Matthew Lang

Is it April already? Where did March go? Yip, it's been one of them months where it's over before it's even began.

The last three weeks have definitely been like this. I've been busy working and we've been out and about a bit more now that the good weather is with us and getting the boys outdoors isn't such a problem.

Saturday was errands day. Heading to a few places to get some ideas for the garden. We invested some time and money into the garden last year and this year we're ready to finish most of the heavier work in the garden. I can't wait for the day that I can just put me feet up in the garden, fire up the grill and start on a couple of cold beers.

Sunday was Ethan's return to weekly medals at Paisley Golf Club. He's spent a fair amount of time over winter putting in extra practice and it's starting to pay off. Once the course dries out a bit more though and he's had a few more practice rounds he should start to see his handicap fall.

Easter holidays have started for the school kids. I took Ethan up to Paisley for a round of golf. Weather was favourable (it wasn't raining) and the course was in great condition. Ethan played very well as always. I was a little slower to get started and couldn't hack the pace at the turn. By that point my back and arms were tired. We're heading back out on Wednesday again, so hopefully I'll be a better playing partner!

Basics or essentials? Either way, these are the foundations for anyone looking to level up.

Bonus content at the Deep Productivity seminar in June for those interested. Highly recommended.

Great to hear that new iMacs are on the way.

Regarding iMacs, Schiller also said that new iMacs are in the works, slated for release some time this year (no specifics other than “this year”), including “configurations of iMac specifically with the pro customer in mind and acknowledging that our most popular desktop with pros is an iMac.”

— The Mac Pro Lives by John Gruber

I've been looking to replace my MacBook Pro for a while now. I do most of my work at home and it's rare that I do serious development during a client visit. While the MacBook Pro made sense at the start of my freelance career, I think an iMac would be better for myself.

The question of what to do on client visits though remains. Should I still keep the MacBook Pro for client visits? Unless I'm called on to write code during that visit (I never am) then I think it's safe to say that I can relegate the MacBook Pro to another younger member of the family who can use it for school work more effectively than I would use it as a second development machine.

I'm still debating the purchase of an iPad Pro to act as a portable device. I would use this more for admin, marketing and writing and planning tasks. Anything that isn't writing code essentially.

I'll get the desktop hardware sorted first before I go down this road though.

... gets a new curator in the form of volunteer Shawn Mihalik.

For serious tweet-storming on Twitter.

I love this idea for an app as I hate trying to condense down a single thought into 140 characters.

Hell, it might even get me using Twitter again!

... with Annie Mueller.

Yesterday I attended the Nicholas Bate's Deep Productivity seminar in Oxford. It was a great chance to meet a fellow and much respected blogger and at the same use the course to gather up all the important bits about productivity.

The venue of the seminar was in the Magdalen College School. It was unlike any school I've ever visited and is also the oldest school that I've ever been in. If you like Harry Potter you will love this place.

I arrived a bit early being just around the corner for accommodation. I got speaking to Nicholas and a few other attendees to the seminar and then the hard work began at 9am.

The seminar was extremely valuable and it was a good opportunity to re-visit some strategies to help stay focused and productive. I also walked away with a number of books from Nicholas that have been added to the top of the reading list.

So what did I get from this seminar then?

Well, the whole point of this wasn't to learn something new. I'm a big fan of Nicholas Bate's blog and his material so I was already familiar with a number of strategies, but where I previously got this information over a long period of time, the seminar provided the opportunity to consolidate all of this information into a single form that I could digest more easily and refresh my brain.

It was also a great opportunity to meet Nicholas and other attendees.

All in it was a great investment of my time and I hope that it can yield some great results in the weeks, months and years to come.

Thank you Nicholas for putting on a superb event and it was great to finally meet you good sir!

For the attendees, I've managed to go my first 24 hours without bread as my first actionable item. Started yesterday during the seminar (thanks for the nudge NB) and made it to this morning by having cereal and a smoothie rather than toast. Yay!

Added Annie Mueller to the list.

Who's on your blogroll?

... over at Feedbin.

I love using Feedbin. Such a great RSS reader and the fact that they keep adding to it and improving it just keeps making it better to use.

Driving down to Oxford this afternoon for tomorrow's Deep Productivity seminar with none other than Nicholas Bate himself.

A great chance to meet and a great opportunity to learn.

If you're attending, say hi!

Medium announced it's paid tier called Memberships. I'm not convinced though.

Sure it's great that Medium are finally charging for their product, but there isn't enough value here.

You can count me out.

CJ Chilvers looks at the importance of being small and why avoiding the need to grow can be a good thing.

I've written before about my love of small books, but these past few days I've re-discovered a love of small blogs, small newsletters, and small products in general. Small could mean brief. There's bravery in brevity. Small could also mean minimal, a first step towards something larger.

— The Importance of Being Small by CJ Chilvers

Some essential coffeeshop tips and etiquette from the peeps over at DNSimple.

When you order your first drink ask for it straight away. Having a good relationship with the staff is important so give a good tip. I usually give 40%-50% on the first visit. That really helps get a good start with the people working there.

— Working in coffeeshops by DNSimple

I need to breakout from the home office a bit more often now that the good weather is just around the corner. Paisley only has a couple of good coffee shops worth working in though.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about marketing.

While making my afternoon coffee I was running some editing changes through my head on a post I'm writing. And then it struck me.

If you're not writing, you're not marketing.

I've struggled with marketing my freelancing business in the past, but I certainly could start making a step in the right direction by writing more for my freelancing business.

Again, this was sitting in my drafts. Doh!

The weekend was something of a blur. After a trip down to see a client and a few days back at my desk catching up, I was glad to have some downtime with the family.

Saturday started as it always does with Drew's Little Tiger Cubs class. As always he's slow to start with the warm ups but as soon as they get to the kicking and punching he's front and centre! After that it time to head home as Jen was going for the day so it was just me and the boys. Drew was invited to a birthday party next door so I took him through for that will Ethan entertained himself on the Playstation.

Sunday was Ethan's first group lesson with the rest of the Juniors at Paisley Golf Club. Even though he's hardly had a chance to play on the course over the winter, Ethan's been improving his swing over the winter and this will be a big year for him. His lesson went well and he learned a few things the hard way but it's sometimes the only way you learn.

Sunday morning was also my first jaunt back out on the mountain bike. The first bike ride of the year is always rubbish. You find out it now that your bike needs a service or new parts and you're also getting back on the bike after a number of months since the last time you were on it. This year was no exception.

With a slow puncture at the rear I decided to top up the wheel with air to see how slow it was. Unfortunately my pump split in two and couldn't get any air into the wheel. I had enough air to get back to the card, but it did cut my ride significantly short. Added a new pump and a new rear tyre (it is blading) to the bike shopping list.

Sunday afternoon saw Drew heading out for a Little Tiger Cubs assessment. He's been attending the classes for a few months now and he's earned the stripes for his belt. At his assessment he earned his next belt up and walked away with a certificate.

It's back to work for Ethan with the first RGU under 14s session of the year. Plenty to work on!

Might be time for another batch of these. The one on the Langster is starting to look a bit worse for wear and Drew is starting to cycle as well. Ethan already has one for his mountain bike for cycling to school.

Also I'm fed up with picking out mud from the back of my forks. The Mudder might help with that problem.

The no-pressure kind. Manton Reece explains.

I love that blogs can scale from the trivial to the important. The microblog post about what you had for breakfast. The half-baked rant about something you’re passionate about. And sometimes, the rare essay that really hits the mark and makes people think.

— No-pressure blogging by Manton Reece

I've been struggling to blog more in the last couple of years. Partly that's down to me trying to produce too high a level of content. I should just blog what comes to mind. It won't all be great, but every now and again there will be a post that really stands outs.

... from our man in Arizona, Michael Wade.

1. The best way to create magic is never to rely upon it.
2. Be wary of those who think everything is driven by money.
3. The most important conversations are those that are never held.
4. Think more of your habits than of your plans.

— A Few Observations by Michael Wade

Click through the rest of the list.

Patrick is now nonline for at least the next year.

As of March 4, 2017 I’ve stopped all online publishing. This includes my websites and social media accounts. No blog posts, no tweets, no status updates. I’m nonline. I expect this to last at least a year. In that time, I’ll be writing. My goal for that writing is to become a book.

— On Sabbatical by Patrick Rhone

I'm glad Patrick is still going to be running his newsletter during this sabbatical. A little opportunity to see how the writing is going and what else he's been doing.