We humans are social beings; we need to be around others, share our time and stories and gossip, the warmth of physical contact, and the display and feeling… | Continue reading
You've probably seen this sign before. It means we're taking a break—a pause. A straight "Closed for vacation" sign that keeps you off work during… | Continue reading
I'm writing more than ever, but I still find it hard to hit my Tuesday posts' deadline. I guess I'm lazy. To me, the draft is playful and fun, but polishing… | Continue reading
Andy Warhol's artworks have sold for millions of dollars. His most famous works—think of Campbell's Soup Cans (1962) and Marylin Diptych (1962)—are limited… | Continue reading
In a quest to spend more time writing and less time sharing online what I write, I developed an automated workflow to share my posts on social media with… | Continue reading
I've recently started answering reader and listener questions on my podcast. I encourage you to ask me anything related to the topics I write about on this… | Continue reading
The compact disc—the CD—was co-developed by Philips and Sony back in the 1980s. This format was initially developed to store and play music but was then… | Continue reading
With automations in place, the need to spend time on manual tasks disappears; you can do more in less time and your duties are delegated to the machine,… | Continue reading
Before the invention of printing, professional scribes copied manuscripts by hand. Woodblock printing, movable type, etching, and other inventions preceded… | Continue reading
In 1942, Albert Camus published a philosophical essay titled The Myth of Sisyphus and his novel The Stranger. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, Camus'… | Continue reading
In his book—Atomic Habits—James Clear presents a four-step pattern as the backbone of every habit. The four stages of habit are: cue, craving, response, and… | Continue reading
My drawing process is (nearly) always the same; I grab a pen, stroke the main lines of something I see, add detail, and shade. Afterwards, I make a decision… | Continue reading
An easy way to avoid distractions while working on your device is to logout from email, social media, and any other accounts that often steal your time. Next… | Continue reading
The fact that you will go to sleep tonight and wake up tomorrow makes you feel immortal. A seventy-year-old person has gone through this loop more than… | Continue reading
This New Yorker cartoon by Erika Sjule made me laugh. For years, Phone, Keys, Wallet has been my usual house-leaving check. Contactless payments recently let… | Continue reading
Last week, I talked about repetition, automation, organization, and disconnection. Ever since I started the podcast, I've had to prepare, manually, multiple… | Continue reading
This piece is an introduction a new series—called Unitaskers—that will feature single-purpose artifacts that let you do one thing. Think, for instance, of a… | Continue reading
Wash hands more than twenty times per day. Wear a face mask. Elbow-greet people. Deliver a talk from my living room. Play social distancing (two-meter mode)… | Continue reading
Picasso's artworks include more than 1,800 paintings, 1,200 sculptures, 2,800 ceramics, and 12,000 drawings, without mentioning prints, rugs, and tapestries,… | Continue reading
Many Mondays, I find myself empty-handed—exactly as I did yesterday—browsing through my journals in search of a story I could share today. Back when I… | Continue reading
And you gave us ads and all sorts of unsolicited connections. | Continue reading
Early morning on December 20, 2016, I found my way into a huge sports field at MIT, plagued with evenly-spaced tables ready for an exam. Nervous, as if I… | Continue reading
Software, as fruit, rottens. If you leave it there for long enough it will go bad, and programs stop working. When the dependencies of a program and the… | Continue reading
I grew up sitting at the table to eat—often half-sitting with one knee, ready to flee to my computer or my toys. A year ago, right when we moved into our… | Continue reading
Ubiquitous internet and unlimited data plans got rid of any limitations for texting, calling, or browsing the internet. Speeds are fast and using all of your… | Continue reading
By about 3000 BC the Egyptians had already developed a calendar, and a water clock, the sand clock predecesor, was already in use around 1500 BC, probably to… | Continue reading
Yesterday, my body temperature got up to 39.7 Celsius degrees. I was shivering with fever and felt like crap. We have all these plans we want to do, places… | Continue reading
I like to start working in the early morning with the minimum amount of items on my desk. A MacBook Air, a 4K monitor, and a wireless mouse. No matter how… | Continue reading
Russ Chauvenet was a chess champion and one of the founders of science fiction fandom. In October 1940, Russ himself coined the term fanzine in one of the… | Continue reading
Click. It's made out of cardboard. Click. It's sealed with blue tape. Click. There are 3 items in your cart. Click. Your order has been placed. Amazon is… | Continue reading