Week 20 - Summer break
Starry Night and the Astonauts by Alma Thomson
I'm back after an impromptu summer break. I didn't realize I was in one - I just couldn't make myself write. And as school starts, the itch to write and to put out the newsletter is back, and I realize that I was indeed on a summer break
In hindsight, it is clear that I should have planned for this - because of the way I work. Hindsight clarifies that I was seduced by this idea of a stoic professional, one who grits their teeth and produces work day in and day out - doesn't matter how they feel or what is imposed upon them. As much as I would like to be that person, my patterns, my behaviors are different.
I work on a boom-bust pattern. In the boom phase, I tend to go all out, burning candles at both ends, creating indiscriminately till I'm depleted. At that poin I'm in the bust - where I go through guilt of not producing, come to terms with it, relax, restore and before I know it, I'm starting the boom cycle gain.
Embracing this seasonal productivity pattern will allow me to enjoy the fruitful phase and the fallow phase. This leads to the wisdom that, for optimality, I better schedule a summer and winter break to co-incide wtih the fallow times.
All this is a long-winded way to say that, I'm back putting out the last 6 newsletters of this year of the turtle.
Here are some links - some things I've been upto in the last few weeks, and some things I've read.
1. The craft of writing effectively
A few weeks ago I watched this great lecture by Larry McEnerney about writing effectively. As a part of my goal of learning in public, I decided to turn the notes into a post. It's here on my blog or on Medium behind a paywall
2. Updated booknotes
As I read books, especially non-fiction books, I highlight and take notes - be it a paper book or an ebook. Inspired by Derek Sivers, I have been publishing these book notes at booknotes.suprada.com, since 2014. The 2020 updates for some of the books are now on the site. These include
- Why we sleep: Unlocking the power of Sleep and Dreams
- Slow: Simple living for a frantic time
- Leadership: In Turbulent times
- Deep Nutrition: Why your genes need traditional food
- The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons learned from 15 years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company
- The Longing for less: Living with minimalism
- Personal History by Katharine Graham
- Stubborn Attachments: A vision for a society of free, prosperous and responsible individuals
3. Hypothes.is
Continuing with the theme of writing, I have now integrated Hypothesis with both my blog and booknotes.
The case for hypothesis: What if, when reading any article on the web, you highlight sentences and annotate with notes? What if, later, you can access those notes and highlights in one spot - a bookmark of interesting links on one hand, a snapshot of what you find meaningful and useful on the other.
And what if, you decide you want to collaborate with someone else and share annotations and bookmarks with said person/s? And what if this tool exists, is free as in the internet, and is open-source?
This tool is Hypothesis.
If you are the annotating sort, I would highly recommend checking this tool.
4. The Art of Deckmaking
A great deck on how to make impactful slide decks.
5. How to write an email intro request
Am I completely ignorant that I found this extremely useful? A template for email introduction requests.
6. A pairing of articles on learning skills
The 100 hour asset - an article from Seth Godin on building a non-flashy essential skill worth learning
Access to knowledge isn’t nearly as difficult as the desire to learn.
Expiring vs. Permanent Skills - the title says it all.
7. An article duo on working less
Written on August 16, 2020.
This was Issue #20 of the Year of the Turtle. You can see all the past newsletters on this website.
The fonts used here are from David Jonathan Ross' Font of the Month Club
- Gimlet XRay - January 2020
- Dattilo DJR - March 2020
- Roslindale Deck - April 2020
- Roslindale Text - November 2017