Family guy and web developer
While reading On Writing Well last night, I was glad to have found the section on technical writing.
Describing how a process works is valuable for two reasons. It forces you to make sure you know how it works. Then it forces you to take the reader through the same sequence of ideas and deductions that made the process clear to you.
— On Writing Well by William Zinsser
The morning routine is going well since officially embarking on it around November of last year. Here's what happens.
I do this all at the dining room table. Just me, my phone, a pen and a notebook. And maybe a coffee if I'm feeling adventurous.
I have to say, it's working well for me.
I’ve been using Sublime Text 3 all week as my text editor. Is it just me or is the speed difference really noticeable over Atom?
Patrick Rhone's book Enough.
Buy it, read it love it and then read it again. I'll still be reading this book for many years to come. That's how great it is.
A schedule, just like a financial budget, is there for the purpose of serving my goals. A schedule makes sure the minutes don’t get away from me. It helps me keep from squandering my time.
— Benjamin Franklin's Daily Schedule by Shawn Blanc
Since I started structuring my day, I've noticed a gradual improvement.
Did I miss the memo? Where’s the Mandrill addon for @heroku?
No, not me. It's an idea proposed by Kurt Harden. And I have to say, it sounds like a great idea.
We ought to sign off on each day. We should take an account of what has been accomplished - cleaned car, solved these four problems, made these contacts, closed this deal, cooked a good meal, read these items - and then sign off.
— Signing off on the day by Kurt Harden
I’m a user and fan of the private social networking app Path. I love the constraints on their product. You can’t post from the web, just your phone.
It’s also private for you and your family and friends. I like that. We don’t always need to tell the world everything. I’m as guilty of anyone as this. I share links, photos and videos on Twitter like everyone else, but I do question the real value that comes from just throwing out content for the world to see, whether it takes the form of a link, an image or even a tweet.
I would love to see another service like Twitter, but one that focuses on privacy and constraints. Private timelines that are accessible only by the people involved in that timeline, Enough space in each post for a couple of hundred words. And maybe even limiting the posting frequency to a couple of posts a day, maybe even one. Sounds like a blog, sounds like a private RSS feed, it even sounds like an email newsletter subscription. Sounds like a lot of things.
One thing it isn’t is public. The other is that it isn't adding to the noise levels. Maybe we need something like that.
A couple of years ago I took the decision to limit my home screen to eight apps. The goal was to limit my the apps I use on a daily basis to just the essential ones.
With eight apps on my home screen I wouldn't be spending time looking for those apps I rarely use or being distracted by other apps. I would unlock my phone, do what I need to do and then put it down.
It started well but over time, the number of apps on the home screen gradually grew and grew until I had two screens filled with apps.
Since the start of the year I've been trying to get the number of apps on my home screen back down to just eight apps. Last weekend I finally got down to my target number. Here's the list of apps I have now on my home screen:
I stick to Apple's own offerings for communication using Messages, Phone, Mail and Safari. I've tried different apps to do each of these, but Apple's own apps are proven apps that meet all my needs. These sit on the menu bar at the bottom of the screen.
Technology is great, but it can start becoming a hindrance if it isn't kept under control. For me, eight apps is enough.
