Immigration, Cell Phone Time, Water = Happiness, & 100+ Productivity Tools
I hope you're having a great week! Here are some things I've been checking out and working on the last week:
Book Notes I Added:Deep Work - Cal Newport
After adding notes for Digital Minimalism last week, I realized I hadn't added old notes for Deep Work, another book that had a large influence on how I think about work. A great read for anyone who struggles to balance mundane tasks (read: email and similar) with deeper work.
Also, for those interested, here are the preliminary results of my phone re-organization, and renewed focus on using it less (Mar. 19 is the date I re-organized):
We'll see whether this holds, but I'm pleased with how it's going so far. (Screenshot is from RescueTime)
Articles I'm Reading:
- If Liberals Won't Enforce Borders, Fascists Will - The Atlantic - I generally have a policy of avoiding politics as much as possible, but this is great, nuanced piece on immigration. If only all journalism was like this. Interestingly, written by a Canadian naturalized in the US.
- Why Being Near Water Really Does Make Us Happier - CN Traveler - Far from what I would consider scientifically rigorous, this piece does convey my sentiments on being near water. A more interesting question: does this apply to everyone? Or just those who grew up near it? Do mountains or other large geographic features have similar effects for those that grew up near them?
- 100+ Resources for Optimizing Productivity and Performance - The Forcing Function - I personally use a lot of the suggested products already, and will be testing out some new ones from the list. Very comprehensive.
- Ten Lessons I Learned While Teaching Myself to Code - Clive Thompson/Tim Ferriss - I've long wanted to spend time learning to code, and I enjoyed this piece. I will learn at some point, but this highlighted many of the struggles I had when learning a bit during school.
- A Behind the Scenes Take on Lithium-ion Battery Prices - BloombergNEF - This is a great piece for anyone who wants to really geek out on battery prices. The most detailed I've read.
Product I'm Using:Awair 2nd Edition
I'm relatively new to air monitoring, but the science around CO2 levels and cognitive performance is very interesting (tl;dr high CO2 levels have been shown to heavily impair cognitive function). Awair was kind enough to send me one of their new air quality monitors, and I've been testing it for the last week or so. A full review will be on the blog at some point.
I'm doing a review of the newsletter, and I'd love if you could give me feedback on a few questions:
- What are you favourite parts of the newsletter overall?
- What stuff would you like to see more of?
- What topics would you like to see more of?
- What would you like to see less of?
Thanks for your help! Have a great week.
Graham
