A Meta Interlude

Editor's note: This was originally sent out in the newsletter on 6/11/19

Newsletter Updates and Introspection

When I launched what I think of as version 3.0 of this newsletter, I switched over to Buttondown as my mailing service. I did this to strip away some of the customizations that I would get lost in playing with, as well as being designed well and has a very simple user interface. I had seen Buttondown recommended by some well-respected writer types and thought I would give it a shot. It is a relatively newer email service that is run by one person, but he has always responded when I have had technical questions, and it seems like he is really devoted to it. Previously I had used Tinyletter (which is actually owned by Mailchimp) and Mailchimp. These are the big players in the space. With Mailchimp, you can tweak anything you want. Tinyletter is their super stripped down version but meant for almost personal letters from one person. Buttondown felt like it fell just above Tinyletter to me. I really never had any problems with people not getting issues when I had used either of these other services and hadn’t really thought about the fact that it could happen.

It has happened though, and while I hope that it will be mostly stable from here on out (there were quite a few technical things that I changed between each of the previous issues, if you want to know more details just let me know and I can explain it all), I have considered switching services again.

It is annoying to switch services, especially when I love to use research as a procrastination technique. I could run into many of the same issues, and I would be testing the deliverability of something again too. I see Buttondown as something I enjoy using, though. I plan on giving it a few more issues before I make a decision. — If you add my email (mike@thepolymathgroup.xyz) to your address book it will help keep it from falling into random folders in your email service— This probably means me checking in (as I sort of have been from time to time) to see if you all are actually getting my newsletters still while I keep using it. This has led me to a large number of other ponderings.

I start to wonder how much I should even ask people, you don’t want to be annoying about it after all. Then on top of that, you start to wonder if maybe they just didn’t care to read it, to begin with. While for the most part, I don’t think that is true, it feels like it is human nature to doubt yourself. This brought me down a whole other rabbit hole of thoughts. I started to wonder what the goals of this newsletter are all together. I had come up with a mission statement, this covered what the newsletter should be, but not for who it is for. I haven't really shared it beyond when I first started it. Do you just let these things grow naturally? Do I push to share it more?

I despise Facebook a lot, I have considered deleting my account there altogether many times, but sometimes it is needed (some groups for kids activities are on there, sometimes I need to look to see if I know someone I think I might know, the usual stuff). It is something I have used less and less in the last few years, it is not uncommon for me to go weeks without checking it. I did think though, maybe I should share my newsletter on there though. I feel this weird sense of ‘well who am I to tell people to read the thoughts I have,’ but on the other hand, most feedback I get is positive.

I also think there is this funny disconnect in my head that probably shouldn’t be there. It feels like I have bifurcated lives, there is this person I am trying to be, and am portraying here. Then there is this group that I think, it would be weird if they knew what I was really like. When I started this newsletter though, it was to push myself to be more open and be the person I want to be, the one who doesn’t care what people think. In that regard, it makes perfect sense to share it on social media more. In the end, I think once I am happy with deliverability rates being reasonable, I will share it more and see what happens. Also, I need to be more consistent with putting it out.

Summer Slow Down

This summer I am going to try and dial everything back technologically speaking, well parts of it at least. The goal is to read and write more instead (that always seems to be my goal). I am going to try and stay off Twitter as much as I can at least until the fall (except maybe when sharing my newsletter?). I have already gone through and taken a lot of feeds out of my RSS reader, and have decided to only check that on days when I work (some of you may know, I like to read EVERYTHING that comes through, so this I feel like this is bigger than it seems). I am going to try and limit checking Instagram to only once a day as well.

The funny thing I run into any time I try and reduce social media usage is that I end up checking my email way more. I think it is just the act of pulling out my phone when my brain notices a lull and pulling down to refresh on something. I get very few interesting emails throughout the week, it is really just looking for that habit, or the dopamine rush of something new being there. I am going to try and be conscious of this as well and give myself just a check in the morning and a check in the evening. The other big thing is the news in general. I am going to try and avoid it as much as I can for the summer, by news I mostly mean real news sites and the actual TV news. We have it on a lot to catch the weather (which in Minnesota always seems to be relevant), so it often just gets left on. Trying to be more aware of this as well.

The other issue is me scrolling reddit and email and Feedly (RSS reader) a lot at work. I am in front of my computer all day, so I have to try and not fill all the down minutes on these things. I do this a lot without even realizing I am doing it. Generally work is busier in the summer but there is still downtime, and we have someone leaving our department this week so my hours will be increasing throughout the summer. To avoid this, I am hoping to keep the Kindle Cloud reader up and catch up on my large Instapaper backlog when I have downtime. Less endless scrolling is always the goal.

The other big taker of my idle brain is podcasts. While I don’t have any plans to limit what I am listening to, I do think staying off Twitter will probably result in less ‘one off’ episodes of random shows that are suggested. Plus I have a lot more thoughts on podcasts in general that I will share soon.

Will this all pan out well for me, we will see. I am sure I will let you know at some point.

Thanks for reading,
Mike