until just now when I slowed down to really look at these passages, verse by verse individually and take an hour to discuss 13 verses with my brother-in-law in front of a microphone, right? Then I realized all of the virgins fall asleep. Like that's the kind of stuff that you really only, um, you only overcome. The assumed teaching that you heard when you were in high school, 15, you know, 15, 20 years ago at a summer camp. You really only overcome that when you slow down enough to read things and actually comprehend them. So that's not much of a commentary on the passage, but it is something that I'm learning as we do these parable studies. Just slow down, slow down and read them, read them multiple times, read it over and over again. Um, it is totally fine. The, this is the last, uh, Bible reading soapbox thing I'll say tonight. Um, I think like, because. Of the influence of like expository preaching and like wanting to read things in, in context, and all of those things are good. I think there is this tendency to think that if you sit down and just read a very short portion of scripture, that you're kind of automatically taking that out of context. I don't think that's the case. Like it's totally fine to sit down in the morning and go, you know what? I've got, I've got 10 minutes, I've got five minutes. I've got two minutes before the kids are up. I've got two minutes before the bus stop, you know, before the bus gets here. I'm standing at the bus stop. I've got 30 seconds before the coffee's done. It's totally fine to open your Bible app. And read two or three verses of scripture, that's a totally fine thing to do. It's totally fine because you've got 10 minutes before the kids got up. Oh, and by the way, you've gotta unload the dishwasher before they do. Totally fine to sit down and go, I've got time to read 13 verses of scripture today. So that's what I'm gonna get done. Um, and, and then just think about those things like meditate on those scriptures all day. I just think there's a lot of values to that and that's maybe that's my takeaway from this episode. I know like that's not a takeaway directly related to this passage. That's good. But I think we can oftentimes. Have and understand that isn't right because we've been taught it and we don't ever have the time or space in our life to like realize that what we were taught is maybe exactly right. This is like something so obvious on the surface of the text. It didn't even take any real thought. It just took slowing down and actually reading the words  [00:47:45] Jesse Schwamb: right. It's also a good reminder, like we said from the beginning, that our goal here shouldn't be to torture every detail, to like press it for some kind of allegorical significance.  [00:47:55] Tony Arsenal: Yes.  [00:47:55] Jesse Schwamb: But to take it on the face and to understand in context what's being said. And by context I just mean the context of the story. Of the accounts of the drama that's unfolding. And it is pretty remarkable that all 10 virgins sleep, that maybe even as you start with the details might not be your impression that that was gonna be, was gonna be the difference here, but both the wises and the foolish alike fall asleep. So to me, the parable is not condemning sleep per se, but I think it's the absence of oil which the sleep merely reveals, right? That's the critical detail here. And so Jesus delivers that to us and that's why it's, I think, important to think about these, these variables about what the oil represents and the context in which they're tested with their preparedness. But it's not because like they had it almost times you get the impression, it's like what we're saying here is the wise had more stamina, that they were the ones that were just willing to tough it out, and they knew the bridegroom was coming. And so as a result of that, they decided that they were going to ensure that they stayed awake, even if they had the drink, a couple of extra cups of coffee, just to make sure that was the case. But really their sleepiness, which they both have to endure, is the very context in which proves that they do are not prepared by having sufficient oil, not that they're unprepared by having sufficient energy or stamina.  [00:49:18] Prepared Despite Fatigue [00:49:18] Jesse Schwamb: Well, with all.  [00:49:21] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, that's a good takeaway too, is, is we all, um, we all will succumb to temptation in this life,  [00:49:32] Jesse Schwamb: right? [00:49:33] Tony Arsenal: Right. Every single one of us. And even if we think of sleeping in this negative sense, which I think we probably need to move away from it, even if we do, I think the point that you're making is really good, for instance, between the foolish and the wises is not their ability to stay awake. So I do think that, I do think there's a slightly negative connotation to drowsy and slept here. Like I think that, I think it's intended to show some level of fatigue. Fatigue, maybe not like a moral right, maybe not a moral, uh, negativity, but there's a fatigue. There's something that overcomes both wise and foolish virgins in this parable. Fatigue and drowsiness overcomes them and they sleep. And it's because the bridegroom was delayed, right? We wanna talk about eschatology, right? This is probably also more a commentary on the church as a whole. The church becomes drowsy and sleeps right, and then there's the foolish and the wise. The foolish are the ones who are not prepared even though they are drowsy and sleep. And then there's the wise who are foolish, or the wises who are prepared and are drowsy and sleep. But E, either way, if we think of drowsy and sleep, even in moral negative terms, right? All of us will succumb to temptation. All of us will succumb to sin in this life. I would even go so far as to say all of us sin in every moment of our life in that we never love God. Truly. Yes. With our full hearts and souls. You got that right soul the way that we're, we're commanded to. Right. Right. So all of us become drowsy and sleep. The difference is not in those who pull themselves up by their bootstraps and tape their eyelids open so that they don't fall asleep. Right. I don't, I don't know if you ever like had trouble staying awake in school, but I used to, like I used to sit at my desk with my pencil under my chin. Oh my Lord. So if I started to fall asleep, it would like jab me and I would wake up so I could stay awake in school. Oh. It's not about like gimmicks to stay awake.  [00:51:20] Jesse Schwamb: Right, right.  [00:51:21] Tony Arsenal: It's about the fact that those of us who have trusted Christ. Have received the oil. Yes. So even when we sleep, yes. Even when we are drowsy, even when we are overcome by the fatigue that prevents us from, uh, from resisting sin. Right. Even when that happens, we still have the oil. We still have the grace of the Holy Spirit. We still have the empowering presence and the, the, the justifying reality of Christ's death For us, in my mind as I read this parable, that really is what it is, right? Get the oil, go get the stinking oil now, because you never know when the day or hour is coming. Mm-hmm. Whether that's the day or the hour that you fall asleep and you're not prepared, or whether that's the day or the hour that the bridegroom was, even if you're awake. That's the other element of this. Even if the virgins had stayed awake, they didn't have the oil.  [00:52:11] Jesse Schwamb: Yes.  [00:52:12] Tony Arsenal: So it it's not as though, it's not as though had they stayed awake, they would've had time to go get the oil and come back. They, they wake up right away. Like there's nothing in the parable that's like, oh, it took 'em a little while to get up. So that's why they didn't have time to get the oil. They, they didn't have time to get the oil. 'cause there wasn't time to get the oil  [00:52:31] Jesse Schwamb: right.  [00:52:32] Tony Arsenal: So the only way you're going to be properly prepared when the bridegroom comes is if you already have the oil and you're already ready to go. Regardless of whether you fall asleep or not.  [00:52:42] Gospel Call Get Oil [00:52:42] Tony Arsenal: So I, I think, I think we have to kind of close this with like a gospel, a gospel call here. Like we don't do this very often on the show, and I think the vast majority of our show are professed, regenerate Christians. I don't, I don't know anyone who listens to the show that is outwardly not a Christian, but I think this is a time for us to say, listen, if you are hearing the sound of my voice, be diligent to make your calling an election. Sure. And that both takes the form of what Peter talks about, where he talks about growing in graces and walking in, walking in the qualities of holine

What if the thing holding you back from posting isn't laziness or a lack of ideas, it's that nobody ever told you the cringe feeling goes away, and what it actually looks like to build trust with an audience without burning it?In this special episode of Supra Insider, Ben Erez sits down with Hilary Gridley, creator of the Maven course “How to Become a Supermanager with AI,” and Mallory Contois, former VP of Growth at Maven and founder of The Old Girls Club, for a candid conversation about self-promotion, audience building, and the surprisingly practical mechanics of showing up consistently online without losing yourself in the process. Hilary published a guest post on Lenny's Newsletter the same morning this was recorded, and that pipeline, from writing to course to full-time career, is exactly what the conversation unpacks.They cover why trust is the most durable professional asset you can build, how to think about the value exchange between creator and audience, why the psychology of “doing work in private and handing in the final product” makes content creation feel so unnatural, and what both of them actually do to stay consistent without spiraling into algorithm-chasing. Mallory drops a deceptively simple Apple Notes system for never running out of ideas. Hilary makes a sharp case for starting with a talk instead of a newsletter. And both of them are refreshingly honest about the fact that posting still feels mortifying sometimes, and why you should do it anyway.If you're a PM, operator, or founder who has been sitting on the sidelines of content creation because it feels cringe, trying to figure out which platform to start with, or building an audience and wondering how to grow it without compromising the thing that makes your voice worth following- this episode is for you.All episodes of the podcast are also available on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.New to the pod? Subscribe below to get the next episode in your inbox

Is it possible to remain calm and focused when everything around us is getting faster, noisier and seemingly more demanding?  I think it is, and in this week's episode, I'll share some of my insights so you, too, can remain productive in a quiet, focused way.  Links: Email Me | Twitter | Facebook | Website | Linkedin   Learn more about the Quiet Productivity Method here Get Your Copy Of Your Time, Your Way: Time Well Managed, Life Well Lived   The Working With… Weekly Newsletter Carl Pullein Learning Centre Carl's YouTube Channel Carl Pullein Coaching Programmes Subscribe to my Substack  The Working With… Podcast Previous episodes page   Script | 418 Hello, and welcome to episode 418 of the Your Time, Your Way Podcast. A podcast to answer all your questions about productivity, time management, self-development, and goal planning. My name is Carl Pullein, and I am your host of this show.  Recently, I had a call with one of my coaching clients who is completely on board with AI. He's gone down the usual rabbit hole of ChatGPT, then Claude, then back to ChatGPT, then to Google's Gemini and now he's obsessed with Claude again.  It reminded me of the late twenty-teens when everyone was switching between Evernote, Notion, Apple Notes, and then Roam Research. It was an amusing merry-go-round.  One of the ironic things about my client is that he'd had to wake up at 5:00 am to review the materials for a workshop he was delivering that day because he suddenly thought Claude might not have given the correct information, and he needed to check everything before 9:00 am.  I asked him how long he usually took to prepare for a workshop like this, and he replied that it normally took three or four hours. However, he said emphatically, with Claude's help, it's taking him around six to eight hours. I did point out the obvious. With AI's help, it's taking twice as long, but he dismissed that, saying AI was the future and that by doing it this way, he was learning and would eventually be faster.  Fair point.  But he did have to wake up two hours earlier than normal. Not something I would enjoy doing.  This reminded me that life, whether it's our personal or our professional lives, shouldn't be lived at speed. Life should be lived at our own pace.  Two YouTube videos I recently watched emphasised this. One was by Matt D' Avella, and the other was from Samurai Matcha.  In Matt's video, entitled I Tried to Optimise my Life. It made it Worse, Matt pointed out that trying to live a productive life left him feeling frustrated. All the curated lists and time blocks on his calendar just set him up for failure.  If he didn't clear his to-do list or he was unable to follow his time blocks, he'd end the day feeling that he'd failed. This left him feeling miserable all evening and wondering what was wrong with him. Then I watched Samurai Matcha's video entitled “10 Real Japanese Organisation Tricks”, in which he explained why his girlfriend's organisation philosophy was brilliant.  Her philosophy was that the goal of organising is to always know where everything is. This meant that things were stacked so you could see what was in a cupboard or refrigerator as soon as you opened the door. That clothes were arranged so that, just by looking in a wardrobe, you could instantly see what was in there.  It isn't about having everything look pretty and tidy, only to be unable to find what you are looking for. It's about knowing instantly where everything is.  So there you have one person trying to optimise everything and setting himself up for failure every day. And another who is essentially working by her own logic, making her life as simple and easy as possible.  You can guess who was the more relaxed, settled and happy with life.  And this is the point. Life's not about optimising everything. We're human beings, but we're trying to turn ourselves into machines that can be programmed to wake up at a particular time, jump into a bath of freezing water, do a two-hour morning exercise routine, spend an hour writing morning pages and then finish it all off with twenty minutes of meditation.  That's not what life is about at all.  One way to get started in creating a calmer, quieter way of living is to begin with your non-negotiables. What are the things you must do each day? There are the obvious ones, such as sleeping, brushing your teeth, washing and eating. Most of those our bodies have ways of ensuring we do them. We get sleepy, and we get hungry.  But what other things would be non-negotiable for you?  For me, taking Louis out for his walk, doing a little exercise and enjoying a cup of tea with my wife when she gets home from university are non-negotiable at a personal level.  At a professional level, my non-negotiable is spending 2 hours a day creating. That could be writing, recording or planning. It doesn't matter what I create; all that matters is that I create something.  And that's it. Together, that's around four to five hours a day.  Once you have established what your non-negotiables are, it becomes easy to say no to things that could interfere with them.  Another way to bring some calm and quiet back into your life is to focus on time not what you have to do.  Let me explain.  Most of what comes at us each day is not within our control. You do not know how many Slack or Teams messages you will get today. Neither do you know how many emails you will get nor what you will be asked to do.  What you do know is how much time you can dedicate to these inputs.  Over the years, I've learnt that if I allow 40 minutes or so each day to respond to my actionable messages and emails, I'll mostly stay on top of my communications. Sure, occasionally I am behind, but as I can see I am getting behind, I can allow a little extra time to catch up if necessary.  I also know that if I have two hours a day to create, I'll always hit my publication schedule.  If you work on projects, what would happen if you dedicated 2 hours a day to quiet, focused work on them? No distractions, no interruptions, just quiet, focused work. From the people I've worked with who have done this, they're amazed at just how much work they get done each week. And how deadlines no longer become stressful or missed.  Two hours may not seem much, but over a working week, that's ten uninterrupted hours. Ten hours you know you will not be interrupted by anyone.  The great thing about this approach is that you gain control over your time. And with a little consistency, you soon find yourself on top of your work.  You also learn where your limits are.  I know my brain gets tired around the 90-minute to 2-hour mark of focused work.  Sure, there are days I would love to spend three hours in focused work, but experience has taught me that the extra hour is a wasted hour. I make more mistakes; I start snatching a quick look at my messages and emails, looking for anything to distract me. That pile of washing suddenly needs to be put away, or those cups and dishes need washing and putting away.  Once you know your limits, you can work within them.  This approach is a more human way to go about your day. It's not optimised to create impossible days, leaving you feeling exhausted, unfulfilled and disappointed with yourself.  It's set up to work with your strengths and, more importantly, with your biorhythms. Your body's natural rhythms.  The advantage of this kinder, calmer way of going about your day is that you naturally slow down. You have the space to deal with the urgencies and the demands of your bosses, clients and colleagues. And that results in fewer mistakes, leaving you with less corrective work to do.  The problem with being human is that we are really quite fragile. My client, who woke up at 5:00 am to fix Claude's mistakes, will find the afternoon a dead zone. He'll be exhausted and trying to operate at 100% with less than five hours of sleep.  That lack of sleep will likely affect his food choices at lunchtime. He'll probably grab a quick sandwich or something else high in carbohydrates, which will spike his insulin levels, leaving him feeling drowsy afterwards.  And then we're also susceptible to all sorts of bugs and illnesses, which can have a debilitating effect on our energy levels.  Again, not within our control unless we seal ourselves off from the outside world. Not a great idea.  I can assure you that the best approach to managing time and improving your productivity is to be human about it. Work with you and your natural state, rather than trying to be like a machine.  Take care of your three foundations: get enough sleep, eat healthy and move frequently.  Then, have a plan for the day. Not a minute-by-minute plan, but one that takes care of your non-negotiables, allows for some focused work time and has enough flexibility to take care of unknowns that will inevitably pop up throughout the day.  Since the 1980s, technological advances have consistently promised us less work and more leisure time. And yet that's never materialised. Instead, the opposite happens.  Smartphones took business communications out of the office and made them omnipresent, leaving us with no place to hide. The desktop computer eliminated the typing pool and left managers and executives responsible for crafting their own letters and emails.  Cloud computing eliminated the filing cabinet and placed company documents within our reach 24/7, even when we were supposed to be on vacation.  What's more, all this technological advancement has sped everything up. And it's this speeding up that has left us with so much more to do. What used to take us three or four days to do is now expected to be done in an hour.  That's where the problem is.  Fortunately, there are ways to mitigate this: be human. Make your own decisions about what you work on and when. Wrestle back control of your calendar and protect time to do the things that matter.  These are simple steps, not easy to implement initially, but worth putting the effort into implementing them.  As Matt D'Avella has discovered, and Samurai Matcha's girlfriend already knew, keeping things human, simple and logical to yourself is the best way to live in a calm, quiet, focused way. Now, before I go, if what you've heard today in this podcast resonated with you and you want to learn more, my Quiet Productivity Method programme will do just that.  Recently updated to cover your non-negotiables, the superb daybook system and how to plan your days and weeks so you are living within your time means, this programme will teach you, step by step, how to create a system that works for you. How to find time for what you want, and much more. In addition, you will also become a part of the Quiet Productivity Method community, where you can share ideas, ask questions and join the monthly live sessions that will answer your questions and hold you accountable as you move away from the unsustainable task-based systems of old and towards a sustainable, humane, time-based system.  I do hope you can join me.  Thank you for listening, and it just remains for me now to wish you all a very, very productive week.   

There's a lot happening in Apple land right now. Mac mini prices just went up, a Siri class action settlement might land in your inbox soon, and a fresh iOS 27 rumor has some good news for anyone who'd rather talk to Claude than ChatGPT. Tom and Jeff break it all down.In this episode:Apple Notes tips: how search really works, Smart Folders, and ProNotes — a free plugin that brings markdown and slash commands to the Notes appMac mini's base model is gone — the entry price jumps to $799, and Tim Cook says supply constraints won't recover for several monthsApple Education Store now requires UNiDAYS verification, and Apple Watch just joined the discount programiOS 27 rumor: you may soon choose Claude or Gemini as your Apple Intelligence AI instead of ChatGPTApple's $250M Siri lawsuit settlement — if you own an iPhone 15 Pro or 16 series, you might be owed $25–$95M5 MacBook Air first impressions: Jeff's testing one alongside his MacBook Pro — and Tom's university just ordered 100 of themLinks from the show:Apple Notes: Four Tips That Make Finding Things EffortlessFour Fast Ways to Capture to Apple Notes ProNotes (free Apple Notes plugin) Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor Playworld by Adam Ross We'd be honored if you'd drop a 5-star rating for us on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify!Question or Comment? Send us a Text Message!Contact UsDrop us a line at feedback@basicafshow.comYou'll find Jeff at @reyespoint on Threads and reyespoint.bsky.social on BlueskyFind Tom at @tomanderson on ThreadsJoin Tom's newsletter, Apple Talk, for more Apple coverage and tips & tricks.Tom has a new YouTube channelShow artwork by the great Randall Martin DesignEnjoy Basic AF? Leave a review or rating!Review on Apple PodcastsRate on SpotifyRecommend in OvercastIntro Music: Psychokinetics - The ChosenApple MusicSpotifyTranscripts and some images are AI generated and may contain errors and general silliness.

Pilot Pete and Dave open Episode 1140 with a rapid-fire round of quick tips you’ll wish you’d known sooner: long-press the App Store icon to jump straight to Updates, long-press a folder to break down its notifications, push iOS updates to your iPhone through your Mac, and delete apps before they auto-update. You’ll also discover that iPad status bar elements respond to mouse clicks, that not every airline demands a passport scan for TSA Touchless, and where to grab a free customizable QR code generator. Then Javier drops by the Don’t Get Caught segment with a warning: run a beta macOS on your daily driver only with your eyes wide open to what could break. In the mailbag, you’ll troubleshoot a Notes folder that keeps un-deleting itself, get walked through iCloud Data Recovery, plan a Fastmail migration and a clean EarthLink exit, weigh OneNote and Apple Notes as Evernote alternatives, decode why your copyright date is stuck in the past, and figure out how much life remains in a 2019 MacBook Pro. Angel cues up the question everyone’s asking: what is an MCP server? And Cool Stuff Found delivers right on cue with the new Fastmail MCP Connector, a Keyword Navigation extension for Chromium browsers, and the I Love a Piano app that turns your iPhone into a pocket keyboard. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1140 for Monday, May 4th, 2026 May 4th: Star Wars Day (and Dave Brubeck Day) MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a Function101 Apple TV Button Remote Congrats to March's SoundSource winners: Ian, Robert, and Jeff The MGG Merch Store is Live! Quick Tips 00:00:01 WillRun4Fun-QT-Long press on the App Store for Updates 00:03:27 Ventmore-Long press on a folder with multiple notifications to see a breakdown 00:07:33 Dan DCZDB-QT-Update your iPhone's iOS via your Mac iOS Version History iMazing 00:09:57 JanLandy-QT-Delete apps from your iPhone before they update 00:10:58 Ben-QT-You can mouse-click iPad status bar elements 00:11:59 Terry-1138-Not every airline requires your passport to be scanned for TSA Touchless 00:15:37 Nora-QT-Free Customizable QRCode Generator Don't Get Caught 00:18:04 Javier-DGC-Run a beta OS on your daily driver with your eyes open to the possibilities of problems Sponsors 00:26:36 SPONSOR: OneSkin. Born from over a decade of longevity research, OneSkin's OS-01 Peptide is proven to target the visible signs of aging, helping you unlock your healthiest skin now and as you age. Get 15% off OneSkin with the code MGG at https://www.oneskin.co/MGG  #oneskinpod #ad Reviews 00:29:24 SleepyCBR-MGG Review-Best podcast Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 00:30:00 Wallace-Notes keeps un-deleting my folder! 00:35:45 iCloud Data Recovery 00:38:09 Steve-Fastmail Migration and EarthLink Exit Strategy 00:51:09 Judy-What non-Evernote options do I have? Microsoft OneNote Apple Notes 00:53:57 Todd-Why the Out of Date Copyright Date? 00:59:06 Marty-How much life does my 2019 MacBook Pro have left in it? 01:08:32 Angel-What is an MCP server/interface? Cool Stuff Found…and Made! 01:11:27 Stephen-CSF-Fastmail MCP Connector 01:14:53 Bram-CSM-Keyword Navigation for Chromium Browsers 01:18:32 Max-CSM-I Love a Piano iPhone piano 01:22:23 MGG 1140 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab iOS app Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

I sit down with Imran Muthuvappa to get a hands-on walkthrough of Hermes Agent, a personal AI agent that ships with built-in memory, 40+ tools, and pre-installed skills out of the box. Imran walks me through why he migrated from OpenClaw, how to install Hermes on a Mac or even an Android phone via Termux, and how he cut his token spend by roughly 90% using OpenRouter. We get into agent design (one agent vs. multiple), connecting Hermes to Telegram and Obsidian, and the kinds of prompts that turn a personal agent into a daily operating system. By the end, I have a practical roadmap to install Hermes, pick a model, and start automating real parts of my life and business Timestamps 00:00 – Intro 01:38 – Why Imran Left OpenClaw (Memory, Gateway, Tokens) 04:26 – Hermes Setup Tour and 40+ Built-In Tools 07:06 – Installing Hermes on Mac, Linux, and WSL 12:21 – Telegram and Android Agents 17:09 – Auditing Your Life With Your Agent 20:04 – Must-Know Hermes Tips: Updates, Tailscale, Telegram 21:07 – Should You Migrate From OpenClaw? 25:58 – Hermes + Obsidian as a Daily Dashboard 27:16 – Must-Use Prompts for a Personal Agent 31:29 – Must-Install Skills: Obsidian, Honcho Memory, G-Stack 33:04 – What G-Stack Is and Why It Matters 34:18 – Customization Is a Trap; Output Is the Skill 35:19 – Closing Thoughts Key Points Hermes Agent solves OpenClaw's three biggest pain points: built-in memory (writes to SQLite on successful tasks), gateway stability, and token visibility. Installation is a single command on Mac, Linux, or WSL, and Hermes ships with 40+ tools and popular skills (Apple Notes, Reminders, iMessage, Find My) pre-installed. Switching to Hermes with OpenRouter can cut token spend by roughly 90%, from about $130 per five days to around $10 per five days in Imran's case. You can run Hermes on a cheap Android phone via Termux + Termux API, unlocking SMS, sensors, and on-device social posting as a cheap alternative to a Mac Mini. The real skill is defaulting to your agent for work, then meta-prompting it nightly: "What am I procrastinating? What should I automate? What tool can you build me tonight?" Imran recommends pairing Hermes with Obsidian for a clean daily dashboard and installing G-Stack (a Y Combinator-style startup skill from Gary Tan) if you are building a product. The #1 tool to find startup ideas/trends - https://www.ideabrowser.com LCA helps Fortune 500s and fast-growing startups build their future - from Warner Music to Fortnite to Dropbox. We turn 'what if' into reality with AI, apps, and next-gen products https://latecheckout.agency/ The Vibe Marketer - Resources for people into vibe marketing/marketing with AI: https://www.thevibemarketer.com/ FIND ME ON SOCIAL X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/gregisenberg Instagram: https://instagram.com/gregisenberg/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gisenberg/ FIND IMRAN ON SOCIAL X/Twitter: https://x.com/imranye Alif: https://alif.build

You get a rapid-fire run of Mac tips that actually make your daily workflow smoother instead of noisier. From finally being able to change your Gmail address and using Markdown to escape Apple Notes, to smarter ways to attach glass screen protectors, auto-mount network shares, prune that graveyard of old Bluetooth devices, and squeeze better battery life from your iPad Pro, this episode keeps you moving instead of doomscrolling. If you're shopping monitors for a Mac mini, curious why Find My wants light, or looking to travel with the right iPhone car mount, you'll walk away with practical, field-tested ideas you can apply immediately. Then you dive into a real-world warning shot: Adobe quietly touching your /etc/hosts file and what that means for taking control back on your own Mac so you Don't Get Caught. You'll also hear listener-vetted iPhone cases—from rugged bumpers and leather shells to newer clear cases that don't yellow—so you can carry your iPhone with confidence and a bit more style. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1136 for Monday, April 6th, 2026 April 6th: New Beer's Eve MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a Plex Pass for a Year Congrats to March's SoundSource winners: Ian, Robert, and Jeff The MGG Merch Store is Live! 00:03:01 Grappling With The Weather Quick Tips 00:00:01 QT-You can now change your Google/Gmail username 00:04:47 Todd-QT-Use Markdown to migrate from Apple Notes Bear app's instructions for migrating from Apple Notes 00:06:46 Clif-QT-Install Glass screen protectors in a steamy bathroom 00:09:33 Chris Powers-QT-Connect (more) Reliably to Network Shares on Startup Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 00:13:38 Greg in NC-How do I bulk-clean-up my Bluetooth devices? ToothFairy for macOS 00:20:17 QT-Bluetooth name changes are saved on the Bluetooth device, not on your iPhone 00:23:57 Randy Walker-How long should my iPad Pro 11″ M2 be able to hold a charge? CoconutBattery Low Power Mode Is it iCloud Syncing? 00:30:02 Larry-Which 5K monitor for my new Mac mini? Refurb LG UltraFine 5K – $799 ViewSonic VP2768-4k – $549 ViewSonic VP2788-5K – $929 Philips 4K UHD 27” – $499 (unavailable) BenQ PD2730S – $1,099 KTC 5K 27” – $549 LG 27UP850K-W 4K – $334 00:46:25 Joe-Why does Find My need light? 00:48:09 Leveraging Claude Code 00:50:08 Uncle Jamie-What iPhone car mount do you travel with? USB A to USB C Adapters iPhone Dash-mount Cradle Sponsors 00:56:39 SPONSOR: Gusto. Get three months free when you run your first payroll when you start at gusto.com/MGG Don't Get Caught 00:57:59 Adam-DGC-Adobe Messed with My /etc/hosts file…and yours, too! Your Favorite iPhone Cases 01:06:09 Chris-CSF-Incipio Duo iPhone Case 01:07:17 NASANut-CSF-Spigen iPhone cases and screen protectors 01:09:20 Clif-The new, cheap clear cases don’t yellow like they used to 01:10:35 Dan-Wuwedo is a bumper/open case for $13 01:12:40 Thad-CSF-Check out Bullstrap Leather Cases 01:13:43 Todd-CSF-Nomad Leather Case and the case for screen protectors 01:15:26 Tony-CSF-Fierre Shann Leather iPhone Cases 01:17:18 CSF-Mujjo Leather iPhone Case 01:18:36 MGG 1136 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab iOS app Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

In this episode of Stationery Freaks, Rob and Helen dig into the messy, essential world of scrap notes: desk pads, Post-its, legal pads, envelopes, voice memos, and the “grab whatever's nearby” capture habit.They explore the real question beneath the stationery: what's the process for turning a quick note into something useful — and what happens when your capture system becomes a pile of open loops.We cover:Why scrap notes exist: capturing ideas without breaking the momentDesk pads as “work in progress” surfaces (and why that's a feature, not a bug)The threshold problem: forgetting what you went to write down the moment you change roomsAnalog vs digital: how Rob and Helen bounce between bothThe discipline of finishing: why ideas aren't valuable until they become somethingA practical “funnel” approach: backlog → sprouts → now (commitment increases as you narrow)The emotional side: cluttered desks = cluttered minds, and why clearing down helps you thinkListener shout-outs and the surprisingly global reach of Stationery FreaksListener request: Share your stationery “in the wild” or your desk setup on Instagram (doesn't have to be pretty!) and tag @stationeryfreaksuk.We mention:Mark+Fold “Glow” notebookNoted (Substack) by Jillian Hess“Analog Attorney” series (Attorney at Work) by Bull Garlington

Podcast 405 "Pen and paper will solve almost anything. Or at least start the process." - Nicholas Bate This week, I have a special episode for you about what I have discovered over the last two years from bringing pens and paper back into my productivity system. It's certainly been an eye-opener for me.    Links: Email Me | Twitter | Fac ebook | Website | Linkedin   The Hybrid Productivity Course    Get Your Copy Of Your Time, Your Way: Time Well Managed, Life Well Lived The Working With… Weekly Newsletter Carl Pullein Learning Centre Carl's YouTube Channel Carl Pullein Coaching Programmes Subscribe to my Substack  The Working With… Podcast Previous episodes page   Script | 405 Hello, and welcome to episode 405 of the Your Time, Your Way Podcast. A podcast to answer all your questions about productivity, time management, self-development, and goal planning. My name is Carl Pullein, and I am your host of this show.  A week ago, I launched a brand new course called the Hybrid Productivity Course. The purpose of this course was to help those who have found that a digital-only approach has led to a loss of focus on what's important and a sense of extreme overwhelm and distraction.  As in most areas of life, a one-size-fits-all methodology rarely works. All humans are unique. We think differently, have different life experiences, grow up differently and experience life through many different cultures.  It stands to reason that none of us will have exactly the same needs as everyone else.  We saw this during the pandemic. Around 50% of people loved working from home. They thrived and became much more productive. The other 50% struggled, found it hard to do their work, and lost their enthusiasm and energy for it.  This highlighted the difference between extroverts and introverts. Extroverts bounce off the energy of other people. They need the bustling office environment to operate. Take that away, and they slump.  Introverts, on the other hand, thrive in the opposite conditions. Quiet spaces and solo environments are where they thrive.  I always struggled in an office environment. I found it difficult to concentrate and focus. When I began working from home in 2015, my productivity went through the roof. I suddenly had the freedom to work when I liked, where I liked and in the quiet solitude of my front living room.  One advantage of an all-digital system is that you can easily add many features to your digital tools without much thought.  I noticed this while testing Todoist's new feature, Ramble. Ramble lets you have a conversation with Todoist, and it pulls out all the things you indicate need to be done. Sounds great in theory, until you test it out.  Just a two-minute “conversation” with Ramble led to 15 tasks!  When I went back into my inbox to sort them out, I realised that the majority of those tasks were low-value, would-be-nice-to-do tasks, but realistically, there was no way I would have the time to do them.  I edited down that list of 15 to 6 tasks.  The problem is that most people will not edit these lists. It's time-consuming, and you have to think it through. Two things that are out of fashion these days, it seems. This is where I found bringing a pen and notebook back into my system really helped. It forced me to edit down my list of tasks for the day. It also made me smarter when writing my lists.  If I had five people to call today, in the digital system, I would write out all five calls independently. It didn't take long, and most of those would already be in the digital system. All I had to do was add a date.  In a paper system, it would mean writing out all those calls individually. You soon find that rather than doing that, you would write “do my calls”. Writing those three words strangely reinforced the action. All you then needed to do was to ensure that any communication tasks were correctly labelled in your digital system.  This is where the seeds of a hybrid system began to take shape.  If it were easier to collect using digital tools, then why stop doing it that way? If you were more focused when writing out a daily to-do list than using a digital to-do list, why stop doing that?  My idea was to marry the two.  This led to the development of what I call my Day Book. However, before I got there, I went back to my roots and used the Franklin Planner for eighteen months.  The strength of the Franklin Planner is in the way the daily pages are laid out. You have your daily prioritised task list on the left, your calendar for the day next to it, and, on the right page, a place to keep notes and ideas.  This means that once you have written your appointments, you can see how much time you have available to do tasks. It forces you to be realistic.  If you had seven hours of meetings and began writing out a long list of tasks, you would instantly see that you were creating an impossible day.  If you were to consider meeting overruns, the “urgent” messages and “quick questions” that will inevitably come your way that day, it's likely you won't be doing any tasks.  Yet the digital system won't show you that. All it shows you are the tasks you have dated for today.  And let's be honest, most people are adding dates to tasks, not because they need to be done that day, but because they are afraid they will forget about them or they will get lost in the system.  That's not how a to-do list is meant to work. It's meant to give you a clear indication of what needs to be done. On a day-to-day basis, that means what needs to be done today.  The act of writing down on a piece of paper the tasks that need to be done today forces you to be realistic.  When it comes to storage, though, paper is not so great. It's here where digital tools shine. You can easily store files and documents. You can keep meeting notes together in one place and create a master project note for all your projects, so everything is kept together in one convenient place.  And of course, digital's piece de resistance, search.  If you were to keep all your notes in notebooks, you would soon have notebooks all over the place, and notes would be difficult to find unless you carefully indexed every notebook you used. Perhaps not the best use of your time.  Instead, you can keep all your notes in a notes app, and allow it to use keywords, date ranges or titles to find what you need when you need it.  However, I have discovered that paper is a great planning medium. This is where I always used to struggle.  When I first began teaching, there were no such things as Evernote or Apple Notes. They didn't come along until five years after I began teaching. I therefore used my old counsel notebooks. These were what would be described as foolscap in size, slightly taller than A4, and had a royal blue cover.  Given that throughout my school and university days, I would always plan out my essays on paper, it was perfectly natural for me to make notes on paper when planning my lessons. Then we had the digital explosion. Smartphones became a thing, followed shortly afterwards by apps. I began using Evernote in 2009, and I started planning digitally.  It was certainly convenient, but I did notice I rarely went into any depth. I tried using mind-mapping software, but it didn't help.  I thought there must be something wrong with me.  Then, a couple of years ago, I began seeing studies about how our brains work differently between digital and physical tools.  The most striking studies found that when you write on paper (or a whiteboard), you activate the same areas that artists activate when creating art. This is the creative centre of your brain.  When you tap on a keyboard, you don't. Tapping is formulaic and monotonous. If you think about this, it makes perfect sense. When you handwrite, you are forming shapes. Letters are shapes. When you write via keyboard, all you are doing is tapping. There's nothing artistic about that.  This was when the penny finally dropped for me. There was nothing wrong with me! It was science.  Now, I would never consider opening up my phone or laptop to sketch out an idea. I would open a notebook.  One of my favourite ways of doing this is to grab a notebook, a few pens and a pencil and head off to a local cafe for an hour or two. I can sit in a corner and brainstorm ideas for new courses, YouTube videos and blog posts.  Since I began doing this, my productivity has improved significantly. It helped because I have fewer re-edits to do. When I sit down at the computer to write, I now have a fully planned-out structure and well-thought-through points, and I am writing the first draft much faster. It seems that planning works best on paper, yet storage and output are best digital. Again, leading to the conclusion that there is a place for both digital and analogue tools in a solid productivity system.  I saw this all in action recently. I was watching a UK Supreme Court session, where a barrister (a lawyer who speaks before a judge, not someone who makes coffee) had an iPad in front of him containing all the case files and documents. Yet his speaking notes were on paper. As he made his arguments before the judge, he marked off the points with a pencil and added notes.  The opposing barrister was also using the same tools. Her case files were on an iPad, yet as she listened to her opposite number, she was taking notes in a notebook and appeared to be adding revisions to her own speaking notes.  What's more, if we're being honest, stationery is much more fun than digital tools. Digital fonts, screens and keyboards are not really all that exciting.  But the many different types of pens, pencils, notebooks, and pencil cases at all different price ranges give you the ultimate way to make your tools truly personal.  I'm sure you already know I love fountain pens. I've been writing with them since middle school and just love the way the nib feels on a quality sheet of paper.  I remember being excited when Apple brought out the Apple Pencil. When I got one, and tried it out I was horrified. It was the worst writing experience I'd ever had. I've tried Paperlike and tested a Remarkable. Yuk! None of them comes close to the experience you get from a real pen and paper.  And so, after two years of testing, playing and refining, I came up with what I would describe as the “perfect” system. A method that marries the power of digital with analogue tools.  Digital for storage and output, paper for planning and thinking.  It works. I tested it with some of my coaching clients, and even my wife has started using it for her university studies.  What's more, it works superbly with the Time Sector System. You keep all your tasks in your digital task manager, and only when you decide to do them, you put them on paper.  What you will discover immediately is that you are no longer staring at an almost infinite list of things you could do, and instead, you see a list of genuine tasks that need to be done today. No more overwhelm, just a focused list and a realistic day.  If you are interested in learning more about this course, I will put a link in the show notes. Currently, you can get the course with the early-bird discount for just $49.95.  But if you're not interested, try using a notebook for your planning and daily task list this week. Watch what happens to your productivity.  Thank you for listening, and it just remains for me to wish you all a very, very productive week.   

This week on Mac Geek Gab 1128, you dive into a treasure chest of Cool Stuff Found with Pilot Pete, Adam Christianson, and Dave Hamilton. From DockLock Lite keeping your Dock in check to Backdrop 2.0's animated lock screens and BookMacster's bookmark magic, you'll uncover smart Mac tricks you didn't know you needed. The geeks take a nostalgic tangent into podcasting history before jumping into the now: Agentic browsers like ChatGPT's Atlas and Perplexity's Comet that are reshaping how you browse today. Safari killing your Tahoe? Find out why Apple's AI choices might change how your Mac thinks. Then it's back to more gems: Bootable clones return with SuperDuper, World Clock Widget makes global time simple, and Fastmail's new desktop app joins BusyCal and Fantastical in taming your digital life. You'll also learn how not to get caught with Apple Notes overwriting your data (keep the app open until it syncs!). Wrapping up, apps like Pixeldrop, Shutter Declutter, and Brick help you tidy photos, redact safely, and silence distractions. Plus, creative NFC tag hacks that make your smart home even smarter. As always, the MGG crew makes sure you Don't Get Caught. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1128 for Monday, February 9th, 2026 February 9th: National Clean Out Your Computer Day MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a Copilot Money! Congrats to January's winner, Amanda Colyer! The MGG Merch Store is Live! Cool Stuff Found 00:00:01 Bruce-CSF-Neo Network Utility 00:03:30 Oskar-CSM-Backdrop 2.0 adds Custom Live Wallpapers to the macOS Lock Screen 00:04:53 Pensacola Craig-CSF-DockLock Lite to keep your Mac’s Dock from jumping 00:06:11 Jim-CSF-1118–BookMacster by Sheep Systems to edit, sort, and sync bookmarks across browsers 00:08:26 Tangent: A discussion about how podcasting (and Maccast and Mac Geek Gab) got started 00:13:35 PilotPete-CSF-ChatGPT Atlas Browser Comet from Perplexity 00:15:00 Using Agentic Browsers is not the future…it's the present! 00:26:04 And Safari might be killing your Tahoe 00:28:48 AI integrated into your operating system Apple needs to choose wisely 00:35:47 CSF-Eney Beta from MacPaw Sponsors 00:37:21 SPONSOR: Sundays for Dogs. Every bite of Sundays is clean and made from real meat, fruits, and veggies, with no kibble. Stanley loves it! Go right now to sundaysfordogs.com/MGG50 and get 50% off your first order. Or, you can use code MGG50 at checkout. 00:39:42 SPONSOR: Shopify. In 2026, stop waiting and start selling with Shopify. Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial and start selling today at Shopify.com/MGG MOAR Cool Stuff Found 00:41:32 Bruce-CSF-1127–ClipGrab to download YouTube videos (free download) 00:42:54 Kirschen-CSF-KeyClu replaces CheatSheet Use Brew! brew install –cask keyclu 00:45:25 Larry-CSF-SuperDuper WILL do bootable Clones on macOS 26 Using CCC Backup to create legacy bootable copies of macOS Idea: create a bootable external and stop once macOS is installed, leaving it ready for Migration Assistant (or anything else) 00:52:36 Andrew-CSF-World Clock Widget app UTC=Universal Time Coordinated Swatch Internet Time 00:56:33 David-CSF-Fastmail Desktop App for Mac BusyCal Fantastical Spark Mail Cardhop Don’t Get Caught with notes Syncing 01:01:42 DGC-Apple Notes only syncs when the app is open on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. This can lead to sync overwrites if one device makes a change without having the latest copy. Back to Cool Stuff Found 01:04:58 Bob-CSF-1107-Shutter Declutter helps process photos 01:11:00 rnDoug-Mole, a system maintenance tool 01:12:18 DanDXZDB-Pixeldrop for selectively redacting part of a photo Don’t Get Caught with your data buried in PDFs 01:14:20 DGC-Save redacted PDFs as a single layer so people can't see your layers Back on Track with CSF 01:14:50 CSF-Brick to block distracting apps and notifications on your iPhone 01:19:38 Creatively Using NFC Tags Use NFC Tags with the Home app 01:21:48 QT-Re-use NFC Tags that other people send you! 01:24:04 MGG 1128 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

It's our first Stationery Freaks episode of 2026, and we're going deep on goal setting, as we usually do for the first cast of the year. Rob and Helen compare two different approaches to planning the year: outcomes vs lifestyle, goals vs systems, and why the “right” method depends on what helps you keep going (not what looks good on paper). Helen shares her shift toward building routines that protect what matters - writing time, movement, mental bandwidth - plus a surprisingly brilliant charity-shop find: a Rocketbook reusable notebook for 50p. Rob reflects on his year using a Collins ledger, talks “painted picture” thinking, and explains why reducing friction is the only way his creative work (and business) stays sustainable - including a post-mortem on the infamous Wallpaper Method.Along the way we talk Obsidian vs Apple Notes, Todoist, habit tracking (and why it can backfire), buying stationery locally vs Amazon, and the uncomfortable truth: between us, we're entering 2026 with 172 unused notebooks (yes, really).And how this year we've set ourselves the target of ending the year with fewer notebooks.If you're planning your year - or rebuilding your systems after they collapsed in January - this one's for you. Find the newsletter (with Rocketbook photos) and past episodes at stationeryfreaks.com Instagram: @stationeryfreaksuk

Discover the essential apps and tools that truly boost productivity without adding digital clutter. In this episode, we share our must-have software and hardware, from text expanders and note-taking systems like Notion and Apple Notes, to the latest AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini, and even quality equipment. Learn how to choose wisely, integrate effectively, […]

Today, I'm pulling back the curtain and sharing every system and tool I use to stay organized, land brand deals, and keep my business running while I'm on the go. From pitching tools to project management to the #1 most underrated resource , you'll walk away with practical tools you can plug into your own workflow today. I break down the exact business systems and tools I use daily, weekly, and monthly to manage my travel creator business. If you're a travel influencer or content creator who's ready to turn your creativity into a streamlined business, this episode is packed with tips, tools, and insider tricks.What You'll Learn:

Jeff is taking a break from the show to recover from his recent stroke. He's recovering well and is working his butt off in rehab and hopes to return before long.His family has set up a GoFundMe to help out a bit while he's in rehab kicking ass. If you'd like to throw a few bucks his way, here's the link, and it's all appreciated.https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-jeff-battersbys-stroke-recovery--Bill McLean returns to the show to discuss the abundance of riches with modern note-taking apps. Plus, Tom has a new iPad Pro M5 and shares his first impressions of it and the Magic Keyboard.Be sure to follow Bill on YouTube, Threads, and Substack for more great Apple and tech-related content.https://www.youtube.com/@BillMcLeanhttps://www.threads.com/@williambmcleanThere's never been a worse time to pick a notes appQuestion or Comment? Send us a Text Message!Contact Us Drop us a line at feedback@basicafshow.com You'll find Jeff at @reyespoint on Threads and reyespoint.bsky.social on Bluesky Find Tom at @tomanderson on Threads Join Tom's newsletter, Apple Talk, for more Apple coverage and tips & tricks. Tom has a new YouTube channel Show artwork by the great Randall Martin Design Enjoy Basic AF? Leave a review or rating! Review on Apple Podcasts Rate on Spotify Recommend in Overcast Intro Music: Psychokinetics - The Chosen Apple Music Spotify Transcripts and some images are AI generated and may contain errors and general silliness....

Household stationery isn't “our precious pens and paper in our study” — it's the everyday tools that keep a home ticking. We talk freezer-proof labels, kitchen whiteboards, year-at-a-glance calendars we forget to update, junk-drawer essentials, elastic bands vs Velcro ties for cables, and even a full Kanban wall system that helps a building business run. Plus: Magic Click (a colour-pen system we need help decoding), why shrink-wrap on notebooks should be illegal, and the enduring magic of handwritten notes in old recipe books.What We CoverLabelling the real world: freezer labels that don't fall off, pens that actually write on them, and why chalk pens disappointed.Whiteboards at home: revision, “blurting” study technique, and why office whiteboards triple in size the moment they enter a house.Family calendars: wall planners vs Google Calendar; how to stop answering “What's for tea?” 47 times.The junk drawer: string, Sellotape ends, last 3 Post-its, elastic bands—and occasionally £40.Cable wrangling: elastic bands vs Velcro ties (and cats stealing the Velcro).Kitchen Kanban: a visual, Post-it based board for a builder's workload (columns from “mentioned” to “invoiced”).Notes on doors: Berlin-style paper rolls to leave messages (and why phones killed the habit).Measuring kids' growth: doorframe ticks vs logging in Apple Notes.Sticky label removal: we've tried dishwasher runs, washing-up liquid, alcohol… still tacky! (Your hacks welcome.)Brands behaving oddly: a Moleskine “travel case” too small for a Cahier; shrink-wrapped notebooks you can't test.Why we love marginalia: old cookbooks and Reader's Digest repair manuals with handwritten tweaks.Content recommendations: Andrew Huberman's interview with Steven Pressfield (resistance, turning pro, doing the work).Event tease: Rob & Helen at a November stationery event (with a shop… send help).Listener Shout-OutsLisa (In Berlin, in a kitchen): topic idea + brilliant list — thank you Lisa!Nat: for sending Magic Click (and introducing us to Barbara Thames' creativity/play angle).Anonymous newsletter supporter: your generosity genuinely helps keep this ad-free. Thank you!Resources & MentionsMagic Click colour-pen system — creator Barbara Tammes (if you've used it, tell us how!).Label makers: DYMO.Notebooks & shops: Moleskine, Waterstones, Dingbats (reporter), Tom's Studio (pens & inks).Other: Vinted (finds), Nokia notebooks at a conference, Reader's Digest Repair Manuals, The Newt (Somerset).Podcasts: Steven Pressfield — The War of Art, Turning Pro; Dr Andrew Huberman interview with Steven Pressfield.Where to Find UsNewsletter & archive: stationeryfreaks.com → SubstackInstagram: @stationeryfreaksukSay hello / ideas: via the website or Insta DMs

Get the Blueprint to create scroll-stopping videos impossibly fast and Roberto's Core Stack: https://startup-ideas-pod.link/video-protocol Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 03:21 - Roberto's Recording Setup 05:00 - Script Writing Process 09:55 - Live Recording Video 13:00 - File organization system 16:12 - Editing Workflow 20:37 - Optimizing 23:17 - Incorporating Visuals 30:11 - Creating AI-generated visuals 33:57 - Caption creation and typography techniques 37:32 - Adding SFX and Music 43:17 - The Final Video 46:03 - High-level Strategy Overview 49:11 - Roberto's Studio Setup Key Points: • Roberto demonstrates his complete workflow from scripting to editing for creating viral short-form videos • He shows his garage studio setup with detailed equipment walkthrough and recording process • The editing process includes audio treatment, visual effects, and strategic pattern interrupts to maintain viewer attention • Roberto explains his approach to AI-generated visuals using tools like Nano Banana and Kling for custom B-roll Roberto's Core Stack: Software/Apps: Promptor Pro (teleprompter app) OBS (recording software) Adobe Premiere (editing) Magic Bullet (color grading plugin) Downy (video downloader) Screen Studio (screen recording) Apple Notes (scripting) Epidemic Sound & Artlist (music/SFX) Hardware: Canon R5C camera: https://amzn.to/4hi4le4 Mac Studio: https://amzn.to/4ovCJ7O Apple Studio Displays (2): https://amzn.to/4nZeOh5 Apollo Solo (audio interface): https://amzn.to/4niL6Td Samsung T9 4TB SSD: https://amzn.to/47iloIx Amaran lights 150C: https://amzn.to/47yrINg Spotlight with optional gobo: https://amzn.to/4hsrOcS Softbox with honeycomb/grid: https://amzn.to/4qkDvWL Amaran lights F22C: https://amzn.to/4747kUe Teleprompter: https://amzn.to/472yJWx AirPods 3 (as mic option): https://amzn.to/4hk3klL Shure MV7: https://amzn.to/42Q5u6N The #1 tool to find startup ideas/trends - https://www.ideabrowser.com LCA helps Fortune 500s and fast-growing startups build their future - from Warner Music to Fortnite to Dropbox. We turn 'what if' into reality with AI, apps, and next-gen products https://latecheckout.agency/ Boringmarketing - Vibe Marketing for Companies: boringmarketing.com The Vibe Marketer - Join the Community and Learn: thevibemarketer.com Startup Empire - get your free builders toolkit to build cashflowing business - https://startup-ideas-pod.link/startup-empire-toolkit Become a member - https://startup-ideas-pod.link/startup-empire FIND ME ON SOCIAL X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/gregisenberg Instagram: https://instagram.com/gregisenberg/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gisenberg/ FIND ROBERTO ON SOCIAL X/Twitter: https://x.com/rpnickson Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rpn/ Newsletter: https://rpn.beehiiv.com

View this video at https://macmost.com/live-how-to-use-apple-notes-effectively.html. Learn some methods for how to use Notes and how to keep your notes organized.

Welcome solo and group practice owners! We are Liath Dalton and Evan Dumas, your co-hosts of Group Practice Tech. In our latest episode, we're sharing a PSA about how Apple Note sharing works, so therapy practices can avoid a breach. We discuss: The context that precipitated this episode What constitutes a breach How sharing works for Apple Notes and Google Keep Only using services you have a BAA with Compliance as a process, not a product Steps solo and group practitioners can take to address this Listen here: https://personcenteredtech.com/group/podcast/ For more, visit our website.

These ten tools are the things in my home that help me the most in staying clutter-free. Remember - you don't need to go to The Container Store to buy a bunch of bins! Resources Mentioned: 1 Inbox Tray (or vertical file storage) 2 ScanSnap scanner 3 Amazon Basics Shredder 4 Artwork purgatory 5 Label Maker 6 OXO Pop Top Containers 7 Caddy for daily toiletries 8 Amazon boxes for storage/drawer dividers 9 Trashie Take Back bags + Tech Bags 10 "Just for me" box/keepsake boxes for kids' memories Here's a video about how to use Apple Notes to scan and organize your documents if you're an Apple/iPhone user. BONUS: Research local resources for donating and recycling - Buy Nothing groups, library for book donations, Staples for e-recycling/school supplies, and more.   Related Episodes: Episode 28: Are You Constantly Shuffling Around Piles of Papers? Steal my No-Fail Paper Processing Routine Episode 115: 5 Must-Have Bins That Keep My Home Clutter-Free Episode 208: The 13 Apps that Keep Me Organized and Clutter-Free   *** I help moms declutter their homes, heads, and hearts. Contact - > info@simplebyemmy.com  Podcast -＞ https://www.simplebyemmy.com/podcast Learn -＞ https://www.simplebyemmy.com/resources Connect -＞ Join our free Facebook group Decluttering Tips and Support for Overwhelmed Moms Instagram -＞ @simplebyemmy and @momsovercomingoverwhelm   *** Don't Know Where to Start? *** 5 Steps to Overcome Overwhelm -＞ https://simplebyemmy.com/5steps/ 5 Mindset Shifts for Decluttering -＞ https://simplebyemmy.com/mindset/   Wanna work with me to kick overwhelm to the curb, mama? There are three options for you! Step 1: Join a supportive community of moms plus decluttering challenges to keep you on track at the free Facebook group Decluttering Tips and Support for Overwhelmed Moms Step 2: Sign up for the weekly Decluttering Tips and Resources for Overwhelmed Moms Newsletter and see samples here: https://pages.simplebyemmy.com/profile Step 3: Get more personalized support with in-person decluttering and organization coaching (Washington DC metro area)! https://www.simplebyemmy.com/workwithme

I've been pursuing minimalism and simplicity for over a decade, and today I'm sharing the 13 apps that have been the most important in keeping me organized and my home (and life!) clutter-free! Resources Mentioned: 1. Apple Notes - here's a video about how I use Apple Notes to scan and organize my kids' artwork 2. AnyList - in my weekly newsletter I share my favorite recipe of the week, all of which I keep in AnyList! 3. Google Calendar - I do a hybrid of paper planner and Google Calendar, as recommended by Chelsi Jo Moore from Systemize Your Life 4. ChatGPT 5. Opal 6. Apple Photos/Google Photos - I do the daily delete (recommended by Ms. Freddy) 7. Meistertask 8. Kindle/Libby 9. 1Password 10. Timer on the Clock app 11. Reminders 12. Apple Podcasts - some of my favorites podcasts include Systemize Your Life, It's About Time, and Wannabe Clutter Free, and my decluttering playlists 13. Spotify - here's my secular and Christian-based decluttering playlists! BONUS: News Feed Eradicator for Google Chrome   Related Episodes: Episode 28: Are You Constantly Shuffling Around Piles of Papers? Steal my No-Fail Paper Processing Routine Episode 186: Simple Steps to Get Your Digital Life Organized - with Shawn Lemon from The Digital Organizer Episode 94: 5 Productivity Hacks to Help You Stay on Top of Your Day with Michelle Byrd from The Busy Vibrant Mom   *** I help moms declutter their homes, heads, and hearts. Contact - > info@simplebyemmy.com  Podcast -＞ https://www.simplebyemmy.com/podcast Learn -＞ https://www.simplebyemmy.com/resources Connect -＞ Join our free Facebook group Decluttering Tips and Support for Overwhelmed Moms Instagram -＞ @simplebyemmy and @momsovercomingoverwhelm   *** Don't Know Where to Start? *** 5 Steps to Overcome Overwhelm -＞ https://simplebyemmy.com/5steps/ 5 Mindset Shifts for Decluttering -＞ https://simplebyemmy.com/mindset/   Wanna work with me to kick overwhelm to the curb, mama? There are three options for you! Step 1: Join a supportive community of moms plus decluttering challenges to keep you on track at the free Facebook group Decluttering Tips and Support for Overwhelmed Moms Step 2: Sign up for the weekly Decluttering Tips and Resources Newsletter and see samples here: https://pages.simplebyemmy.com/profile Step 3: Get more personalized support with in-person decluttering and organization coaching (metro DC area only): https://simplebyemmy.com/workwithme/

If you're an Apple Notes user who's feeling buried in folders, tags, or forgotten ideas — and you've struggled to bring order to your notes — this episode is for you.We dive deep into the Forever * Notes system with its creator, Matthias Hilse, and explore how it brings clarity, structure, and intentionality to even the messiest note collections.You'll hear:How to set up a central Home noteThe power of hubs, collections, and simplified taggingHow Forever * Notes scales beautifully — even with thousands of notesPlus:The features Matthias wishes Apple would addHow this system completely changed Jeff's Notes experienceAnd why weekly notes are surprisingly complicatedResources & LinksForever * Notes Official SiteForever * Notes YouTube ChannelForever * Notes WorkshopJoin the community: Forever * Notes ForumQuestion or Comment? Send us a Text Message!Contact Us Drop us a line at feedback@basicafshow.com You'll find Jeff at @reyespoint on Threads and reyespoint.bsky.social on Bluesky Find Tom at @tomanderson on Threads Join Tom's newsletter, Apple Talk, for more Apple coverage and tips & tricks. Tom has a new YouTube channel Show artwork by the great Randall Martin Design Enjoy Basic AF? Leave a review or rating! Review on Apple Podcasts Rate on Spotify Recommend in Overcast Intro Music: Psychokinetics - The Chosen Apple Music Spotify Transcripts and some images are AI generated and may contain errors and general silliness....

“I'm not gifted. I'm not smarter than everybody else. I'm not stronger. I just have the ability to stick to a plan and not quit.” That's a quote from Jonny Kim. A Navy SEAL, Harvard educated medical doctor and NASA Astronaut. All of which was achieved before he was thirty five.  Now the key part to that quote is “the ability to stick to a plan and not quit” And that's the topic of this week's podcast. You can subscribe to this podcast on:  Podbean | Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | TUNEIN Links: Email Me | Twitter | Facebook | Website | Linkedin The Time-Based Productivity Course Get Your Copy Of Your Time, Your Way: Time Well Managed, Life Well Lived The Time Sector System 5th Year Anniversary The Working With… Weekly Newsletter Carl Pullein Learning Centre Carl's YouTube Channel Carl Pullein Coaching Programmes Subscribe to my Substack  The Working With… Podcast Previous episodes page Script | 383 Hello, and welcome to episode 383 of the Your Time, Your Way Podcast. A podcast to answer all your questions about productivity, time management, self-development, and goal planning. My name is Carl Pullein, and I am your host of this show.  It took me many years to learn that the best things in life never happen by accident. They are the products of slow steady work. Becoming a lawyer or a doctor is not about making a decision in middle school and then miraculously ten years later you're performing in the Supreme Court or surgery in a top hospital.  It takes years of slow steady study, experiencing ups and downs and frequently wanting to quit because it's hard.  Yet that's the way it's supposed to be. It's hard because as human beings we thrive when we have a goal that requires us to work hard consistently.  Jonny Kim is remarkable because he did three incredibly hard things. Yet, to achieve all of them required him to follow a simple process of study and preparation. It wasn't impossible. All it took was a steely determination to achieve these things, being consistent and, to take control of his calendar.  And that's what this week' question is all about. How to do the the hard things consistently so you start to see progress.  So, let me now hand you over to the Mystery Podcast Voice for this week's question.  This week's question comes from Joe. Joe asks, hi Carl, the one thing I find incredibly hard to be is consistent. I'm great at setting up task managers and notes apps, but after a few days, I stop following the system. How do you stay consistent? Hi Joe, thank you for your question.  There could be two parts to this. The first is what I call the “Shiny Object Syndrome”. This is where you see every new tool on YouTube or in a newsletter as something that promises to solve all your productivity and time management problems.  We all go through this phase. In many ways, I think it's important to do so. This way you learn the limitations of tools and find out, the hard way, that no tool will ever do the work for you.  You also discover that the more addictive the tool (I believe they call it “sticky”), the less work you will do.  For me, Notion was a classic example of that. When Notion first came onto my radar around 2018, I was fascinated. I downloaded the app and began setting it up. It was exciting. Far more editable than Evernote or Apple Notes.  There were all these cool things you could do with it. Change the font, the colours, the background, create increasingly more complex dashboards and so on.  On that first day, I spent eight hours “setting it up”. It was later that evening I realised that if I were to use Notion I would never get any work done. I'd always want to play with it and try and get it to show me what I wanted to see, when I wanted to see it. A goal I was never likely to achieve.  So, I deleted the app.  It came down to one very simple thing. Do I want tools that will help me do my work or not?  Well, the answer was I wanted tools that got me to work fast. And that was not going to be Notion.  The tools that best promote solid work are boring. They have no flamboyant features. They just do what they are meant to do. In other words they are so featureless the only thing you can do is get on and do the work.  I rather envy those people who have the time to be constantly changing their apps. I know from experience that transferring everything to a new app takes time. And then there's the learning curve, although I suspect that's where the dopamine hits come from.  I certainly don't have the time to do that. I'd prefer to spend my free time with my family, walking or playing with Louis or reading books.  The other area where a lack of consistency comes in is when you have no processes for doing your regular work.  Humans work best when they follow a pattern.  If you've ever learned to ride a bicycle, you will remember it was difficult at first. You were wobbly, probably fell off. Yet, if you persisted, today riding a bicycle doesn't require a thought. You jump on and off you go.  There's an illustration that Tony Robbins talks about. When a child learns to walk it's a painfully slow experience. There's the crawling, the pulling itself up on a chair, the inevitable first step and the constant falling over.  Yet, no parent would ever say stop! Give up. You'll never be able to walk.  We persist and after a few days or weeks the child is walking everywhere.  If you want to be consistent with something, there will inevitably be a period of a few weeks or months where things don't go smoothly. Mistakes are made, plenty of falls and a lot of frustration.  That's the initial learning curve. We all have to go through it.  Recently, I updated my iPad to the new operating system. I do this annually to get to know what's new in preparation for updating my Apple Productivity Course.  This year, Apple has significantly changed the design of the operating system. It's slick, fast and very different to what I am used to. Now, each morning, I clear my email inbox on my iPad. I've done this for years and it's automatic. Write my journal, then grab my iPad and clear the inbox.  Over the last few days I've felt a little frustration. The layout of Apple Mail has changed and buttons have moved. For two days I was trying to get rid of the sidebar (a new feature). I done that now and after a week, I'm beginning to get used to the new layout.  The issue here is that those changes slowed down my processing speed. This in turn threw out my routine a little.  It reminded me why changing apps all the time destroys ones productivity. But more importantly it reminded me that consistently following processes ensures speed—which ultimately is what reduces the time required to do the work.  The problem with following routines and processes is that doing so can be boring. Yet, anything worthwhile is going to be boring at times.  But boring is good for your brain. It doesn't have to think too much and it gives it a chance to relax.  Constant stimulation, problem solving, learning to use new apps, messing around with routines and processes that work may be exciting (dopamine hits), but they don't get the work done.  This one of the reasons why having a regular morning routine is a great way to start the day. By following a set routine every morning from the moment you wake up, allows you to do healthy things that do not require a lot of thought.  A morning routine could be making yourself a cup of coffee, doing some stretches, brushing your teeth and taking a shower.  Or it could be a little more with meditation, journal writing or exercise. These are your morning routines, so you get to choose what you do. All that matters is that whatever you choose to be your morning routine, you consistently do it. Every morning (including weekends)  Another way to bring consistency into your life is to put some stakes in the ground. In other words, build some structure around your day based on meal times, for example.  I do the family's laundry when I go down to cook dinner. The washing machine is in the area of the kitchen, so it seems natural to take down the laundry and do the washing while I cook dinner. Once dinner is done, the washing is finished and ready to be hung up. (I refuse to use a dryer as it destroys clothes).  With work, I try to protect 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. each day for doing the most important work of the day. It's not always possible, sometimes I need to be in a meeting, but I will fight tooth and nail to protect that time where possible.  It took a year or so to consistently protect that time, but now, even my wife respects it. She knows not to disturb me when I am doing my focused work.  It's just two hours a day. That still leaves me with six hours for emergencies, customer queries and team requests.  You can also do this with your communications and daily admin. If you were to protect the same time each day to respond to your actionable emails and do whatever admin is required it makes things so much easier for you. If, you were to choose 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. For your communication and admin time, and got serious about protecting that time each day, after a few weeks it would feel very strange if you were not doing it.  This is how Jonny Kim managed to do what most people would consider impossible. It wasn't because he was smarter than anyone else. He never graduated top of his class. Instead it was down to ruthlessly protecting time to study and train.  It's how averagely talented athletes win Olympic gold medals. They prioritise the small things. The long boring runs, the hours in the gym, or practicing their serve over and over again.  It's boring, yes. But it gets results, every time.  And yet, if you were to look at how much time you spent on these routines, it's tiny. Out of twenty-four hours, you're using two to four hours a day on doing the basics.  It's when you don't do that, that you need to find eight to twelve hours just to catch up. And because you don't have a regular process for doing the work, it's slow, feels laborious and horrible and you have to repeat multiple times each month.  When you're consistent, you don't think about it. You just do it. It's neither boring nor difficult. It's just what you do.  Think about brushing your teeth and washing your face. It's boring right? You do it two to three times a day, yet it's something you just do. You don't think about it.  That's how being consistent with doing the important things—keeping backlogs at bay, dealing with messages and emails and doing your core work works.  It's exciting the first time you do it, less so the second time until it's just boring. Then suddenly, it's something you just do. It's neither boring nor exciting.  Getting there is the challenge. That why kids argue with their parents about brushing their teeth or washing their hands before meals. It's boring and unexciting, until it isn't. It's just something they automatically do.  So there you go, Joe. You will have to go through the valley of despair, go through the boredom stage until suddenly, it's just something you do. It's then when you know you are now consistent.  Good luck. Thank you for your question and thank you to you too for listening.  It just remains for me now to wish you all a very very productive week.   

In today's episode, Sarah shares two things that made her (tough) week, and then answers 6 questions from the August Q&A collection!Topics include:- Can you use Apple Notes to include attachments + graphics- Big projects: fewer longer sessions, or consistent shorter ones?- Ideal week during the newborn phase: yay or nay, and suggestions for an alternative if not?- Are there circumstances where a 'work specific' planner can make sense?- Work & rest-of-life planning sessions: separate or together?- How long does it take to implement the routines of the nested planning sessions?Get your questions to Sarah and you may hear the answers on a future episode! Email at sarah hart unger @ gmail or leave a comment on the show notes at theshubox.com.Remember the newsletter comes out at the start of each month -- we're close to September, so sign up at theshubox.com/newsletter to receive it! Episode Sponsors IXL: Learning doesn't have to stop in the summer!  Best Laid Plans listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ixl.com/plans⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  Green Chef: Make this summer your healthiest yet with Green Chef. Head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠greenchef.com/50BESTLAID⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and use code 50BESTLAID to get 50% off your first month, then 20% off for two months with free shipping. PrepDish: Healthy menu plans and prep instruction to take the mental load out of dinner!   Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠PrepDish.com/plans⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for your first 2 weeks, FREE.   Mint Mobile:  Affordable unlimited wireless!  Get your new customer offer and your 3-month Unlimited wireless plan for $15 a month at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠mintmobile.com/BLP Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

- Apple Seeds Fourth Betas of __OS 26 to Public Testers  - Apple Seeds Seventh Betas of __OS 26 to Developers - iOS and watchOS 26 Developer Betas Bring Blood Oxygen Reading - iOS Beta Adds Adaptive Power Notification Option - Apple Opens Account on China's RedNote - A listener asks, “Why Mastodon?” - Substack Facilitating iOS Subscriptions Outside the App Store - Japanese Artist Verdy Joins Beats for Special Edition Pill - Apple Teases Sports Comedy Film “The Dink” - Sponsored by CleanMyMac - Now with Cloud Cleanup. Try 7 days free and use code MACOSKEN20 for 20% off at clnmy.com/MACOSKEN - Securing Saint Paul and naming a culprit on Checklist No. 436 - Find it today at checklist.libsyn.com - Catch Ken on Mastodon - @macosken@mastodon.social - Send Ken an email: info@macosken.com - Chat with us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month. Support the show at Patreon.com/macosken

You're here for the cheapest flights to Europe. In this video, you use Google Flights (map view) to spot low priced round-trip gateways—often Dublin—then stack one-way nonstop hops each day to see as many locations as you can.You'll lock your round-trip first, account for +1 day overnight arrivals, and leave a 2–3 hour cushion between flights. Then you'll “fill in the gaps” with cheap intra-Europe legs (Rome, Kefalonia, Barcelona, Greek islands) while tracking prices, flight numbers, and links so you can pounce when fares dip. Track everything and organize easily by using Apple Notes. You can also load your flight numbers in Flighty and get regular updates on everything on your itinerary.For lodging, you'll search near the main train station to cut transfers and costs—think FCO → Termini in 27 minutes (~€14). You'll travel backpack-only to avoid baggage fees and pick places with laundry so a small bag works for the whole trip.Put it together and you'll pull off a fast, flexible Euro sprint for about $1,300 in flights and $1,200 in stays (before food). Watch, copy the filters, and book the deals while they're hot.Opening song “Chiptune Fighter" written by SCOREWIZARDS.All production by Cody Maxwell.Opening graphic assets by motionstate.sharkfyn.commaxwellskitchenpodcast.com

Join Will and his friend Pierre for a walking-and-talking podcast recorded against the stunning backdrop of some Renosterveld in Cape Town. In this free-flowing conversation, they explore creativity, strategy, and the value of embracing your uniqueness in a world increasingly dominated by AI. Pierre shares his journey of compiling four years of daily letters into a book, his philosophy of “tracking desire” to guide the creative process, and why weirdness is often the most powerful business differentiator.They discuss the pitfalls of competing solely on price, speed, or quality, and why identity and differentiation matter more than ever. Along the way, the two friends reflect on parenting, the fleeting nature of time with children, and the importance of taking ownership of your own agency. From productivity systems using Apple Notes to the benefits of cold plunges and winter hiking crews, this episode blends business insights with personal reflections topped off with a few unexpected ostrich sightings.Speaker Notes: 1. Opening & Setting the Scene (00:00 – 02:10)​ Greeting listeners; casual “walking and talking” intro.​ Location: Renosterveld with panoramic views towards Stellenbosch. Multi-tasking mindset: walking + podcast + errands.2. Pierre's Current Project (02:11 – 04:30)​ Compiling daily letters from 2020–2024 into a 365-entry book.​ Project is more editing and aligning than creating from scratch.​ Letters span pre-COVID, COVID, and post-COVID years. 3. Pierre's Creative Process (04:31 – 07:10)​ Start with the desired future state; “tracking desire” like tracking an animal.​ Use emotion and gut instinct as creative compass.​ Embrace randomness and weirdness as creative fuel. 4. Three Ways to Win in Business (07:11 – 11:45)​ First: Rare and risky, but massively rewarding.​ Best: Often vague, can lead to “cheaper, faster, nicer” race to the bottom.​ Different: The most sustainable advantage; uniqueness removes direct competition.​ Link to “Category of One” concept. 5. AI & Human Uniqueness (11:46 – 14:30)​ AI will be faster and smarter but will never be “you.”​ Your wiring, experiences, and quirks are irreplaceable.​ Quote: “The only way to beat the agents is to use your agency.” 6. Parenting & Time Perspective (14:31 – 16:05)​ Shocking stat: By age 17, you've spent 90% of the time you'll have with your kids.​ Encourages being present and intentional with time. 7. Pierre's Background (16:06 – 18:40)​ Self-described “philosopher disguised as a strategist.”​ Focus: helping businesses and individuals find their differentiator.​ Meeting Will at Alchemy on the day Pierre was retrenched. 8. Systems for Capturing Ideas (18:41 – 22:30)​ Apple Notes with structured folders and smart tagging.​ Siri + Reminders to capture on-the-go ideas.​ Always-on capture to avoid losing sparks of inspiration. 9. Value Creation vs. Noise (22:31 – 24:00)​ Importance of delivering real value over social media posturing.​ Sermons, talks, and deadlines as productive cadence. 10. Cold Showers, Hiking, and Seasonal Crews (24:01 – 26:15)​ Will's weekly Lion's Head hikes: summer selfie crowd vs. winter hardcore crew.​ Pierre's Clifton cold plunge tradition. 11. Closing Thoughts (26:16 – End)​ Biggest takeaway: Don't fear your own agency.​ Make decisions and take responsibility before others (brands, AI, governments) do it for you.​ Wrap-up: coffee plans, shared photos of the walk and where to find more from both hosts.Will https://www.linkedin.com/in/willgreen/Pierre https://www.linkedin.com/in/pierredup/Pierre's Daily Letters: https://thisispierre.co/

Devon Dundee from MacStories will be writing the visionOS 26 review. In this episode, we dive into his prep work for that review, our experiences with AppleCare One, and the new Alien environment in Disney+. Early episodes with chapter markers are available by supporting the podcast at www.visionpros.fm/patreon. Early episodes are also now available in Apple Podcasts!Show notes are available at www.VisionPros.fm. Feedback is welcomed at tim@visionpros.fm.Links: - https://www.macstories.net/stories/visionos-2-the-macstories-review/- https://www.macstories.net/magic-rays-of-light/- https://bsky.app/profile/devondundee.com- https://mastodon.social/@devondundeeChapter Markers:00:00:00: Opening00:00:44: Support the Podcast00:00:55: Devon Dundee00:14:36: Editing the Reviews00:15:10: Little Touches00:18:36: Apple Notes?00:22:54: Look to Scroll00:28:54: Shared Experiences00:38:16: Widget Apps00:41:19: Logitech Muse00:46:19: PS Sense Controllers00:49:18: Apple Intelligence00:53:31: Aspect Ratios01:00:00: Spatial Browsing in Safari01:05:45: Anything else?01:12:31: AppleCare One01:21:30: Alien Envirornment01:28:16: Follow Devon01:28:56: Closing Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom and Jeff dive into three fun segments: Tom's updated Mac recommendations for students, Jeff's update on his Forever Notes system using Apple Notes, and how both hosts are using health tracking apps to better understand their stress and recovery. Tom unpacks how Athlytic and Apple Watch are helping him recognize stress and reduce habitual tension, while Jeff shares how Gentler Streak has helped him optimize sleep and workouts. It's a mix of tech tips, personal stories, and wellness insights—plus a few keg-lifting jokes.Links from the show:Best Mac for College – Tom AndersonMy Forever NotesGentler AppAthlytic AppEpisode 55 - Who Pays for Calendar Apps & Next-Level Notes with Bill McLeanEpisode 58 - WWDC Announced, Gentler Streak Workout Tracker, and "The Cybernetic Teammate" by Ethan MollickQuestion or Comment? Send us a Text Message!Contact Us Drop us a line at feedback@basicafshow.com You'll find Jeff at @reyespoint on Threads and reyespoint.bsky.social on Bluesky Find Tom at @tomanderson on Threads Join Tom's newsletter, Apple Talk, for more Apple coverage and tips & tricks. Tom has a new YouTube channel Show artwork by the great Randall Martin Design Enjoy Basic AF? Leave a review or rating! Review on Apple Podcasts Rate on Spotify Recommend in Overcast Intro Music: Psychokinetics - The Chosen Apple Music Spotify Transcripts and some images are AI generated and may contain errors and general silliness....

What if you could take six weeks off from your business, and nothing falls apart? In this episode, systems and automation coach Joe Casabona joins us to talk about how solopreneurs and creators can work smarter, not longer.Joe shares the behind-the-scenes systems that help him run multiple podcasts, coach clients, and still be a present parent. We cover his favorite tools, how to get started with automation (even if you're not techy), and the key mindset shift that makes delegation actually work.From streamlining content production to landing consistent sponsorships, Joe shows how automation isn't about cutting corners—it's about clearing space so you can show up as your best self in business and life.Key Points:The first system every solopreneur should set up to reclaim timeWhy automation and delegation are better togetherJoe's favorite automation tools (and why he prefers Make over Zapier)Using Notion, Todoist, and Apple Notes to capture ideas and get things doneHow to automate podcast workflows from booking to publishingThe surprising benefits of on-demand coaching (and how he delivers it)Balancing automation with authentic engagement in a world full of AI noiseResources:40+ Automation Templates – casabona.org/automationOn-Demand Coaching with Joe – casabona.org/unstuckStreamline Solopreneur Podcast – casabona.org/podcast----------------------Ecamm - Your go-to solution for crafting outstanding live shows and podcasts. - Get 15% off your first payment with promo code JEFF15SocialMediaNewsLive.com - Dive into our website for comprehensive episode breakdowns.Youtube.com - Tune in live, chat with us directly, and be part of the conversation. Or, revisit our archive of past broadcasts to stay updated.Facebook - Stream our show live and chat with us in real time. Connect, engage, and be a part of our community.Email - Subscribe and never miss a live show reminder.----------------------JeffSieh.com - Unlock the power of authentic storytelling with me! With over 20 years of marketing experience, I'm here to elevate your brand's narrative in an ever-competitive market. My expertise spans consulting, visual marketing, and producing podcasts and live videos.Additionally, as a seasoned speaker, I'm not just about...

I'm recording from Kit Studios in Boise while attending conferences, which got me thinking about something crucial to my business success—my travel system. As someone who travels frequently for networking and conferences, I've developed a streamlined approach that keeps me organized and stress-free on the road.My system revolves around two essential apps: Flighty for flight tracking (which often knows about delays before airlines do) and Apple Notes for keeping all trip information in one easily accessible place. But the real magic happens with my "New Trip" shortcut that automates the entire trip planning process—from creating calendar events to generating custom packing lists based on trip length and type.I also swear by checking bags instead of dealing with carry-ons, mainly because I travel with items that can't go through security, but also because it lets me move through airports quickly with just my backpack. Plus, I share some thoughts on Southwest's recent policy changes and how they might affect family-friendly travel.Special thanks to Kit for letting me record in their Studios! I highly recommend them for email and newsletters!Get my free automations database at https://streamlined.fm/automation (powered by Kit, natch)Top Takeaways:Flighty is a game-changer for frequent travelers — it provides real-time flight tracking with AI forecasting that often alerts you to delays before airlines do, plus it tracks connections and terminal transfer timesCreate a "New Trip" shortcut to automate trip planning — mine calculates trip length, adds calendar events, generates custom packing lists, and creates project templates in one tapSet up dedicated travel and conference focus modes — customize your home screen with essential widgets (time at home, flight info, maps) and silence non-essential notificationsLinksMy iPhone Focus ModesFlighty - Flight tracking app with AI forecastingApple Notes - For trip organization and quick referenceWidgetsmith - For custom widgets (QR code display)Whisper Memos - Voice note recordingTicci Tabs - Bookmark manager appTodoist - Project management for work tasksApple Reminders - For packing lists and personal tasksMacSparky - David Sparks' site (source of packing list shortcut inspiration)Send Feedback ★ Support this podcast ★

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Arcadia June is coming, don't let it pass you by! We chat about photo libraries, Andrew is a bike guy again, and Martin shares a fun story about his son using the Mac! Ring the bell, a new One Prime Plus Dot Com member has entered the room! Stuff-ups and Shout-outs! 00:00:00 Imagine what Andrew said in those thirty seconds..

In this hosts-only episode, Amy and Brad get real about the developer experience - from the stress of job interviews to the complexities of choosing the right framework. They discuss why companies are comparing candidates more than ever, share strategies for answering behavioral interview questions, and debate the merits of Remix versus Next.js (spoiler: Brad's all-in on Remix). The conversation shifts to feature flags and progressive rollouts, with insights from Brad's work at Stripe. SponsorWorkOS helps you launch enterprise features like SSO and user management with ease. Thanks to the AuthKit SDK for JavaScript, your team can integrate in minutes and focus on what truly matters—building your app. Chapter Marks00:00 - Intro00:41 - Sponsor: WorkOS01:47 - Brad's Keyboard and Mouse Shopping Spree04:30 - Keyboard Layout Discussion07:23 - Apple Ecosystem: Reminders and Notes09:23 - Family Sharing and Raycast Integration09:43 - Notion vs Apple Notes for Project Management11:31 - File Storage and Backup Strategies14:00 - Machine Backup Philosophy16:46 - Job Interview Preparation Tips19:40 - Answering the "Weakness" Question21:53 - Addressing Weaknesses: Delegation Examples24:29 - Conflict Resolution Interview Questions25:46 - Company Research Before Interviews27:00 - Tech Stack Considerations: Remix vs Next.js28:30 - Framework Migration Decisions29:30 - Astro for Content Sites31:02 - Backend Languages: Go vs TypeScript32:30 - React Server Components Future34:23 - Feature Flags and Boolean as a Service35:30 - Feature Flag Segmentation and A/B Testing36:54 - PostHog and Analytics Tools38:30 - Progressive Rollouts and Error Monitoring40:20 - Amy's Picks and Plugs43:35 - Brad's Picks and Plugs  

Four hundred episodes into this project, we gathered together on April 11, 2025 for a live show to celebrate the occasion. On this edition I revealed a new tour, announced a short spring break (with episodes, never fear!), and did some Ask Me Anythings! Pedalshift 400 Live Hey check out the video if that's your bag... https://www.youtube.com/live/EJfDdaQDgeE?si=NruP9cvgb0mgY8ip   Introduction •Tim kicks off Episode 400 live with listeners in the chat •Reflects on 10+ years of podcasting, over 1.3 million downloads •Expresses gratitude to listeners and the broader bike travel community   Shout-Outs & Tributes •Listener shout-outs: •Forrest from Whitehorse on the GAP Trail •Byron and the Sprocket listener crossover poll (results were a 50/50 split) •Tribute to The Sprocket Podcast: •Final episode recently released •Strong influence on Pedalshift's creation •Encourages new listeners to explore the Sprocket back catalog •Shared values and crossover episodes remembered fondly   Tour Reveal: Circumnavigating Lake Ontario •Dedicated to Tim's late father; the lake was important to him •Starting in Western New York, likely near Tim's mother's home •Full loop around Lake Ontario •Using the e-bike with a second battery for extended range •No camping: entirely hotel or Airbnb lodging •Expected duration: under a week •Part of 2025 goals: new route, international travel, expanded e-bike touring   Pedalshift Spring Break •First planned break in podcast history (show remains weekly) •Begins April 24, 2025 •Through May, rebroadcasting selected past mini-tours: •Game of Chance Tour •Cleanup Tour •Fill in the Blanks Tour •New content returns in June with: •Los Angeles Metro Bike Adventure (Episode 401) •Lake Ontario Tour coverage begins with Episode 402   Ask Me Anything (Live Chat Q&A)   Tour Planning and Equipment •Uses RideWithGPS, Google Maps, and Street View for route planning •Recommends overlays like RideWithGPS heatmaps for checking route popularity •Apple Notes is the go-to tool for organizing transit and fast-forward trips •Safari and Brompton are the most used bikes for local/urban riding •Gravel/dirt touring is appealing, especially with proper gear; has done C&O and Erie Canal •Tour terrain preference: tie between forested and coastal routes   C&O Canal Guidance •Cumberland to DC is a favorable direction due to logistics and parking •Recommends Harper's Ferry to Shepherdstown segment for beginners   Tour Ideas and Alternatives •Florida ride likely to be retired after repeated versions •Considering Arizona desert rides, Florida Keys, or San Diego to Phoenix •Airline logistics (especially Southwest policy changes) influence decision-making •Possibility of international touring (Europe later in 2025, Australia someday)   Fun Pop Culture AMA •Favorite Prince songs to bike to: •Let's Go Crazy •Seven (all-time favorite) •Raspberry Beret, Purple Rain, 1999 also mentioned •Brief discussion of cycling music and personal playlist choices   Future Travel Hints •Canada's Lake Ontario loop is Tim's first true international bike tour •Possibility of a short European ride in late summer 2025 •Dreaming of riding in Australia during shoulder seasons   Closing Remarks •Gratitude to listeners and live show participants •Encouragement to get out and ride, share stories, and connect with community •Next live show planned for later in the year •Spring break content begins April 24, new episodes resume in June  

On Hands-On Tech, Mikah Sargent answers a question from Wayne about streamlining a process to organize his recipies copied in Apple Notes and reformat them in HTML. Don't forget to send in your questions for Mikah to answer during the show! hot@twit.tv Host: Mikah Sargent Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech Want access to the ad-free video and exclusive features? Become a member of Club TWiT today! https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.

On Hands-On Tech, Mikah Sargent answers a question from Wayne about streamlining a process to organize his recipies copied in Apple Notes and reformat them in HTML. Don't forget to send in your questions for Mikah to answer during the show! hot@twit.tv Host: Mikah Sargent Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech Want access to the ad-free video and exclusive features? Become a member of Club TWiT today! https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.

On Hands-On Tech, Mikah Sargent answers a question from Wayne about streamlining a process to organize his recipies copied in Apple Notes and reformat them in HTML. Don't forget to send in your questions for Mikah to answer during the show! hot@twit.tv Host: Mikah Sargent Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech Want access to the ad-free video and exclusive features? Become a member of Club TWiT today! https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.

On Hands-On Tech, Mikah Sargent answers a question from Wayne about streamlining a process to organize his recipies copied in Apple Notes and reformat them in HTML. Don't forget to send in your questions for Mikah to answer during the show! hot@twit.tv Host: Mikah Sargent Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech Want access to the ad-free video and exclusive features? Become a member of Club TWiT today! https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.

On Hands-On Tech, Mikah Sargent answers a question from Wayne about streamlining a process to organize his recipies copied in Apple Notes and reformat them in HTML. Don't forget to send in your questions for Mikah to answer during the show! hot@twit.tv Host: Mikah Sargent Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech Want access to the ad-free video and exclusive features? Become a member of Club TWiT today! https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.

Wes Kao is an entrepreneur, coach, and advisor. She co-founded the live learning platform Maven, backed by First Round and a16z. Before Maven, Wes co-created the altMBA with best-selling author Seth Godin. Today, Wes teaches a popular course on executive communication and influence. Through her course and one-on-one coaching, she's helped thousands of operators, founders, and product leaders master the art of influence through clear, compelling communication. Known for her surgical writing style and no-BS frameworks, Wes returns to the pod to deliver a tactical master class on becoming a sharper, more persuasive communicator—at work, in meetings, and across your career.What you'll learn:1. The #1 communication mistake leaders make—and Wes's proven fix to instantly gain buy-in2. Wes's MOO (Most Obvious Objection) framework to consistently anticipate and overcome pushback in meetings3. How to master concise communication—including Wes's tactical approach for brevity without losing meaning4. The art of executive presence: actionable strategies for conveying confidence and clarity, even under pressure5. The “sales, then logistics” framework—and why your ideas keep getting ignored without it6. The power of “signposting”—and why executives skim your docs without it7. Exactly how to give feedback that works—Wes's “strategy, not self-expression” principle to drive behavior change without friction8. Practical ways to instantly improve your writing, emails, and Slack messages—simple techniques Wes teaches executives9. Managing up like a pro: Wes's clear, practical advice on earning trust, building credibility, and aligning with senior leaders10. Career accelerators: specific habits and tactics from Wes for growing your influence, advancing your career, and standing out11. Real-world communication examples—Wes breaks down real scenarios she's solved, providing step-by-step solutions you can copy today—Brought to you by:• WorkOS—Modern identity platform for B2B SaaS, free up to 1 million MAUs• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security• Coda—The all-in-one collaborative workspace—Where to find Wes Kao:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weskao/• Website: https://www.weskao.com/• Maven course: https://maven.com/wes-kao/executive-communication-influence—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Introduction to Wes Kao(05:34) Working with Wes(06:58) The importance of communication(10:44) Sales before logistics(18:20) Being concise(24:31) Books to help you become a better writer(27:30) Signposting and formatting(32:05) How to develop and practice your communication skills(40:41) Slack communication(42:23) Confidence in communication(50:17) The MOO framework(54:00) Staying calm in high-stakes conversations(57:36) Which tactic to start with(58:53) Effective tactics for managing up(01:04:53) Giving constructive feedback: strategy, not self-expression(01:09:39) Delegating effectively while maintaining high standards(01:16:36) The swipe file: collecting inspiration for better communication(01:19:59) Leveraging AI for better communication(01:22:01) Lightning round—Referenced:• Persuasive communication and managing up | Wes Kao (Maven, Seth Godin, Section4): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/persuasive-communication-wes-kao• Making Meta | Andrew ‘Boz' Bosworth (CTO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/making-meta-andrew-boz-bosworth-cto• Communication is the job: https://boz.com/articles/communication-is-the-job• Maven: https://maven.com/• Sales, not logistics: https://newsletter.weskao.com/p/sales-not-logistics• How to be more concise: https://newsletter.weskao.com/p/how-to-be-concise• Signposting: How to reduce cognitive load for your reader: https://newsletter.weskao.com/p/sign-posting-how-to-reduce-cognitive• Airbnb's Vlad Loktev on embracing chaos, inquiry over advocacy, poking the bear, and “impact, impact, impact” (Partner at Index Ventures, Airbnb GM/VP Product): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/impact-impact-impact-vlad-loktev• Tone and words: Use accurate language: https://newsletter.weskao.com/p/tone-and-words-use-accurate-language• Quote by Joan Didion: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/264509-i-don-t-know-what-i-think-until-i-write-it• Strategy, not self-expression: How to decide what to say when giving feedback: https://newsletter.weskao.com/p/strategy-not-self-expression• Tobi Lütke's leadership playbook: Playing infinite games, operating from first principles, and maximizing human potential (founder and CEO of Shopify): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/tobi-lutkes-leadership-playbook• The CEDAF framework: Delegating gets easier when you get better at explaining your ideas: https://newsletter.weskao.com/p/delegating-and-explaining• Swipe file: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swipe_file• Apple Notes: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/notes/id1110145109• Claude: https://claude.ai/new• ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/• Arianna Huffington's phone bed charging station (Oak): https://www.amazon.com/Arianna-Huffingtons-Phone-Charging-Station/dp/B079C5DBF4?th=1• The Harlan Coben Collection on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/browse/genre/81180221• Oral-B Pro 1000 rechargeable electric toothbrush: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003UKM9CO/• The Best Electric Toothbrush: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-electric-toothbrush/• Glengarry Glen Ross on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Glengarry-Glen-Ross-James-Foley/dp/B002NN5F7A• 1,000,000: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/1000000—Recommended books:• On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction: https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Well-Classic-Guide-Nonfiction/dp/0060891548/• Stein on Writing: A Master Editor of Some of the Most Successful Writers of Our Century Shares His Craft Techniques and Strategies: https://www.amazon.com/Stein-Writing-Successful-Techniques-Strategies/dp/0312254210/• On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft: https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Memoir-Craft-Stephen-King/dp/1982159375• Several Short Sentences About Writing: https://www.amazon.com/Several-Short-Sentences-About-Writing/dp/0307279413/• High Output Management: https://www.amazon.com/High-Output-Management-Andrew-Grove/dp/0679762884• Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long: https://www.amazon.com/Your-Brain-Work-Revised-Updated/dp/0063003155/—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

This year, the Time Sector System is five years old! For thousands of people it has changed their relationship with tasks and time in so many positive ways. Today's question concerns the basics of the Time Sector System and its philosophy.  You can subscribe to this podcast on: Podbean | Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | TUNEIN Links: Email Me | Twitter | Facebook | Website | Linkedin The YouTube Time Sector System Playlist Get Your Copy Of Your Time, Your Way: Time Well Managed, Life Well Lived Subscribe to my Substack  Take The NEW COD Course The Working With… Weekly Newsletter Carl Pullein Learning Centre Carl's YouTube Channel Carl Pullein Coaching Programmes The Working With… Podcast Previous episodes page Script | 361 Hello, and welcome to episode 361 of the Your Time, Your Way Podcast. A podcast to answer all your questions about productivity, time management, self-development and goal planning. My name is Carl Pullein, and I am your host of this show. I still remember the day that the Time Sector concept came to me. I was walking to the gym one sunny afternoon and was reflecting on my overwhelming task list waiting for me at home. I remember thinking to myself that all these tasks hitting me day after day was not sustainable.  I was organised and knew where everything was, but I felt trapped in a cycle of never-ending tasks and emails. Whenever I feel this way about anything I always tell myself that there must be a better way.  And then it hit me.  I think it was the word “unsustainable”. The number of emails I was getting was never going to reduce. It was going to increase. The amount of work I had to do was equally never going to reduce. At some point I would reach breaking point.  It wasn't the work itself. It was time. I just didn't have enough time. That was the clue.  You cannot control the number of tasks, messages, and emails you receive. It's a random number. Yet, the one constant—a constant not controlled by you or me, but by science, and in particular physics, is time. Time is our constraint.  If I could allocate time for doing the different categories of work I had to do and decide when to do the tasks in those categories, it would not matter how much work I had coming in. Everything would get done in due course.  And that was the seed that sprouted into the Time Sector System five years ago.  So, with the history told, it's time now to hand you over to the Mystery Podcast Voice for this week's question.  This week's question comes from Elaine. Elaine asks, “Hi Carl, I recently came across one of your videos where you talk about the Time Sector System. Could you explain its philosophy and how it differs from other time management systems?”  Hi Elaine, Thank you for your question.  The thinking behind the Time Sector System is that we are limited not by what we can do—we can do a lot—but by how much time we have to do things. We need to eat, sleep and move (exercise), at our basic level. On top of that we likely have family commitments, school runs, doctor appointments and friends that need seeing. Then we have our work to do.  The limiting factor is time. It's fixed. We only get 24 hours a day.  Now you can manipulate time by hiring people to do stuff for you. For example, you may be fortunate to be able to afford a nanny to take care of your kids when you are at work. Or, you may be able to hire an assistant. But no matter how you manipulate time, it's still only 24 hours.  So the philosophy behind the Time Sector System is, it's not about what you have to do, it's about when you will do it. After all, that's the only thing you have control over.  At a wider level, that means organising your tasks into tasks that need to be done this week, next week, this month, next month or long-term or on hold.  When you divide your tasks up into when you will do them you narrow down the decisions you need to make on a day to day basis. When a new task comes in, you only need three questions: What is it? What do I need to do to complete it? When will I do it? So, for example, imagine I get a notification from my health insurance provider informing me I need to book myself in for a medical check-up.  What is it? It's a request for me to make an appointment with the doctor. What do I need to do? I need to make an appointment with the doctor. When am I going to do it? That depends.  It depends, in my case, on when is convenient for my wife. We go together to the clinic for our annual check-up. In Korea it's a six-hour ordeal, some turn it into a family outing. So, before I can make the appointment I need to consult with my wife.  So, back to question 2. What do I need to do? Consult with my wife. So, there's the task. When do I need to do it? This week would be good because if I don't it will sink to the bottom of my list/ So. I choose today when I see my wife.  When you are processing your inbox, that's the process. What is it? What do I need to do? When am I going to do it? Another example might be I have a project that is due for completion at the end of the month. As I am looking at the project, I know what it is—it's a project. What do I need to do? I need to talk with my colleague about how she is getting on with the graphics for the landing page. That will give me an estimate on when I can finish the landing page. So, when am I going to do it? I'll send her a message on Monday, so I can add that task to my This week folder.  It could be that as I return from a business trip, I notice my passport will expire in eight month's time. Now, I know the government won't be reminding me that my passport needs renewing, so it's something I need to do.  What is it: It's a passport renewal. What do I need to do? I'm not sure. The last time I renewed my passport was nine years ago. The system's probably changed since then. What can I do about that? Go to the government's website and find out the process.  Okay, I need to do some research. When will I do it? I'm busy this week, so I can drop the task: find out how to renew my passport into my next week folder.  I don't need to add a date to it at this stage because I will be doing a weekly planning session on Saturday and I decide then.  It's brilliantly simple, and takes next to no time to develop the habit of asking these three questions.  There are a few other little things you can do to make this seamless.  For instance, have separate folders for your routines and critical recurring tasks. Routines are those little things that just need to be done. Watering the house plants, cleaning actionable emails, and basic admin tasks. Your Recurring Critical tasks are those tasks that come from your Areas of Focus and your core work. I won't go into the Areas of Focus here. These are your life level tasks such as planning your exercise, staying in touch with family and friends and self improvement.  Your core work tasks are the tasks you are employed to do. At a basic level, these would be things like talking with customers if you're a salesperson, preparing materials and teaching if you are a teacher, etc.  What you do is pull out the tasks you need to perform each day, week or month, and se them to recur as frequently as they need to.  Another one is when you first adopt the Time Sector System, the temptation will be to throw everything into your This Week and Next Week folders. This results in them filling up which causes overwhelm.  When you first begin using the Time Sector System, you want to be learning what is realistic and what is not. This involves monitoring what you can and cannot get done each week.  For example, I know my limit, when I begin the week, is thirty tasks in my This Week folder. Any more than that and I won't be completing the excess. This does not include my routines and Recurring Critical Tasks.  If I am to get my most important work done each week, anything more than thirty tasks in my This Week folder and something will break.  It will take you a few weeks to find your limit.  And then it all comes down to your daily planning. While you can plan the week, you will find that you are picking up tasks that need to be done in the week you are in. Before you end your day, you should look at your calendar for the next day. Look to see how much time you have available to do your tasks.  You're going to have a very challenging day if you have seven hours of meetings and thirty tasks to complete. Something's not going to get done.  It's during the daily Planning Sequence that you plan out a realistic day. Perhaps you can move some meetings, or reduce your task list.  And to finish, you select your two most important tasks, flag them and make sure they are your must-do tasks.  And that's it.  As I go through this, it sounds complex, but when you are doing it, it is not.  New tasks go through the three questions—what is it? What do I need to do? When will I do it? And you can then move those tasks from your inbox to their appropriate folder.  Then, on a daily basis, you check to see how much time you have for tasks, based on how many meetings you have, and create a prioritised, realistic list.  At the end of the week, you get to look at your other folders—next week, this month, next month and long-term and on hold to see what can be brought forward to your this week folder.  The good news is, this approach, helps you to delete tasks that no longer need to be done.  Now what about projects? If they are not in your task manager, where are they?  You manage your projects from your notes app. That could be Apple Notes, Evernote, Notion, OneNote or any kind of notes app that allows you to create links to documents, articles, images and emails.  You notes is a natural place to manage your projects. After all, a project is a big hairy thing that needs managing. You will likely have documents and meeting notes to keep together.  So, keep them together in a notes app. That way, when you're working on a project you're not distracted by all the little, easy tasks you could be doing. You can get yourself focused on the project and work from your project notes.  All you then need is a single task in your task manager telling you to work on a specific project. Depending on what tools you are using, you will also likely be able to create a link directly from the task to the project note.  Now the good news. If you are curious about the Time Sector System, I am in the process of updating the online course. It's the fifth anniversary and it's a big update. We are in the final editing stage and I hope to get launch the update in the next ten to fourteen days.  I've also done a lot of YouTube videos on this—you can see the playlist on my YouTube channel.  Thank you Elaine for your question and thank you to you too for listening. It just remains for me now to wish you all a very very productive week.   

There's a new iPhone 16 family member, new betas, a new Apple News+ feature, and Jeff has a new thing going in Apple Notes using the Forever*Notes framework. Links from the show:iPhone 16eApple News+ FoodBrace yourself for Deep Water Solo. The next episode of Adventure.Highland ProForever*NotesQuestion or Comment? Send us a Text Message!Contact Us Drop us a line at feedback@basicafshow.com You'll find Jeff at @reyespoint on Threads and reyespoint.bsky.social on Bluesky Find Tom at @tomanderson on Threads Join Tom's newsletter, Apple Talk, for more Apple coverage and tips & tricks. Tom has a new YouTube channel Show artwork by the great Randall Martin Design Enjoy Basic AF? Leave a review or rating! Review on Apple Podcasts Rate on Spotify Recommend in Overcast Intro Music: Psychokinetics - The Chosen Apple Music Spotify Show transcripts and episode artwork are AI generated and likely contain errors and general si...

In a competitive market, success isn't just about selling—it's about leveraging technology to enhance efficiency, build relationships, and close deals faster.

In today's episode, Sarah shares her top 10 (plus maybe a bonus!) Planning + Planning Adjacent Tools! For specific links, visit https://theshubox.com/organize! 1) Kokuyo Campus Notebooks 2) Uniball Jetstream Pens (0.5 and 0.38 size) 3) Zebra Mildliners in pastel colors - especially used to create little squares for checkboxes! 4) Apple's Screen Time App + Widget 5) Stalogy Short Sticky Notes (plus bonus mention: Midori Sticky Notes Monthly Block) 6) The Essential Calendar (Sarah is an affiliate, so you can use code BESTLAIDPLANS or visit https://www.theessentialcalendar.com/BESTLAIDPLANS for 10% off) 7) Apple Notes, especially for tracking travel docs and kid-related frequent reference 8) Strava to track running 9) Feedly for blog reading 10) Creating podcast playlists 11) Erin Condren Whiteboard (Custom Color Weekly Schedule Wall Organization Center) SPONSORS: Prose: Custom skin and haircare that works! For an exclusive trial offer of 50% off your first haircare subscription order, visit prose.com/plans. Green Chef: Thrive all year with clean, easy meals from Green Chef. Visit greenchef.com/bestlaidfree and use code bestlaidfree for free salads for 2 months plus 50% off your first box! PrepDish: Convenient meal plans, recipes, and shopping lists to reduce your weekly mental load! Visit prepdish.com/plans for your first 2 weeks, FREE Mint Mobile: Low-cost wireless phone service – a great way to save every single month! Learn more at mintmobile.com/BLP IXL: Tailored and effective online learning (my kids have used this for years as part of their school curriculum)! Best Laid Plans listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at IXL.com/PLANS. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

GitHub Copilot Agent Mode is here! We talk new hot reloading capabilities, more AI in Apple Notes, and overheating our Mac minis! Follow Us Frank: Twitter, Blog, GitHub James: Twitter, Blog, GitHub Merge Conflict: Twitter, Facebook, Website, Chat on Discord Music : Amethyst Seer - Citrine by Adventureface ⭐⭐ Review Us (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/merge-conflict/id1133064277?mt=2&ls=1) ⭐⭐ Machine transcription available on http://mergeconflict.fm

In today's episode, we're diving into organization and productivity tips for school counselors—straight from Module 2 of the Stress-Free Counseling course! These strategies are designed to help you establish new systems, maximize your productivity, and increase your impact with students. Whether it's tracking your caseload, color-coding your calendar, or keeping your notes organized, these practical tips will help streamline your work as a school counselor. Some topics covered in this episode are: How to use Google Sheets to organize your caseload with customizable features like color coding and asterisk indicators. Tips for color-coding your calendar to match your caseload and service types (and bonus ideas for color-coding Google Drive folders too). The pros and cons of handwritten notes versus digital notes for student tracking. Creative ways to log your sessions, including voice memos, voice-to-text tools, and Google Form sign-ins. Tools for task management and organization, including Trello, To-Do List apps, and Apple Notes. These tips will help you stay on top of your workload, maintain confidentiality, and work more efficiently. Tune in to learn how to implement these strategies and create your own stress-free counseling systems! Resources mentioned: Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Grab the counselor curriculum map freebie here! If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts! Stress Free School Counseling Course Connect with Rachel: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest  Youtube More About School Counseling Simplified: School Counseling Simplified is a podcast offering easy to implement strategies for busy school counselors. The host, Rachel Davis from Bright Futures Counseling, shares tips and tricks she has learned from her years of experience as a school counselor both in the US and at an international school in Costa Rica. You can listen to School Counseling Simplified on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and more!

In today's episode, Sarah goes through her setup of her 2025 Goals/Lists planner, a Hobonichi Weeks she will use for tracking and various collections. Then, she answers additional questions sent in the past month. Topics discussed: - Request for planner shop recs around the world + recommendation of Good Postage in Charlotte, NC - Ways to track continuing education data + resources - Sarah recommends going digital for this using a tool like Apple Notes, OneNote, or Notion - Listener tip: a Taylor Swift-inspired planner!? Meet the Mastermind! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1798413186/the-weekly-mastermind-planner-2025 - Another listener's take on Quintiles - the Sextile system! (6 seasons of the year!) - Planner matchmaking request for a small dated daily planner. Ideas included the Hobonichi A6, Take A Note, Sterling Ink 2025 Daily, Midori Hibino (small but CHUNKY), Leuchtturm Daily in Pocket A6, or dating a Stalogy 365 notebook Episode Sponsors: Jenni Kayne: Check out their amazing gifts, from candles to their iconic sweaters . Visit jennikayne.com; listeners get 15% off your first order when you use code PLANS at checkout. PrepDish: Visit PrepDish.com/plans for your first 2 weeks, FREE. MasterClass: Give the gift of learning this season! Visit masterclass.com/bestlaidplans to learn more and find active discounts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apple's Notes is used by ~700 million people (it's Chappell Roan's favorite app)… so we found its secret.ExxonMobil asked Trump to stay in the Paris Climate Agreement… because voters like change, but investors like consistency.The Michelin Star is the greatest award in the restaurant industry… but it's also a curse.Plus, if an engagement breaks up, who gets the ring?... The Massachusetts Supreme Court just decided.$AAPL $XOM $MGDDYPlease fill out our 2-min survey on our new show, The Best One Yet: https://forms.gle/xrTV4A9XEipVUYoT7—-----------------------------------------------------Subscribe to our new (2nd) show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. It's The Best Idea Yet.GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts FOR MORE NICK & JACK: Newsletter: https://tboypod.com/newsletter Connect with Nick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/ Connect with Jack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/ SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ #stocks #finance #business #newsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from 9to5Mac. 9to5Mac Daily is available on iTunes and Apple's Podcasts app, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players. Sponsored by CardPointers: The best way to maximize your credit card rewards. Save 30% and get a $100 Savings Card today.  New episodes of 9to5Mac Daily are recorded every weekday. Subscribe to our podcast in Apple Podcast or your favorite podcast player to guarantee new episodes are delivered as soon as they're available. Stories discussed in this episode: All your iPhone notes gone in Apple Notes app? Here's the fix Tim Cook congratulates Trump on presidential election victory EU opens antitrust investigation into key Apple supplier Corning Listen & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts Overcast RSS Spotify TuneIn Google Podcasts Subscribe to support Chance directly with 9to5Mac Daily Plus and unlock: Ad-free versions of every episode Bonus content Catch up on 9to5Mac Daily episodes! Don't miss out on our other daily podcasts: Quick Charge 9to5Toys Daily Share your thoughts! Drop us a line at happyhour@9to5mac.com. You can also rate us in Apple Podcasts or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show.