The Pilot
Welcome
Welcome to the first edition of the biweekly Quadrant Nine newsletter. This newsletter will serve as an update on my various projects along with a few interesting things that have crossed my radar. Whether you're a reader of my blog, my fiction, or listener of my productivity podcast, I hope this newsletter series serves you well.
Latest Projects
From the Quadrant
Don't Make Your Ideas (Too) Precious - I've been thinking a lot about how we creative types can treat ideas. Some of our ideas are harder to let go of, nevertheless start, than others because they're precious to us. There's nothing wrong about having a precious project you want to work on, but you can't let your expectations in you or the project hold you back.
From the Webb
The Pups in the Yard - A short story inspired by watching my two dogs sniff around the backyard in search of squirrels. I also published the first draft as well for those curious of the evolution of the work.
From the Lab
Dice & Doing - Ever feel like your task list is too long? At lost of where to start? In this episode we roll the dice on a method that's supposed to help with our indecisiveness
Recommendations
Books
Novel
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace - One of the longest novels you'll ever read, Infinite Jest is just short of infinite in its length. Despite its tome like length Infinite Jest is easily one of the best books I've read in 2021 (technically still reading). Wallace paints a funny-yet-cynical future riddled in advertising and corruption told through the points of view residents of the Greater Boston Area. The book itself is inspired by Wallace's formative years as a high ranking junior tennis player and his later years as a struggling addict. I'm only halfway through the book but I can see it easily becoming one of my favorites of all time. (Content warning: Addiction issues and depression).
Random Quote:
Nonfiction
Refuse to Choose! by Barbara Sher - Are you the kind of person who has too many interests and passion projects? (Raises hand). Then this book is for you. I recently read it for The Productivity Lab and loved absolutely every thing about it. In the book Sher covers tactics "scanners" (her word for people with lots of interests) can use to best manage their time and energy to accomplish everything they set out to do. A must read.
Random Quote:
Podcasts
Focused #130 - Toxic Productivity - Focused is one of my favorite productivity podcasts out there. The hosts, David & Mike, talk about how productivity is all about being intentional and not necessarily about always being busy. My selected episode for this dispatch is all about "toxic productivity", what it is and how to avoid it. A must listen.