Self-reliance and an ability to get things done with little outside support is a big part of how I grew incredibly quickly in my early career - because I could get things done, and do it all pretty independently. I still like being able to bust out that kind of
When I pick up new habits, I tend to focus relentlessly on keeping the streak going. To take a swing every day. And it's mostly served me well. Even writing here for most of the past 12 months, I've published something new every day. This didn&
This weekend we repainted our kitchen cabinets, and it would be easy to think we did all the work over that 48 hour period. But in reality, I've been preparing for this for weeks. First it's the research of what colors, what paint types to use,
I've been writing here daily since October and things have felt a little...stale lately. I still love the exercise of publishing something new each day - it's a fantastic morning habit that does get the ideas flowing, even if what I share isn't
Meetings get a bad rap. In too large a dose, they feel like a waste of time, especially because most meetings are run poorly, and often are objectively a waste of time. And because we're all in so many meetings, we never have the time to prepare and
An easy area to underestimate while in a remote role is the value of face time with your coworkers. Remote work is mostly an asynchronous world. A space that requires the willpower to stay focused, even without a team around you. And it's true one of the greatest
It's not hyperbole to say that many video games today increasingly resemble a job, at least in terms of time commitment required and a task completion-based progression system. In World of Warcraft, you have endless quests to complete, all with clear objectives guiding you where you need to
Too often the work that gets our attention is the urgent, rather than the important. Sometimes the urgent tasks can also be important, but too often we're sidelining the truly crucial projects for the stuff that just seems like a fire drill today. A useful exercise in priorities
I recently got a chance to brew a batch of beer with the professional brewers at a local brewery by me. Beer brewing is a remarkably scientific, exacting process. There's calculations and formulae to consider. Exact temperatures and volumes to adhere to. But invariably, things change as the
If you're someone used to excelling at everything you try, it's helpful to cut your ego down to size and pick hobbies you're likely to suck at. For me that's been bread baking. Most of my attempts thus far have been too
An old boss of mine once gifted me a copy of Mastery, by George Leonard, a book about the pursuit and cultivation of skills over the long term. A key concept in this book is learning to recognize and embrace the plateaus inherent in learning something challenging and new. It
I like to grow a vegetable garden in my backyard during the summer, and with it already midsummer, now's a good chance to see where I'm at. The answer is...not so exciting. I've got some tomato plants doing pretty well, some green beans,