The Deliberate #15

Check-In Round

“If you could snap your fingers and instantly be world-class in a specific skill what would it be?”

I was going to say playing guitar, but I’ve actually really enjoyed the process of slowly accruing more and more skill as I’ve deliberately practiced over the past few weeks. So, instead, I think I’ll go with “programming.” I’ve always been an avid watcher/lurker of the tech world and for whatever reason I never really dove into learning how to program other than the hand-coded HTML websites I made back in middle school and high school. It feels like a boat I’ve more or less missed at this point.

Follow-Up

I mentioned “quietly quitting Twitter” in the last issue and at the point of writing that I had been off the service for the better part of three or four weeks. In the past week or so, though, I’ve been slowly re-following some folks. I want to figure out a way to engage with Twitter in a way that feels organic, controlled, and useful without the turmoil and agita that often comes along with it. I’ve taken a step in that direction by being deliberate about who I re-follow: folks I’ve met in real life (or through my office hour) and folks who regularly Tweet about topics I want to learn more about (primarily Apple, tech, and org design). No celebrities. As little news as possible. No companies or organizations. Liberal use of the mute button. No notifications.

What Has My Attention

Introducing my new podcast, Fields of Work

I’m the oldest of five boys. My youngest brother, Max, is 10 years younger than me. He has been working on various farms for the past few years and since that seems to be as close as possible to the polar opposite of what I do, we thought it would be interesting if we started a podcast about work. We’re a few episodes in at this point and still getting our feet under us in terms of flow and sound quality. I’m having a lot of fun talking to him about something I know nothing about and finding some surprising overlap in what we do. It should be searchable in your podcast player of choice (I recommend Overcast if you’re on iOS).


The Surprising Benefits of Relentlessly Auditing Your Life

I’m a sucker for a good spreadsheet so you know an article titled “The Surprising Benefits of Relentlessly Auditing Your Life” is going to catch my eye. I love that the couple in the article discovered some pretty significant life changes they wanted to make by doing some relatively light self-tracking. This is quantified self at its best. In a somewhat related vein, Emily and I have started doing a weekly Action Meeting every Sunday which is a move straight out of my work playbook but is also proving to be a pretty useful relationship move.


An Evening With Griffin McElroy

I’m a huge fan of the McElroy family. From My Brother, My Brother, and Me, Wonderful!, The Adventure Zone, Monster Factory and so much more, I find them to be a hilarious and admirable bunch of creative dudes. This talk from Griffin McElroy (the sweet baby brother) is a more serious side that was a little strange but incredibly endearing to see. In this talk Griffin describes his professional path with all the twists and turns that eventually led him to the independent creative career he’s in now. It may be less engrossing if you aren’t deep into the McElroy catalog but I found it to be pretty great.


A Few Quick Thoughts on WWDC 2019

I’m still not writing as much as I want, but I did crank out a super short reflection after Apple’s recent WWDC keynote. 


Your Undivided Attention

I’m conflicted by the Center For Humane Technology. On the one hand, I think what they are working on is super important and it seems like a relatively thoughtful group of folks who are earnest in what they are trying to do. But then I read critiques of them and I realize maybe the situation is more complex than I thought. I DON’T KNOW. CHT is either great or its terrible... but they do have a new podcast out called Your Undivided Attention that I found to be pretty good.

Closing Round

  • Listening: I did a little more work on my The Sound of High School (2001-2005) playlist (Apple Music only, sadly). If you’re my age and fancied yourself a bit of an emo fan then you’ll probably enjoy this nostalgia bomb.

  • Working: Not much travel over the last few weeks. Quick trip to Philly next week. First vacation of the year is in sight! Also, I completely revamped my task management system. That’s probably a story for another day.

  • Drinking: I ran out of good coffee and I needed something to bridge the gap until my new batch of YES PLZ arrived. Turns out the McDonald’s brand “McCafe Premium Roast” is surprisingly drinkable. A perfectly serviceable emergency coffee to keep on hand.

  • Playing: Emily and I just played a round of Mario Kart while using the JoyCons in the little steering wheels. The hard-earned muscle memory from Mario Kart on the Wii definitely kicked in. I’ve still got it.

  • Watching: Just started Chernobyl. ‘Tis good. Oh! And The Russian Five! As a kid who grew up as a huge hockey fan in Detroit in the 90s it was a crazy walk down memory lane and I learned a bunch of behind-the-scenes stuff that 10 year old Sam was definitely unaware of. A great story, even if you aren’t a hockey fan.

Yours in intentionality,
Sam