The Right Time
Thoughts on an Information Diet and Accumulating Things, Some Wisdom for Life, Ways to End a Letter, Best Films Countdowns, Winston, Marked 2, A Local LLM and More
Hi! Here’s some things that stood out from my previous week and I’m glad to share with you:
On Self-Growth and Productivity
I read this article that discusses why we tend to accumulate things we don't actually need. One concept that has greatly influenced my approach to productivity and knowledge management is the idea of an "information diet." This involves being selective about the information we consume rather than hoarding knowledge without intention. That same behavior of just gathering things that we don’t need or intend to use is actually very much engrained in us humans and this article offers valuable insights on the topic. You can find connections with it on a LOT of things. Here’s one of my highlights: “Research is addictive, because it rewards us with the false impression of making progress. Finding something interesting isn’t the same as knowing something and being able to work with it. I call this the Collector’s Fallacy.”
This article has several lessons/advice for life. While I don’t agree 100% with everything I still highlighted this more than most of the articles I read because there’s lots of wisdom in there. Here’s a short one: “It’s never the right time. Any time you catch yourself saying “oh it’ll be a better time later,” you’re probably just scared. Or unclear on what to do.”
On Curiosities
I came across this list of various ways to end a letter. There was a time where finding this would have been super useful to me. Although I don't write many letters or emails nowadays, I still found it interesting and bookmark-worthy.
I revisited this page with "best films of the year" countdowns. Each of these videos can be seen as lessons on montage-style editing. The pace/rhythm/tempo, the energy, and the visual connections are all on point. Oh, and I think most of the recommended films are also excellent. I have already watched most but took note of a few I’d missed :)
On Apps and AI
This week I discovered Winston. After Apollo for Reddit shut down a few months ago, I've been searching for alternatives, but nothing has come close. Among all the options I've tried, Winston appears to be the most promising. Unfortunately, their TestFlight program is currently at capacity but you can join their Discord community for updates. The app is expected to be available on the App Store in about a month.
I may be late to the game, but I recently discovered Marked 2. I was frustrated with the limited customization options available for Bear PDF exports, and Marked 2 seems to be the perfect companion app for this purpose (and it can do so much more).
I came across “Magic ToDo”, a free online tool that utilizes AI to assist in breaking down projects or large tasks into smaller subtasks. It has been incredibly helpful! You can export the breakdown to your clipboard and easily paste it into Things (or other task manager). Someone made a shortcutfor it as well.
If you are into Chat GPT and LLM’s, this week I found this app that allows you to run something like that locally. While it may not be as advanced as Chat GPT, it is still a valuable option to have, especially if you are ever without Internet access. It’s exciting to see projects like this going public. I believe future LLM models will be even more powerful and having the option to run it locally will also be great for anyone with privacy concerns.
I found a fun and simple AI emoji generator. Bookmarked it just in case.
On Cinema
Birth/Rebirth (2023). Synopsis: A single mother and a childless morgue technician are bound together by their relationship to a little girl they have reanimated from the dead.
Talk to Me (2023). Had a bit of Sixth Sense, It Follows, and even some Jumanji. Not sure if those influences were intended, but still made for a very good film. Synopsis: When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces.
If you liked this you may also enjoy some content I have up on my YT Channel! I don’t hang around social media a lot, but when I do I’m on IG or Twitter. You can also check out some of my online classes, listen to my music, or in case you haven’t already, subscribe to my weekly newsletter. Thank you for reading!