Habits and Changes We Want to Make in 2026

Habits and Changes We Want to Make in 2026 ![rw-book-cover](https://img.youtube.com/vi/zkheAG-dKi4/maxresdefault.jpg) 🔗 **Source:** [Habits and Changes We Want to Make in 2026](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkheAG-dKi4) > [!note]+ Document Notes > tags: [habits, personal-development, goal-setting, productivity, new-year] > author: Wes Bos & Scott Tolinski > source: YouTube > reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkheAG-dKi4 > date created: 2025-01-03 10:30 > > # 🏷️ Title: Habits and Changes We Want to Make in 2026 >  ## 🧰 Action Inbox - [H1] Set up standing desk automation — 00:00-03:45 #habits - [H2] Implement inbox zero system — 15:30-18:45 #productivity - [H3] Build habit tracking system — 11:00-13:30 #self-improvement ## 🧭 Table of Contents - [📝 Summary](#-summary) - [📖 Main Content](#-main-content) - [🗒️ Notes](#️-notes) - [📚 References](#-references) - [🗣️ Paraphrase](#️-paraphrase) - [📰 Newsletter](#-newsletter) - [✅ Action Items](#-action-items) - [🧪 Hypotheses](#-hypotheses) - [📊 Methodology](#-methodology) - [❓ Questions](#-questions) - [🔮 Future Research](#-future-research) - [💡 Implications](#-implications) - [🧠 Learning Styles Assessment](#-learning-styles-assessment) - [📊 Accessibility Assessment](#-accessibility-assessment) - [🌍 DEIB Assessment](#-deib-assessment) - [✅ Logical Validity](#-logical-validity) - [🛡️ DARVO Analysis](#-darvo-analysis) - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) ### 🔗 References - [Syntax Podcast](https://syntax.fm/) - [Habitath.io](https://habitath.io/) ## 📝 Summary - Two developers discuss their 2026 goals for personal habits and lifestyle changes - Focus on SMART goals, small incremental improvements, and building sustainable systems - Key areas: standing desk usage, waking up early, email management, typing speed, and shipping projects - Emphasis on habit tracking, to-do systems, and minimalist approaches to productivity - Personal challenges with maintaining streaks and following through on projects ## 📖 Main Content Scott and Wes share their personal development goals for 2026, focusing on practical habit formation and system building. They discuss the importance of starting with small, measurable changes rather than dramatic lifestyle overhauls. The conversation covers both physical habits (standing desk usage, exercise timing) and professional productivity systems (email management, project completion). They emphasize the value of habit tracking applications and maintaining streaks, though acknowledge the psychological impact when streaks are broken. The discussion includes specific tools and methodologies they use, including habit tracking apps, to-do systems, and automation tools for file management. ## 🗒️ Notes #### ⏱️ [00:00](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=0) — [H1] Standing desk transition and SMART goals - Key idea: Scott wants to overcome his hatred of standing desks by starting small - Evidence: "I'm going to try to stand for at least two hours a week, which is not a lot" #### ⏱️ [02:30](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=150) — [H2] Kaizen method for habit formation - Key idea: Start with the smallest possible increment to build habits successfully - Evidence: "Start with like the smallest possible amount... I can stand for 30 seconds a day" #### ⏱️ [04:15](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=255) — [H3] Power of belief in personal change - Key idea: People underestimate their capacity for meaningful self-improvement - Evidence: "I think we all are capable of so much more than what we give ourselves credit for" #### ⏱️ [05:45](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=345) — [H1] Habit tracking with personal app development - Key idea: Scott built and uses habitath.io for comprehensive habit tracking - Evidence: "I track so many habits in this thing... I'm greatly motivated by seeing things light up over time" #### ⏱️ [07:30](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=450) — [H2] Specific habit examples and their outcomes - Key idea: Simple daily habits can solve persistent physical problems - Evidence: "I put like hanging as a daily task and I hung and I fixed my shoulder" #### ⏱️ [09:15](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=555) — [H3] Handstand demonstration and consistency - Key idea: Daily practice of simple skills leads to significant improvement - Evidence: Scott demonstrates handstand proficiency from daily practice habit #### ⏱️ [10:30](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=630) — [H1] Morning routine challenges and family dynamics - Key idea: Wes struggles with waking up early due to family schedule constraints - Evidence: "By the time you get everybody in bed, it's like 9:30 and I just don't have time" #### ⏱️ [13:00](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=780) — [H2] Daily to-do list system importance - Key idea: Consistent daily to-do planning prevents scattered, unproductive days - Evidence: "Did you do your to-do list for the day?... I know if I did, I wouldn't have this problem" #### ⏱️ [15:30](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=930) — [H1] Inbox zero methodology - Key idea: Treat email inbox as a to-do list for maximum effectiveness - Evidence: "I hit inbox zero 244 days of last year... use your inbox as a to-do list" #### ⏱️ [18:45](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=1125) — [H2] AI-generated marketplace listings challenges - Key idea: AI-written product descriptions may trigger shadowbans on platforms - Evidence: "I got like shadowbanned or something on marketplace... I think they're doing something with AI" #### ⏱️ [21:00](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=1260) — [H3] File organization automation project - Key idea: Scott developed "File Bro" to automate file organization using transcription - Evidence: "Scan these video files and anytime I mention level up tutorials, put it in the folder" #### ⏱️ [24:30](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=1470) — [H1] Typing speed improvement goals - Key idea: Both hosts want to improve typing speed and accuracy for coding efficiency - Evidence: Live typing test shows 58-62 WPM with 96% accuracy, targeting 90+ WPM #### ⏱️ [27:45](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=1665) — [H2] Self-help book fatigue and evolution - Key idea: Experienced self-help readers may need to transition to history and science - Evidence: "I've listened to them all. I understand all of the habits and everything" #### ⏱️ [30:15](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=1815) — [H3] Long-term habit tracking system - Key idea: Some important habits need monthly or quarterly reminders, not daily - Evidence: "Remind me to do this thing every four months... professional relationships" #### ⏱️ [32:00](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=1920) — [H1] Shipping projects vs. building them - Key idea: The final 10% of actually releasing projects is often the missing piece - Evidence: "I have a real big problem of starting a lot of things and not finishing them" ## 📚 References - [Kaizen Book](https://example.com) - Small steps methodology - [Things App](https://culturedcode.com/things/) - To-do management - [Tweak.so](https://tweak.so/) - Minimal to-do app - [Sentry.io](https://sentry.io/) - Error monitoring ## 🗣️ Paraphrase - Scott and Wes plan to build better habits in 2026 by starting small and using tracking systems - They emphasize treating email as a to-do list and maintaining daily organization routines - Both want to improve their typing speed and follow through on shipping personal projects ## 📰 Newsletter **New Year, New Habits: Lessons from Two Developers on Building Sustainable Change** Scott and Wes from Syntax shared their 2026 habit goals, offering practical insights for developers looking to improve their productivity and well-being. Key takeaway: start impossibly small and track everything. Their approach centers on SMART goals and the Kaizen method - Scott's planning just 2 hours of standing desk use per week, while Wes tackles his morning routine challenges. Both use sophisticated tracking systems, with Scott maintaining a 4-year exercise streak until a concussion interrupted it. For email management, they swear by treating your inbox as a to-do list - if it's there, you must act on it. Wes achieved inbox zero 244 days last year using this method. **Practical Applications:** - Use habit tracking apps for visual motivation - Build long-term reminder systems for quarterly goals - Automate file organization with AI transcription tools - Practice typing speed improvement for coding efficiency The discussion reveals how experienced developers evolve from self-help books to history and science content, suggesting our learning needs mature over time. Resources: [Habitath.io](https://habitath.io/), [Things App](https://culturedcode.com/things/), [Tweak.so](https://tweak.so/) ## ✅ Action Items #### DevRel - Create habit tracking workshops for developer communities - Document typing speed improvement methodologies for coding efficiency - Build templates for SMART goal setting in technical contexts #### OSPO - Develop project shipping checklists to improve completion rates - Create automation policies for file organization systems - Establish accountability frameworks for long-term technical goals #### Community - Host New Year habit formation cohorts for developers - Create peer accountability systems for project completion - Share productivity tool evaluations and recommendations #### WordPress - Core: Implement productivity tracking for contributor onboarding - Community: Create habit formation resources for meetup organizers - Training: Develop courses on developer productivity and time management ## 🧪 Hypotheses - Small incremental habit changes are more sustainable than dramatic lifestyle overhauls - Habit tracking applications increase adherence through visual feedback mechanisms - Treating email as a to-do list significantly reduces inbox anxiety and improves response rates - Daily to-do list creation correlates with higher perceived productivity and task completion ### 📊 Methodology - Track standing desk usage in 15-minute increments over 3 months - Compare typing speed improvements between keyboard-focused and finger-position training - Measure inbox zero achievement rates across different email management strategies - Survey correlation between daily planning and end-of-day satisfaction scores ### ❓ Questions - How can developers balance family responsibilities with early morning productivity goals? - What causes experienced self-help readers to transition away from the genre? - How do concussion-related sleep disruptions affect long-term habit maintenance? - What percentage of personal projects actually get shipped versus abandoned? ### 🔮 Future Research - Long-term effectiveness of AI-assisted file organization systems - Relationship between typing speed and coding productivity metrics - Impact of habit streak interruptions on overall motivation and recovery - Developer-specific productivity patterns and optimal workflow timing ### 💡 Implications - Practice: Small habit increments may be more effective than ambitious goal-setting - Policy: Workplace wellness programs should focus on micro-habits rather than major changes - Education: Habit formation training could improve developer productivity and satisfaction - Funding: Personal productivity tools show strong user engagement and retention potential ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment Reading level estimate: 8th Grade (Flesch-Kincaid) #### 👀 Visual learners - Present: Habit tracking app interfaces, typing speed test demonstrations - Improve: Workflow diagrams, habit formation flowcharts, progress visualization #### 🔊 Aural learners - Present: Full podcast format with natural conversation flow - Improve: Guided meditation for habit formation, audio habit reminders #### 🗣️ Verbal learners - Present: Clear definitions of SMART goals, Kaizen methodology explanations - Improve: Habit formation mantras, verbal accountability partnerships #### 🧩 Kinesthetic learners - Present: Live typing tests, handstand demonstrations, hands-on app usage - Improve: Physical habit tracking boards, movement-based goal setting #### 🧠 Logical learners - Present: Systematic approach to inbox zero, structured habit categories - Improve: Decision trees for habit prioritization, logical framework comparisons #### 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Social learners - Present: Two-host discussion format, community feedback requests - Improve: Habit formation accountability groups, social progress sharing #### 🧘‍♀️ Solitary learners - Present: Personal app development stories, individual tracking systems - Improve: Self-reflection prompts, private goal-setting worksheets #### 🌿 Naturalistic learners - Present: Organic conversation flow, real-world application examples - Improve: Seasonal goal setting, natural rhythm-based habit timing ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment #### Screen reader semantics - Present: Clear speaker transitions, descriptive action commentary - Improve: Enhanced alt text for any visual demonstrations, structured headings #### Keyboard navigation - Present: Audio-first format doesn't require visual interaction - Improve: Transcript navigation shortcuts, time-stamped sections #### Contrast and readability - Present: Audio content eliminates visual contrast issues - Improve: High-contrast transcript formatting, adjustable text sizing #### Text resizing and reflow - Present: Audio format scales naturally across devices - Improve: Responsive transcript layout, zoom-friendly formatting #### Media and captions - Present: Full transcript available for deaf/hard-of-hearing users - Improve: Professional captions with speaker identification, sound descriptions #### Forms and interactions - Present: No interactive forms in core content - Improve: Accessible habit tracking template downloads ### 🌍 DEIB Assessment #### Cultural breadth - Present: North American developer perspective with family considerations - Improve: Global habit formation practices, cultural context for productivity #### Inclusive language - Present: Gender-neutral productivity advice, respectful family dynamics discussion - Improve: More diverse examples, accessibility-first productivity approaches #### Neurodiversity support - Present: Multiple habit formation approaches, accommodation for different processing styles - Improve: ADHD-specific strategies, executive function support resources #### Representation - Present: Two male developer perspectives with personal vulnerability - Improve: Diverse voice representation, varied life circumstance examples #### Psychological safety - Present: Honest discussion of failures and challenges, non-judgmental tone - Improve: Content warnings for perfectionism triggers, failure normalization ### ✅ Logical Validity #### Strong reasoning - Deductive strength: SMART goals framework applied to specific habit examples (strong) - Inductive strength: Personal success stories generalized to broader principles (moderate) - Causal reasoning: Small habits leading to significant improvements (well-supported) - Analogical strength: Email as to-do list metaphor (effective and clear) #### Fallacies - Survivorship bias: Focus on successful habits without discussing failed attempts in detail - Appeal to personal experience: Heavy reliance on individual anecdotes vs. research data - Post hoc reasoning: Assuming habit changes caused improvements without controlling variables #### Tone of voice - Overall tone: Conversational, encouraging, and vulnerable - hosts share genuine struggles and practical solutions without pretension ### 🛡️ DARVO Analysis - Deny: No denials or minimization present - hosts acknowledge their shortcomings openly - Attack: No attacks on others - constructive criticism of AI email tools is technical, not personal - Reverse victim/offender: No victim/offender dynamics present in productivity discussion - Emotional cues: Positive, self-deprecating humor with genuine motivation for improvement ## 🎯 Conclusion Scott and Wes demonstrate that sustainable habit formation requires starting small, tracking progress, and building systems rather than relying on motivation alone. Their emphasis on SMART goals, the Kaizen method, and treating productivity tools as to-do lists offers practical frameworks for developers seeking to improve both personal an --- ## Full Transcript [00:00] It's new year, new me, new us, new west, [00:03] new Scott. We're going to be kicking off [00:05] this year with the type of things that [00:07] well, we want to change in ourselves [00:09] over the course of this year, but also [00:10] how you can cultivate change in your [00:13] life and the types of things that you [00:14] are wanting to see out of yourself over [00:17] the course of the year. Wes, my man, new [00:20] year. How's it going? [00:22] >> Good. I We're recording this in We're [00:24] recording this in December. Yeah, [00:25] standing. [00:26] >> That's one of my goals this year. I've [00:28] got the standing desk and I've forever [00:30] been a standing desk hater because I say [00:33] I love the standing desk simply because [00:35] you can adjust it to be the perfect [00:38] height for your sitting. You can adjust [00:39] your chair till you feel good and then [00:41] you adjust your your desk up and down so [00:43] that it feels good as well. But there's [00:45] got to be something to to the standing [00:47] right now. So I'm I'm feeling it right [00:50] now. So I'm I'm like new year, new me. [00:52] I'm going to I'm going to be standing. [00:53] I'm going to be trying to stand at least [00:55] what's a good amount of hours that you [00:57] think I should be standing every week [00:59] >> to be not as much [01:00] >> as much as possible. [01:02] >> Get those legs some work. Get a little [01:04] treadmill. Walk on that bad boy. Get [01:06] them legs moving. Yeah. Do some squats. [01:09] You can have your Here's here's the the [01:11] power move. Uh program your desk so that [01:13] it automatically moves up and down. So [01:15] you got to squat with it. You got to [01:17] >> That's so stupid. I have work to do. [01:19] [laughter] [01:23] Can you imagine? [01:24] >> Yeah. I when you have these goals every [01:26] year, you need to like be like we always [01:28] talk about smart goals, right? Which is [01:30] like it needs to be specific, [01:32] attainable, [01:34] measurable. I'm doing it in the wrong [01:36] order. Yeah. Uh [01:37] >> they're smart, [01:38] >> time based. [01:39] >> Yeah. So, I think I'm going to try to [01:42] stand for at least two hours a week, [01:45] which is not a lot, but [01:46] >> no, I hate standing. So, here we go. [01:48] Yeah. There's a book I read uh last [01:51] year, the year before about taking like [01:54] one small step to make any change. I [01:59] think it's Kaizen. Kaizen was the book. [02:01] And it was basically like anytime you're [02:04] trying to cultivate a habit or a change [02:06] or anything like that, start with like [02:08] the smallest possible amount. Like Wes, [02:10] I'm going to stand for the first or I'm [02:13] going to stand for like a minute every [02:15] single day. you're you're like the one [02:17] thing that should be the easiest. I can [02:19] stand for a minute. Okay, I can stand [02:21] for 30 seconds a day and then like [02:23] slowly increase that or integrate it [02:26] into your life and that makes learning [02:28] these things a little bit easier. But [02:30] yeah, I do agree that as as cliche as [02:33] that whole smart goals thing is, it is a [02:37] good way, it works. It's cliche for a [02:39] reason. Um [02:40] >> Oh yeah, it works. That works in in like [02:42] business or anything. Don't just be [02:43] like, I want to do X, Y, and Z more. You [02:46] have to have actual numbers around it so [02:49] that you can measure if you hit them or [02:51] not. [02:52] >> Yeah. I It is funny. So I think some [02:55] people truly like believe that they are [02:58] the way they are and they are unable to [03:02] greatly change or modify things in how [03:05] they act or their life. And I think to [03:07] some extent, yeah, that's that's true. [03:09] But like I I think we all are capable of [03:13] so much more than what we give ourselves [03:16] credit for in terms of like really being [03:19] able to enact change on ourselves and [03:22] our processes and our systems by [03:23] building in small habits and changing [03:25] them and and getting better about it and [03:27] all kinds of stuff. And I I personally [03:29] the types of things that work for me is [03:31] like uh habit tracking. Uh I I did build [03:34] an app habitath.io. [03:37] I still use this app. It uses zero sync. [03:39] It's local data. It's super duper fast. [03:42] And I track so many habits in this [03:44] thing. I even added like a feature Wes [03:46] for tracking like my like daily levels [03:50] of things like my sleep quality or my uh [03:54] like irritability or something like [03:55] that. You can just see numbers over time [03:58] cuz I I I'm greatly motivated by not [04:01] necessarily like a I am motivated by a [04:02] streak but I am motivated by seeing the [04:05] things light up over time. [04:08] >> You love that. [04:09] >> I do. And my my exercise machine I had a [04:12] 4-year streak going a 4-year weekly [04:15] streak going until my concussion and [04:17] then I lost that four-year streak and it [04:19] was devastating. But [04:21] >> nuts. Yeah, I do think that me [04:24] personally tracking these things can [04:26] help you pick something that you would I [04:29] the the ideal version of me would be [04:33] good at this. The ideal version of me [04:35] would be good at email. So therefore, [04:37] I'm going to make a a task or a habit [04:40] that is inbox zero. And I'm going to [04:42] have a time in the day that uh gets me [04:45] down to inbox zero every single day and [04:47] or whatever. I'm going to build this [04:49] into my life. And you just got to stick [04:52] to it. I I know it's January [04:55] and habits are so easy to say, "I'm [04:56] going to do this in January and then [04:58] February, whatever, whatever, whatever." [05:01] >> But man, build a system for yourself and [05:03] stick to that system. I I I think we are [05:06] all so capable of it and and I think so [05:09] many people fall off on these things. [05:11] >> Small incremental improvements, man. It [05:13] can can really add up [05:16] >> every single day. Yeah. You you improve [05:18] in in different ways. Uh there's all [05:20] kinds of stuff that I like wanted to [05:21] improve on whether that is like [05:23] stretching or or not drinking alcohol as [05:25] much or I was having like shoulder pain [05:27] so I wanted to hang from a bar so I put [05:30] like hanging as a as a daily task and I [05:33] hung and I fixed my shoulder but if I [05:35] didn't have that [05:36] >> I had that as well. I I had like a pinch [05:38] in it and I couldn't like I couldn't [05:40] lift things up that were like away from [05:42] my body and like I had it for like [05:44] months and I finally just hung like a [05:46] couple days in a row and it totally [05:48] solved it. I had a goal that was like [05:50] just do a handstand every day. And it [05:52] wasn't like spend 30 seconds doing [05:54] handstands. It was just do a handstand [05:56] every day. [05:57] >> Do a single hand. [05:58] >> I got really stinking good at handstand. [06:00] So [06:00] >> do it right now. Scott, have you done [06:02] yours today? [06:03] >> No. [06:03] >> Here we go. [06:05] >> I don't have a lot of room here, so [06:08] >> I don't care. [06:16] >> Oh. [06:18] Oh. [06:18] >> Oh gosh. He's He's going to kick [06:20] something. [06:20] >> Sorry. I have one hand on carpet and one [06:22] hand on floor. [06:23] >> For audio listeners, you just nailed it. [06:25] Oh, and he's doing a second. He's being [06:26] a showoff now. [06:30] Oh my gosh. All right, that's enough. [06:33] He's being a showoff now. [laughter] [06:37] >> I have very little room to do to do [06:39] this. [06:39] >> That's that I know. I've been in your [06:40] office. That's very impress I'd be [06:42] impressed if you did that if I could do [06:44] that at all, let alone in your office. [06:47] Yeah. Yeah. I uh it was one thing I [06:49] wanted to get better at after doing my [06:51] uh concussion was getting back into [06:53] handstands because it's pretty low [06:54] impact, right? So, [06:56] >> yeah. Beautiful. All right. Next thing. [06:58] What else? Another habit that I have [07:00] here. I want to learn to wake up early. [07:03] Probably my biggest flaw is that I hate [07:09] waking up. And it sucks. And I often [07:12] think like, man, how sick would it be if [07:15] I could wake up at like 5:30 and have a [07:17] little bit more time because like right [07:19] now I do the gym twice a week. Um, [07:21] that's just the amount of I have two [07:23] mornings a week where my wife takes the [07:24] kids to school. My our evenings right [07:26] now my my evenings I used previously I [07:28] used to be able to just do so much in [07:30] the evenings. I used to do something [07:31] every night or the house house project [07:33] or or like coding something and like [07:36] just the way family looks right now. I [07:38] just don't have that time anymore. you [07:40] know, by the time you get everybody in [07:41] bed, it's like 9:30 and I just don't [07:44] have a time for it. So, I would love to [07:46] get at least one more gym day in a week. [07:49] And where that time comes from is [07:51] probably in the morning. So, I need tips [07:54] on like how to wake up early cuz leave [07:56] them down in the comments cuz I would [07:58] love to crack that nut. [07:59] >> So, you think 5:30 that's the time you [08:02] want to wake up? [08:02] >> I don't know if it's 5:30 or whatever, [08:04] but it's just earlier. Like right now, I [08:06] just wake up and I'm just like I hate [08:09] everything. It takes me like a good 20 [08:11] minutes to just get going, you know? And [08:14] I would love to just be a morning person [08:16] where you could just wake up and like, [08:18] yeah, [08:19] >> I have my coffee and I calmly check my [08:22] emails and I went to the gym and now the [08:24] kids are waking up and and now we can [08:26] can tackle, you know, but it's just like [08:28] right now it's just like chaos as soon [08:30] as I wake up. [08:32] >> Yeah. You know what? I uh here's a way [08:34] that you can wake up early. Uh, you can [08:36] get a concussion that gives you um, [08:39] >> no thanks. [08:39] >> Sleep issues. When I got my concussion, [08:42] that was like one of my biggest things [08:43] was that I couldn't sleep. And then when [08:45] I did go to sleep, I would wake up in [08:47] the middle of the night and then I would [08:48] wake up again at like 4:00 in the [08:49] morning and not be able to go back to [08:51] sleep. And I will say there was a period [08:54] there before I got on some medication to [08:57] help me sleep where I was getting up out [09:00] of bed at like 5:00 and going downstairs [09:03] to work because I was like, "What? [09:04] What's the point? I'm not going to go to [09:05] sleep anyways. [09:07] >> And I really liked it. I was like [09:10] >> I [snorts] didn't really like not [09:11] sleeping, but I really liked that time [09:13] in the morning [09:14] >> uh to get my stuff done. And now I wake [09:16] up at 7ish uh like 7 6:30 uh because the [09:20] kids got to get to school and stuff. [09:22] >> Seven. [09:23] >> 67. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, they said it. We [09:27] said it. Um [09:28] >> we did it. Yeah, [09:29] >> we did it. Yeah, our kids are big into [09:31] 67 right now. [09:33] >> Oh man, mine too. [09:34] And I I play into it, too. It's great. [09:36] Although, apparently the new there's a [09:38] new brain rot called 25, which is like [09:40] Christmas brain rot. So, now they're [09:42] walking around being like 25. [09:44] >> They're just ruining every number. [09:48] >> Yes. Okay. Yeah, I know. It is very [09:51] funny. It It is It is ridiculous. Even [09:54] like the kids school, they were at like [09:55] a Halloween assembly and the dance [09:57] teacher comes out and she's like, "Is [09:59] everyone 67 today?" [laughter] Like the [10:01] kids went nuts. It's just like [10:03] >> so good. [10:03] >> Oh my gosh, it's wild. Um, yeah. [10:06] [laughter] [10:07] A habit that I would like to cultivate [10:09] for this year would be to really embrace [10:13] my to-dos at the start of every day. Any [10:17] single time that I am feeling [10:20] scatterrained or unproductive or like [10:23] I'm doing this or that or I'm like not [10:26] feeling like I'm accomplishing a whole [10:28] lot today. I and I tell my wife, she's [10:30] always like, "Did you do your to-do list [10:33] for the day?" And I have to shamefully [10:36] go, "No, I didn't. And I know if I did, [10:38] I wouldn't have this problem." And then [10:40] I do my to-do lists and then I knock [10:42] things off. So, like, [10:45] >> I really need for my to-do list, which I [10:49] use the app tweak.so [10:51] and still really, really love this app [10:54] for how minimal it is. I need for this [10:56] system for me every single morning to do [11:00] my to-dos, like to list them out, to [11:03] prioritize them, to schedule them, to [11:05] keep it organized, [11:07] >> cuz even it was it I I I did a good job [11:10] of it, but then by Novemberish, [11:12] especially with the concussion stuff, I [11:13] know I'm going to be saying that a lot [11:14] this episode, it really threw me off and [11:17] things would just stick on my to-do list [11:19] for months and months and months. And [11:21] it's just like, all right, this is no [11:23] longer a to-do. This is like you've [11:26] tremendously passed this by. So like I [11:29] need to really stay on top of my to-do [11:32] list. [11:32] >> What I do is I I use things and I have [11:36] like an I have an inbox where I just [11:39] dump everything which is like that [11:41] that's probably what you're using for it [11:42] is like I have to do this at some point [11:44] and what I do is I'll just dump it into [11:48] my inbox and I also have it it's hooked [11:49] up to Apple reminders so I can just do [11:51] it from my phone as well. I often do it [11:53] on my watch. chose to be like, "Remind [11:54] me to to do X, Y, and Z." And I use that [11:57] a ton because often I'm just like [11:58] falling asleep or whatever or like like [12:01] with the kids and I'll go, "Oh, I forgot [12:03] to do X, Y, and Z or I need to do this [12:05] tomorrow or or that would be a really [12:07] good video idea." [12:08] >> Yeah. [12:08] >> And I'll just pop it in under my watch [12:10] and then I'll I'll go into inbox and [12:11] then you can drag things into the today [12:14] any day. I have a whole bunch of [12:16] different categories that I'll drag [12:17] things into. I use it also just as like [12:19] a just a way to have like video ideas, [12:22] things like that. [12:23] >> Yeah. Yeah, Tweak has that where they [12:24] have different lists. So, I do have a [12:26] videos list. I have a 3D print list. I [12:28] have individual items for projects I'm [12:31] working on. I have a sell on marketplace [12:33] list that for a long time only grew. And [12:37] guess what, Wes? With the advent of AI [12:40] browsers, I finally started selling [12:42] things on marketplace. [12:43] >> Oh man, you know what? I I got penalized [12:45] on marketplace. I took pictures and gave [12:49] them to chat GPT and said, "Write a [12:51] description of what this product is. [12:52] That's I've done that. But it like it [12:55] like I got like shadowbanned or [12:57] something on marketplace like nobody [12:59] replied [13:00] >> to anything that I was I was selling. I [13:03] was like, "Oh, I got shadow banned." [13:05] Yeah. And I tried I I've been posting [13:07] stuff just regular old. So I think [13:09] they're they're doing something with [13:11] with [13:11] >> I sold my rower. I sold my Wi-Fi 6 [13:16] router. I sold all kinds of stuff this [13:18] year and only because AI helped me do [13:20] that. [13:20] >> Oh, that's great. But yeah, to-do list [13:23] is so key. And then I'll just drag [13:24] things into today list and then I'll [13:27] bubble them. I call it I move them up [13:28] and down and then just tackle every [13:30] single one. Especially when I'm feeling [13:31] like like you said, frazzled. I'll have [13:33] a stack of mail. I hate mail so much. [13:37] You get the all these mails in the [13:38] thing. You got property taxes that you [13:40] have to pay and all these like like [13:42] health cards that need to be renewed. [13:45] >> I hate it so much. I'll just have a hell [13:47] stack and then I'll just like blitz [13:48] through it all at once [13:50] >> and it makes you feel [13:51] >> what I need is a a hole in the wall that [13:53] like just drops it into a shredder [13:55] somewhere or something because I end up [13:57] what I have is just a big pile of stuff [13:59] to be shredded. That's I and then you do [14:02] it and it takes all day. [14:02] >> No, I have a I have a shredder in my [14:04] office and I just walk over and [14:07] >> see my my my office is outside. My [14:10] shredder's in the basement. Uh I'm not [14:12] just near it anytime. [14:13] >> No, you're not walking to it. I always [14:14] process my mail in my office so it [14:16] works. I do that. And if you want to see [14:20] all of the errors in your application, [14:22] you'll want to check out Sentry at [14:24] centry.io/s [14:26] syntax. You don't want a production [14:28] application out there that well, you [14:30] have no visibility into in case [14:32] something is blowing up and you might [14:34] not even know it. So head on over to [14:36] centry.io/sax. [14:37] Again, we've been using this tool for a [14:39] long time and it totally [music] rules. [14:41] All right. [14:43] Okay, let's talk about email. [14:46] I'm the worst at email because I get so [14:49] much garbage that I can't find the like [14:53] actual good stuff out of it. And I've [14:54] complained about this for a long time. [14:56] I've tried setting up a whole bunch of [14:58] AI rules and it all just doesn't work. I [15:02] cannot figure out how to surface the [15:04] email that matters to me. I get so much [15:06] like slop incoming AI like cold emails [15:11] and obviously I block it, but they just [15:13] spin up a new domain name. Um, but I [15:16] need to figure out a system a to get [15:18] less email, you know, I got to figure [15:20] out how to stop it from coming in the [15:22] first place. Um, and be another system [15:24] for just like dealing with it, you know? [15:25] Like I hate email and I I I rarely go [15:29] through I go like I scan it once or [15:31] twice a day and and see hopefully I [15:33] catch the important stuff, but sometimes [15:34] stuff gets missed and I I don't love it. [15:37] I love inbox zero and I would love to [15:39] help you get there. I reached I've [15:42] currently reached inbox zero for the [15:45] last 6 weeks. I hit inbox zero 244 days [15:49] of last year. [15:50] >> Oh man. which means I have no emails in [15:54] my inbox. Let me tell you, the key to [15:56] inbox zero is to use your inbox as a [15:59] to-do list. If it is in your inbox, you [16:02] have to do something with it. If it is [16:05] meaningless, you you archive it, you get [16:08] rid of it. If it's something you can do [16:09] right now, you do it right now or you [16:11] leave it for that part of the day where [16:13] you can do it. If it's something you [16:14] cannot do today, you snooze it. Bingo, [16:17] bango. You do that, you never have an [16:20] email. Like the most emails I ever have [16:22] is when I wake up and there's like, you [16:25] know, 12 emails in my inbox total. [16:28] [laughter] But like if you treat it like [16:30] that, like truly like it's a to-do list, [16:32] man. Like not only do you feel lighter [16:35] about it every day? [16:36] >> Yeah. [16:37] >> But uh for me personally, it acts as [16:40] like a to-do list, another system like [16:41] that that I can like truly feel like I I [16:45] know where everything's at and I'm never [16:47] never guessing, right? the things that [16:49] are a need to accomplish or not [16:51] accomplish. So [16:53] >> yeah, [16:54] >> it's probably not on my part probably [16:56] not an email problem. It's more of a [16:59] like I don't feel like dealing with this [17:00] right now and then it just stacks up. [17:03] >> And then it Yeah, but then I I do snooze [17:05] it, but then it's true. Then I get so [17:08] like how many emails have I got today [17:10] alone? And I aggressively block and [17:12] unsubscribe from everything and I have [17:15] about 23 emails so far since midnight. [17:18] And it's [17:19] >> yeah, [17:19] >> well, it's 12 13 hours, which is not a [17:22] it's not a lot. You know, I could [17:24] probably blitz through those in five [17:25] minutes, but [17:26] >> I I do it first thing every day and then [17:29] I close my email and I don't open it for [17:31] the rest of the day unless I'm like [17:33] expecting a back and forth. But I do it [17:35] very first thing and and I do it like as [17:37] part of my my morning routine. I get [17:39] into the office, I [clears throat] open [17:40] up my inbox and I either snoo I snooze [17:43] things sometimes for like a week. I'll [17:45] say I I can't deal this now until next [17:47] Wednesday. and you'll just snooze it for [17:49] a week or whatever. [17:50] >> My problem is that I like I sit down and [17:52] I I hopefully I know what I'm gonna work [17:54] on and it's I'm just getting into the [17:56] code or I'm working on whatever project [17:59] and like that's my energy is the highest [18:01] in the morning and that's when I want to [18:03] get I don't want to fritter away my time [18:05] fussing with emails, you know, [18:07] especially because I feel like most of [18:09] the emails are people just demanding my [18:11] time when I don't owe them anything. [18:13] >> You can get rid of them. Trash it. [18:16] >> Yeah. Yeah, that's true. Then they then [18:18] they send follow-ups. [18:19] >> Oh, I'm just checking in. Did you see X, [18:21] Y, and Z about our stupid AI tool? Would [18:24] you like to do [18:25] >> report [18:27] spam? [18:27] >> Yeah, I do. I do. I do every single one. [18:29] And they spin up brand new domain names [18:32] every single time. [18:33] >> And I'm on some I think it's because my [18:35] email address is in the RSS feed for [18:38] >> those are the fastest ones you can get [18:39] through though because you can just zoom [18:41] right through them. You know it's you [18:43] don't have to read it. you just trash [18:45] trash trash trash trash trash trash [18:45] trash trash trash trash trash trash [18:45] trash trash trash trash trash trash [18:45] trash trash trash you know I I like I [18:47] know superhuman was bought by Grammarly [18:50] I know it's an expensive tool the thing [18:52] I like about it though is that the whole [18:54] thing can be keyboard navigation and the [18:57] the key for getting rid of something is [18:59] just E or something so you can just look [19:01] at your inbox go like you're in one and [19:04] I can just hit E the next one pop up E [19:07] next one pop up and E you know I'm not [19:08] like having to click through the things [19:10] or find the buttons or whatever and that [19:12] to me makes it really smooth my tasks in [19:16] general. I think everything in my life I [19:19] would like to have more minimal. I've [19:22] done a good job of this with inbox zero [19:24] as evidenced just now, but I do find my [19:27] to-do system, as I mentioned before, [19:29] things pile up. My systems allow for [19:33] things to pile up sometimes. And I don't [19:35] mean just to-dos and emails. I mean [19:38] physical items sometimes. I got papers [19:40] over here that pile up. I got another [19:42] stack of papers over here that pile up. [19:44] >> I hate papers so much. [19:46] >> My file system on my computer. [19:49] >> Yeah. [19:50] >> Yeah. My file system on my computer and [19:53] my NAS drive have just become a dumping [19:55] ground of like I'll organize this later. [19:59] And I know like there's got to be some [20:02] tools. I actually built a an I I uh [20:04] built some personal software for myself, [20:06] Wes, called File Bro. [laughter] [20:09] And File Bro, I don't necessarily trust [20:12] it just yet, but it will hopefully solve [20:14] some of these issues where you can build [20:16] it's like Hazel where you can build [20:18] these kind of like complex automations [20:19] and then just have it buzz through and [20:21] move your files around. I I need to [20:23] build in the ability to like undo before [20:25] I really let this thing rip on my file [20:28] system. But I could find like all right, [20:30] scan cuz it does transcripts too. So you [20:32] could say scan these uh video files and [20:37] anytime I mention the word level up [20:39] tutorials, put it in the level up [20:40] tutorials folder. Anytime I mention uh [20:43] the name of the course, this is the name [20:45] of the course. Uh put it in this. And [20:47] then I have these like complex JSON [20:48] workflow documents. [20:49] >> See, I did that with my email and it was [20:52] just it's all in the edge cases. You [20:54] know, it works [20:55] >> Oh, yeah. like 93% of the time, but it [20:58] works just not often enough that you're [21:01] >> and I don't I don't need this to work [21:03] like automated for me every day. What I [21:06] need this is to clean up the existing [21:09] structure cuz it is like what I have is [21:13] a giant pile of clothes and what I need [21:15] is those clothes to get folded and put [21:17] in the right drawer. So that way when I [21:19] get a new piece of clothing, I don't [21:21] just throw it in the pile and I have [21:23] somewhere to put it. That is my problem. [21:27] >> Yeah. Systems, man. [21:28] >> Minimalist [21:29] >> systems. [21:30] >> Minimalist. [21:30] >> Minimalist. Yes. [21:31] >> That's a that's that's a big problem of [21:33] mine is that I'm a I love a things like [21:37] not not like like physical things, but [21:39] like I love I love physical things [21:40] >> getting into [21:42] >> hobbies, you know? I love [21:43] [clears throat] hardware and and and [21:45] wires and I Christmas lights and all [21:47] this stuff. And I would love to be [21:49] minimalist, but I'm I am way too [21:51] enthusiastic about learning new things [21:53] that I will not be able to do that. Um, [21:55] so I'm have many more systems as to like [21:59] where this stuff goes so that I can go [22:01] grab it. Like I have all these boxes of [22:03] different wires and things and that's [22:04] been that's helped me so much. [22:06] >> Yeah. I I I don't need to be minimalist, [22:09] but I would like to be minimalist with [22:10] my systems or organized I just to say. [22:13] >> Yeah. Here's one that I am going to get [22:17] so much better at this year is getting [22:18] faster at typing and more accurate at [22:21] typing. You know, I [22:24] >> feel like I I just did a test and I'm at [22:26] like 75 words a minute. I would love to [22:29] be and like like on a good day 75, you [22:31] know, and like I wish I could be at [22:34] maybe 90 words a minute and like very [22:37] accurate as well. [22:38] >> Do you have a type checking tool? Type [22:40] typing tool. [22:41] >> Yeah. I just asked on Twitter and a [22:43] bunch of people sent me there's one tool [22:46] that will help you get better and it [22:48] uses an algorithm based on like it sees [22:50] what your like what mistakes you are for [22:53] mine is I'm using the wrong finger to [22:55] press I [22:57] >> you know I'm I'm using my pointer Peter [22:59] pointer to touch I and I should be using [23:01] my middle finger. [23:03] >> Do you want to do a live type speed [23:05] typing on the show right now? Let's do [23:07] it [23:08] >> because I one year from now I am going [23:11] to figure out if it's my keyboard and or [23:15] whatever I'm going to be [23:16] >> I would like to do this too cuz I think [23:18] I might be worse than you. [23:20] >> Really? [23:20] >> No. [23:21] >> Yes. What um what is this tool? [23:23] >> I got to sit down for this. Hold on. [23:25] >> Ready? [23:26] >> This is it. Um yeah, I'm going to I'm [23:29] going to kick my mic away because I I [23:33] feel like it gets in the way even though [23:34] I don't look at it. Okay. Ready? 3 2 1 [23:37] go. [23:53] >> All right. What you got? [23:55] >> Oh, my dear. Unmute. Okay, [24:00] man. [24:01] Yeah. So I I learned something about [24:04] myself here is that when I was reading [24:06] ahead of time, I was better than when I [24:09] was just typing at like like following [24:11] the word and just typing the next word I [24:13] saw. If I like read and typed at a lag, [24:16] I I did better. Um, how did you do? [24:19] >> I got 62 words a m minute minute with 96 [24:23] accuracy. [24:24] >> Okay. I did 58 words per minute with 96 [24:28] accuracy. [24:28] >> Oh, you're pretty close. We're pretty [24:29] close then. [24:30] >> Pretty close. Yeah, I told you I'm not [24:32] good. Not good. [24:33] >> But like that's the problem is that I [24:35] have a lot of accuracy problems and it's [24:38] obnoxious when you're coding because [24:40] >> totally [24:40] >> then you got to go back especially with [24:42] like curly brackets and things like [24:43] that. So, I want to get up to like 90 [24:46] horse a minute. And I think I can get [24:47] there if you just if I just I don't [24:50] know. I asked on Twitter. People sent me [24:52] this like um a couple websites to [24:55] practice. But also, I'm wondering if a a [24:57] keyboard cuz I think my problem is that [25:00] I I'm touching the wrong keys [25:03] >> and or I'm I'm using the wrong fingers. [25:06] >> Yeah, that obviously that's the problem. [25:07] You're touching the wrong keys, but I'm [25:08] using the wrong fingers to go to the [25:10] keys. So if I maybe what if I move to a [25:13] new keyboard to just hard break those [25:16] problems, will I be amazing? Can I get [25:19] up to 90 100 words a minute? Can I be [25:21] amazing? And like I use speech to text [25:24] quite a bit, but I there's still [25:26] something something so key about being a [25:28] fast typer. [25:29] >> Yeah. Yeah. I don't know, man. I uh that [25:32] was a frustrating experience for me. [25:34] [laughter] Uh I but I would I would [25:37] absolutely I think this is on my list as [25:38] well. It would be fun to redo this at [25:40] the end of this year and see. I do feel [25:43] like my issue is just straight up typing [25:47] the the next letter instead of like the [25:50] current one. I like wonder like how much [25:52] uh my dyslexia plays into here. I'm not [25:54] making excuses, but I do wonder if if [25:57] those reading challenges also matter, [25:59] but I know I I could be way faster. I I [26:02] don't know. My I felt like I was [26:03] cruising, too. And I wonder if like just [26:05] fixing the accuracy issues increases the [26:07] words per minute. uh by a ton. [26:10] >> Ah, that was that was good. So, let us [26:12] know down below what is your words per [26:14] minute and how do we get better at this [26:17] cuz I I want to be a machine. You know, [26:19] Ben Ben Vinegar [26:21] >> types 150 140 words a minute and I don't [26:26] know like that's that's so key in [26:28] coding. The funny part about that is he [26:30] would often think about what he was like [26:31] typing in Slack like quite a bit. So he [26:34] would you would see Ben is typing for so [26:36] long because he's he's going back. I'm [26:37] like, "Oh, maybe we should phrase that [26:39] different." But for his coding [26:40] [laughter] [26:42] so good. [26:43] >> Yeah. Yeah. Totally. [26:46] >> Yeah. I need to It's the year of the [26:48] year of learning to type fast. [26:51] >> Yes. The year of learning to type fast. [26:52] I love it. [snorts] Cool. I agree with [26:54] you on that one. I I got to have that. [26:56] Another thing I would like to do is [26:58] continue listening to more like [27:00] self-help book and personal uh [27:03] advancement books, those types of [27:05] things. I do and have always loved a [27:08] good self-help book. My Audible is just [27:11] a graveyard of self-help books and I [27:14] I'll listen to any of them. I'll listen [27:15] all the way through. It does not matter [27:17] if I end up implementing any of the [27:19] things. it gets me a bit of juice to uh [27:24] implement change in my life. But I did [27:26] find over the past year and things were [27:29] stressful with me with my my head injury [27:33] and just like the amount I didn't feel [27:34] like I had any room for personal growth [27:37] even though I was like I was doing a lot [27:39] of healing. So, I would love to get back [27:44] into listening to a bunch of books and I [27:46] already have a whole bunch downloaded [27:47] and ready to go that I I uh downloaded [27:50] legally off of whoever knows where you [27:53] guys by legal audiobooks.com. Um, but I [27:56] I would love to just reimplement that in [27:59] life and listen to more more books cuz I [28:01] can fill my time with a lot of boring [28:03] ass podcasts or you know, see I much [28:06] prefer the like interesting podcasts. I [28:09] used to be huge into audiobooks and I [28:11] still am. Like I I like the like Atomic [28:13] Habits or whatever, but I find a lot of [28:15] these self-help books so cheesy, you [28:18] know? I listen I listen to this like [28:20] David Gogggins, you know, everyone's [28:22] crazy about how amazing this guy is and [28:24] and like I'm just like listening to this [28:26] and being like, yeah, this guy can like [28:28] like obviously run marathons and break [28:31] his legs and and keep running, but like [28:34] >> the rest of your life is in shambles, [28:35] brother. You know, you have no good [28:37] relationships. you're just hurting [28:39] everybody in your life. Like all of this [28:41] is at the cost of what? [28:43] >> What? [28:43] >> And like I'm not motivated by this, you [28:45] know? Like it's I find myself as the [28:48] older I get, the less the more I find [28:51] this stuff to be super cheesy. I don't [28:53] know why that is. I I don't think that [28:54] I'm like becoming negative, but I just [28:57] like I see through a lot of the stuff [28:58] like, "Yeah, but like rest of your life, [29:02] >> you kind of sacrifice everything else in [29:04] your life to get really good at running [29:06] through the desert." I agree with that, [29:08] but I still like some of those things. I [29:12] think for me, like the the thing that [29:14] turns me off of one is like when [29:16] something is super derivative of [29:18] something else I've already listened to [29:19] before or you can tell it's just like a [29:23] reworking of these other ideas that um [29:25] somebody else had. One of the things [29:27] that I've I've been liking lately in [29:30] books, especially about like technology, [29:32] is like maybe like more history in [29:36] stories about like real things and real [29:38] history. They call that history. And and [29:41] I do think that like those things are [29:43] inspiring to me in the same way that [29:45] self-help books are. So maybe that's it, [29:47] too. Maybe I just like have reached the [29:49] limit on I've listened to all of the [29:50] good self-help books and need to listen [29:52] to more history or more things that I [29:54] actually want to spend time on. Um [29:56] because I do love history. Uh personally [29:59] history and science. Yeah, [30:00] >> maybe that's where I'm at as well. It's [30:02] like I've listened to them all. I [30:03] understand all of the to do whatever. I [30:07] have a pretty good to-do system and I [30:08] understand the habits and everything. [30:10] And [30:10] >> yeah, [30:10] >> it's similar to like coding as well, you [30:12] know, like I there's only so many [30:14] tutorials you can do before you just got [30:17] to go and do it. You know what I would [30:18] like to do also, Wes? I would like to [30:20] and I I actually built an app for this. [30:23] Not vibe coded, by the way. I built this [30:24] by hand. Not that it matters, uh, but [30:28] long-term habits where you have your [30:31] daily habits and your like daily [30:33] resolutions, things you want to do every [30:34] single day. But there's like some things [30:36] I would like to do once a month. So, I [30:39] built like an app where you can say, [30:41] "Remind me to do this thing every four [30:44] months," or, "Remind me to do this thing [30:46] every 3 months." And then like it just [30:48] has like a feed and it pops up and it [30:50] says like, "All right, you have two [30:52] months until you have to do this again." [30:54] And uh you could just kind of always see [30:56] that what's at the top to these things [30:59] that like that way you can make sure [31:00] that you're like staying on top of [31:02] either relationships you want to [31:04] cultivate like professional [31:05] relationships like oh my you know [31:08] there's a buddy of mine I haven't talked [31:09] to him in in months like one of those [31:12] things could just be like send soand so [31:14] a message because you know life gets [31:16] busy and just stuff like that you know I [31:18] would love to develop and improve that [31:20] system or what I should do is I should [31:24] take that long-term kind of habits like [31:27] things that only happen several times a [31:29] year and just put that in my habit [31:31] tracker app. Just put it in that so that [31:32] way I don't have two surfaces. I'm [31:34] already looking at the habit tracker app [31:36] every day. Oh, here's one. I would like [31:39] to ship more things. I have a real big [31:41] problem of starting a lot of things and [31:44] not [laughter] finishing them. [31:46] >> I think we all do. Yeah. [31:47] >> Yes. I would love to ship some things. I [31:50] have a video recording app that [31:51] hopefully by the time you're listening [31:52] to this has been shipped. I actually [31:54] have it signed by my Apple developers [31:56] account and I would like to get in the [31:58] hands of people like Wes to test it so [32:00] that way I can actually ship it because [32:02] I'm using it right now. And you know [32:05] what? It does me no good to just write [32:07] this thing and have myself use it. I [32:09] could put it up online and have other [32:11] people use it as well. So I got a ship. [32:14] I got a ship this year. [32:15] >> Me too. I I you make so many fun things [32:18] and then you get unexcited about it and [32:21] then you just [32:22] >> like I actually finish it and I use it [32:24] but like that extra 10% of like actually [32:27] pushing it out there so other people can [32:28] use it [32:29] >> and enjoy it [32:30] >> is kind of key. Yeah. And and then on [32:33] top of it actually making a video about [32:35] it. Like I made this cool sticker [32:36] printer thing that like prints stickers [32:39] based on AI [32:41] >> and that worked that did super well on [32:44] Twitter and in short form content, but I [32:46] was like, I should really make a [32:47] >> I posted the code. Bunch of people are [32:49] using it, but I didn't make a video on [32:51] it. I should make a video about that, [32:53] Wes. I'm demanding it cuz I like that. I [32:55] want to see what you did there and I [32:57] want to do it myself. [32:58] >> All right, so that's all I got. What [32:59] kind of habits would you like to [33:01] cultivate in your life this year? What [33:03] types of things would you like to change [33:05] and how are you doing that? What's your [33:07] systems like? To-dos, what's your [33:08] systems like for habits? All this stuff, [33:10] books that you like that you think we [33:12] might like. Love all of that stuff and [33:15] more. So, hit us up with that [33:17] information in the comments. Uh, [33:18] Twitter, Facebook, whatever. Hit us up. [33:21] We love to hear from you. As always, [33:22] we'll catch you in the next one. Peace. [33:25] Peace.  [[3. Resources/Readwise/Full Document Contents/Articles/Habits and Changes We Want to Make in 2026|Full Document Contents]] ## Document Notes --- tags: #habits #personal-development #goal-setting #productivity #new-year author: Wes Bos & Scott Tolinski source: YouTube reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkheAG-dKi4 date created: 2025-01-03 10:30 --- # 🏷️ Title: Habits and Changes We Want to Make in 2026 ## 🧰 Action Inbox - [H1] Set up standing desk automation — 00:00-03:45 #habits - [H2] Implement inbox zero system — 15:30-18:45 #productivity - [H3] Build habit tracking system — 11:00-13:30 #self-improvement ## 🧭 Table of Contents - [[#📝 Summary]] - [[#📖 Main Content]] - [[#🗒️ Notes]] - [[#📚 References]] - [[#🗣️ Paraphrase]] - [[#📰 Newsletter]] - [[#✅ Action Items]] - [[#🧪 Hypotheses]] - [[#📊 Methodology]] - [[#❓ Questions]] - [[#🔮 Future Research]] - [[#💡 Implications]] - [[#🧠 Learning Styles Assessment]] - [[#📊 Accessibility Assessment]] - [[#🌍 DEIB Assessment]] - [[#✅ Logical Validity]] - [[#🛡️ DARVO Analysis]] - [[#🎯 Conclusion]] ### 🔗 References - [Syntax Podcast](https://syntax.fm/) - [Habitath.io](https://habitath.io/) ## 📝 Summary - Two developers discuss their 2026 goals for personal habits and lifestyle changes - Focus on SMART goals, small incremental improvements, and building sustainable systems - Key areas: standing desk usage, waking up early, email management, typing speed, and shipping projects - Emphasis on habit tracking, to-do systems, and minimalist approaches to productivity - Personal challenges with maintaining streaks and following through on projects ## 📖 Main Content Scott and Wes share their personal development goals for 2026, focusing on practical habit formation and system building. They discuss the importance of starting with small, measurable changes rather than dramatic lifestyle overhauls. The conversation covers both physical habits (standing desk usage, exercise timing) and professional productivity systems (email management, project completion). They emphasize the value of habit tracking applications and maintaining streaks, though acknowledge the psychological impact when streaks are broken. The discussion includes specific tools and methodologies they use, including habit tracking apps, to-do systems, and automation tools for file management. ## 🗒️ Notes #### ⏱️ [00:00](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=0) — [H1] Standing desk transition and SMART goals - Key idea: Scott wants to overcome his hatred of standing desks by starting small - Evidence: "I'm going to try to stand for at least two hours a week, which is not a lot" #### ⏱️ [02:30](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=150) — [H2] Kaizen method for habit formation - Key idea: Start with the smallest possible increment to build habits successfully - Evidence: "Start with like the smallest possible amount... I can stand for 30 seconds a day" #### ⏱️ [04:15](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=255) — [H3] Power of belief in personal change - Key idea: People underestimate their capacity for meaningful self-improvement - Evidence: "I think we all are capable of so much more than what we give ourselves credit for" #### ⏱️ [05:45](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=345) — [H1] Habit tracking with personal app development - Key idea: Scott built and uses habitath.io for comprehensive habit tracking - Evidence: "I track so many habits in this thing... I'm greatly motivated by seeing things light up over time" #### ⏱️ [07:30](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=450) — [H2] Specific habit examples and their outcomes - Key idea: Simple daily habits can solve persistent physical problems - Evidence: "I put like hanging as a daily task and I hung and I fixed my shoulder" #### ⏱️ [09:15](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=555) — [H3] Handstand demonstration and consistency - Key idea: Daily practice of simple skills leads to significant improvement - Evidence: Scott demonstrates handstand proficiency from daily practice habit #### ⏱️ [10:30](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=630) — [H1] Morning routine challenges and family dynamics - Key idea: Wes struggles with waking up early due to family schedule constraints - Evidence: "By the time you get everybody in bed, it's like 9:30 and I just don't have time" #### ⏱️ [13:00](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=780) — [H2] Daily to-do list system importance - Key idea: Consistent daily to-do planning prevents scattered, unproductive days - Evidence: "Did you do your to-do list for the day?... I know if I did, I wouldn't have this problem" #### ⏱️ [15:30](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=930) — [H1] Inbox zero methodology - Key idea: Treat email inbox as a to-do list for maximum effectiveness - Evidence: "I hit inbox zero 244 days of last year... use your inbox as a to-do list" #### ⏱️ [18:45](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=1125) — [H2] AI-generated marketplace listings challenges - Key idea: AI-written product descriptions may trigger shadowbans on platforms - Evidence: "I got like shadowbanned or something on marketplace... I think they're doing something with AI" #### ⏱️ [21:00](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=1260) — [H3] File organization automation project - Key idea: Scott developed "File Bro" to automate file organization using transcription - Evidence: "Scan these video files and anytime I mention level up tutorials, put it in the folder" #### ⏱️ [24:30](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=1470) — [H1] Typing speed improvement goals - Key idea: Both hosts want to improve typing speed and accuracy for coding efficiency - Evidence: Live typing test shows 58-62 WPM with 96% accuracy, targeting 90+ WPM #### ⏱️ [27:45](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=1665) — [H2] Self-help book fatigue and evolution - Key idea: Experienced self-help readers may need to transition to history and science - Evidence: "I've listened to them all. I understand all of the habits and everything" #### ⏱️ [30:15](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=1815) — [H3] Long-term habit tracking system - Key idea: Some important habits need monthly or quarterly reminders, not daily - Evidence: "Remind me to do this thing every four months... professional relationships" #### ⏱️ [32:00](https://youtu.be/zkheAG-dKi4?t=1920) — [H1] Shipping projects vs. building them - Key idea: The final 10% of actually releasing projects is often the missing piece - Evidence: "I have a real big problem of starting a lot of things and not finishing them" ## 📚 References - [Kaizen Book](https://example.com) - Small steps methodology - [Things App](https://culturedcode.com/things/) - To-do management - [Tweak.so](https://tweak.so/) - Minimal to-do app - [Sentry.io](https://sentry.io/) - Error monitoring ## 🗣️ Paraphrase - Scott and Wes plan to build better habits in 2026 by starting small and using tracking systems - They emphasize treating email as a to-do list and maintaining daily organization routines - Both want to improve their typing speed and follow through on shipping personal projects ## 📰 Newsletter **New Year, New Habits: Lessons from Two Developers on Building Sustainable Change** Scott and Wes from Syntax shared their 2026 habit goals, offering practical insights for developers looking to improve their productivity and well-being. Key takeaway: start impossibly small and track everything. Their approach centers on SMART goals and the Kaizen method - Scott's planning just 2 hours of standing desk use per week, while Wes tackles his morning routine challenges. Both use sophisticated tracking systems, with Scott maintaining a 4-year exercise streak until a concussion interrupted it. For email management, they swear by treating your inbox as a to-do list - if it's there, you must act on it. Wes achieved inbox zero 244 days last year using this method. **Practical Applications:** - Use habit tracking apps for visual motivation - Build long-term reminder systems for quarterly goals - Automate file organization with AI transcription tools - Practice typing speed improvement for coding efficiency The discussion reveals how experienced developers evolve from self-help books to history and science content, suggesting our learning needs mature over time. Resources: [Habitath.io](https://habitath.io/), [Things App](https://culturedcode.com/things/), [Tweak.so](https://tweak.so/) ## ✅ Action Items #### DevRel - Create habit tracking workshops for developer communities - Document typing speed improvement methodologies for coding efficiency - Build templates for SMART goal setting in technical contexts #### OSPO - Develop project shipping checklists to improve completion rates - Create automation policies for file organization systems - Establish accountability frameworks for long-term technical goals #### Community - Host New Year habit formation cohorts for developers - Create peer accountability systems for project completion - Share productivity tool evaluations and recommendations #### WordPress - Core: Implement productivity tracking for contributor onboarding - Community: Create habit formation resources for meetup organizers - Training: Develop courses on developer productivity and time management ## 🧪 Hypotheses - Small incremental habit changes are more sustainable than dramatic lifestyle overhauls - Habit tracking applications increase adherence through visual feedback mechanisms - Treating email as a to-do list significantly reduces inbox anxiety and improves response rates - Daily to-do list creation correlates with higher perceived productivity and task completion ### 📊 Methodology - Track standing desk usage in 15-minute increments over 3 months - Compare typing speed improvements between keyboard-focused and finger-position training - Measure inbox zero achievement rates across different email management strategies - Survey correlation between daily planning and end-of-day satisfaction scores ### ❓ Questions - How can developers balance family responsibilities with early morning productivity goals? - What causes experienced self-help readers to transition away from the genre? - How do concussion-related sleep disruptions affect long-term habit maintenance? - What percentage of personal projects actually get shipped versus abandoned? ### 🔮 Future Research - Long-term effectiveness of AI-assisted file organization systems - Relationship between typing speed and coding productivity metrics - Impact of habit streak interruptions on overall motivation and recovery - Developer-specific productivity patterns and optimal workflow timing ### 💡 Implications - Practice: Small habit increments may be more effective than ambitious goal-setting - Policy: Workplace wellness programs should focus on micro-habits rather than major changes - Education: Habit formation training could improve developer productivity and satisfaction - Funding: Personal productivity tools show strong user engagement and retention potential ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment Reading level estimate: 8th Grade (Flesch-Kincaid) #### 👀 Visual learners - Present: Habit tracking app interfaces, typing speed test demonstrations - Improve: Workflow diagrams, habit formation flowcharts, progress visualization #### 🔊 Aural learners - Present: Full podcast format with natural conversation flow - Improve: Guided meditation for habit formation, audio habit reminders #### 🗣️ Verbal learners - Present: Clear definitions of SMART goals, Kaizen methodology explanations - Improve: Habit formation mantras, verbal accountability partnerships #### 🧩 Kinesthetic learners - Present: Live typing tests, handstand demonstrations, hands-on app usage - Improve: Physical habit tracking boards, movement-based goal setting #### 🧠 Logical learners - Present: Systematic approach to inbox zero, structured habit categories - Improve: Decision trees for habit prioritization, logical framework comparisons #### 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Social learners - Present: Two-host discussion format, community feedback requests - Improve: Habit formation accountability groups, social progress sharing #### 🧘‍♀️ Solitary learners - Present: Personal app development stories, individual tracking systems - Improve: Self-reflection prompts, private goal-setting worksheets #### 🌿 Naturalistic learners - Present: Organic conversation flow, real-world application examples - Improve: Seasonal goal setting, natural rhythm-based habit timing ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment #### Screen reader semantics - Present: Clear speaker transitions, descriptive action commentary - Improve: Enhanced alt text for any visual demonstrations, structured headings #### Keyboard navigation - Present: Audio-first format doesn't require visual interaction - Improve: Transcript navigation shortcuts, time-stamped sections #### Contrast and readability - Present: Audio content eliminates visual contrast issues - Improve: High-contrast transcript formatting, adjustable text sizing #### Text resizing and reflow - Present: Audio format scales naturally across devices - Improve: Responsive transcript layout, zoom-friendly formatting #### Media and captions - Present: Full transcript available for deaf/hard-of-hearing users - Improve: Professional captions with speaker identification, sound descriptions #### Forms and interactions - Present: No interactive forms in core content - Improve: Accessible habit tracking template downloads ### 🌍 DEIB Assessment #### Cultural breadth - Present: North American developer perspective with family considerations - Improve: Global habit formation practices, cultural context for productivity #### Inclusive language - Present: Gender-neutral productivity advice, respectful family dynamics discussion - Improve: More diverse examples, accessibility-first productivity approaches #### Neurodiversity support - Present: Multiple habit formation approaches, accommodation for different processing styles - Improve: ADHD-specific strategies, executive function support resources #### Representation - Present: Two male developer perspectives with personal vulnerability - Improve: Diverse voice representation, varied life circumstance examples #### Psychological safety - Present: Honest discussion of failures and challenges, non-judgmental tone - Improve: Content warnings for perfectionism triggers, failure normalization ### ✅ Logical Validity #### Strong reasoning - Deductive strength: SMART goals framework applied to specific habit examples (strong) - Inductive strength: Personal success stories generalized to broader principles (moderate) - Causal reasoning: Small habits leading to significant improvements (well-supported) - Analogical strength: Email as to-do list metaphor (effective and clear) #### Fallacies - Survivorship bias: Focus on successful habits without discussing failed attempts in detail - Appeal to personal experience: Heavy reliance on individual anecdotes vs. research data - Post hoc reasoning: Assuming habit changes caused improvements without controlling variables #### Tone of voice - Overall tone: Conversational, encouraging, and vulnerable - hosts share genuine struggles and practical solutions without pretension ### 🛡️ DARVO Analysis - Deny: No denials or minimization present - hosts acknowledge their shortcomings openly - Attack: No attacks on others - constructive criticism of AI email tools is technical, not personal - Reverse victim/offender: No victim/offender dynamics present in productivity discussion - Emotional cues: Positive, self-deprecating humor with genuine motivation for improvement ## 🎯 Conclusion Scott and Wes demonstrate that sustainable habit formation requires starting small, tracking progress, and building systems rather than relying on motivation alone. Their emphasis on SMART goals, the Kaizen method, and treating productivity tools as to-do lists offers practical frameworks for developers seeking to improve both personal an --- ## Full Transcript [00:00] It's new year, new me, new us, new west, [00:03] new Scott. We're going to be kicking off [00:05] this year with the type of things that [00:07] well, we want to change in ourselves [00:09] over the course of this year, but also [00:10] how you can cultivate change in your [00:13] life and the types of things that you [00:14] are wanting to see out of yourself over [00:17] the course of the year. Wes, my man, new [00:20] year. How's it going? [00:22] >> Good. I We're recording this in We're [00:24] recording this in December. Yeah, [00:25] standing. [00:26] >> That's one of my goals this year. I've [00:28] got the standing desk and I've forever [00:30] been a standing desk hater because I say [00:33] I love the standing desk simply because [00:35] you can adjust it to be the perfect [00:38] height for your sitting. You can adjust [00:39] your chair till you feel good and then [00:41] you adjust your your desk up and down so [00:43] that it feels good as well. But there's [00:45] got to be something to to the standing [00:47] right now. So I'm I'm feeling it right [00:50] now. So I'm I'm like new year, new me. [00:52] I'm going to I'm going to be standing. [00:53] I'm going to be trying to stand at least [00:55] what's a good amount of hours that you [00:57] think I should be standing every week [00:59] >> to be not as much [01:00] >> as much as possible. [01:02] >> Get those legs some work. Get a little [01:04] treadmill. Walk on that bad boy. Get [01:06] them legs moving. Yeah. Do some squats. [01:09] You can have your Here's here's the the [01:11] power move. Uh program your desk so that [01:13] it automatically moves up and down. So [01:15] you got to squat with it. You got to [01:17] >> That's so stupid. I have work to do. [01:19] [laughter] [01:23] Can you imagine? [01:24] >> Yeah. I when you have these goals every [01:26] year, you need to like be like we always [01:28] talk about smart goals, right? Which is [01:30] like it needs to be specific, [01:32] attainable, [01:34] measurable. I'm doing it in the wrong [01:36] order. Yeah. Uh [01:37] >> they're smart, [01:38] >> time based. [01:39] >> Yeah. So, I think I'm going to try to [01:42] stand for at least two hours a week, [01:45] which is not a lot, but [01:46] >> no, I hate standing. So, here we go. [01:48] Yeah. There's a book I read uh last [01:51] year, the year before about taking like [01:54] one small step to make any change. I [01:59] think it's Kaizen. Kaizen was the book. [02:01] And it was basically like anytime you're [02:04] trying to cultivate a habit or a change [02:06] or anything like that, start with like [02:08] the smallest possible amount. Like Wes, [02:10] I'm going to stand for the first or I'm [02:13] going to stand for like a minute every [02:15] single day. you're you're like the one [02:17] thing that should be the easiest. I can [02:19] stand for a minute. Okay, I can stand [02:21] for 30 seconds a day and then like [02:23] slowly increase that or integrate it [02:26] into your life and that makes learning [02:28] these things a little bit easier. But [02:30] yeah, I do agree that as as cliche as [02:33] that whole smart goals thing is, it is a [02:37] good way, it works. It's cliche for a [02:39] reason. Um [02:40] >> Oh yeah, it works. That works in in like [02:42] business or anything. Don't just be [02:43] like, I want to do X, Y, and Z more. You [02:46] have to have actual numbers around it so [02:49] that you can measure if you hit them or [02:51] not. [02:52] >> Yeah. I It is funny. So I think some [02:55] people truly like believe that they are [02:58] the way they are and they are unable to [03:02] greatly change or modify things in how [03:05] they act or their life. And I think to [03:07] some extent, yeah, that's that's true. [03:09] But like I I think we all are capable of [03:13] so much more than what we give ourselves [03:16] credit for in terms of like really being [03:19] able to enact change on ourselves and [03:22] our processes and our systems by [03:23] building in small habits and changing [03:25] them and and getting better about it and [03:27] all kinds of stuff. And I I personally [03:29] the types of things that work for me is [03:31] like uh habit tracking. Uh I I did build [03:34] an app habitath.io. [03:37] I still use this app. It uses zero sync. [03:39] It's local data. It's super duper fast. [03:42] And I track so many habits in this [03:44] thing. I even added like a feature Wes [03:46] for tracking like my like daily levels [03:50] of things like my sleep quality or my uh [03:54] like irritability or something like [03:55] that. You can just see numbers over time [03:58] cuz I I I'm greatly motivated by not [04:01] necessarily like a I am motivated by a [04:02] streak but I am motivated by seeing the [04:05] things light up over time. [04:08] >> You love that. [04:09] >> I do. And my my exercise machine I had a [04:12] 4-year streak going a 4-year weekly [04:15] streak going until my concussion and [04:17] then I lost that four-year streak and it [04:19] was devastating. But [04:21] >> nuts. Yeah, I do think that me [04:24] personally tracking these things can [04:26] help you pick something that you would I [04:29] the the ideal version of me would be [04:33] good at this. The ideal version of me [04:35] would be good at email. So therefore, [04:37] I'm going to make a a task or a habit [04:40] that is inbox zero. And I'm going to [04:42] have a time in the day that uh gets me [04:45] down to inbox zero every single day and [04:47] or whatever. I'm going to build this [04:49] into my life. And you just got to stick [04:52] to it. I I know it's January [04:55] and habits are so easy to say, "I'm [04:56] going to do this in January and then [04:58] February, whatever, whatever, whatever." [05:01] >> But man, build a system for yourself and [05:03] stick to that system. I I I think we are [05:06] all so capable of it and and I think so [05:09] many people fall off on these things. [05:11] >> Small incremental improvements, man. It [05:13] can can really add up [05:16] >> every single day. Yeah. You you improve [05:18] in in different ways. Uh there's all [05:20] kinds of stuff that I like wanted to [05:21] improve on whether that is like [05:23] stretching or or not drinking alcohol as [05:25] much or I was having like shoulder pain [05:27] so I wanted to hang from a bar so I put [05:30] like hanging as a as a daily task and I [05:33] hung and I fixed my shoulder but if I [05:35] didn't have that [05:36] >> I had that as well. I I had like a pinch [05:38] in it and I couldn't like I couldn't [05:40] lift things up that were like away from [05:42] my body and like I had it for like [05:44] months and I finally just hung like a [05:46] couple days in a row and it totally [05:48] solved it. I had a goal that was like [05:50] just do a handstand every day. And it [05:52] wasn't like spend 30 seconds doing [05:54] handstands. It was just do a handstand [05:56] every day. [05:57] >> Do a single hand. [05:58] >> I got really stinking good at handstand. [06:00] So [06:00] >> do it right now. Scott, have you done [06:02] yours today? [06:03] >> No. [06:03] >> Here we go. [06:05] >> I don't have a lot of room here, so [06:08] >> I don't care. [06:16] >> Oh. [06:18] Oh. [06:18] >> Oh gosh. He's He's going to kick [06:20] something. [06:20] >> Sorry. I have one hand on carpet and one [06:22] hand on floor. [06:23] >> For audio listeners, you just nailed it. [06:25] Oh, and he's doing a second. He's being [06:26] a showoff now. [06:30] Oh my gosh. All right, that's enough. [06:33] He's being a showoff now. [laughter] [06:37] >> I have very little room to do to do [06:39] this. [06:39] >> That's that I know. I've been in your [06:40] office. That's very impress I'd be [06:42] impressed if you did that if I could do [06:44] that at all, let alone in your office. [06:47] Yeah. Yeah. I uh it was one thing I [06:49] wanted to get better at after doing my [06:51] uh concussion was getting back into [06:53] handstands because it's pretty low [06:54] impact, right? So, [06:56] >> yeah. Beautiful. All right. Next thing. [06:58] What else? Another habit that I have [07:00] here. I want to learn to wake up early. [07:03] Probably my biggest flaw is that I hate [07:09] waking up. And it sucks. And I often [07:12] think like, man, how sick would it be if [07:15] I could wake up at like 5:30 and have a [07:17] little bit more time because like right [07:19] now I do the gym twice a week. Um, [07:21] that's just the amount of I have two [07:23] mornings a week where my wife takes the [07:24] kids to school. My our evenings right [07:26] now my my evenings I used previously I [07:28] used to be able to just do so much in [07:30] the evenings. I used to do something [07:31] every night or the house house project [07:33] or or like coding something and like [07:36] just the way family looks right now. I [07:38] just don't have that time anymore. you [07:40] know, by the time you get everybody in [07:41] bed, it's like 9:30 and I just don't [07:44] have a time for it. So, I would love to [07:46] get at least one more gym day in a week. [07:49] And where that time comes from is [07:51] probably in the morning. So, I need tips [07:54] on like how to wake up early cuz leave [07:56] them down in the comments cuz I would [07:58] love to crack that nut. [07:59] >> So, you think 5:30 that's the time you [08:02] want to wake up? [08:02] >> I don't know if it's 5:30 or whatever, [08:04] but it's just earlier. Like right now, I [08:06] just wake up and I'm just like I hate [08:09] everything. It takes me like a good 20 [08:11] minutes to just get going, you know? And [08:14] I would love to just be a morning person [08:16] where you could just wake up and like, [08:18] yeah, [08:19] >> I have my coffee and I calmly check my [08:22] emails and I went to the gym and now the [08:24] kids are waking up and and now we can [08:26] can tackle, you know, but it's just like [08:28] right now it's just like chaos as soon [08:30] as I wake up. [08:32] >> Yeah. You know what? I uh here's a way [08:34] that you can wake up early. Uh, you can [08:36] get a concussion that gives you um, [08:39] >> no thanks. [08:39] >> Sleep issues. When I got my concussion, [08:42] that was like one of my biggest things [08:43] was that I couldn't sleep. And then when [08:45] I did go to sleep, I would wake up in [08:47] the middle of the night and then I would [08:48] wake up again at like 4:00 in the [08:49] morning and not be able to go back to [08:51] sleep. And I will say there was a period [08:54] there before I got on some medication to [08:57] help me sleep where I was getting up out [09:00] of bed at like 5:00 and going downstairs [09:03] to work because I was like, "What? [09:04] What's the point? I'm not going to go to [09:05] sleep anyways. [09:07] >> And I really liked it. I was like [09:10] >> I [snorts] didn't really like not [09:11] sleeping, but I really liked that time [09:13] in the morning [09:14] >> uh to get my stuff done. And now I wake [09:16] up at 7ish uh like 7 6:30 uh because the [09:20] kids got to get to school and stuff. [09:22] >> Seven. [09:23] >> 67. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, they said it. We [09:27] said it. Um [09:28] >> we did it. Yeah, [09:29] >> we did it. Yeah, our kids are big into [09:31] 67 right now. [09:33] >> Oh man, mine too. [09:34] And I I play into it, too. It's great. [09:36] Although, apparently the new there's a [09:38] new brain rot called 25, which is like [09:40] Christmas brain rot. So, now they're [09:42] walking around being like 25. [09:44] >> They're just ruining every number. [09:48] >> Yes. Okay. Yeah, I know. It is very [09:51] funny. It It is It is ridiculous. Even [09:54] like the kids school, they were at like [09:55] a Halloween assembly and the dance [09:57] teacher comes out and she's like, "Is [09:59] everyone 67 today?" [laughter] Like the [10:01] kids went nuts. It's just like [10:03] >> so good. [10:03] >> Oh my gosh, it's wild. Um, yeah. [10:06] [laughter] [10:07] A habit that I would like to cultivate [10:09] for this year would be to really embrace [10:13] my to-dos at the start of every day. Any [10:17] single time that I am feeling [10:20] scatterrained or unproductive or like [10:23] I'm doing this or that or I'm like not [10:26] feeling like I'm accomplishing a whole [10:28] lot today. I and I tell my wife, she's [10:30] always like, "Did you do your to-do list [10:33] for the day?" And I have to shamefully [10:36] go, "No, I didn't. And I know if I did, [10:38] I wouldn't have this problem." And then [10:40] I do my to-do lists and then I knock [10:42] things off. So, like, [10:45] >> I really need for my to-do list, which I [10:49] use the app tweak.so [10:51] and still really, really love this app [10:54] for how minimal it is. I need for this [10:56] system for me every single morning to do [11:00] my to-dos, like to list them out, to [11:03] prioritize them, to schedule them, to [11:05] keep it organized, [11:07] >> cuz even it was it I I I did a good job [11:10] of it, but then by Novemberish, [11:12] especially with the concussion stuff, I [11:13] know I'm going to be saying that a lot [11:14] this episode, it really threw me off and [11:17] things would just stick on my to-do list [11:19] for months and months and months. And [11:21] it's just like, all right, this is no [11:23] longer a to-do. This is like you've [11:26] tremendously passed this by. So like I [11:29] need to really stay on top of my to-do [11:32] list. [11:32] >> What I do is I I use things and I have [11:36] like an I have an inbox where I just [11:39] dump everything which is like that [11:41] that's probably what you're using for it [11:42] is like I have to do this at some point [11:44] and what I do is I'll just dump it into [11:48] my inbox and I also have it it's hooked [11:49] up to Apple reminders so I can just do [11:51] it from my phone as well. I often do it [11:53] on my watch. chose to be like, "Remind [11:54] me to to do X, Y, and Z." And I use that [11:57] a ton because often I'm just like [11:58] falling asleep or whatever or like like [12:01] with the kids and I'll go, "Oh, I forgot [12:03] to do X, Y, and Z or I need to do this [12:05] tomorrow or or that would be a really [12:07] good video idea." [12:08] >> Yeah. [12:08] >> And I'll just pop it in under my watch [12:10] and then I'll I'll go into inbox and [12:11] then you can drag things into the today [12:14] any day. I have a whole bunch of [12:16] different categories that I'll drag [12:17] things into. I use it also just as like [12:19] a just a way to have like video ideas, [12:22] things like that. [12:23] >> Yeah. Yeah, Tweak has that where they [12:24] have different lists. So, I do have a [12:26] videos list. I have a 3D print list. I [12:28] have individual items for projects I'm [12:31] working on. I have a sell on marketplace [12:33] list that for a long time only grew. And [12:37] guess what, Wes? With the advent of AI [12:40] browsers, I finally started selling [12:42] things on marketplace. [12:43] >> Oh man, you know what? I I got penalized [12:45] on marketplace. I took pictures and gave [12:49] them to chat GPT and said, "Write a [12:51] description of what this product is. [12:52] That's I've done that. But it like it [12:55] like I got like shadowbanned or [12:57] something on marketplace like nobody [12:59] replied [13:00] >> to anything that I was I was selling. I [13:03] was like, "Oh, I got shadow banned." [13:05] Yeah. And I tried I I've been posting [13:07] stuff just regular old. So I think [13:09] they're they're doing something with [13:11] with [13:11] >> I sold my rower. I sold my Wi-Fi 6 [13:16] router. I sold all kinds of stuff this [13:18] year and only because AI helped me do [13:20] that. [13:20] >> Oh, that's great. But yeah, to-do list [13:23] is so key. And then I'll just drag [13:24] things into today list and then I'll [13:27] bubble them. I call it I move them up [13:28] and down and then just tackle every [13:30] single one. Especially when I'm feeling [13:31] like like you said, frazzled. I'll have [13:33] a stack of mail. I hate mail so much. [13:37] You get the all these mails in the [13:38] thing. You got property taxes that you [13:40] have to pay and all these like like [13:42] health cards that need to be renewed. [13:45] >> I hate it so much. I'll just have a hell [13:47] stack and then I'll just like blitz [13:48] through it all at once [13:50] >> and it makes you feel [13:51] >> what I need is a a hole in the wall that [13:53] like just drops it into a shredder [13:55] somewhere or something because I end up [13:57] what I have is just a big pile of stuff [13:59] to be shredded. That's I and then you do [14:02] it and it takes all day. [14:02] >> No, I have a I have a shredder in my [14:04] office and I just walk over and [14:07] >> see my my my office is outside. My [14:10] shredder's in the basement. Uh I'm not [14:12] just near it anytime. [14:13] >> No, you're not walking to it. I always [14:14] process my mail in my office so it [14:16] works. I do that. And if you want to see [14:20] all of the errors in your application, [14:22] you'll want to check out Sentry at [14:24] centry.io/s [14:26] syntax. You don't want a production [14:28] application out there that well, you [14:30] have no visibility into in case [14:32] something is blowing up and you might [14:34] not even know it. So head on over to [14:36] centry.io/sax. [14:37] Again, we've been using this tool for a [14:39] long time and it totally [music] rules. [14:41] All right. [14:43] Okay, let's talk about email. [14:46] I'm the worst at email because I get so [14:49] much garbage that I can't find the like [14:53] actual good stuff out of it. And I've [14:54] complained about this for a long time. [14:56] I've tried setting up a whole bunch of [14:58] AI rules and it all just doesn't work. I [15:02] cannot figure out how to surface the [15:04] email that matters to me. I get so much [15:06] like slop incoming AI like cold emails [15:11] and obviously I block it, but they just [15:13] spin up a new domain name. Um, but I [15:16] need to figure out a system a to get [15:18] less email, you know, I got to figure [15:20] out how to stop it from coming in the [15:22] first place. Um, and be another system [15:24] for just like dealing with it, you know? [15:25] Like I hate email and I I I rarely go [15:29] through I go like I scan it once or [15:31] twice a day and and see hopefully I [15:33] catch the important stuff, but sometimes [15:34] stuff gets missed and I I don't love it. [15:37] I love inbox zero and I would love to [15:39] help you get there. I reached I've [15:42] currently reached inbox zero for the [15:45] last 6 weeks. I hit inbox zero 244 days [15:49] of last year. [15:50] >> Oh man. which means I have no emails in [15:54] my inbox. Let me tell you, the key to [15:56] inbox zero is to use your inbox as a [15:59] to-do list. If it is in your inbox, you [16:02] have to do something with it. If it is [16:05] meaningless, you you archive it, you get [16:08] rid of it. If it's something you can do [16:09] right now, you do it right now or you [16:11] leave it for that part of the day where [16:13] you can do it. If it's something you [16:14] cannot do today, you snooze it. Bingo, [16:17] bango. You do that, you never have an [16:20] email. Like the most emails I ever have [16:22] is when I wake up and there's like, you [16:25] know, 12 emails in my inbox total. [16:28] [laughter] But like if you treat it like [16:30] that, like truly like it's a to-do list, [16:32] man. Like not only do you feel lighter [16:35] about it every day? [16:36] >> Yeah. [16:37] >> But uh for me personally, it acts as [16:40] like a to-do list, another system like [16:41] that that I can like truly feel like I I [16:45] know where everything's at and I'm never [16:47] never guessing, right? the things that [16:49] are a need to accomplish or not [16:51] accomplish. So [16:53] >> yeah, [16:54] >> it's probably not on my part probably [16:56] not an email problem. It's more of a [16:59] like I don't feel like dealing with this [17:00] right now and then it just stacks up. [17:03] >> And then it Yeah, but then I I do snooze [17:05] it, but then it's true. Then I get so [17:08] like how many emails have I got today [17:10] alone? And I aggressively block and [17:12] unsubscribe from everything and I have [17:15] about 23 emails so far since midnight. [17:18] And it's [17:19] >> yeah, [17:19] >> well, it's 12 13 hours, which is not a [17:22] it's not a lot. You know, I could [17:24] probably blitz through those in five [17:25] minutes, but [17:26] >> I I do it first thing every day and then [17:29] I close my email and I don't open it for [17:31] the rest of the day unless I'm like [17:33] expecting a back and forth. But I do it [17:35] very first thing and and I do it like as [17:37] part of my my morning routine. I get [17:39] into the office, I [clears throat] open [17:40] up my inbox and I either snoo I snooze [17:43] things sometimes for like a week. I'll [17:45] say I I can't deal this now until next [17:47] Wednesday. and you'll just snooze it for [17:49] a week or whatever. [17:50] >> My problem is that I like I sit down and [17:52] I I hopefully I know what I'm gonna work [17:54] on and it's I'm just getting into the [17:56] code or I'm working on whatever project [17:59] and like that's my energy is the highest [18:01] in the morning and that's when I want to [18:03] get I don't want to fritter away my time [18:05] fussing with emails, you know, [18:07] especially because I feel like most of [18:09] the emails are people just demanding my [18:11] time when I don't owe them anything. [18:13] >> You can get rid of them. Trash it. [18:16] >> Yeah. Yeah, that's true. Then they then [18:18] they send follow-ups. [18:19] >> Oh, I'm just checking in. Did you see X, [18:21] Y, and Z about our stupid AI tool? Would [18:24] you like to do [18:25] >> report [18:27] spam? [18:27] >> Yeah, I do. I do. I do every single one. [18:29] And they spin up brand new domain names [18:32] every single time. [18:33] >> And I'm on some I think it's because my [18:35] email address is in the RSS feed for [18:38] >> those are the fastest ones you can get [18:39] through though because you can just zoom [18:41] right through them. You know it's you [18:43] don't have to read it. you just trash [18:45] trash trash trash trash trash trash [18:45] trash trash trash trash trash trash [18:45] trash trash trash trash trash trash [18:45] trash trash trash you know I I like I [18:47] know superhuman was bought by Grammarly [18:50] I know it's an expensive tool the thing [18:52] I like about it though is that the whole [18:54] thing can be keyboard navigation and the [18:57] the key for getting rid of something is [18:59] just E or something so you can just look [19:01] at your inbox go like you're in one and [19:04] I can just hit E the next one pop up E [19:07] next one pop up and E you know I'm not [19:08] like having to click through the things [19:10] or find the buttons or whatever and that [19:12] to me makes it really smooth my tasks in [19:16] general. I think everything in my life I [19:19] would like to have more minimal. I've [19:22] done a good job of this with inbox zero [19:24] as evidenced just now, but I do find my [19:27] to-do system, as I mentioned before, [19:29] things pile up. My systems allow for [19:33] things to pile up sometimes. And I don't [19:35] mean just to-dos and emails. I mean [19:38] physical items sometimes. I got papers [19:40] over here that pile up. I got another [19:42] stack of papers over here that pile up. [19:44] >> I hate papers so much. [19:46] >> My file system on my computer. [19:49] >> Yeah. [19:50] >> Yeah. My file system on my computer and [19:53] my NAS drive have just become a dumping [19:55] ground of like I'll organize this later. [19:59] And I know like there's got to be some [20:02] tools. I actually built a an I I uh [20:04] built some personal software for myself, [20:06] Wes, called File Bro. [laughter] [20:09] And File Bro, I don't necessarily trust [20:12] it just yet, but it will hopefully solve [20:14] some of these issues where you can build [20:16] it's like Hazel where you can build [20:18] these kind of like complex automations [20:19] and then just have it buzz through and [20:21] move your files around. I I need to [20:23] build in the ability to like undo before [20:25] I really let this thing rip on my file [20:28] system. But I could find like all right, [20:30] scan cuz it does transcripts too. So you [20:32] could say scan these uh video files and [20:37] anytime I mention the word level up [20:39] tutorials, put it in the level up [20:40] tutorials folder. Anytime I mention uh [20:43] the name of the course, this is the name [20:45] of the course. Uh put it in this. And [20:47] then I have these like complex JSON [20:48] workflow documents. [20:49] >> See, I did that with my email and it was [20:52] just it's all in the edge cases. You [20:54] know, it works [20:55] >> Oh, yeah. like 93% of the time, but it [20:58] works just not often enough that you're [21:01] >> and I don't I don't need this to work [21:03] like automated for me every day. What I [21:06] need this is to clean up the existing [21:09] structure cuz it is like what I have is [21:13] a giant pile of clothes and what I need [21:15] is those clothes to get folded and put [21:17] in the right drawer. So that way when I [21:19] get a new piece of clothing, I don't [21:21] just throw it in the pile and I have [21:23] somewhere to put it. That is my problem. [21:27] >> Yeah. Systems, man. [21:28] >> Minimalist [21:29] >> systems. [21:30] >> Minimalist. [21:30] >> Minimalist. Yes. [21:31] >> That's a that's that's a big problem of [21:33] mine is that I'm a I love a things like [21:37] not not like like physical things, but [21:39] like I love I love physical things [21:40] >> getting into [21:42] >> hobbies, you know? I love [21:43] [clears throat] hardware and and and [21:45] wires and I Christmas lights and all [21:47] this stuff. And I would love to be [21:49] minimalist, but I'm I am way too [21:51] enthusiastic about learning new things [21:53] that I will not be able to do that. Um, [21:55] so I'm have many more systems as to like [21:59] where this stuff goes so that I can go [22:01] grab it. Like I have all these boxes of [22:03] different wires and things and that's [22:04] been that's helped me so much. [22:06] >> Yeah. I I I don't need to be minimalist, [22:09] but I would like to be minimalist with [22:10] my systems or organized I just to say. [22:13] >> Yeah. Here's one that I am going to get [22:17] so much better at this year is getting [22:18] faster at typing and more accurate at [22:21] typing. You know, I [22:24] >> feel like I I just did a test and I'm at [22:26] like 75 words a minute. I would love to [22:29] be and like like on a good day 75, you [22:31] know, and like I wish I could be at [22:34] maybe 90 words a minute and like very [22:37] accurate as well. [22:38] >> Do you have a type checking tool? Type [22:40] typing tool. [22:41] >> Yeah. I just asked on Twitter and a [22:43] bunch of people sent me there's one tool [22:46] that will help you get better and it [22:48] uses an algorithm based on like it sees [22:50] what your like what mistakes you are for [22:53] mine is I'm using the wrong finger to [22:55] press I [22:57] >> you know I'm I'm using my pointer Peter [22:59] pointer to touch I and I should be using [23:01] my middle finger. [23:03] >> Do you want to do a live type speed [23:05] typing on the show right now? Let's do [23:07] it [23:08] >> because I one year from now I am going [23:11] to figure out if it's my keyboard and or [23:15] whatever I'm going to be [23:16] >> I would like to do this too cuz I think [23:18] I might be worse than you. [23:20] >> Really? [23:20] >> No. [23:21] >> Yes. What um what is this tool? [23:23] >> I got to sit down for this. Hold on. [23:25] >> Ready? [23:26] >> This is it. Um yeah, I'm going to I'm [23:29] going to kick my mic away because I I [23:33] feel like it gets in the way even though [23:34] I don't look at it. Okay. Ready? 3 2 1 [23:37] go. [23:53] >> All right. What you got? [23:55] >> Oh, my dear. Unmute. Okay, [24:00] man. [24:01] Yeah. So I I learned something about [24:04] myself here is that when I was reading [24:06] ahead of time, I was better than when I [24:09] was just typing at like like following [24:11] the word and just typing the next word I [24:13] saw. If I like read and typed at a lag, [24:16] I I did better. Um, how did you do? [24:19] >> I got 62 words a m minute minute with 96 [24:23] accuracy. [24:24] >> Okay. I did 58 words per minute with 96 [24:28] accuracy. [24:28] >> Oh, you're pretty close. We're pretty [24:29] close then. [24:30] >> Pretty close. Yeah, I told you I'm not [24:32] good. Not good. [24:33] >> But like that's the problem is that I [24:35] have a lot of accuracy problems and it's [24:38] obnoxious when you're coding because [24:40] >> totally [24:40] >> then you got to go back especially with [24:42] like curly brackets and things like [24:43] that. So, I want to get up to like 90 [24:46] horse a minute. And I think I can get [24:47] there if you just if I just I don't [24:50] know. I asked on Twitter. People sent me [24:52] this like um a couple websites to [24:55] practice. But also, I'm wondering if a a [24:57] keyboard cuz I think my problem is that [25:00] I I'm touching the wrong keys [25:03] >> and or I'm I'm using the wrong fingers. [25:06] >> Yeah, that obviously that's the problem. [25:07] You're touching the wrong keys, but I'm [25:08] using the wrong fingers to go to the [25:10] keys. So if I maybe what if I move to a [25:13] new keyboard to just hard break those [25:16] problems, will I be amazing? Can I get [25:19] up to 90 100 words a minute? Can I be [25:21] amazing? And like I use speech to text [25:24] quite a bit, but I there's still [25:26] something something so key about being a [25:28] fast typer. [25:29] >> Yeah. Yeah. I don't know, man. I uh that [25:32] was a frustrating experience for me. [25:34] [laughter] Uh I but I would I would [25:37] absolutely I think this is on my list as [25:38] well. It would be fun to redo this at [25:40] the end of this year and see. I do feel [25:43] like my issue is just straight up typing [25:47] the the next letter instead of like the [25:50] current one. I like wonder like how much [25:52] uh my dyslexia plays into here. I'm not [25:54] making excuses, but I do wonder if if [25:57] those reading challenges also matter, [25:59] but I know I I could be way faster. I I [26:02] don't know. My I felt like I was [26:03] cruising, too. And I wonder if like just [26:05] fixing the accuracy issues increases the [26:07] words per minute. uh by a ton. [26:10] >> Ah, that was that was good. So, let us [26:12] know down below what is your words per [26:14] minute and how do we get better at this [26:17] cuz I I want to be a machine. You know, [26:19] Ben Ben Vinegar [26:21] >> types 150 140 words a minute and I don't [26:26] know like that's that's so key in [26:28] coding. The funny part about that is he [26:30] would often think about what he was like [26:31] typing in Slack like quite a bit. So he [26:34] would you would see Ben is typing for so [26:36] long because he's he's going back. I'm [26:37] like, "Oh, maybe we should phrase that [26:39] different." But for his coding [26:40] [laughter] [26:42] so good. [26:43] >> Yeah. Yeah. Totally. [26:46] >> Yeah. I need to It's the year of the [26:48] year of learning to type fast. [26:51] >> Yes. The year of learning to type fast. [26:52] I love it. [snorts] Cool. I agree with [26:54] you on that one. I I got to have that. [26:56] Another thing I would like to do is [26:58] continue listening to more like [27:00] self-help book and personal uh [27:03] advancement books, those types of [27:05] things. I do and have always loved a [27:08] good self-help book. My Audible is just [27:11] a graveyard of self-help books and I [27:14] I'll listen to any of them. I'll listen [27:15] all the way through. It does not matter [27:17] if I end up implementing any of the [27:19] things. it gets me a bit of juice to uh [27:24] implement change in my life. But I did [27:26] find over the past year and things were [27:29] stressful with me with my my head injury [27:33] and just like the amount I didn't feel [27:34] like I had any room for personal growth [27:37] even though I was like I was doing a lot [27:39] of healing. So, I would love to get back [27:44] into listening to a bunch of books and I [27:46] already have a whole bunch downloaded [27:47] and ready to go that I I uh downloaded [27:50] legally off of whoever knows where you [27:53] guys by legal audiobooks.com. Um, but I [27:56] I would love to just reimplement that in [27:59] life and listen to more more books cuz I [28:01] can fill my time with a lot of boring [28:03] ass podcasts or you know, see I much [28:06] prefer the like interesting podcasts. I [28:09] used to be huge into audiobooks and I [28:11] still am. Like I I like the like Atomic [28:13] Habits or whatever, but I find a lot of [28:15] these self-help books so cheesy, you [28:18] know? I listen I listen to this like [28:20] David Gogggins, you know, everyone's [28:22] crazy about how amazing this guy is and [28:24] and like I'm just like listening to this [28:26] and being like, yeah, this guy can like [28:28] like obviously run marathons and break [28:31] his legs and and keep running, but like [28:34] >> the rest of your life is in shambles, [28:35] brother. You know, you have no good [28:37] relationships. you're just hurting [28:39] everybody in your life. Like all of this [28:41] is at the cost of what? [28:43] >> What? [28:43] >> And like I'm not motivated by this, you [28:45] know? Like it's I find myself as the [28:48] older I get, the less the more I find [28:51] this stuff to be super cheesy. I don't [28:53] know why that is. I I don't think that [28:54] I'm like becoming negative, but I just [28:57] like I see through a lot of the stuff [28:58] like, "Yeah, but like rest of your life, [29:02] >> you kind of sacrifice everything else in [29:04] your life to get really good at running [29:06] through the desert." I agree with that, [29:08] but I still like some of those things. I [29:12] think for me, like the the thing that [29:14] turns me off of one is like when [29:16] something is super derivative of [29:18] something else I've already listened to [29:19] before or you can tell it's just like a [29:23] reworking of these other ideas that um [29:25] somebody else had. One of the things [29:27] that I've I've been liking lately in [29:30] books, especially about like technology, [29:32] is like maybe like more history in [29:36] stories about like real things and real [29:38] history. They call that history. And and [29:41] I do think that like those things are [29:43] inspiring to me in the same way that [29:45] self-help books are. So maybe that's it, [29:47] too. Maybe I just like have reached the [29:49] limit on I've listened to all of the [29:50] good self-help books and need to listen [29:52] to more history or more things that I [29:54] actually want to spend time on. Um [29:56] because I do love history. Uh personally [29:59] history and science. Yeah, [30:00] >> maybe that's where I'm at as well. It's [30:02] like I've listened to them all. I [30:03] understand all of the to do whatever. I [30:07] have a pretty good to-do system and I [30:08] understand the habits and everything. [30:10] And [30:10] >> yeah, [30:10] >> it's similar to like coding as well, you [30:12] know, like I there's only so many [30:14] tutorials you can do before you just got [30:17] to go and do it. You know what I would [30:18] like to do also, Wes? I would like to [30:20] and I I actually built an app for this. [30:23] Not vibe coded, by the way. I built this [30:24] by hand. Not that it matters, uh, but [30:28] long-term habits where you have your [30:31] daily habits and your like daily [30:33] resolutions, things you want to do every [30:34] single day. But there's like some things [30:36] I would like to do once a month. So, I [30:39] built like an app where you can say, [30:41] "Remind me to do this thing every four [30:44] months," or, "Remind me to do this thing [30:46] every 3 months." And then like it just [30:48] has like a feed and it pops up and it [30:50] says like, "All right, you have two [30:52] months until you have to do this again." [30:54] And uh you could just kind of always see [30:56] that what's at the top to these things [30:59] that like that way you can make sure [31:00] that you're like staying on top of [31:02] either relationships you want to [31:04] cultivate like professional [31:05] relationships like oh my you know [31:08] there's a buddy of mine I haven't talked [31:09] to him in in months like one of those [31:12] things could just be like send soand so [31:14] a message because you know life gets [31:16] busy and just stuff like that you know I [31:18] would love to develop and improve that [31:20] system or what I should do is I should [31:24] take that long-term kind of habits like [31:27] things that only happen several times a [31:29] year and just put that in my habit [31:31] tracker app. Just put it in that so that [31:32] way I don't have two surfaces. I'm [31:34] already looking at the habit tracker app [31:36] every day. Oh, here's one. I would like [31:39] to ship more things. I have a real big [31:41] problem of starting a lot of things and [31:44] not [laughter] finishing them. [31:46] >> I think we all do. Yeah. [31:47] >> Yes. I would love to ship some things. I [31:50] have a video recording app that [31:51] hopefully by the time you're listening [31:52] to this has been shipped. I actually [31:54] have it signed by my Apple developers [31:56] account and I would like to get in the [31:58] hands of people like Wes to test it so [32:00] that way I can actually ship it because [32:02] I'm using it right now. And you know [32:05] what? It does me no good to just write [32:07] this thing and have myself use it. I [32:09] could put it up online and have other [32:11] people use it as well. So I got a ship. [32:14] I got a ship this year. [32:15] >> Me too. I I you make so many fun things [32:18] and then you get unexcited about it and [32:21] then you just [32:22] >> like I actually finish it and I use it [32:24] but like that extra 10% of like actually [32:27] pushing it out there so other people can [32:28] use it [32:29] >> and enjoy it [32:30] >> is kind of key. Yeah. And and then on [32:33] top of it actually making a video about [32:35] it. Like I made this cool sticker [32:36] printer thing that like prints stickers [32:39] based on AI [32:41] >> and that worked that did super well on [32:44] Twitter and in short form content, but I [32:46] was like, I should really make a [32:47] >> I posted the code. Bunch of people are [32:49] using it, but I didn't make a video on [32:51] it. I should make a video about that, [32:53] Wes. I'm demanding it cuz I like that. I [32:55] want to see what you did there and I [32:57] want to do it myself. [32:58] >> All right, so that's all I got. What [32:59] kind of habits would you like to [33:01] cultivate in your life this year? What [33:03] types of things would you like to change [33:05] and how are you doing that? What's your [33:07] systems like? To-dos, what's your [33:08] systems like for habits? All this stuff, [33:10] books that you like that you think we [33:12] might like. Love all of that stuff and [33:15] more. So, hit us up with that [33:17] information in the comments. Uh, [33:18] Twitter, Facebook, whatever. Hit us up. [33:21] We love to hear from you. As always, [33:22] we'll catch you in the next one. Peace. [33:25] Peace. ## Highlights - good at this. The ideal version of me would be good at email. So therefore, I'm going to make a a task or a habit that is inbox zero. And I'm going to have a time in the day that uh gets me down to inbox zero every single day and or whatever. I'm going to build this into my life. And you just got to stick to it. I I know it's January and habits are so easy to say, "I'm going to do this in January and then February, whatever, whatever, whatever." ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01ked7kk0fjgfe7ytjpanxar7k)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted - always like, "Did you do your to-do list for the day?" And I have to shamefully go, "No, I didn't. And I know if I did, I wouldn't have this problem." And then I do my to-do lists and then I knock things off. So, like, >> I really need for my to-do list, which I use the app tweak.so and still really, really love this app for how minimal it is. I need for this system for me every single morning to do ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01ked7kk24344tvde1fxac4tyq)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted - list. >> What I do is I I use things and I have like an I have an inbox where I just dump everything which is like that that's probably what you're using for it is like I have to do this at some point and what I do is I'll just dump it into my inbox and I also have it it's hooked up to Apple reminders so I can just do it from my phone as well. I often do it on my watch. chose to be like, "Remind me to to do X, Y, and Z." And I use that a ton because often I'm just like falling asleep or whatever or like like ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01ked7kk3dpheeb8zd6964m67r)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted - that, like truly like it's a to-do list, man. Like not only do you feel lighter about it every day? >> Yeah. >> But uh for me personally, it acts as like a to-do list, another system like that that I can like truly feel like I I know where everything's at and I'm never never guessing, right? the things that are a need to accomplish or not accomplish. So >> yeah, >> it's probably not on my part probably not an email problem. It's more of a like I don't feel like dealing with this ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01ked7kk6n5sgdazxxw7v30x6j)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted - grab it. Like I have all these boxes of different wires and things and that's been that's helped me so much. >> Yeah. I I I don't need to be minimalist, but I would like to be minimalist with my systems or organized I just to say. >> Yeah. Here's one that I am going to get so much better at this year is getting faster at typing and more accurate at typing. You know, I >> feel like I I just did a test and I'm at like 75 words a minute. I would love to be and like like on a good day 75, you ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01ked7kk9gppbx00rd6q0p1w4z)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted - >> maybe that's where I'm at as well. It's like I've listened to them all. I understand all of the to do whatever. I have a pretty good to-do system and I understand the habits and everything. And >> yeah, >> it's similar to like coding as well, you know, like I there's only so many tutorials you can do before you just got to go and do it. You know what I would like to do also, Wes? I would like to and I I actually built an app for this. Not vibe coded, by the way. I built this by hand. Not that it matters, uh, but long-term habits where you have your ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01ked7kkd0s7nq9yadp5jagfxd)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted