Year: 2018

  • My Unusual Computer Setup

    My Unusual Computer Setup

    A while back, around the time I switched to Linux, I had the realization that any amount of effort I spent customizing my computer would probably pay off. I use the thing just about every day and gains are cumulative so I may as well think about how to make my computer better for me.…

  • How to Automate Your Curtains

    How to Automate Your Curtains

    This is such a niche thing, but you’d be shocked at how many requests I get for information on how I did it. A couple years back I gave a talk about automation, ranging from home to habits to business, and almost all of the follow-up emails I got were about the curtains. I first…

  • How I Choose What to Work On

    How I Choose What to Work On

    I get asked often how I choose what to work on. From the outside, I can see why people ask. The projects I work on are fairly wide-ranging, from coding CruiseSheet to writing blog posts to random adventures and building things. Things make a little more sense when you understand that making money is only…

  • Living Frugally and Loving It

    Living Frugally and Loving It

    I’ve talked before about how important it is to live frugally. A lot of people probably brush it off because it sounds like too great of a sacrifice or not relevant to them, but I think that’s a mistake. It is possible to live frugally and to love it at the same time. In general,…

  • Eliminating Minor Vices

    Eliminating Minor Vices

    I don’t think I’m qualified to suggest how to kick major vices like heroin and alcohol, but I have plenty of experience with minor vices like procrastination and time-wasting activities, both with myself and people I coach. The fundamental first step that many people skip is determining why they want to eliminate a vice. That…

  • Four of My Favorite Teas, and How to Brew Them

    Four of My Favorite Teas, and How to Brew Them

    Maybe this is true of most things, but the variance between great tea and terrible tea is absolutely enormous. If tea was what nearly everyone thinks tea is, I would never drink it. A great cup of tea, though, is one of life’s great pleasures. And despite being a luxury and an indulgence, it’s very…

  • Treating Your Todo List As One Task

    Treating Your Todo List As One Task

    Last year I had a truly spectacular todo list. It ranged from building a cabin on the island (with no idea how to do so), getting the floors replaced on a rental property in Las Vegas, a huge number of Cruisesheet bugs and fixes, work on a book, a few dozen emails, and then tens…

  • Kazakhstan

    Kazakhstan

    I had never been so happy to have a sore throat, especially such a bad one. My throat hurt so much that it actually woke me up. Surely this was a reasonable excuse to get out of the talk I was supposed to give in a couple days. I sent a text to the organizers…

  • Knowing When You’re Boring and Avoiding It

    Knowing When You’re Boring and Avoiding It

    You know that feeling when you’re sitting across from someone and they’re prattling on about something in which you have no interest? They aren’t actually trying to bore you, they just don’t know any better. Which begs the question—are you ever that person? In reality I’m sure we all bore someone sometimes, but we can…

  • How I Write A Book in 14 Days

    How I Write A Book in 14 Days

    I’ve now written seven books, at least three of which were category bestsellers on Amazon. They all get really good reviews and are legitimate enough that foreign publishers have bought the rights to two of them and that domestic publishers have tried to offer me a book deal. For many people writing a book is…