​​​Welcome to a late Sunday night edition of The Polymath Group. I hope it is finding you well. I just wanted to get out some quick thoughts to help frame your perceptions this coming week.

Mud or Stars?

My son is a fan of the Dog Man book series, at the end of the most recent installment (For Whom the Ball Rolls) there was a page with notes about the story. As I was skimming it over, I saw toward the bottom the author had written;

One of the themes of this book was inspired by Harold’s favorite short poem: “Two men looked out through prison bars. One saw mud, the other, stars.”   - author unknown (but variations are often attributed to Dale Carnegie and /or Reverend Frederick Langbridge)

This has really stuck with me since I read it. (For some reason I hear it read by John Green in my head.) I love how simply the idea is conveyed. This idea of perspective. That while looking out the same window, we may all see something different.

There are so many factors that feed into our perspective, everything from genetics to the current weather. Every little thing adds something to our calculation of how we are perceiving what is happening. Most of the time, we don’t even realize that we are continually assessing all of the factors around us and outputting them through our perception. The big ones are easy to spot; have you gotten enough sleep, when was the last time you ate, did someone just cut you off?

The hard part is becoming aware of all of the factors that are impacting the way you see something. Taking the next step is realizing you have a choice; you have power over them. Maybe not complete power, but some power none the less. You choose to look up or down, to see the mud, or to see the stars.

While being stuck on this short poem this week, I also came across this video from Iz Harris. While they are not the exact same topic, I think it is an excellent parallel to having a choice and taking power. We can choose not to let the world, our work, our societies idea of consumerism dictate our decisions. We can choose not to choose. We can decide to let things be good enough. There are so many things that are pulling our attention and pushing us to fit into a mold that just might not fit us. It is ok to say no to all of those things sometimes. Just to take a step back and figure out what you actually want, and what is best for you.

The weather(here at least) has felt like it is shifting to fall, I have been enjoying it. Sometimes the start of the new school year feels like another kind of New Years. I have been doing a lot of organization​ and preparation​ for this. It has felt good. I think I said it last time too, but I am looking forward to fall.​​

Thanks for reading,
Mike

Changing Seasons

It seems weird that summer is already nearing its end. Although it always seems to fly by, it still hits you unexpectedly when find your self in the back to school aisle getting supplies and planning for the start of the school year. Summer has seemed unusually packed for us. We have had way more going on than usual, plus at work, we were short a person, so I have been working a lot as well. Last week was my first slow week at work, and instead of using it productively I sort of let it be a nothing time. I have been reading more, but nothing else really productive has come out of it other than a lot of YouTube catch up. It was kind of nice, though. I feel a little better now, things sort of feel like they are becoming more consistent again. I find my self looking ahead to the fall and what I want to do with it, especially since fall is my favorite season. I find it easier to plan things in seasons instead of more rigid quarters; it feels more like  it is a more natural break.

Sharing My Work

I recently read Show Your Work by Austin Kleon, I have been thinking about sharing more of what I am doing, just in general, on Instagram and Twitter. I have never been huge on social media, especially when it comes to sharing. I probably still wouldn’t get too crazy with stuff, but maybe letting a little more get out there. As I consider more of what I am doing with this newsletter, I think it makes sense to show a bit more. The main point of Show Your Work is that it is more about the process than the product. I know I love seeing stuff like that from others. It’s about just getting stuff out there and seeing what happens.

One hurdle I see with this is that I have been off Twitter for almost three months now. I don’t feel a super-strong urge to go back, and I know there are plenty of ways I could share without going into the app or checking my timeline, but at the same time, I feel like taking small steps back in might be alright too. We will see what I decide on that.

One other thing I am going to work on, and share from while I am doing it, is a Core Book. This is something I have been telling myself I am going to do for quite some time. I will get into much more detail on what I think a Core Book will look like for me later, but in general, it is both a repository of useful information, as well as a guide to live by. While I am building this out, both the material and the process will naturally lend itself to sharing.

I really am looking forward to the fall. I have some stuff I want to try out, so be ready to have that tested on you. This issue was a little smaller than usual, but I need to rebuild my habit, and getting something out is the first step into being regular again.

Thanks for reading,
Mike

Podcast Dilemma

Since starting my ‘Summer Slowdown’ at the beginning of June, things have been going well. I have way less knowledge of daily news, which is sort of a relieving feeling. My screen time numbers, according to my phone, have been reduced nearly in half, and I feel like I have been reading a lot more. At the very least, I have been more apt just to let my mind wander instead of pulling my phone out in all those brief moments of downtime. This has all been more or less achieving the goals I had hoped for. The one area I think I should address is podcasts, but I have a lot of conflicting thoughts in this regard.

Podcasts end up taking a lot of my ‘free’ brain time. All those perfect times of extended brain inactivity, I have a tendency to fill with podcasts. From driving time to chores around the house, times when my eyes and hands are occupied, but I don’t need to really focus on the task I am doing (this isn’t to say I don’t focus when I drive), I listen to podcasts. Outside of showers -- I haven’t gone that far yet -- I fill all these times with podcasts. These would be perfect times to let my mind be bored. To allow it to pick apart whatever it feels like obsessing with at the time. I do think boredom is good for people too, it allows your mind to do whatever it needs. I think a lot of times for me it would probably do me good to cut them out, or at least down, for a while. I struggle with this, though.

My history with podcasts goes back a ways. I knew of the term from way back in like 2006 when they first started showing up as a category in iTunes. Even then, it was still a bit harder to come across them and get them on your iPod, especially when for years around this time, all I had was dial-up internet. It’s funny, thinking about it now I realize that my regular listening and obsession with them really coincided with finally getting a decent internet connection. In 2010 I really started getting into them, although at the time it was mostly video podcasts, I mean they put out the audio too, but most of them I watched. Of course, following any good obsession, this led to starting a podcast myself. In May of 2011, I launched a weekly tech show, Bleed Geek, with some friends (I made sure this show went out every week no matter what, I really need to get that consistency level into this newsletter), this ran for a little more than three years. There have been a few other shows I have been apart of over the years as well, some spin-offs of Bleed Geek, others their own thing altogether. In the end, I have recorded, edited, and released over 300 episodes of various shows. It helps me appreciate the work that goes into all the shows I listen to.

Throughout all this, I have continued listening to a lot of different shows, some have come and gone, but some have been super consistent. The core of the shows I listen to now, I have been listening to for five or six years. A number of the shows are all from the same group of people, a lot of them are from a podcast network called Relay FM. The hosts of these shows sort of intermingle and have multiple shows. Some of the shows have come and gone, some have been changed a lot, but over the last five years or so, it has become more that I am listening to the hosts than I am the topic matter. Most of the shows are still tech-related, but as time goes on, I find I am less interested in tech rumors and more interested in the people talking about them, and their takes on it.

The group that I follow —I will put an appendix at the end with a list of shows and hosts— has sort of become like this group of friends I have. They have tons of inside jokes, their beliefs often mirror mine, and I just enjoy the rapport they have with each other. Many of them have sites they write on or YouTube channels they post to. The podcasts act as an intermediary of it all, pulling it all into one place, adding context. Honestly, a big part of the reason I have a hard time not checking Twitter is that it is filled mostly with this same group of people. I feel like I am missing something by not checking out what they are doing there as well.

It feels weird even to say it, but this group feels like really close friends to me. I know a lot about their lives, and while some of it may be a show, I feel like I know who they are. When I start to explain it, it sort of feels like I am a stalker, right? But when they put out two to three hours of content each week, you see them on Instagram and Twitter, you get a feeling for who they are. Like being in this group of friends, and they have no idea I exist.

It makes giving up podcasts feel a lot more complicated. Like I am leaving something behind if I were to stop listening. With the regular releases of their shows, I feel like even missing an episode could be a big deal. It makes me stay on top of them all. The FOMO there is real. I understand this is partially irrational, but I do get enjoyment out of it. Even with trying to reduce my distractions and giving my brain more time to roam, this is one area I am not letting go of quite yet.

In the end, I guess I don’t see the trade-off is worth it yet. To give up these people, that I see as my friends, to get back some boredom time. I will find other ways to keep my head open. Staying off of Twitter has also helped reduce the number of random one-off shows from sneaking into my queue as well, so I guess that is something for now.

As an aside, I have also considered starting my own podcast again. Probably as sort of a companion to this newsletter. It would probably be a shorter format with light editing, just quick thoughts. I do kind of worry that it would take topic content away from here though. Not that one couldn’t enable the other, but you never know. Let me know if you think this is a good idea or not. I would also love to hear some of your favorite podcasts, even if I (probably) won't listen to them, I am curious to know what you listen to.

Thinking about the consistency of how well I kept up with putting the Bleed Geek podcast out, and having just finished Atomic Habits, I really want to push to be more consistent with this newsletter. Hopefully you will see that happen in the near future.

Thanks for reading,
Mike

Appendix

Shows

These are the main ones I will never miss. There are others that are regular, but maybe I don’t listen to every episode or are more seasonal. (The podcast links below are Overcast links.)

• Upgrade; a weekly tech show hosted by Myke Hurley and Jason Snell.
• Connected; a weekly tech show hosted by Myke Hurley, Stephen Hackett, and Federico Viticci.
• Cortex; this is more of a productivity style show with Myke Hurley and CGP Grey, it sort of comes out every other week, but sometimes it is longer in between.
• Hello Internet; this show is less structured in topic, but kind of hits everything, it is hosted by CGP Grey and Brady Haran, it doesn’t have a consistent release schedule either, every two to three weeks.
• ATP; a weekly tech show, hosted by Marco Arment, Casey Liss, and John Siracusa.
• Reconcilable Differences; this show kind of hits a little bit of everything, but mostly is just about life, hosted by John Siracusa and Merlin Mann, it comes out every other week.

Hosts

• Jason Snell; Jason has been writing about Apple for a long time, he currently runs the website; Six Colors, he writes all over the places and does tons of podcasts. He also runs The Incomparable podcast network which is full of nerdy podcasts, some of which have very specific topics.
• Stephen Hackett; Stephen is a co-founder of the Relay FM podcast network, he also runs 512 pixels, a mostly Apple-focused website. He also now co-hosts the long-running Mac Power Users podcast.
• Federico Viticci; Federico is the founder and editor in chief of Macstories, an Apple-focused website. Macstories has a few of its own podcasts as well.
• Marco Arment; Along with hosting ATP and a few other podcasts, Marco is the creator of Overcast, my favorite podcast app.
• John Siracusa; John used to be very well known for his very long and in-depth OS X reviews. He hosts two of my favorite podcasts. He used to have a podcast called Hypercritical, I often feel a kinship with him.
• CGP Grey; Grey is probably best known for his YouTube videos, which range on all sorts of topics. He is a sort of mysterious figure who never shows his face. Much the way I feel with John, I feel a kinship with Grey. It is also a common joke that he is a robot due to his very analytical nature, and his odd set of social skills.
• Myke Hurley; Myke is the other co-founder of Relay FM, where a large number of my favorite shows come from.

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

Media Diet Spring 2019

This is an idea I have had for a little while, and by ‘idea I had’ I mean I am just stealing it from Jason Kottke . It is a good idea and a fun way to share what I have been up to. Basically, it is just a list of all the things I have watched or heard or read with some mini-reviews and ratings sprinkled it. I plan to do this either quarterly, or maybe triannually, or less, or who knows, it happens when it happens, ok?

Movies

First Time Watches

• The Lego Movie 2 - Great movie if you liked the first one, or if you like Legos, or if you have kids, or if you are a person at all. (A)
• Bohemian Rhapsody - This movie was fine, if you like Queen or Biopics, you should check it out. I do not think it is nearly as good as much of the hype leading up to it was. Obviously good soundtrack. (C+)
• Ingrid Goes West - This movie was weird. I liked it a lot, though. (B+)
• The Informant! - This was an odd one. I watched it while I was looking for movies that were more about people researching and breaking stories (you may notice that theme below). Unless you specifically want to watch this, I would avoid it. (C)
• BlacKkKlansman - A well made, funny movie with a great cast. If you have seen trailers, you know if you want to see it. (B)
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse - This movie has gotten a ton of hype. It is all deserved. It probably helps that I am a sucker for a good multiverse story. The animation in this was next level. This may have been the best movie of 2018. It looks like it is coming to Netflix on June 26th, if you haven’t seen it, you should. (A+)
• Captain Marvel - A Marvel movie, you know if you like it or not. (B-)
• Avengers: Endgame - What felt like it could be the end of the whole MCU (it won’t be, don’t worry), ended the current run of Marvel movies. They pulled it off pretty well. I didn’t expect it to come together nearly as well as it did. I still need to see it again to process all my thoughts on it but like Captain Marvel, you know if you like it already, and more than likely, have already seen it. (A-)
• Vice - This was not what I expected from the trailers, it was a good movie, though. It was very well made and a great cast. Sometimes the realness of politics is too much, though, I would almost rather believe it was fiction. (B+)
• Wish I Was Here - It is funny, I backed this movie when they launched their Kickstarter in 2013, and somehow I never saw it until a few days ago. Garden State was one of my favorite movies, this was set up as a spiritual sequel to it. I am not sure that is exactly the case, but I still really enjoyed it, the topic matter felt real to me. I need to revisit Garden State because it has been a few years since I have watched it. Either way, I would recommend seeing Wish I Was Here. (B+)

Rewatches

• Spotlight - This movie, and really all of the ones in this rewatch section, has a great cast. This is a true story, and like Vice, I wish it was fiction. Although seeing that good can come from great journalism is great to see. (A)
• Zodiac - I love this movie, the feeling of obsession is something I sometimes relate to. If you haven’t seen this movie, I am not sure what you are doing with your life. (A+)
• The Big Short - This one sort of follows Spotlight and Vice (which makes sense as it was also made by Adam McKay), true bad stuff. This one is shot a little less conventionally, but I think the topic matter should probably be taught in school. Check it out if you can find it. (A)
• The Departed - Crazy that this is already thirteen years old, still great though. (A-)

TV Shows

• Game of Thrones - It came and went in no time, what can I say, it was an ending. Sometimes when you give yourself constraints it pays off, other times, you get the final two seasons of Game of Thrones. It looks nice, though. (B-)
• The Newsroom - I just rewatched the first two seasons. It has its issues for sure. I still love it, though. (B+)
• Rick and Morty - I finally finished everything that is out so far. It appears that was just in time, as they announced the next season is finally coming out this fall. Like I said earlier, I am a sucker for a multiverse, the further it takes this thread the more I love it. Although some of the humor is just raunchy to be raunchy. (B+)
• The Magicians - I read these books a long time ago, then they made a TV show. Like any show based on books, you are going to have issues. They actually seem to make most things better though. Also, the Magicians subreddit has been making fun of Game of Thrones fans for having a better adaptation. Season 4 just finished up and while it gets messy at times, I still think it is better than most shows, especially ones based on books. If you are looking for something new check it out, the first three seasons are on Netflix. (A-)
• Russian Doll - A Netflix original. I guess the other common theme here is that I love the multiverse. Check this out. (B+)

Books

• Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon - A quick read, something I think I will probably revisit annually at least. If you do anything creative, it is worth a read. (A)
• Creative Selection by Ken Kocienda - A fun look inside Apple. If you enjoy reading how things came to be or like tech stuff, you should check this out. (And really if you are interested you can have my copy.) (B)
• The Strange Case of the Alchemists Daughter by Theodora Goss - An interesting take on all the monsters of classic fiction, but very female based. A fun read. (B)
• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel - This is a book sort of set in the future, a future where most people were taken out by some virus. Not bad. (B)
• Everything is Horrible and Wonderful by Stephanie Wittels Wachs - This would be considered a memoir I suppose, but it is the story of losing her brother, Harris, to an overdose. Harris, you might know as one of the two animal control guys on Parks and Recs. He was also a writer on the show. (B)

Podcasts

• Harry Potter and the Sacred Texts - This podcast takes the Harry Potter books and treats them as someone would treat a holy book. It seems like a strange concept, but it totally works. Just check out the first episode if this remotely interests you. I just finished the first season, which is the first book (each episode is a chapter). It is crazy to me how much Harry Potter fan material exists in the world. I think part of the reason this feels weird, is that Harry Potter feels so personal to me. When it came out, I was at the perfect age. In most ways, I was the target audience. I grew up with it. I have reread it more times than I even know anymore. In some ways, it makes sense, the internet grew up with it too. People around my age started creating all kinds of things as access to the internet became more available. Then the movies were breaking every record and brought in a whole new group of people. Now my generation is passing it down. Reading it to Owen now is one of the best things. We are on the final book now, and although he is much younger than I was when I first read it (he typically doesn’t pick up on the romantic feelings), those feelings of wonder and hope and love are all still there. It is a great feeling to share that with him. (A)
• You Made It Weird with Pete Homes; Ryan Holiday - I came across this podcast due to it being an interview with Ryan Holiday. He runs the Daily Stoic site and has written several books I have read. This is a long episode, but there is so much good stuff in it. I think the humor is really dependent on your likings though. I know Pete Homes a little, mostly from his Ex-Men skits that were on YouTube, he also has an HBO show. It looks like he has been doing this podcast since 2011, which is pretty impressive. I would love to check out more of them, but 2-3 hours every week is a lot to commit to. (A)

YouTube

• XOXO talks - I went down this rabbit hole a few months ago, but there is a lot of good stuff in here. I would love to go to this conference someday. (A)
• Movies with Mikey - How many times do I have to tell you to go watch this channel. (A+)
• Bookstores by Max Joseph - This is a great video, subject matter that hits close to home. Plus who wouldn’t want to visit all of these book stores? (A)

Well, that ended up being a lot longer than I thought it would. Who knew I consumed so much the last six months or so. Plus, who knows how much I forgot about.

Let me know if you have thoughts about any of this stuff, or if you have things I should check out. I am always up for recommendations.

Thanks for reading,
Mike

Last night, I sat down at my computer to work on the newsletter. I was there looking over the list of topic ideas that I keep, trying to decide which would be best to go for. To find the one that seemed like it was resonating with me right now. As I was looking them over, I came to realize that there was an idea that I had been thinking about for a while, and it felt like it was showing up to me in all sorts of places. I thought to myself, this should be what I write about, it felt like it was calling to me. So, I opened a new document and started writing. It was coming along just fine, I got through a few paragraphs, then it struck me. I had written about this before. I opened up the archive of newsletters, and sure enough, there it was, the second newsletter I had sent after starting The Polymath Group. I decided to call it a night at this point and wait till tomorrow to figure out what I wanted to do with it.

Now sure, this was about eighteen months ago, but the topic was obviously back on my mind. I came back tonight and was thinking I would just go with another topic. I sat staring at my list, paced around, sort of resigned myself to a new topic. It isn’t that the topic was bad, only that I wasn’t as excited about it at this moment, I was still sort of stuck on the earlier one. I started procrastinating, but as I was messing around, avoiding writing, I realized that the real topic was that time is just a flat circle.

I am very much a cyclical person. I am very habitual, and I fall into my own patterns a lot. It turns out my thoughts really fall into their own patterns as well. As I have been trying to organize all of my digital life, I have been reading a lot of old stuff I have found in hard drives here and there. I came across something I had written in May of 2010. While I didn’t know it at the time, I had basically laid out, in my own way, the basis of Stoic philosophy. This is something I have fallen much further into the last few years, but I had the ideas of its base back then. It is just funny to me how it cycles through.

I also use an app, called Day One, to keep a digital journal, I have been doing this since 2012, I have around 500 entries in it. It has a feature I like, where it prompts you to look at your posts from this date over the years. The more data you have with anything, the easier it is to find a pattern. As I get further out and have more entries to look back at, I see these patterns emerging. For instance, I have way more posts at the start of the year than at the end, usually with a spike around meaningful days (birthday, holidays, that sort of thing). This is because I always tell myself around New Years that I am going to journal more, then it wanes out. The other pattern I notice is how often I tell myself I need to change the same few things; write more, read more, less TV (and other distractions). Seeing the patterns emerging from the data made me realize that I was stuck here.

For some reason the other day I started watching the HBO show The Newsroom again. I just put it on as I was going to sleep, something I had seen a few times and knew I wouldn’t need to pay a lot of attention to. (This always happens where I put something on to fall asleep to and then I end up watching it, but that doesn’t really matter right now.) As I have been rewatching The Newsroom (because even though I put it on as a one-off, of course now, I find myself watching more and more), I realized that all of the material they were trying to convey (how messed up the media is) is still relevant today. Even though it aired in 2012, many of the points and warnings really hit today. It makes me realize that the cycles aren’t just me, but our society as a whole.

Cycles are everywhere, they show up in different forms. I have a weird work schedule, and I know each cycle of it hits me differently. We go through various cycles for different seasons, with different people. Most of the time, you don’t even realize the cycles you have fallen into. These cycles aren’t always a  bad thing, I mean Aristotle basically taught that habits were how you achieved virtue;

“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” (Paraphrased by Durant).

More data is always helpful. (I mean who doesn’t love looking at data?) The more information you can capture the more patterns you will see you are in. The important thing is to try and realize when they are bad cycles, and see if you can break them. Try and correcting the bad habits, and giving the good habits room to continue, build upon what you are doing well. Creating good habits helps keep your foundation in place, making things second nature makes them that much easier.

I am sure I will have more thoughts on habits in the near future. I recently picked up Atomic Habits by James Clear and am hoping to get into is soon. I have seen it recommended by quite a few people.

Also, rewatching the Time is a Flat Circle clip has made me really want to rewatch the first season of True Detectives again, but who doesn't want to watch it again. I should take advantage of HBO while I have it. (A lot of HBO this week, maybe more on that next time.)

Everything should be squared away with the newsletter now. It should be sending out from my own domain and no more spam folders. So that is a plus.

As always, thanks for reading,

Mike

Welcome Back

Time has sort of escaped me, but here we are again to give this a shot. A few housekeeping items before I kind of explain what has caused the lapse in newsletters though; first, this email is coming from Buttondown instead of MailChimp, this will hopefully make it putting it out a little more streamlined. I also set up a real website to go along with the newsletter, so all of the old issues should be in there as blog posts. I am not sure if in the future I will add other material or if I will just stick to reposting the newsletters there, we will see, but if you prefer to see in that form, you can always check it there instead.

Tearing it down and building it back up

I have this tendency with things I do; I build them up, get them going, then I decide I need to tear it apart and do it differently. This is a cycle I fall into a lot, but this time it has sort of hit overdrive. I think I started doing this around New Years and then I started reflecting on everything, thinking about the things I wanted to accomplish over the year and ended up going much much deeper. I began to feel the need to take everything in my life down to its core. Some of it is the feeling of a fresh start, some of it is probably insecurity, some of it is just the fact that I am intentionally trying to push myself to be more mindful and intentional with my time and actions.

As I start to tear things down though, sometimes I run into issues, sort of like a missing part of a flow chart. For example; we recently moved, and I am trying to get the house just the way I want it, and I realized I want to redo one area. Then I get stuck because I have to move things into this closet, but before I can do that I need to reorganize that closet. To reorganize the closet, I want to move some of that stuff into garage storage. Before I do that I need to rearrange the garage and make room for it, but I haven’t been able to get to that because the weather hasn’t been nice enough for me to work on the garage.

Another issue I run into is probably just built into my own form of product-anation; procrastinating the real work with trying to find ways to be more productive. I spend so much time reading about other peoples workflows or playing with new apps that are going to be quicker at task X that it eats into my actual work time. I have been trying to minimize/standardize the way I keep digital notes (really all digital files but mostly just written things apply here), so I spent some time going through all the apps I have used and am currently using and produced a workflow for myself to follow. I started with bullets on a whiteboard, wrote out the broad strokes, and then I wrote myself a more formal note on my plans to keep all my digital writing. It ended up being about a 1,600-word document, just on how to keep notes. Then about a week later I started rethinking one of the apps I had sort of put on the back burner and thought maybe it could have a more prominent role and I was right back to where I was at the beginning.

Another big issue for me is perfectionism, which I probably use as another form of procrastination. I use it to put off doing things I am going to put out into the public view. I fret over tiny details that don’t matter much. I am again switching newsletter services, which I spent way more time than needed looking at. As well as setting up a semi-real website to go along with it. These things aren't required for me to do the newsletter, but I tell myself that everything should be just right before I get back into it again. I can tinker forever before I am happy with everything, and by then I will probably find something new to change. I believe I have shared it before but like they say; perfect is the enemy of good.

A realization I came to recently is that the reason I use these procrastination techniques is to avoid having to put something out there. To let other people see what I have written is sometimes its own hindrance that I don’t realize I am using. And then the further you are from the last thing you put out, the more pressure you feel to have something great come after all that waiting. But in the end part of the reason I initially started this newsletter was to push myself to be more open, share more than I do. So this is one hump I need to get over. Plus how many people will even care that much, it's probably just this idea that lives in my head and builds on insecurities.

While I don't know that I will ever truly conquer my instincts of wanting to tear things down and rebuild them, I do need to overcome a lot of my own hurdles, quirks, and self-defeating tendencies. The first step to doing this is just getting something out in the world again (which you are currently reading (providing of course that I actually sent this out and I'm not the only one that has read it)). Next, armed with the understanding of how my mind works, I need to make things simpler for myself. Part of that is the reason I choose Buttondown for a newsletter service, it is very streamlined and doesn't have many options and design features for me to get lost in. I have also started making a set of rules for myself (internally), sort of a set of principals for the newsletter to live by. In that same regard, while rebuilding the newsletter, I came up with a kind of mission statement to help guide what I want it to be as well. This is where I am at with it right now;

"The Polymath Group is a funnel for the random thoughts that swirl around in my head. It is an experiment in growth, openness, and creativity. Hopefully, it also acts as a spark for conversation, reflection, and a little more thoughtfulness in (my small corner of) the world."

I don't think it is a bad place to start.

I am looking forward to trying to kick my bad habits and get back to putting this out regularly again. I have a few ideas to experiment with as well. Getting back to it is always the hardest part, and a good first step, again.

Last Friday my mom died. We had a complicated relationship, to say the least. She had a heart attack four days earlier and was in the hospital during that time, but they couldn’t bring her back. It is still sort of a weird thing and dealing with the logistics of a death in the family is never fun. Dealing with this is all has hampered my writing a little, but I have had a lot on my mind. My initial thought was I would write something on dealing with death in general, taking in the time you have, and the stoic outlook of it all. I never sat down to write that, maybe I still will later, but for now, I decided just to get some general thoughts out.

How do you share the news of death? The social constructs we have built don’t deal with this super well. You start with those closest to you; this part is pretty straightforward, your wife, your kids, your significant other, close family, and best friends. They are all mostly involved in every move as it happens or right there beside you, this pretty much takes care of itself. Next, you move down to your close friends, this one is still relatively easy, but how do you work it into your conversation? Do you just jump in from the outset with a; hey, just wanted to let you know my mom died? —Side note: the terminology here is weird to me too, do you use died or passed away? Passed away feels so formal and strange to say, but died seems harsh sometimes, I don’t know. —  Or do you build a narrative from the start and tell the whole story? Do you wait for it to come up? This one mostly varies by the person, but it is a little odd.

Next, you have the mid-level relationships, semi-close friends, immediate coworkers. This level is where things get tough, I think most people would consider me an introvert, and also a pretty private person, I don’t usually share a lot of personal information unless people specifically ask (minus the newsletter you are currently reading). These mid-level people will find out more slowly, but it will likely come up at some point. From here on down it slowly spreads by word of mouth. Living in a small community, working in a small town, word spreads fast. You start getting the random people telling you they are sorry, sending condolences, some of them are just giving you sad eyes as you pass them in the hallway. Inevitably someone will try and give you a hug.

I understand they are all well-intentioned and it is nice, but responding to it all is just as weird. Do you say thank you to someone who says they’re sorry? Do you say; it’s ok, like you would when they apologize? People will ask how you are doing in general; this question is impossible to answer, you say you are doing fine, but are you? You can say you are doing shitty, but that feels rude. It is just a weird question. Most of the time you are just still trying to process it all, and you don’t even know the answer yourself.

Death is just odd to handle; everyone is different; everyone processes it all different. Everyone you lose is a different relationship to you, some will hit you harder than you expect them to, some you will let go faster. People will treat you different for a while, you will hear from people you haven’t heard from in years. Death brings people together too, at least for a short time. It helps relieve old riffs, it makes you realize some things are just silly and petty.

We all want to hope that death is far away, that we won’t have to deal with it for a long time, but the truth is it can hit anyone at any time, you never know when it will happen. You might think you don’t need to worry about having a plan for what happens because you have time, but you don’t know that that is true. Some people aren’t affected by death as often as others, some only have to see it when it is what we consider normal (like from old age). Sometimes it seems to hit more often. This amounts to what I would say is the fourth close family death in about the last five years. When I stop to think about it, that feels like a lot, but maybe it’s normal too.

Take a moment and enjoy what you have today, it won’t last forever, make the most of the time you have. Set your phone down and take things in.

Sorry if this one felt a little rambly, it also got a little darker than I intended at the end. It was meant to be more honest and off the cuff. This is what happens when you write late at night.

Thanks for reading,
Mike

P.S. See, Friday is normal

Unless you have been living under a huge rock lately, you probably know that we are approaching the midterm elections. The closer we come to the election, the more ads that seem to run, it has gotten to a point where sometimes I feel like you can make it through a whole show without seeing real commercials. The signs are in all the yards, on all the corners, and social media… well, it is social media: you know what goes on there. And of course there is the news — that feels like a topic for another day though.

America has fallen hard into its two-party system, this was bound to happen while relying on a first past the post voting system (serious discussion should be taking place more often about changing this — again, an excellent topic for another day), but this seems to be pushing the tribalism even farther. The more we associate personal identity with party lines, the worse it will get. It can feel like a war out there sometimes — “out there” being mostly the internet.
Both parties are telling pushing for their side to believe that this election is a do or die situation. The more the hype builds, the more it pits people against each other, often times things are being taken too far.

There is still room for civil debate and discussion. It seems to be an unpopular opinion these days, but you can talk to someone from the other party and leave friends. Things don’t need to be as radical as they seem. Yes, we all have our own beliefs, but most of the time that doesn’t make the other person fundamentally wrong. It is ok to have different opinions when things aren’t always answerable. To treat people poorly because they have a particular belief or idea though is not ok. Being hateful helps no one.

I encourage you all to go out and vote on Tuesday (unless you already voted early — then I say, good job). Make sure you look into the candidates and find those that align with your beliefs or you think will hold up your values. Sure I could tell you who I think is best, but your values may differ from mine. Democracy works best when we are all trying to get our voices heard in the most civil way.

Links

• This is a review for the Pixel 3, but mostly some great reflections on life.
• There is always a fun list to share, here is one that is supposed to be what shaped our generation.
• Yes, this is another Movies with Mikey link, thanks for asking. (He always makes great content, I can't help it.)

Obviously, it has been some time. I let it slip a little, but I think the break was good. I feel a little better coming back to it now. I need to stay with it. November is also NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), while I don't plan to write a real novel, I am going to try and write a lot more this month. The goal for NaNoWriMo is 50,000 words. I don't really think I can hit that, but I am going to count the writing I do here and I am working on a story for my kids, so we will see how it all goes. Also, I still need to spend less time paying attention to football.

Thanks for reading,
Mike

P.S. Friday always feels right for some reason.

Most people associate spring with cleaning time, but lately it has become on my mind more and more. Really it has been on my mind for a while, but it turns out three kids keep you pretty busy. I would guess we actually are doing pretty well with clutter in our house comparatively with the average household, but our garage is pretty packed still.

I think overall people take issue with the terms minimalism and minimalist; it sort of carries a hipster or almost snobby kind of connotation sometimes. I also think a lot of people just think it is about getting rid of all your stuff and leaving in a bare white room. This isn’t the case though. It has a lot more to do with making sure you are getting value out of what you have. If something brings you a large amount of joy, that is fine to keep, but you need to remain mindful of things, especially when they start piling up.

A big part of this comes from our shopping habits; it is so easy to click to buy something on Amazon, or just the feeling of finding a good deal in the clearance section of the store. It is so easy to have something just show up on your door that sometimes you forgot what you even bought.

Slimming down the things we own hasn’t always been an easy thing for me. Some may even go as far as telling me I was a bit of a pack rat at times, but as I have gotten older, I have gotten much better with this. I still have way more than I need to keep around, but I have gotten much better. I am hopeful in the very near future that I will be tackling the garage and making this even better. Just taking stock of what we really need and what we are keeping for that random day ten years from now when I run into that very particular problem will be helpful.

There are a lot of resources on these ideas; the easiest to access is the documentary on Netflix called The Minimalists. It is a pretty good watch, and it really makes you think about what you have. They, of course, have a few books and do a podcast that you can find too. Also, there is the highly rated book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo (I received this book for my birthday and am going to start it next, expect some follow-up in the future). I think the best thing to do is just stop and think about what you actually need. That and giving yourself a 24-hour buffer on buying things.

Links

• I am not the only one who thinks The Good Place is a great show.
• Hurry Slowly is back for season two, a great podcast that thematically fits with this newsletter. (You can also just search for it in Overcast.)

It seems like taking that sort of cheat week for my birthday took a little more out of my momentum than I thought it would. That and taking stock of how much time I spend watching football. I need a screen time app for the TV maybe. Something to work on.

Thanks for reading,
Mike

P.S. Sunday is sometimes the last day of the week, as long as it is before midnight...

This week and today (October 6th) bring about my birthday. I decided that I was going to take it easy this week. I still don’t want to break my streak, so I am just sending out this little note.For my birthday I am going to ask you all to do two things for me. The first thing is to share my newsletter with someone you think would like it. You could forward your favorite one to them or send them to http://www.thepolymathgroup.xyz (where they can sign up on their own). The second thing you can do for me is telling me what you have liked about the newsletter since it has gone weekly, maybe your favorite topic, or your favorite part. Even if you have criticism, as long as it is constructive, I would like to hear your thoughts. I appreciate you taking time each week to read the random things I send out. Also, I am sending this out late Saturday because I wanted it to go out on my birthday, and still be a part of the right week.

Thank you for reading,

Mike

I have brought up my book goal a few times lately, but today I am taking a different approach. While I have been trying to get through more books to hit my target for the year, I realized that I have started picking shorter books. In the beginning, it just made sense to do this, get one down and on to the next. I realized this is sort of defeating the purpose.

The point was to read more of the things I wanted, to read more in general, to read stuff that was interesting and things I want to learn about. If I am just trying to get through the books then am I really getting what I wanted out of it. To curb this, I have decided to switch from a book goal to a number of pages or time goal; 50 pages a day or 30 minutes a day.

I started thinking about this problem in relation to my other goals, and I realized how easy it could be to slip into going through the motions and losing sight of the big picture. Building a habit is a great way to work things into your life, but if they just end up being done to check them off of a list, it isn’t the same thing. Sometimes you just have to take a step back and remember the reasons for the actions.

It is important to have goals, to push yourself to be better, but you have to know why you are doing it. You don’t want to lose sight of the big picture and get lost in the simple tasks that are supposed to be building to something bigger.

Links

• If you ever wondered what an anime version of Star Wars would look like, here you go.
• Also, if you ever wondered what it would be like to drive a car made out of Legos...

Fall seems to be here in full effect now, it is getting colder, we are a few weeks into football, and the leaves are starting to change. It is my favorite time of year, even if it is super busy for us. Enjoy the weekend and the weather.

Thanks for reading,
Mike

P.S. Hey, at least Saturday is still this week...

This week has been more of a struggle for me than it should have been. Obviously, this newsletter is much later than usual.  Even now as I am working on it, my mind keeps wandering to other things, almost looking for reasons to stop working on it. This is different from how I usually do this. I have always been a horrible procrastinator, but I would always still hit my deadlines. And often, when I get going, I can get through it fast. While I don’t sit down and write until the night before it needs to be done, I will have been working on what I want to say all week in my head, forming the structure and bullet points I want to hit, so when I sit down, it usually spills out pretty fast.

The next question might be if the problem is I don’t have anything to say this week. I know that isn’t the case though, I have an ongoing list of quite a few different topics that I will get to at some point. Many of them I already have given a lot of thought to already and would have worked just fine this week as well. Maybe I wasn’t feeling any of them at the time I tried to write, but that doesn’t seem like the answer either.

I typically write at night, usually much later than I should be up, to begin with. When I try and see what was holding me back this week, I still don’t think I have answers that make sense. The first night I spent dealing with something else, that in the end won't even matter, the second night I actually just went to bed instead, and the third night I actively avoided doing it and spent the night cleaning random things in the house. At some point, I literally just sat in front of my computer with the blank page open and just stared at it for thirty minutes. It felt like (and in a way still does) my brain was only on strike for this specific task.

The weird part of it is, this isn’t something I have to do, I want to do it. I like the act of writing. I guess I have put this constraint on myself, but that was intentional, to push myself to do it more, to get better. It makes the pushback feel strange. The mind is something that will always fascinate me; why we choose what tasks feel harder at certain times is just weird.  I know that part of it is just like exercise, the more I do it, the easier it gets, but still, sometimes it can just feel like I’m not the one in control. Part of it might be willpower, but that is something that always seems odd to me as well. Why I can’t will myself to just sit and write, or why I still choose to eat something I shouldn’t even though I am actively telling myself not to, and other times I can just stop doing something and break a habit I have had for 20 years and never look back. The brain is a weird place.

Writing about how I haven’t been writing almost feels like cheating, but when I started with this whole thing, part of the point was to be open about things I was feeling or thinking. Also, in setting out to do it every week, I knew (and said) there would be weeks that were weird. In the end, there will always be next week (as long as my brain cooperates).

Links

• I love finding out where words come from, this video from Vox shows why we say "OK," always the politics.
• This one is a little nerdier, but over on Macstories, Federico has his annual iOS review up. As usual, it is very good, but very long. If you are interested in learning more, you can just pick out the topics you like.

This week was a little more of a how-the-sausage-was-made kind of post, but that's part of the fun right?

Thanks for reading,
Mike

P.S. This is still going to count as last week, so you should have another later this week for this week...

This week I just a few random thoughts to share, so let's get into it.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I had fallen behind on my reading goal, when I actually sat down to look at it I realized I had to basically finish a book a week for the rest of the year to catch up. I don’t honestly think I am going to get there, but I am still going to try. Maybe I can surprise myself. Since that newsletter, I have finished two books. I am in a cycle of nights at work right now, and that always makes it easier to read so we will see what happens when I go back to days, but I am going to try.

In trying this, I am, as always, trying to reduce my web and social media use when it is just out of boredom. I moved the Kindle app to the dock on my phone to try and push myself into using that instead of Twitter or Instagram when I am in situations to just scroll. If it doesn’t work, it will at least add to my guilt by seeing it there. Apple is releasing iOS 12 next week which will include more screen time tracking and will show you more info on how you use your phone. I have used an app to track this in the past, but I have been on the iOS 12 beta for a couple months, and there is a lot more data from the version that is built into the operating system. I think it will be interesting to see how others react to their usage time, but I think most of them will probably ignore looking at it all together. You do have the option to set yourself limits by app or by category though so it may be useful for some people in that regard.

I do also think its funny that as I tell you I need to use my phone less, I am also planning on buying a new phone this week. Apple held its annual iPhone event earlier this week, and I am due for a new one. Well, due is a word that sort of implies I am owed it, but that's just the consumerism talking I suppose. I will now be two generations behind. Maybe that is a topic for another day though.

Recommendations

• If you haven't yet watched The Good Place, you should. The first two seasons are on Netflix and the third season starts soon on NBC. This show is great. Try not to find anything else out about it before you watch it; it is best to go in fresh. I rewatched the first two seasons over the last two weeks (I know you are probably thinking - but Mike, you just told us you need to read more, and here you are rewatching two whole seasons of this TV show you have already seen. I know that ok, you don't need to yell about it.) and I thought it was even better the second time. I am pumped for it to come back.
• One of the books I finished last week was Nick Offerman's Paddle Your Own Canoe; it was excellent. You can hear his voice come through when you are reading it, and for me, I just love his point of view on things. Do a good job and be a good person, seems like a great message.

I didn't have any links to share this week, maybe because I was reading more, maybe because I spent too much time reading about football (I mean how many takes can you read about the Packers come back), maybe there just wasn't anything great on the web, maybe there was, and I just forgot to make a note of it, and I need to send this out. You just never know.

Thanks for reading,
Mike

P.S. Well at least we are back to a Friday release, only six days since the last one...

I recently (an hour ago) watched the Mr. Rogers documentary; Won’t You Be My Neighbor. I have many takeaways from this that I am sure will come up in different places in the future, but today I am going to talk about doubting yourself.

I often have a lot of self-doubts, I have doubt every time I go to send out this newsletter, I have doubts with how I raise my kids, I have doubts if I am doing my best with life. I find it helps a lot to know that really everyone has self-doubt, people that were the best in their field had doubt. As it turns out, Mr. Rogers had a lot of self-doubts. He wondered if he was able to pull off the job that he was doing and if he was good enough to keep going. To me this seems crazy, especially looking back at the influence he had on countless people. To know that someone like this doubted themselves makes me feel better. It makes me feel like I am not the only one with these thoughts, outside of that fact that he was orders of magnitude more important to the world.

I feel like Marcus Aurelius dealt with this as well, his *Meditations* were his journal, he never meant for them to be published in any way. The whole book is him trying to figure out how to deal with life and trying to do the right thing. He struggled with how to act and even with not wanting to get up to deal with the day.

Knowing people you look up to as great men struggled in many of the same ways you do is helpful. I also think that having the self-doubt and questioning if you are doing well enough at least means your trying. I think there are probably many people who never think about these things and are just floating by in life without feeling they have a choice or need to change. Maybe self-doubt isn’t always bad.

Links

• I think I could watch people break things apart and tell me how they are made all day. In the latest Nerdwriter video he does this with Michael Jackson, it's good stuff.
• Really in that same vein, you could watch all these Earworm videos by Vox.

The change of schedule from no school to school can hit you pretty fast, suddenly there is a lot more running of the kids to this and that, but it also adds a little bit more structure to everything. It takes a few weeks to get used to again, but sometimes the structure is nice. Also, you should totally check out the Mr. Rogers documentary if you get the chance, it's good.

Thanks for reading,
Mike

P.S. You know, with the holiday week everything is a bit later this week right?