https://stratechery.com/2026/write-things-down/

We're in 1905: Why Electricity (Not Dot-Com) Is the Right AI Analogy

The Weekend Windup #29 - Cool reads, events, links, and more

How to Do Great Work

The first step is to decide what to work on.

Develop a habit of working on your own projects.

Embracing the parallel coding agent lifestyle

Plus prompt injection attacks against Sora 2 cameos and notes on DSPy and Litestream 0.5.0

I Tried Every Todo App and Ended Up With a .txt File - Alireza Bashiri

AI is a Floor Raiser, not a Ceiling Raiser - Elroy

An AI assistant that remembers and sets goals

Parkinson's Law: It's Real, So Use It

Yes, just set that deadline.

Improve Developer Onboarding With an Internal Developer Portal

Onboarding can be a well-documented, up-to-date, repeatable process that helps new hires become productive quickly without having to ask so many questions.

How to Build Anything Extremely Quickly - Learn How To Learn

Do "outline speedrunning": Recursively outline an MVP, speedrun filling it in, and only then go back and perfect. This is a ~10x speed up over the 'loading-bar' style (more on that below) Don't just read this article and move on. Go out and do this for the very next thing you…

Use A Work Journal To Recover Focus Faster And Clarify Your Thoughts

You’re working on the most complex problem in computer science: fixing permissions on a deployment pipeline. It’s been 4 days you started on that simple task...

Efficiency: The Transformative Power of Time-Boxing

In the fast-paced rhythm of today's world, managing time effectively is not just an advantage; it's a...

An On-Ramp to Flow

Tips for developers on getting into flow states

Shoshikantetsu

Vectors of Action

Thinking about your actions as vectors instead of scalars is a helpful mental model to manage your goals. Considering your vectors of action can help you objectively assess your progress, your impact, and your well-being.

Being Glue — No Idea Blog

Slides and notes for the Being Glue talk.

Escape the perfectionist trap with the Japanese philosophy of "wabi sabi"

Perfectionism is on the rise, and its consequences for mental health can be devastating. The Japanese philosophy of "wabi sabi" can help.

Henry Rollins on defining success

Henry Rollins talks about not labelling what you do, why he’s not interested in advice, the need to make things constantly, and why he’s never had a creative block.

Todoist Inspiration

Productivity inspiration and tactical advice that’s actually useful.

Scott Hanselman's Complete List of Productivity Tips

Note Scott Hanselman (me): I had been meaning to write up my productivity tips ...

GTD in 15 minutes – A Pragmatic Guide to Getting Things Done

In Praise of Pointless Goals

These achievements aren’t about productive self-improvement. They’re designed to make the pursuit of joy a deliberate practice.

Productivity 101: How to Use Personal Kanban to Visualize Your Work

The best productivity methods keep your to-dos in front of you and prioritized so you never wonder what to work on next. Some are complicated, but oth

The Productive Art of Doing Nothing

Pause and think on purpose

Life Is Not Short | DKB Show

The most surprising thing is that you wouldn’t let anyone steal your property, but you consistently let people steal your time, which is infinitely more valuable.

Getting things done

Alex Vermeer — Life-Hacking. Climbing. Striving for awesome. Coffee.

Life-Hacking. Climbing. Striving for awesome. Coffee.

Kanban

An introduction to kanban methodology for agile software development and its benefits for your agile team.

My productivity app is a single .txt file

Something small, every day - Austin Kleon

The 5 Whys: get to the root of your productivity problems

If you're having trouble with your productivity, consider finding the root using the 5 Whys technique.

Timeboxing: Why It Works and How to Get Started in 2024

Timeboxing is the nearest thing we have to productivity magic, yet most people don’t utilize it. It amounts to boxing out periods of time to work on distinct tasks each day. But when I recommend perhaps the most effective technique ever devised to help people stay on track, most…

OKAY | Engineering productivity can be measured - just not how you'd expect

Bring all your engineering data in one place and build dashboards in minutes

the diminishing returns of productivity culture

This is the midweek edition of Culture Study — the newsletter from Anne Helen Petersen, which you can read about here. If you like it and want more like it in your inbox, consider subscribing.

What Silicon Valley "Gets" about Software Engineers that Traditional Compan

I've worked at various tech companies: from "traditional" shops and consultancies, through an investment bank, to high-growth tech firms. I've also talked with software engineers working at startups, banking, automotive, big tech, and more "traditional" companies. This mix had a…

Productivity Lessons from Artists and Entrepreneurs

A few timeless productivity lessons that apply no matter what you’re doing.

One man’s obsessive, 40-year pursuit of the productive life

Stephen Wolfram, creator of Mathematica and WolframAlpha, on his carefully-crafted techniques for being effective at work.

The Best Productivity Apps for 2020 – A Complete List

Productivity inspiration and tactical advice that’s actually useful.

Work is a Queue of Queues

Do you ever get that feeling like no matter how hard you work, you just can't keep up? This isn't a problem uniquely faced by modern knowledge workers. It's also a characteristic of certain software systems. This state — of being perpetually behind on intended work-in-progress —…

How to conquer work paralysis like Ernest Hemingway

The author wasn’t all about literary masterpieces, dry martinis and rakish charm – he also invented a technique that can beat procrastination and boost productivity.

Two Things to Do After Every Meeting

To make sure productivity doesn’t slow after you walk out of the room, do two things after and in between meetings.

I’m Not a Good Web Developer, I’m Just Good at Googling Things

Dev diaries is a development community providing daily tips and tricks about web development. Learn about how to become a better dev, and get a refreshed perspective on what it means to be a web developer. We share daily web development tips on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, &…

Hustle As Strategy

In a world where there are no secrets, where innovations are quickly imitated or become obsolete, the theory of competitive advantage may have had its day. Realistically, ask yourself, If all your competitors gave their strategic plans to each other, would it really make a…

Getting Ahead By Being Inefficient

Inefficient does not mean ineffective, and it is certainly not the same as lazy. You get things done – just not in the most effective way possible. You’re a bit sloppy, and use more energy. But don’t feel bad about it. There is real value in not being the best.

30 Behaviors That Will Make You Unstoppable In 2019

“Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.” — Oscar Wilde

How Timeboxing Works and Why It Will Make You More Productive

In a recent survey of 100 productivity hacks, timeboxing — migrating to-do lists into calendars — was ranked the most useful. Timeboxing can give you a much greater sense of control over your workday. You decide what to do and when to do it, block out all distractions for that…

My magic response to "Hey, can I pick your brain?"

The first few times it happens, it feels like a positive signal. Somebody wants your advice and perspective. You must be good at what you do. And th

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Designing High Performing Teams

This is Part 2 of a three part series on high performing teams. Part one is of Design the Team You Need to Succeed Now you’ve decided you want more than a workgroup, what should you do? What does i…

The Dreaded Weekly Status Email

I remember the first time I had to write one of these puppies. I had just been promoted to manager at Yahoo back in 2000, and was running a small team. I was told to “write a status email covering …

Do Quests Not Goals

South Island, New Zealand, a.k.a. Middle-Earth If you were to make a list of what you want to get done this week, it would mostly consist of things you have to do. Get groceries. Book a hair appointment. Get back to so-and-so. Read that health and safety thing for work. If you…