Cheat Sheets & Overlays
Dealing with Intrusive Thoughts, A Tool for Writing with AI, SW Docs Update, and a BTT Discovery
Hey guys, here’s some stuff that stood out from my previous week:
On Intrusive Thoughts
Last week I read an article about dealing with intrusive thoughts, and it couldn't have come at a better time. My mind is constantly coming up with ideas, tasks, and random thoughts that often times refuse to quiet down. This is something I've struggled for as long as I can remember. It's because of that that discovering systems like GTD and Building a Second Brain was such a revolutionary thing for me. It really taught me to diligently writing everything down and "close open loops."
But the truth is, even with all my note-taking and organizing, my brain sometimes continues to feel like a crowded room where everyone's talking at once. Not always, of course, but it definitely is disruptive when it happens in the middle of the night.
Something that was quite insightful in the article I'm sharing, is the idea that we shouldn't aim to eliminate unwanted thoughts completely. Instead, we need to change our relationship with them. Well, this changes things a bit. The point being made is that sometimes—and this may sound as a bit of a contradiction with the systems I mentioned above—it's okay not to capture things. But sometimes it's perfectly okay to acknowledge a thought's presence and then just... let it be there without engaging. This was quite a revelation and hope to put this more into practice. I understand it's easier said than done. I think the challenge is not so much with rumination or negative thoughts, but rather when good ideas or open loops appear in the worst of times.
In any case, if you can relate I think it's a great and very practical read.
A few favorite highlights:
What you resist tends to persist
"An obsession is simply a thought that you're not willing to have." If you're not struggling with something, your short attention span kicks in and soon you're considering something else.
"The goal isn't to rid yourself of the thoughts – that just creates more struggle. They're still going to be there for now. You just want to shift your relationship to them."
"Intrusive thoughts are not commands; they're not prophecies; they're not even particularly good suggestions. If you just sit there, acknowledging their presence without engaging, they start to lose their power."
On Writing
I'm in the middle of developing a short Skillshare class about simple techniques for using AI as a writing assistant while keeping your personal voice. My class focuses mainly on creative writing and narrative work. This past week I was looking at "How I Write," a podcast I sometimes listen to and found there was an episode featuring Tyler Cowen, who was discussing practical ways to use AI for writing.I had to listen right away :)
If you're interested in this topic, I highly recommend checking it out! This episode actually led me to discover LexI, an AI tool built specifically for writing. Looks really cool! Lex being a subscription-only app makes it hard for me to consider it at the time being. Still, it's great to have it as a potential option if I ever really need it.
On Superwhisper
I wrote some more updates for Superwhisper's documentation this past week! I focused on improving the introduction section with more useful info. If you have the app, definitely check out the new content—I think you'll find it helpful. I'm more updates, but that might have to wait until I finish the Skillshare class I'm currently working on.
For Alfred users: I updated the Superwhisper workflow with a new option that lets you automatically start dictating as soon as you switch modes. It may save you a few clicks. I also screen-recorded this quick guide for users that want to have the option to reprocess the last dictation from Alfred's bar. There's a built-in hotkey in the workflow, by the way, but I created this guide to show an alternative method some users requested.
On BetterTouchTool
Last week I saw an update to LeaderKey, an app I discovered some weeks back (I mentioned it on a previous newsletter). One of the things that I didn't originally like about the app was its intrusive overlay when triggered. The new update includes some really nice-looking templates, which allow users to make it look more minimal than before.
After watching the introduction video, I noticed something I thought was really useful: a cheat sheet feature. I decided to give the app another shot. Unfortunately it didn't take long for me to figure out that even though it's a really cool app, and it definitely looks much better than before, it's just not possible to move my entire keyboard setup to it. I still need the power that only Karabiner can give me. I am super happy to recommend it though, and plan to make a video on this soon, when I'm less busy.
Still, it gave me inspiration. My keyboard has many layers, macros, and actions that I often forget. After trying to figure out how to implement a similar cheat sheet from what I'd seen for my own setup, I discovered that BetterTouchTool has a feature that creates web view overlays for your screen. This was more advanced than I wanted, but with AI's help I created my own custom cheat-sheet that appears a few seconds after holding keys with sublayers or macros. It’s still a work in progress, but it looks really nice!
Enjoy a low quality GIF of it in action:
On Cinema
The Eternal Daughter (2022). A very quiet (and slow) mystery film. This one—as most work by Joanna Hogg—tests a bit of your patience, but I still found it fresh and rewarding. Synopsis: An artist and her elderly mother confront long-buried secrets when they return to a former family home, now a hotel haunted by its mysterious past.
I'm Still Here (2024). I was curious about this film, especially being the Oscar winner for best international film. I was half-disappointed. I mean... it was still good and left an impression. But I don't think it compares to either The Seed of the Sacred Fig or The Girl with the Needle which were competing for the same category. Oh well. Synopsis: In 1971, military dictatorship in Brazil reaches its height. The Paiva family — Rubens, Eunice, and their five children — live in a beachside house in Rio, open to all their friends. One day, Rubens is taken for questioning and does not return.
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