Espresso Shots 4-6-25

Here's my weekly update with a few interesting random findings that I came across the last week or two. I am going to try to make sure they're here in time for you to enjoy with your morning coffee (or beverage of choice) every Saturday or Sunday, and include some of my thoughts around them.

The Latest Drippings ☕️

• 10 Ways to Think About Puzzles.. A fun look at various ways we handle solving puzzles, and I don't just mean crossword puzzles. 'Good luck solving puzzles out there. We've been handed some really tricky ones lately.'
• Availability is no longer a personality trait and Eject disk. Two amazing posts from Brillantcrank on fostering more meaningful relationships and the exhausting aspects of superficial connections. Eject Disk, self-described as 'a manifesto for everyone stuck in the system that keeps crashing you,' was a wonderful follow-up asserting that burnout is not a sign of weakness but a result of over-functioning in environments that demand endurance over authenticity. Beautiful read.
• Why You Should Work Like It's the '90s (gift link). Remember the days when you'd leave the office, and disconnect without constant noise from emails or messages? I do - and it's the reason why my work is never on my personal phone. No slack, teams, email, etc., to encroach on my time after I finish the day. Suppose there's an emergency; sure, people know how to get me - but it's essential to have that distance to disconnect.
• In Praise of Laurene Powell Jobs, Owner of The Atlantic, Superhero of Signalgate. I love the way Laurene Powell Jobs handled 'signalgate,' and it's solidified my choice on why I subscribe to The Atlantic — a superhero we need right now.
• Cory Booker, Endurance Athlete (gift link). Speaking of heroes, Senator Cory Booker's record-breaking speech of 25+ hours was a 'oratorical marathon.' Politics aside, I was fascinated to read about how he could do this without taking a bathroom break. He stopped eating on the previous Friday and refrained from drinking water 24 hours before he even started speaking — a verbal marathon.
• Codex Vitae. I came across this 2019 post from Buster Benson, author of 'Why are we Yelling?' about keeping a Codex Vitae. Often described as a 'book of strategies, life hacks and bits of wisdom,' or in his own words, as a 'way for me to remember who I am, catch inconsistencies in how I respond to different events in the world, react to current events from a position of how I believe the world is, should be, and will become.' I have also heard these referred to as 'commonplace books,' but I love the idea of a "a book of wisdom that is literally your life's work."
• 5 Productivity Strategies from the Mind of Richard Feynman. Oooh - I enjoyed this dive into 'curiosity-driven exploration' over conventional productivity measures.
• No one cares... for now. There is some excellent advice about writing in this piece, even when no one reads it. 'No one cares. That's okay. The act of writing itself helps us think, helps us learn, helps us discover how we feel about a topic.'
• Here's Why I'm Telling Young Musicians to See the Dylan Biopic. A reminder that songs are themselves change agents and that music is transformative.
• ALPS and the Topographic Mindset. I hadn't previously heard of ALPS (Application-Level Profile Semantics), but I love the concept when applied to thinking in general. The idea of 'shift in mindset: from navigating roads to reading terrain' is a great one for life in general and how we have to approach many things these days when shifting perspectives to a generalist approach.
• Theory of Constraints. The theory of constraints is that you should determine which step in a process is the least efficient and is holding you back — a helpful tool to think about when pushing for continuous improvement.
• Productivity for Mortals. Oliver Burkeman discusses an important question (especially in the age of 'perfect' social media); 'Even though we know perfection isn't real, it can still leave us feeling stuck. 'why even try?' we wonder as we face our messy, imperfect lives.'. It's a quick but insightful watch.
• Keep moving. A good reminder of the importance of action and connection in times like this is a good way to stay grounded.
• How to Start Doing the Things You Daydream About. Ever find yourself in a place where you want to get something done, but you keep getting distracted by all the other things? It is a solid read on exploring the common excuses like lack of time, uncertainty about how to start, or waiting for a better time. And, more importantly, how these excuses are mere deflections rooted in fear of the unknown.

Amor Fati ✌🏻