Jim Eagar Reading Time: 4 minutesEnthusiastic promoters claimed that linking thoughts together in note-taking apps like Obsidian would spark a revolution in human thinking. Instead, they’ve mostly left us with bigger, fancier digital filing cabinets. The Hype: A Promised Revolution in Thinking When bidirectional linking note apps like Obsidian and Roam Research were released, some writers and podcasters trumpeted a …
Reading Time: 3 minutesWe Don’t See Ourselves Clearly It’s not unusual for us to hold limiting beliefs about ourselves and underestimate our abilities. We often fail to see ourselves objectively, and we tend to overlook the skills and characteristics we possess. We don’t think what we do is special because it’s just what we do. However, other people …
Reading Time: 2 minutesThe Illusion of Certainty Have you ever argued with someone about what really happened—only to discover you both remembered the same event differently? We assume that we know past events because we lived them. However, our memories might not be as accurate as we think. Author Derek Sivers reminds us that what we call the …
Reading Time: 4 minutesI don’t read books and blog posts to connect with algorithms. I read to connect with people. Writing Is More Than Words on a Page In her recent book, The Curious Reader’s Field Guide to Nonfiction, writing expert Anne Janzer points out that very often readers feel a personal connection with their favorite authors. They …
Reading Time: < 1 minuteIf you’re interested in what I’ve been reading and doing lately, take a look at my newly updated Updates page. Subscribe Subscribe to get our latest content by email. We don’t share your information. Subscribe We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe at any time. Built with Kit
Reading Time: 3 minutesFocus on What You Control We spend so much energy stressing over things we can’t control—traffic jams, canceled flights, rude comments. The Stoics warned us 2,000 years ago that this is wasted effort. They taught that freedom comes from focusing only on what is within our control. They divided everything in life into two categories: …
Reading Time: < 1 minuteWhen I first started writing this blog in February of 2022, I said I’d be writing about: (1) Apple products and news, (2) Productivity, and (3) Life. I thought it would mostly be about Apple products. Over the years, my focus has shifted from primarily Apple products to much more about healthy productivity and general …
Reading Time: 3 minutes“I Don’t Have Anything to Say”—Really? Have you ever stayed silent because you thought, ‘Who cares what I think?’” Many people hold back from sharing their thoughts with others because they think they have no unique or valuable ideas to share. We tend to take our thinking and creating for granted. Because we think this …
Reading Time: 4 minutesWhen people ask me, ‘When should I retire?’ I usually pause. It’s a simple question—but rarely has a simple answer. When Should You Retire? Five Factors to Consider Most people get to choose when they will retire, but even those who can choose aren’t sure when or how to retire. During coaching and conversations with …
Reading Time: 4 minutesMarkdown is what happens when someone takes everything beautiful about writing on a Mac and says, “Let’s make this look like 1982 again.” And yet, despite the aesthetic throwback, I use it constantly. It’s not pretty, but it works—and sometimes, function wins over form. Most people who write online either love Markdown or hate it. …