The Weekly Review: Vol VII Issue 13
Hello fellow citizens of 2020,
I’ve tried to keep things positive as I open and close these newsletters in recent issues. But as we move forward in 2020, although I know I should be focusing on how to move things forward on the unjust treatment of black and indigenous people, and that I should help people see the importance of remaining diligent with social distancing and similar measures, I must confess … I’m really tired.
It’s been almost five months of living full time at home with our children. And although we’ve had a lot of great days, and everyone is working hard to dwell in unity and improve how we treat one another, the cumulative effect of the day after day interactions are wearing on this introvert.
Parents everywhere need a break.
I hate saying these things as my children are a blessing and amazing humans. But I’d rather be real with you (and myself) then put on a false front. This has been a hard time. Moments of silence are few. My attention is fractured and spread all over the place, resulting in a less than stellar performance as an employee and as a parent. Both areas deserve better.
But … as I closed in the last issue, I still look forward. I still hope in the future. And I do my best to count my blessings on the hard days, for I have so much to be thankful for.
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Parenting during COVID-19
Related to the above, my time at work has been focused lately on the strain parents are under now. As news breaks in multiple states that school will be closed until at least November, I've been looking for examples of how companies are helping their teams get through this time.
That has been helpful for me as I see more and more teams and team leaders start to understand and live the belief that more work does not mean better work. More and more companies are learning that flexibility in hours not only means happier home situations, but it often results in better work. And, perhaps more importantly, it results in happier, engaged employees who are more likely to stay around.
When you know your team has your back in tough times, it naturally leads to feeling a greater desire to return the favour. And that's why I'm enjoying building People-First Jobs so much. It's a collection of companies who are taking the right approach, and I'm so thankful to be able to recommend a list of great places to work.
If you know examples of companies who are helping the parents on their team, I'd love to hear about it.
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Items of note
Using Text Replacement for Inline Notes and Annotations
Over on The Sweet Setup, the gang is sharing a lot of shorter tips on getting more from Ulysses. Shawn articulates a problem I experience myself:
When I am writing an article for my website or newsletter list, I try to focus on just that: writing. But the problem is that as I am writing, I am also thinking about what links, photos, or screenshots I want to add to the article. And there is usually at least a specific section that I know needs more writing or more research before it’s ready to go.
I do as Shawn does: create inline notes using the (+) command.
The article focuses on how to set up Text Replacements on padOS (or iOS). However, it's the tidbit about the new sidebar in Ulysses that caught my eye. It now lists all annotations in a sheet, allowing you to quickly peruse them all and update as needed.
How Andy Matuschak's notes comapre to a Zettel
I mentioned Andy in the last issue. If you spend any time in the Roam community, you've heard of this fellow. And it's due in large part to his own "Digital garden" and his public notes.
How and where he stores those notes aside, I spent a lot of time going over this note, plus all its offshoots.
My practice of writing Evergreen notes is heavily inspired by Niklas Luhmann’s Zettelkasten practice and its contemporary advocates. I use a different term both because there are some distinctions and because I want to give myself space to explore ideas in this space apart from the culture surrounding Zettelkasten, which has its own prior values and proclivities.
This idea of connected thoughts makes sense in a way. But it also makes the reader do a little more work than if he had published this content as one longer article. But that's kind of the idea with the digital garden.
If needed, Andy could put all this content together into one longer form. But each point is its own thought, and can be referenced from multiple other points. His collection is the best example of a digital representation of what Luhmann was getting at that I've seen.
Restoring margin through quality leisure
Over on the The Focus Course blog, Isaac Smith posted a good reminder for us all a couple months back.
Though a great deal of margin is lost or restored through the decisions we make, there is still further opportunity for margin in the types of activities we engage in. We may clear a block of time on our schedule for personal downtime, but the way that we spend that time will dramatically impact the degree to which margin is restored.
In other words, just because you cleared your schedule doesn’t equate to a life with margin. You can have free time and make your mental fatigue worse depending on the types of activities engaged during that free time.
As summer was about to begin here in the northern half of the world, this was a timely message to share. As we get through July and August and take time off of work, we can help ourselves by choosing the right kinds of activities to spend our time on.
Maybe sitting by a local beach is the right way for you to recharge … even with a mask on. But maybe that makes you feel anxious, so perhaps tenting in the woods away from everyone is a better option. Or spending some time at your local library reading a good book. Or doing some gardening that you've never quite had time for in the past.
Whatever it is, it likely doesn't involve more scrolling through a feed.
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Quote of the week
But racial oppression is even harder to see than the abuse of a loved one, because the abuser is not one person, the abuser is the world around you, and the person inflicting pain in an individual instance may themselves have the best of intentions.
Ijeoma Oluo, So You Want to Talk About Race
I'm only a couple of chapters into this book, but it's already had an affect on me. Oluo is a great writer in that she's sharing big ideas via concise, clear writing. Not big, fancy words — just clearly articulated concepts that should get the attention of anyone (myself included) who is now waking up to just how pervasive racism is in our countries.
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Currently
Watching: One unexpected aspect of subscribing to Disney+ has been the number of quality documentaries included in the library. We've been enjoying some good options from National Geographic, like Lost Cities. Apart from The Mandalorian, plus rewatching all the Star Wars, Marvel, or Pixar movies, I didn't think there would be much of interest for me, but I'm happy to be wrong about that.
Reading: Skyward by Brandon Sanderson. This two book series is one of the only things I haven’t read of Sanderson’s. It’s not his best work, but enjoyable enough. When I started reading it, I quickly realized this may qualify as one of his writings that is targeting teens or even younger kids. We picked up the audiobook and started listening to it on our family reading night. So far, the kids have liked it.
Drinking: While a lot of my beer adventures have been in the IPA, pale ale, and various hazy, unfiltered varieties, sometimes I just want a good ol' English brown ale. And the Bow Wow Brown Ale from Yellow Dog Brewing sure hits the spot.
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That's it for this week. As summer passes here in the northern hemisphere, let's all be sure to take our PTO/holiday time. Even if you can't go somewhere, a break for the normal responsibilities and pressures is necessary!