Direction Over Speed
Productivity insights from Sam Altman, Readwise's MCP, organization systems, Superwhisper documentation updates (plus an important bug), and an interesting app for shaders
Hey guys, here’s some things stood out from my last week.
On Productivity
A few days ago I read this article by Sam Altman, and I found it surprisingly relatable. I’m always on the lookout for practical advice, especially on productivity and habits, so I really appreciated reading this. I agree about with most of it. His point about direction being more important than speed is something that I personally need to spend more time reflecting on. I believe that knowing what you want, even if you’re only taking small steps, is so much better than running in circles. Somehow I feel like it’s even connected to the whole idea of developing and maintaining habits that matter.
Another thing that stood out to me was how he mentions that you can learn anything and get better quickly. I still find it very interesting that a lot of people ask me for advice on topics I barely knew a year or two ago. It’s encouraging to remember that curiosity and a willingness to start are all it takes.
A few highlights:
“It doesn’t matter how fast you move if it’s in a worthless direction. Picking the right thing to work on is the most important element of productivity and usually almost ignored.”
“I’ve learned that I can’t be very productive working on things I don’t care about or don’t like. So I just try not to put myself in a position where I have to do them.”
“It’s important to learn that you can learn anything you want, and that you can get better quickly. This feels like an unlikely miracle the first few times it happens, but eventually you learn to trust that you can do it.”
On Readwise
Something that I recently found out is that Readwise rolled out an MCP for Claude. Now, if you don’t know what MCP is (I didn’t know either, until a few months ago), here’s the basic rundown: MCP stands for “Model context protocol.” It’s a way for AI to interact with different apps, tools, or even your own data, kind of like giving AI new powers to fetch info or take action across different platforms.
With this release from Readwise I’ll admit, I’m feeling a bit of FOMO here since I don’t have a Claude subscription. This new MCP looks super handy. One of my favorite Readwise features is the ability to chat with my own highlights using AI. From what I can tell, this MCP seems like a step in that same direction—except now it’s right inside Claude itself.
So, if you’re set up with both Claude and Readwise, this might be worth a look.
On Organization
For anyone who missed last week—I shared how I handle task management. My to-dos system is still pretty grounded in GTD (Getting Things Done), and on the other hand when it comes to organizing everything inside my personal knowledge management setup, I lean a lot on ideas from Building a Second Brain and the PARA method.
Now, I’ve been using Craft for some weeks I’m loving most of it (that’s the reason that I decided to start using it for task management) but I keep running into bumps when it comes to search and organization. Bear still feels unbeatable for searching and quickly finding notes. I plan to share more thoughts about Craft vs Bear soon, but recently I’ve been poking around for ways to make things smoother… that’s when I discovered the Johnny Decimal System. It’s crazy that I hadn’t heard about it until now. It’s a clever approach, but IMO it seems it seems more fit to files and folders instead of notes, resources, or actionable items—what I store most in Bear/Craft. I still have lots to explore and read, but I appreciate that some people have shared how they combine PARA with this system.
On Superwhisper
Last week I spent quite a bit of time working on some more updates for Superwhisper’s documentation—this has been a “work on it when I can” project for months, but now I’m finally in the troubleshooting section (which I believe is the last). If you use Superwhisper and have run into any weird issues or points of friction, let me know! I’d love to consider your feedback before I wrap things up. I’m hoping this round of updates to go live during the next week or so.
I also wanted to let you guys know about a bug I noticed in recent Superwhisper versions. Application context—where the app grabs all the text from your input field and sends it to the AI—is one of my favorite features. Lately though, Superwhisper been cutting off most of the context and only sending the last couple of paragraphs in the AI request, even when you have the feature turned on. If this is essential for you (it is for me), I recommend sticking with version 1.45.10 for now. That’s the last one where app context works as expected (unfortunately it doesn’t have the newest 4.1 models). I’ve flagged this for the developer, and he’s aware of it, but until there’s a fix, rolling back might save you some headaches. Without this feature, I’d have had a much harder time putting together the documentation in the first place. Will keep you guys posted if a fix is released.
On Shaders
This past week I tried out an app called Yume, and it is one of the more curious tools I’ve come across lately. Yume lets you apply different visual effects/presets/shaders to your camera feed, images, and even videos, all in real time. It’s a quick way to give your media a touch of retro or experimental feel, and it comes with a “virtual camera” feature that can stream the output straight into your video recording (even to something like Quicktime, if you want). The app seems pretty new, so I’ve run into a handful of bugs (which I’ve already sent to the developer).
I’m still figuring out how Yume might fit into my own projects. I’m not quite sure about it yet, to be honest, but I thought the concept was super interesting. If you’re curious, the demo videos on their website show off what’s possible much better than I can explain here. There’s also a week-long free trial if you want to see what it can do.
On Cinema
The Ballad of Wallis Island (2025). I was expecting a simple comedy, but it ended up being a very well-crafted portrait of loneliness, hope, and other aspects of human emotion. Synopsis: Eccentric lottery winner Charles lives alone on a remote island but dreams of hiring his favourite musician, Herb McGwyer, to play an exclusive, private gig. Unbeknownst to Herb, Charles has also hired Herb’s ex-bandmate and ex-girlfriend, Nell, with her new husband in tow, to perform the old favourites. As tempers flare and old tensions resurface, the stormy weather traps them all on the island and Charles desperately looks for a way to salvage his dream gig.
La Cocina (2024). I watched this one because I have admired the work of the director, Alonso Ruizpalacios, for a long time already. I went in without knowing anything about the film and I loved it. It was raw, poetic, sad, and honest. Definitely a masterpiece. Synopsis: In the sweltering back kitchen of a Times Square restaurant, undocumented cook Pedro is caught between mounting pressures at work and a complicated romance with waitress Julia. When money goes missing, suspicion spreads, igniting tensions that threaten to upend the fragile hopes of the staff.
Sharp Corner (2025). I don’t even know how to describe this one. It’s like a portrait of an obsession. Super good. Synopsis: A dedicated family man becomes obsessed with saving the lives of the car accident victims on the sharp corner in front of his house – an obsession that could cost him everything.
The Ugly Stepsister (2025). If you watched and enjoyed “The Substance”, then this one may be for you. One of the best horror films I have seen recently. Synopsis: In a fairy-tale kingdom where beauty is a brutal business, Elvira battles to compete with her incredibly beautiful stepsister, and she will go to any length to catch the prince’s eye.
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“Modular Command Plugin" - i thought MCP stands for Model context protocol