Mindset & Drama
Da Vinci's creative insights, revisiting some of my favorite productivity articles, Macrowhisper updates, the Higgsfield drama.
Hey guys! Here’s some things that stood out from my previous week:
On Creativity
I read this article on Leonardo da Vinci’s approach to creativity. The main idea in the text is this two-part mindset: you need to be passionate about solving a problem, but at the same time, you have to be okay with not knowing the solution right away. Now, the thing is that if you’re too focused on always feeling competent, that drive can push you towards playing it safe, away from truly creative solutions. Da Vinci himself was described as having this “omnivorous curiosity, which bordered on the fanatical.” He just really wanted to understand things. And (from what the text says) he was also fine with the journey of figuring it out, even when he was deep in uncharted territory, like trying to design a flying machine.
If we can’t deal with our temporary lack of competence, the need for certainty will drive us toward safety-seeking behaviors that make us feel competent again, right now in the moment—but that steer us away from creative solutions.
I think this also connects a lot with the whole idea of making progress. Being passionate about something is one thing, but if you keep at it and don’t feel like you’re going anywhere, it’s not easy to find motivation to keep going (at least that’s the case for me). I’m always trying to find that balance, how to keep pushing for answers and learning new stuff, but also how to track progress so I know I’m not just running around in circles. A lot of times it still feels like that 😅.
On Productivity
Years ago, I discovered this article on a blog, and together with this other one they were actually kind of life-changing. They totally revolutionized my approach to task management and productivity. I also got a lot of ideas for how I use Things 3. A framework which I eventually I adapted into my current task management setup in Craft.
I like to revisit it every now and then because it’s full of useful stuff that’s still relevant. This time around, this stood out:
Being productive for the sake of being productive is pointless. Asking “Why?” forces Purpose into the conversation, ensuring you are focused on what’s important. If the Inbox sits at the top, the Purpose is the foundation that holds everything up.
Without really understanding why you’re doing something, just being busy doesn’t get you anywhere. The article talks a lot about building a system you can actually trust, starting with a solid inbox where you can quickly dump all your thoughts and ideas so your mind is free to focus. I discovered this (and the whole Get Things Done system) right after learning about Building a Second Brain. It was perfectly complementary and it’s still a very good read whenever I come back to this.
On Macrowhisper
I’ve been a bit quiet about Macrowhisper for the last couple of months. The thing is, macOS 26.1 introduced a bug that made it pretty hard for people to install CLI apps that needed accessibility permissions. That bug even hung around through 26.2, and I waited for months for it to get fixed. I kept working and planning a few updates behind the scenes, and I was pretty excited to see that 26.3 finally dropped last week (the bug is gone!). This means anyone who had trouble installing or updating Macrowhisper before can now get it running smoothly on their system, as long as they update to 26.3 (or stay on a version prior to 26.1).
Now, when I saw the new macOS version finally coming out, I had a few pending changes that weren’t fully tested or implemented. This put some extra pressure on me to work on this ASAP. At this point, without any AI subscriptions and already having spent a lot of money on Claude when using it via the API, I was just wondering what to do. Then I remembered OpenAI recently released their Codex app, and they mentioned some free usage until March 2nd. The timing was perfect. I downloaded Codex, and I was genuinely surprised by how good it was. A lot of my changes/fixes got knocked out in one go. The stuff I’ve been getting from GPT-5.3-Codex has been crazy good!
Anyway. I added a couple of new advanced features and fixed some bugs. You can check out all the details in the release notes. I’ve still got Codex for free for another one or two weeks. If I don’t hit the limits, another Macrowhisper update is probably coming soon. I am planning to incorporate smart capitalization as an optional setting. It’ll automatically add spacing and uppercase correctly when you start dictating in the middle of a sentence. Superwhisper app does this, but I’ve seen that not everybody has been able to adapt well to it (and many times I find it very unpredictable). I think having the option of toggling it on or off will be good, plus I’ll be able to fix some edge cases I have noticed on the official implementation.
With this you can also expect more Macrowhisper content soon. This is a good time to remind you that if you have any questions, if something isn’t clear about the app, or if you have any special use cases you would like to share with me so I can share with the community, let me know! Next up, I plan to make a quick video on the AI Memos automation adapted to work with Superwhisper and Macrowhisper. Then, we’ll probably look at how to use it for sending a dictionary to Shortcuts (a great way to quickly add to-do’s to your favorite task management app). I think the use cases are so vast that it can be a bit much for new users, so ideas & use cases are always welcome.
On AI Video
You probably only heard about this if you’re on X and follow AI video or image generation. A few days ago, Higgsfield AI got suspended on X. I was not expecting this. I might have even mentioned this platform months back when I first found it, just because I was so impressed with what they were producing. I’d seen lots of examples, marketing, and creators talking about it. So, for me, this came as a big surprise. There’s this tweet if you want to read more. I didn’t get through all of it, but it sounds like quite the scandal.
The reason I am mentioning this is because not so long ago, their marketing team reached out to me asking for a collaboration. It was one of those cases where I almost regretted not taking up the opportunity. I’m trying to be really careful about not turning the channel into just sponsored content. I like sharing apps that I actually use and that become part of my daily workflow. Usually, I end up really getting to know them well. But for something like Higgsfield AI, I just don’t see myself subscribing to it (not right now anyways).
With all this drama, I feel like I dodged a bullet.
On Cinema
Hamnet (2025). I’m usually pretty sensitive to that feeling of a director nudging you toward the exact moment you’re “supposed” to cry, and yeah, I caught traces of that here (especially in that closing). But the performances felt so honest, and the whole film felt so real and personal, that I still ended up tearing up anyway. Synopsis: The powerful story of love and loss that inspired the creation of Shakespeare’s timeless masterpiece, Hamlet.
The Plague (2025). A film about the psychology of growing up. How group dynamics form, how bullying becomes a weird currency, and how fast “trying to fit in” can turn into a nightmare. Synopsis: A socially awkward tween endures the ruthless hierarchy at a water polo camp, his anxiety spiraling into psychological turmoil over the summer.
Harvest (2025). I loved the complexity of the characters. This is a film you need to “feel” more than “understand.” I ended up with many questions, but loose storytelling/narrative is totally okay with me when you got Athina Rachel Tsangari directing and Sean Price Williams on the cinematography. Synopsis: Over seven hallucinatory days, a village with no name, in an undefined time and place, disappears.
Marty Supreme (2025). Wow, what a film. It went beyond my expectations. The cinematography, the soundtrack, the narrative, the tension, the emotions, the characters all kept me at the edge of my seat all the way. Feels like Chalamet was born to be in this one. Synopsis: Marty Mauser, a young man with a dream no one respects, goes to hell and back in pursuit of greatness.
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Hi Robert, my name is Artem. I'm a founder of writingmate.ai and AIDictation.com, a new up-and-coming dictation tool on the market. I really, really like the quality of your videos on YouTube and would like to know if you can partner. Hit me at artem@writingmate.ai