Chris J Wilson

Today I came across a writer with a boring site.

He has a single profile picture at the top along with links to navigate to his various writings and podcastings.

It was wonderful. I was soon on a wikipedia-like spelunking trip through his various article.

His site feels like such a breath of fresh air in an age of full page cover images with email popup forms. Admittedly, the depth of articles he has written helps a lot. And I’m publishing this on Micro.blog where this kind of design is the norm.

While there is a place for the website with landing page, I’m grateful that some people still publishing on boring blogs.

I am not a consistent journaler.

Over the last 8 years, I’ve tried lots of different system with varying degrees of success, but every time I keep the habit going, I gain a lot from it.

In my experiments, I’ve found three prompts which have helped me more than any others. So I thought I’d share them with you.

What’s on your mind? - answer this often reveals a hidden fear.

What are you grateful for? - this shifts my perspective to one of gratitude.

What would make today great? - it often does take much, but this prompt helps me improve my days.

There you have it, 3 quick prompts that you may find valuable.

I’d love to hear any prompts you’ve found beneficial.

UPDATE: I’ve realised that even these thoughts aren’t completely correct. I’ve noticed exceptions to my main issue. My new working theory is that I just wished we were all a little self obsessed, and when someone is less obvious with it, it make me realise the issue in myself.

I’m finally preparing the latest edition of my newsletter to send and got caught on the invitation for suggested content.* I always assumed people would refer someone else’s content which has happened but I have one reader who sends their own content every time I open the invitation.

At first I thought it was my cultural background that makes me view that so negatively. Then I wondered if it was the implicit, if not explicit, request for other people’s content. But as I really thought about it I realised the strongest reason for my reaction.

I don’t trust someone’s opinion of their own creation.

People generally have good taste when it comes to other people’s work and certainly don’t share everything they like with everyone. But that instinct frequently get’s turned off by the kind of person who promotes their stuff all the time.

While I was selfishly asking people to act as a filter and finder of quality instead of taking that responsibility myself, this reader redistributes that work back to me again. So I suppose it serves me right really!

*In the end I cut it. I couldn’t be bothered to work out a good way to phrase it. At least not today.

I’ve been thinking about minimalism again. My main prompt is reading “The Life We’re Looking For” by Andy Crouch. He lays out how “devices” can take as well as give and advocates for technology that makes us more engaged with our whole being rather than passive. As is common, I’ve started to see patterns everywhere. Suddenly stoicism seams very minimalist, I started to look at some of Patrick Rhone’s old essays and I’m wondering about how Christian “simplicity” is similar and different to minimalism. Oh and I’ve coincidentally decided to clear out my desk and draws at the same time.

In the past I commented that my big issue with minimalism is that it provides a diagnosis without a prognosis. I still believe there’s truth to that critique, but it doesn’t make the diagnosis less true.

Now excuse me while I go back to holding some old T-shirts and asking “does this spark joy?” Over and over again.

I’ve got the week off work (but my daughter is still going to pre-school) so I’ve drawn up a list of things to do that I would normally struggle to do due to lack of time or her presence! There’s a lot of big topic conversations with my wife plus making sure I’m fully present and engaged with her in the evening.

First item on my list - cleaning up my desk, notes and old clothes that need to be thrown out.

I had to renew my phone contract and had a chance to upgrade my four year old phone. In the end I decided against it. The offer sounded good but I wouldn’t have wanted to upgrade this year anyway so it was just spending money I didn’t want to spend.

As I reached the conclusion that I should declining the offer, I felt an uncomfortable pain. I knew it was a good offer, I knew I wanted the new shiny thing, but I also knew it wasn’t a good use of money and I’d be getting a phone and deal I wouldn’t have chosen otherwise.

I knew the decision was right, but I didn’t want it to be the right decision.

The end of the year is in sight.

And while there’s still time for me to purchase a new piece of tech, I think it’s safe for me to create this roundup list (especially with my current financial situation).

I haven’t bought too many items this year, but these three stand out above the rest.

AirPods Pro

My wife is the best.
I had resisted replacing my old AirPods with news ones but my wife convinced me.
She was right. They’ve helped me with countless video calls, blocking out noisy neighbours (and kids) not to mention hours of podcast listening.

And It sounds like the second gen are even better.

Samsung M7

There’s no perfect cheap monitor for Apple computers, but this is close.

It’s a

• 32"
• 4k
• USB-C connection monitor.

Back when I was deep in spreadsheets, reports and editing every day, this screen was invaluable. Now it is amazing for editing videos, recording screen casts (I can record a limited space on the screen and have notes in the rest) and for opening a ton of resources from Logos.

Caldigit ts3+

The two ports on the Macbook Air just aren’t enough.

Well, not when I make a video and have my camera, microphone, streamdeck, iPad, monitor and external hard drive all hooked up. This handy little device has made it all a dream.

Previously, I had a dongle that required some careful planning to get everything connected. Now I hook one thunderbolt 3 cable into my Macbook, and away I go.

**What about you? **What have been your favourite hardware tech purchases of the year.

6 years ago I started making some simple videos for students of English as a foreign language because it was a more valuable “proof of work” as a freelance teacher than the alternatives.

Today, I’m using those skills (and more I’ve learned since) for the onboarding videos project at work.

Plus I got a review copy of Logos 10 for the video review I published earlier this week.

You never know where a little decision might lead you in the future. Or how a fun little skill project might open other doors.

But also, don’t feel ashamed about having a hobby which is just a hobby.

As I read CJ Chilver’s recent post on the lazy billionaire, I was reminded of Patrick Rhone’s approach of using the Apple default apps as much as possible.

• Notes in Notes
• Tasks in Reminders
• Events in Calendar
• Podcasts in Apple podcasts and so on.

Some of these feel more controversial than others. Could I really give up my beloved obsidian? Would I be prepared to give up smart skip in a podcast player? How will I GTD if I don’t have a full armed and operational battle station, I mean task manager.

And I do notice that Patrick does make a couple of exceptions such as using a markdown writing app instead of the notes app (unless that has changed since his minimal mac days which it may well have).

In truth, there are some apps (like Snipd my current podcast app) where I don’t really use their functionality. I do capture clips from podcasts, but I don’t tend to review them. And it’s even rare that I use those snippets when they are automatically imported into my obsidian vault from readwise.

So I’m reviewing all my fancy third party apps. Maybe they’ll go and maybe they’ll stay.

Carrot weather is definitely staying.