Matthew Lang

Serious ambitions need a serious checklist.

Thanks NB!

via FGGT

Dog-walking, Shakespeare, baseball, Beethoven and hot dogs.

All available at Cultural Offering.

Would you use it?

I propose the Glasgow Pound currency. Not an actual note, just a bottle of Irn-Bru.

You think the best coaches and players sit near the field of play? Think again.

You always find the best players and coaches in the bleachers. They know all of the right plays and the sharpest moves. They can tell you who should have been traded or kept and can rapidly recite a litany of blunders going back to the Twenties and beyond. They're especially ready to recall maddening mistakes they've been forced to endure while watching games or listening to sports radio.

— In the Bleachers
by Michael Wade

Can a building taller than the Burj Khalifa be built in seven months?

Blank pages are great. They are empty to begin with. Devoid of markings, letters, pictures, symbols or any written mark that represents something. They are empty for a reason. They need to be filled. But what with?

With a blank page you can start writing. A sentence, a paragraph, a poem, a short story, a long story, a film, a trilogy of films. It all begins on a blank page with a few words.

With a blank page you can start drawing, sketching or even doodle. Whatever it is you want to call it. Your thoughts visualised could be an idea that will change the world or act as a window for future generations to see through. It all begins on a blank page with a few lines.

With a blank page you can start making. Take an idea. Iterate over it with different approaches. Draw variations of it, list the pros and cons for each different variation. Finalize it before moving forward. It all begins on a blank page with an idea.

With a blank page you are recording a thought or idea that could outlive you and even the end of this century. With a blank page you are freeing yourself from the confines of technology. With a blank page you have decided that it is better to have a reliable means of recording that doesn't require wi-fi, the Internet or even a battery.

Did I mention that blank pages are great?

A visualisation of military and civilian deaths in World War II. The numbers are staggering.

via Kottke

UK-based observers will be able to see the convergence of Jupiter and Venus through the month of June. I'll be watching for this one.

More sketchnoting, this time it was the turn of Nicholas Bates' "In 3" posts from last week.

Seriously, stop reacting.

Stop checking Twitter, Facebook, email and anything else that's driven by notifications. In fact just turn off all notifications. Turn them off on your computer, phone and tablet. Notifications are the great reactive intruder that ruins your focus. With notifications turned off, you'll stop reacting to the outside forces that will destroy your focus.

Stop putting the work aside that should be doing for the work you need to do. Yes there are things we need to do, but we should be smart enough to identify the work we need to do and schedule it in for the appropriate time in the future. It then becomes work we should be doing at the right time. Continually reacting to work that needs to be done shows a lack of planning. Plan ahead to eliminate reactive work.

Stop reacting aimlessly to changes in your life. Aim for a point in the distant future and work towards it. The world will do it's best to try and push you off track. Changes in family, career, finances and health can be negotiated with a slight detour but you can still arrive at the place that you initially aimed for.

Stop reacting. It can be done.

... says no. That and other great tools for greater productivity.

Not me, but my fellow Scot Matt Gemmell. His 15 minute guide to consulting is a wonderful guide to what consultants of any industry should aspire to. So good, I've added it to the playlist.

It's certainly not impossible.

You may wonder how we get our kids to eat kale and clams, and here is the answer: we make them (we're warm but firm), and we don't offer choices. Psychologists will tell you that kids respond to consistency and confidence. While I can't say I'm great at this when it comes to bedtime, I never waver at the table. People don't want to hear this because we live in the Age of Coddling but I strongly believe that kids need and actually crave guidance and direction, especially when they're young. And since I also believe that we should eat the same meals as our kids—showing unity and companionship—I don't want to eat boring food, so they're not getting boring food.

— Parenting, Lunchmaking, and Hoping Your Kids Will Love Food by Food52 - Amanda Hesser

Our oldest son is more of a challenge in this respect but he's getting there with the different meals we make. Our youngest couldn't be happier though. He loves trying new foods, especially when he opts to just use his fingers!

via Kottke

Ever since I took delivery of my Nock Hightower a few weeks ago, my notebook has been with me every where I go. Even when I'm at home it sits on my desk just behind my keyboard, always within reach.

Yesterday and today I took advantage of some downtime and sketchnoted a few blog posts I was reading in the morning.

Creating Great Content

Taken from The Next Web - "How to create consistently great content"

Writing for Your Clients

Taken from Curtis McHale - "Are you writing for your ideal client?"

Strategic IT Agility

Taken from Thoughtworks - "Reworking IT for Digital Success"

Each of these posts had value to them. Sure, I liked them on Instapaper after reading them which in turn added them to my Pinboard, but the chances of me revisiting these bookmarks in the next few days is slim. However, with the sketchnotes in my notebook, they are more accessible for review. Going to stick with this over the next few weeks.

147 seasons without a title win. That's a long time. It could end this year though if the Cleveland Cavaliers win the NBA finals.

A break from the regular profile photograph we include here. I'm including the rider in this one. Father Tu himself with his Affinity. I was immediately drawn to this during the week after seeing the addition of the NS Bikes Evidence riser bar on the front on a post on Instagram.

via FGGT

Who knew there could be so many?