# 102: Vision Quest  ## Episode metadata - Episode title: 102: Vision Quest - Show: Mostly Technical - Owner / Host: Ian Landsman and Aaron Francis - Episode publish date: 2025-10-07 - Episode AI description: Aaron shares his transformative 'Vision Quest' experience, revealing an unexpected addiction to Twitter and the journey to reclaim focus. He discusses practical habits like avoiding social media before noon for deeper productivity. Meanwhile, Ian reflects on social pressure in creative projects and shares fun travel highlights from a mini Vision Quest in Philadelphia. Both hosts explore the challenges of managing online interactions and the importance of reliable help for ongoing creative work. - Duration: 01:11:36 - Episode URL: [Open in Snipd](https://share.snipd.com/episode/003ce362-4b10-46cd-8aa0-f80e1f38bc23) - Show URL: [Open in Snipd](https://share.snipd.com/show/7ad45fb4-8aa6-49c2-83cc-bc2327d14b03) - Export date: 2026-02-17T23:20:52 ## Snips ### [Bricking The Phone To Break Addiction](https://share.snipd.com/snip/4fc7962d-418b-416a-bb9c-e7e98d3560e1) 🎧 02:00 - 03:54 (01:53) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/56828077-8522-44d1-9fd8-ed2b2995745e" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Aaron used a physical "brick" NFC device to lock social apps so he couldn't bypass screen time limits. - He kept one brick at home and one in his backpack so unblocking required physically finding a device. #### 💬 Quote > The brick is a physical device that I have purchased. And it is basically like a NFC device. And it hooks into the phone's screen time APIs. > — Aaron Francis Aaron Francis describing the "brick" device to stop phone use #### 📚 Transcript **Aaron Francis:** The brick is a physical device that I have purchased. And it is basically like a NFC device. And it hooks into the phone's screen time APIs. And so what I can do is I can say like, hey, when I break my phone, I don't want to have access to Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit, YouTube, Hacker News, all this stuff. And unlike screen time, there's just no way around it. Like you can't just say, I know I'm not supposed to do this, but give me one more minute, five more minutes, whatever. You just you can't do it. So and then the physical device part is the only way to unbrick the phone is to go tap the physical device with your phone. So what I do is I have two physical devices, just little blocks, keep one in my backpack out there and one in my nightstand at the house. And so if I want to unbrick my phone, I have to go find one of those devices and tap it. It's really annoying. It's incredibly annoying. Yes. And it really illuminates how often I like pull my phone out of my pocket just to look at stuff because I'm like, God, I can't freaking look at anything. It's so stupid. So I go to brunch by myself, take a book in, and I'm just like, I'm dying, man. I'm like, I'm so freaking bored. What the hell? I'm like texting my wife and friends because I can't look at anything on my phone. And so I'm just like, hey, what are you guys up to? And so I have brunch by myself and then I go get back in car and unbrick my phone and sit there for like, you know, 15 minutes just looking at stuff. I'm like, hey, I did it. I did an hour. We're getting somewhere. This is, you know, you have to take baby steps, total addiction. And so I break it again. I go to Barnes and Noble, walk around, read some books. And then finally, it's time to check in. And so once I got to the Airbnb, my phone was bricked until I left. --- ### [Silence Reveals Thought Patterns](https://share.snipd.com/snip/e9ce95e0-8124-4224-a203-514af279954b) 🎧 08:46 - 10:55 (02:08) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/fde06708-8577-4187-b26c-e1f32d1f5823" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Sitting quietly without prompts let Aaron observe thoughts surfacing and connecting without forcing conclusions. - That passive observation produced clear realizations about his habits and priorities. #### 💬 Quote > I'm just kind of like observing the thoughts. ... I'm seeing these little thoughts come up and like oh like that was from five years ago. > — Aaron Francis Aaron Francis on noticing thoughts during his vision quest #### 📚 Transcript **Aaron Francis:** So then on Thursday, I started, I felt like my brain started to like, like glitch out or something. So you're **Ian Landsman:** crashing out as the kids. I'm crashing **Aaron Francis:** out. I have invented meditation from first principles, but like I'm sitting there on the back porch drinking my coffee, just looking around. And I'm noticing like thoughts come into my head and I'm just kind of like observing the thoughts. I'm like, oh, that's interesting. **Ian Landsman:** Yeah, this is your inventing meditation. I invented meditation. Yeah, so. you it out though? See. I didn't push it out. Okay. That's the full meditation is really to push them out. Not to push them out, but to acknowledge them and let them pass through. **Aaron Francis:** Well, okay. So I did do that. I saw the thoughts and i was like that's really curious it's one of those things where like if you look directly at it it disappears you kind of have to like observe it from the side and be like huh that's curious oh you can't glimpse the face of god you can only see his back and it's like oh don't look at him you'll die and so i'm like every movie yeah i'm like sitting there and these thoughts are coming up in my head and i'm like i feel like i'm seeing the thoughts come up as like as like little strings like little strings of thoughts and somebody emailed me and was like are you sure you on mushrooms and i'm like no i wasn't i wasn't on mushrooms um but i'm seeing these little thoughts come up and like oh like that was from five years ago. That's curious. And then I see another one come up and it like, it like intertwines, it like tangles with the first thought. And it's like, oh, these two, these two thoughts are like, huh, that's directionally the same thing. And then they kind of like disappear. And I'm just sitting there just like looking at the trees and my brain is doing all this work without me. Like, I don't have any prompts. I'm not like directed attention towards what should I do with my life. It's just, I'm just like observing all of this background noise, like come to the front and I like, kind of like hear slash see these thoughts. And I'm like, oh, wow, this is really, this is really helpful. Like, this is crazy. I, I didn't think about that. That's a great point. --- ### [Five Years Defined By Distraction](https://share.snipd.com/snip/6c685d7f-0c99-419c-8399-1ce4d2c05d52) 🎧 15:31 - 17:15 (01:44) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/e34bf48f-2a92-4f42-b725-b7d1cb7e4705" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Aaron realized the past five years felt like a block defined by distraction and lack of deep focus. - He felt that addiction to Twitter fragmented his attention and undermined sustained creative work. #### 💬 Quote > If you had a one word takeaway from this five years of work, the word being distracted, that's not, that's not really a ringing endorsement. > — Aaron Francis Aaron Francis reflecting on his last five years and Twitter use #### 📚 Transcript **Aaron Francis:** So we'll just say five years, five years ago, five years ago also started my like path on Twitter. Right. So five years ago, I had like a thousand followers and then I started like being purposeful about it. And now I have whatever, 50. And so this past five years feels like a block to me, like a like a chunk. Um, and I think for the past five years, I have not really done a good job or I've, I basically lost my ability to focus deeply for hours at a time. Just like, it's just gone. I just don't have that ability anymore. And so as these, you know, as these thoughts were coming up, that's one thing I kept noticing was like, man, it feels like like the the overarching feeling that I get observing this block of time is one of like distraction. And I was like, man, that's not great. That's not a good like if you had a one word takeaway from this five years of work, the word being distracted, that's not, that's not really a ringing endorsement of how you're living your life. Um, and so there are other words that were associated with it, uh, like frenetic and, you know, flitting, like I just flit from thing to thing. Um, and that was, that was like the, was the thing that came up that made me feel icky. Like looking back on that, I, you know, and I tried to give myself some grace, like, hey, you've done a lot of great things like you like you're, you know, by all normal measurements doing well. And that's fine. But looking at this, have you like, is this how you want to live your next five years? And the answer was like a resounding no. --- ### [Protect Morning Hours For Deep Work](https://share.snipd.com/snip/ec8c5127-4abf-4f79-a3f9-14df6ebc4f2f) 🎧 20:33 - 23:12 (02:38) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/8c9bd0a9-abb3-4265-8e61-5c325a2658d0" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Aaron's practical change: no podcasts, social media, or email before noon on workdays to preserve deep morning focus. - He scheduled his phone to brick itself at 6 a.m. so the rule is automatic and sustainable. #### 💬 Quote > The takeaway for now is no podcasts no social media no email before noon on a work day that's it. > — Aaron Francis Aaron Francis stating the new actionable morning rule after his vision quest #### 📚 Transcript **Aaron Francis:** Um, I have to change what I'm doing. And so there's another realization, but on this one, the practical takeaway, and I'm prone, I'm prone to like, uh, grand sweeping gestures. And so I'm trying to be, I'm trying to be like, uh, precise about it. the takeaway for now is no podcasts no social media no email before noon on a work day that's it that's it that's that's **Ian Landsman:** reasonable that's doable i like i like a yeah it's a a reachable goal like this is not way out there i'm not gonna do it anymore like this is like yeah if you can get a nice three four hour chunk of the morning and you're gonna feel like you got a lot of stuff done it's gonna wean you off of the checking like habit at least for chunks of being able to do that for chunks of time i like that that seems and so i **Aaron Francis:** bricked my phone most of this weekend as well and it just made me feel better it just made me feel better like i felt like i was more present felt like time was passing more slowly but not in like a not in like grueling way it was just like oh i you know i'm i'm relaxed you know these i can just sit around and read a book or play with the kids. And like, that's fine. And it also revealed to me that like every almost every moment of downtime has historically been filled with just checking on stuff. Like, oh, let me just, you know, I'm at a stoplight. Let me look at my phone. I'm like walking from the kitchen back to the bedroom. Let me look at my phone on the way. It's like, good this is brutal. Yeah. So this weekend was much better. Much, much, much better. Just felt like less stress, less strung out. And so I've set up a schedule on my phone where every morning at 6 a.m. it bricks itself. And so I don't have to like remember to do it because usually the first thing I do when I wake up is look at my phone. I'm like, I'm so sleepy. I'm so sleepy. Let me get some input and let me look at what all the mad people on Twitter are saying. Okay. **Ian Landsman:** See, I thought you might be going to like a morning push to like get caught up on things and then brick the phone eight to noon or something. But you're, you're going nothing from wake up through noon, you know, off the griddish, at least in terms of social media. Yes, **Aaron Francis:** exactly. **Ian Landsman:** Okay. That's, that's harder there. So that's interesting. That's going to be, that could be like the, the hardest part almost. --- ### [Use Tools And Pace To Fight Frenzy](https://share.snipd.com/snip/380e713a-6e58-4cca-84e3-98a93cba2f1b) 🎧 28:42 - 31:38 (02:55) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/a1d44dff-b2bd-4ae5-b62e-7498977698cd" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Use blocking tools (phone brick, focus apps) and schedule focused morning chunks to reduce checking habits. - Prioritize deep work and accept slower, less frenetic product development for higher quality output. #### 💬 Quote > You already have some of the, you got the block tool already. So you use it, you like it. Just further leveraging that. > — Ian Landsman Ian Landsman suggesting practical steps to reduce distraction and frenetic work #### 📚 Transcript **Ian Landsman:** Yep. Seems reasonable. You already have some of the, you got the block tool already. So you use it, you like it. Just further leveraging that. Oh, what do do on the computer? **Aaron Francis:** I have a focus app. so that kind of some random one i don't remember what it is but it blocks yeah i can add sites to it and it'll block **Ian Landsman:** it okay so we got a couple tools seems straightforward i guess the thing that stuck out stuck out like most to me is sort of almost the um the other flip side that is like attention related, I guess, and like pressure related is like you are working in public a lot, either like actually fully in public or even if it's like, yeah, you're not going to be like sharing the course things as you go. But like there's a date people know it or they know it's coming and people are asking you about it. And like to me, that's a whole other part of twitter that is very can be stressful right it's like you are working in public which has its advantages but also like people are on you then stressed it's time then you're like not you even in particular but then it's like well screw it because like i'm not getting this done fast enough or well enough or like you get into that whole thing and then obviously twitter's feeding you look at person x who shipped a thousand courses super amazingly. And it seems like instantly, right? So now you feel bad about yourself and all those things. So yeah, I think just like this mindset extending into like the product stuff too of like database school. Let's just talk about that. It's going to take time, both like you need time to work on it, but also it is just going to take longer than you think and but being in the headspace to like i'm just gonna keep chipping away at this until i get there you know it's like i feel like there's such an environment on twitter especially of like ship fast and move on to the next thing ship fast move on to the next thing ship seven things at once move on to the next thing right like and not obviously it works for some people and that's great but i just think that's not really how most businesses are built you know um so yeah I think it's just I guess that kind of stuck out to me I don't know the direct connection but there's something there of like being okay with it taking more time and then just letting that be what it's going to be it doesn't necessarily mean you're definitely going to be successful with it but it's like you're giving it the space to possibly work versus like not even giving it the space to have a chance to work because you're so under this pressure to get it done quickly do you know **Aaron Francis:** and that is that is um that one of the words that came up was frenetic and that is a hundred percent uh what you're describing is like the frenetic energy like right yeah do it super fast ship it super fast move on to the next thing. Like, oh, we'll do it better next time. Like, keep going. And that is another thing that I like observed and felt like, I don't like that. I don't like that. And I think this strategy of deep work in the morning will lead to a like slower and less frenetic process of building and releasing these courses. --- ### [Identifying As A Creative, Not Just A Dev](https://share.snipd.com/snip/7e7db0d3-6d24-41b5-86a6-293b115c1442) 🎧 33:36 - 36:03 (02:27) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/290d5046-f22e-46ea-ac89-d016ae1645ff" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Aaron discovered he aligns more with authors and musicians than with typical web-developer culture. - This reframing gave him permission to pursue quieter, creative solo work instead of frenetic public arguing. #### 💬 Quote > I feel like I have more in common with authors and musicians than I do with developers. > — Aaron Francis Aaron Francis on how his creative affinities shaped his work approach #### 📚 Transcript **Aaron Francis:** The second big takeaway is that I feel like I have more in common with what I've read, heard, listened to, observed, I have more in common with authors and musicians than I do with developers. I feel, and I feel like that has, I haven't, uh, I haven't put, uh, such a fine point on that until, until now. And I, I feel like, um, I have been trying to hold myself to like this, you know, web dev Twitter standard, you know, like move fast, have lots of opinions, always be trying the new tech, like be like arguing with people all the time. And I feel like I have more in common with a creative act or person than I do with like a software developer or engineer. And so what that has done for me is like reinforced this need to have like this solo pursuit, deep work time all by myself to do creative work. Instead of thinking that like my job is to be plugged into the conversation um i feel like my job is to um work quietly by myself to produce artifacts um and i take a lot more inspiration from as we've talked about many times brandon sanderson authors like that and hearing their stories than listening to like software developers talk about their work and that's been helpful for me because I feel like a lot of the times um where I feel friction is I'll get all of this advice from people or like admonition like you got to do it this way or you got to do this thing right and I think now I feel like yeah well that doesn't really but that doesn't that's not what I want to do with my life. And I'm okay with that. Like I'm, I'm okay saying, yeah, that, that is good advice for, you know, somebody else in a different field or who views their work differently. I don't, you know, Jeffrey Way may not feel like a, you know, an author or a musician. He may feel like a software developer and that's fine. But the way that I want to live my life is more like a creative, a creative endeavor than just a software developer. --- ### [Blocking Snarky Strangers On Twitter](https://share.snipd.com/snip/9314bfac-1caf-403f-a3e2-51e929ce3aac) 🎧 45:23 - 47:26 (02:02) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/33478750-ae28-4146-870a-fb329a71be38" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - After posting photos from his retreat Aaron received snarky replies about taking pictures while offline and blocked many strangers. - He adopted a rule: first-time snarky replies from non-followers get blocked immediately to preserve mental space. #### 💬 Quote > If we're not friends and like, you don't follow me, I don't follow you. We've never interacted. And the first time you ever interact with me is some snarky like gotcha tweet, I don't care. I'm going to block you immediately. > — Aaron Francis Aaron Francis describing his new blocking rule after rude Twitter replies #### 📚 Transcript **Ian Landsman:** I did, yeah. Some pictures of your adventures. Yep. And you got some nice replies. I did. But you also got some crazy replies. Got some crazies. And I thought it was like just the perfect sort of encapsulation about Twitter. And like, there's just people on there being like, you took a photo while you were there. How'd you do that? As if they don't know how you took a photo. You took a photo with your phone. You took a photo. Oh, you posted it to Twitter. How'd you do that? trying to get a lot of gotchas. A lot of gotchas. A lot of gotchas. You're just having to read through these things. It's just going to make you sad. It's like, even though there's nice ones in the mix, it's like the stupid ones are just going to bring you down. And it's so annoying. It is so perfect encapsulation of you're on this quest and maybe work through your feelings about Twitter. And the tweet back is like full of all this bullshit. And it's like, just perfect. A bunch of **Aaron Francis:** freaking randos. So here's my thoughts. Here are my thoughts on that. So the tweet says, I was offline the whole time. And then it also says, it's amazing what happens when you sit on the porch for several hours with no music, no phone, no books, right? And people are like, oh, you didn't have a phone, but you did take pictures. And I'm like, okay, well, I sat on the porch without my phone for many hours. I didn't say I didn't have a phone. How'd you take the pictures? With my phone. You can take pictures while being offline. And like, first of all, I said, like it was clear that I had my phone. Second of all, without my phone to me means like, without looking at my phone, right? Without doing anything on my phone. It's true that I didn't actually have my phone on the porch. But the point is like I wasn't using my phone the whole weekend. Right. these stupid gotchas. And I realized, you know what? Here's a new rule I have. If we're not friends and like, you don't follow me, I don't follow you. We've never interacted. And the first time you ever interact with me is some snarky like gotcha tweet. I don't care. I'm going to block you immediately. You're just, you're blocked. --- ### [A Restorative 36-Hour Trip To Philly](https://share.snipd.com/snip/c8fff486-60fe-4159-9bbd-912d9bba2497) 🎧 52:26 - 57:33 (05:06) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/0cd257de-d921-4f92-9dba-4c0c6e01d9c9" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Ian spent 36 hours in Philadelphia meeting friends, eating exceptional pistachio-cardamom soft serve, and playing poker until 5 a.m. - The trip felt restorative, social, and focused in a different way than Aaron's solo vision quest. #### 💬 Quote > I was there for like six hours... It was all beautiful and fantastic. ... Maybe the best ice cream I've ever had. > — Ian Landsman Ian Landsman describing his Philadelphia trip and highlights #### 📚 Transcript **Ian Landsman:** You did. I did 36 hours in Philadelphia, which the weekend before, I did 36 hours in Boston. So I'm hitting all the Northeast cities. And it was great. It was fantastic. It was similar to yours in a certain sense of like it was restorative and relaxing. But hung out with Daniel Colborne and Chris Morell and sat in Rotterdam Square. Rotterhouse Square. Whatever. The big square in the center of Philadelphia. I was there for like six hours. The weather was perfect. Two different times. was there once with each of them having nice long multi-hour conversations. That's great. People doing nice things, people hanging out in the park. It was all beautiful and fantastic. Like, you know, 75 and just perfect. Everybody out enjoying the day. Had some great food. Had maybe the best ice cream I've ever had. Chris took me to this place. Yeah, it was. It makes specialized soft serve ice cream in the special machine. Soft serve. It's the you've ever had. Yes, it was unbelievable. Pistachio cardamom soft serve ice cream and it was unbelievable we had to wait online because it's a thing and you know whatever oh you don't like pistachio dude oh pistachio is amazing pistachio is strike one soft serve is **Aaron Francis:** strike three You're out. **Ian Landsman:** There's no way that's the best ice cream you've ever had. Very good. So this little side thing here is I've always hated soft serve. I've been a hard ice cream man. It's fine. And I got my gallbladder out. And post-gallbladder, I love soft serve. I don't know why. I don't know why. Some chemical **Aaron Francis:** change. There's probably not a lot of literature on that but that's an interesting one i don't know if they've done any studies on that but **Ian Landsman:** i don't know i'd love the soft serve since then so anyway had the soft range it was so good um and we played poker till all three a.m uh kristin goes me and daniel just **Aaron Francis:** the dgens just the true dgens the true laravel poker crew **Ian Landsman:** yeah we need to get some more people on the Laravel poker crew. But it was great. Casino I'd never been to. So I would take a chip home from a new poker casino. So I got a chip for the collection. **Aaron Francis:** Did you say 3 a.m. or 5 a.m.? 5 **Ian Landsman:** a.m. Holy **Aaron Francis:** crap. **Ian Landsman:** A little sleepy. I'm still a little sleepy. Although I kind of slept pretty well the next day. I till like 10. So not too bad because I'm like-8. Did you So I won just a couple hundred dollars. You know, so it was fine. It good. I was up like $1,200 at one point, but we were just playing 1-3, which is like the lowest stakes. So yeah, it was good. We had a huge hand, which I don't know if I'll go through the whole hand, but the summary is me versus Daniel. And we were both very deep. So you can only buy into this game for $400 that's the most you can buy into it and we're both sitting there with like I don't know 1200 or something like that I was in the 1200 uh whatever I think he opened I called blah blah there's a few other people in the pot the moral of the story is on the turn I make a straight flush and on the river the board pairs so there's a flush on the board. The board's paired. So there's a lot of potential big hands. I check to him being very sneaky. He goes all in as a bluff to try to get me to fold. But I have a straight flush, so I'm not going to fold. And yeah, so I beat him in a big pot, which I felt bad about that I played So he went all in and you took it? Yeah, I took it all in. **Aaron Francis:** Mostly **Ian Landsman:** technical rules. **Aaron Francis:** Yes. Suck it, no plans to merge. I did **Ian Landsman:** abuse it a little bit there. I really played it sneaky, but whatever. So we were gentlemen about it. I gave him some back later. You know, it turned out fine. I also won 500 extra dollars cause I had the high hand for the hour. So it's the highest in the room. So that was nice. Uh, but you know, we were splashing around cause when you're there with a buddy, uh, you tend to be like a little looser. You're playing, we're bluffing a lot. We're having fun. We're chatting, you know, joking around with the table and stuff. So it's a little different than when you're there just to crush people. So, yeah, so it gave some of the profits back, but not too bad. He ended up coming back, too. He actually ended up coming all the way back and being up a good amount, and then I think he lost some back. So I think he was, you know, just down a little bit by the end, so not too bad either. But, yeah, it was a good time. That's Got to get into the poker. It's so much fun. You're just there with the normies. You know, it's hard to be on your phone too much. It's hard to be like kind of, it's kind of a vision question that way too. Like if you're really playing, you've got to be focused on what every, I mean, there's eight people at the table. You should know what they're all doing all the time. Like how are they reacting to certain spots and like what do they show up with on the river? And if you're really playing to win, like you have to be paying attention to what everybody's doing. And yeah, so you kind of get locked in, you know, on something that's not coding and work and business and whatever. So it was good. Took the train both ways, which I've never done to Philly before, I don't think, which was awesome. Like it's only a few minutes longer than driving and just cruising on the train. So that was great. --- ### [Travel Light With Refillable Essentials](https://share.snipd.com/snip/ca61b42d-1f4c-4821-963d-c29d8fb9633f) 🎧 58:32 - 01:02:55 (04:22) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/9a819477-6497-469e-8ec6-413aee0459a9" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Minimize travel weight: buy compact chargers, travel-size toiletries, compression packing cubes, and keep a stocked travel kit. - Refill small bottles from home supplies to avoid packing full-size containers each trip. #### 💬 Quote > I cut like the bare minimum size and weight. ... I just cut like the bare minimum size and weight. > — Ian Landsman Ian Landsman listing travel gear swaps to reduce bulk #### 📚 Transcript **Ian Landsman:** This also got me kicked off on travel gear. I don't know if you have any travel gear stuff, but just this morning, this is what I did. I bought a bunch of travel stuff because I'm super annoyed with my travel setup. It's too big. What we talking about? bulky. Talking about kind of everything. Like, I just was, I'm on this train with this huge backpack. It's heavy. Looking like a doofus. I'm walking through Philly from the train station to the hotel. This huge, heavy backpack. And I'm like, I'm here for like a day. Like, why do I have all this stuff? You know, I have my purple travel pillow, which I really love to have. But that takes up a fair amount of room. That's so good, though. I know. I hate it. But it's like you get a bad pillow at the hotel, it's so bad. I do love my travel pillow. You know, some clothes and whatever. But then I have my toiletry bag. It's big. And I have in there big things, like a whole thing of Advil, like a big thing of Advil and a full-size toothbrush. And why do I have all this big, heavy stuff when I'm here for a day? I'm not going to need 40 Advil. So I have this big wire thing, which is cool and I like it, but it's like got every kind of wire ever. And I'm like, why? I only have USB-C. **Aaron Francis:** Like a cable caddy kind of thing? Yes. **Ian Landsman:** Yeah. So I have all every, you know, I have a power Manka things and I have wires and have all this stuff. I'm like, I don't need all this stuff. Like everything's USB-C now except for the Air Maxes. And it's like, I don't need all this stuff. So I went and bought a bunch of Anker stuff. That's like the smallest, littlest. It's a battery, but it's also the power thing. And it's got a wire in it. So it just pulls out and you don't need all this stuff. I got two little containers for like from Tom bin for a little, uh, you know, for toiletries and for wires that can just be like tiny. Um, I bought little deodorant, travel deodorant. I bought the travel toothpaste. I bought the travel toothbrush. That's what I was going to recommend. Yep. I just cut like the bare minimum size and weight. And I'm, I'm very excited for Buffalo trip here to see if this markedly improves the situation. **Aaron Francis:** And it improves it because then you can leave all of that in your travel, whatever they call it, dopaminerant or whatever. So you're not getting home and you're like, I got to unpack my freaking deodorant and toothpaste. hate unpack. Yes! **Ian Landsman:** Give me a break. So **Aaron Francis:** I get home and I take the entire, you know, toiletries kit and I put it in a drawer in the bathroom. That's it. I'm done. And then when I get it out again, there's deodorant and toothpaste and hair stuff. It's all in there. Yes. I nail clippers. Yes. **Ian Landsman:** Can I always put in the nail clippers? If I need the nails, my nails clipped around. It's like, nope, just nail clippers for that bag. Boom. Like your jet. It's like, how **Aaron Francis:** long am I going to be gone? How long are my nails right now? Should I pack? No, just have extra nail clippers. Just have a little pair of nail just in case. Totally agree. Yep. I have wrinkle release in mine. So I have a little thing of downy, like a little spray pump spray of downy wrinkle release. So when I get somewhere for a conference and I look like I just rolled out of bed because I packed my shirts, you know, I can just spray it on, pull it, you know, and then I'm wrinkle free. It works great. So I always have wrinkle release with **Ian Landsman:** me. I need to get that. I did buy some. The other thing I bought was these were the best rated ones. don't know. But is it called? Like I always say Thule, but it's not Thule. It's Thule or whatever. Makes compression bags. So like you can squeeze it down my pillow it's like so you can put it all in there and zip it well no it's not a vacuum one it's not that they make those two but i was like i'm never gonna do that this is just like a heavy duty zipper that like compresses it just with you like sit **Aaron Francis:** on it and then you zip it yeah kind of that kind of thing um so we'll see how that **Ian Landsman:** goes people seem to like them so i don't know we'll see. But just because also I end up with just the stuff piled in there all weird. And like, yeah. So compress it, make room. So I have room for my pillow, have the pillow. And then, but I was worried about the wrinkle situation. So this wrinkle release is a good hack here for me. **Aaron Francis:** All right. So part hack. Get the downy wrinkle release travel size and then get the wrinkle release home size because i use it i use it at home if i'm like oh shoot i'm running out and i look like a homeless person spray spray spray all good um and then you can use the big guy to refill the little guy really **Ian Landsman:** there you go it's an openable thing okay sometimes these are like contained or **Aaron Francis:** whatever no it's just a little like a cleaning spray bottle and so you can just fill it right back up now --- ### [Firing An Unreliable Editor](https://share.snipd.com/snip/2820e920-d4ff-4e54-a534-cb7056419668) 🎧 01:06:08 - 01:09:09 (03:01) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/445254d7-b6b3-4637-80ee-aff99a0dab74" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Aaron fired a YouTube editor who repeatedly missed deadlines and vanished after claiming a family emergency. - He prioritized reliability over potential talent because missed deliveries increased his stress. #### 💬 Quote > I texted him back immediately. Hey, just upload what you have to Google Drive. I'll take it from here. Nothing. > — Aaron Francis Aaron Francis recounting the failed editor situation and his response #### 📚 Transcript **Aaron Francis:** Fired somebody. Oh, welcome. Yeah, they're gone. Welcome to the club. They're gone. So I've fired a few people in my life um okay this one it was just an immediately obvious so this YouTube editor right **Ian Landsman:** the **Aaron Francis:** one that gave me such grief last week or the week before or whatever I knew I knew he wasn't **Ian Landsman:** gonna make no not long for this world so I gave him a uh **Aaron Francis:** I gave him a second project which was the exact same thing. It was a podcast that was going to go on YouTube. Talking Heads 2. That's it. **Ian Landsman:** As easy as it gets. As easy as it gets. Yes. Watch this thing and make sure there's nothing weird and clip out a couple weird spots. And so **Aaron Francis:** we had this come to Jesus moment where it was like, hey, if I tell you, you know, it's due on this day, it needs to be done like within business hours on that day. I don't want it at 4 a.m. So, you know, last week I'm at the I told him this episode is like I need this on YouTube by Monday because I'm going to release it on Wednesday. So even then I had already given him buffer like, OK, let me tell you when I want it and then I release it after that. That seems reasonable. So on Friday he texts me and he's like, hey, I'm uploading it today. I'm like, cool, that's awesome. Nice. **Ian Landsman:** That's what's happening. **Aaron Francis:** So I check on Saturday, there's nothing there. There's just nothing there. And so I text him and I'm Hey, did I, did I miss it? Right. And he says, Oh no, I saw that you said you wanted it uploaded on Monday. So I'm going to upload it on Monday. And I'm like, then why did you tell me Friday? Like, don't, don't, don't hold yourself to a higher standard that you cannot meet. If you want to hold yourself to a higher standard, that's fine. Just make sure you meet it. Like you, you were in fact hoisted by your own petard. You did this. And I'm like, okay, Monday comes and goes. Oh boy. Okay. **Ian Landsman:** We shouldn't have seen that twist coming. Comes **Aaron Francis:** and goes. And so I text him and I'm like, Hey man, just want to check. Did I miss it? And he said, Hey, I'm having a family emergency. Text me back the next, text him at 7 p.m. on Monday. Because I wanted to give him business hours and then I waited an extra two hours, texted him, hey, did I miss it? Text me back at 6 a.m. on Tuesday. Hey, I'm having a family emergency. I'll call you later. And that's the last I've ever heard from him. That was it. Last I heard from him. Last I heard from him. Just **Ian Landsman:** So **Aaron Francis:** I texted him back immediately. Hey, just upload what you have to Google Drive. I'll take it from here. Nothing. 12.30, one o'clock rolls around, and I send him a message that's like, hey, man, why don't you just send me an invoice for everything you've done? I'm going to look for another editor. I hope everything works out for you. That's it. No tech. I haven't heard back. I got an invoice via email. I haven't heard back from him. **Ian Landsman:** You did get an invoice. Okay, So the invoice, the money part, he's got that. He can invoice you. The response, like, was everybody okay? No, no, no, no. So you're without paying him for something. He didn't even deliver anything. You're just paying him for what he didn't deliver. He **Aaron Francis:** didn't even bill me for that one. So I guarantee you he didn't even start on it. --- ### [Hire For Reliability Over Headline Skill](https://share.snipd.com/snip/cdf8d105-7f4a-4500-a4bd-9e9cee4ce2d3) 🎧 01:10:38 - 01:10:53 (00:15) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/190b932d-977c-47f0-8871-c3563ac2fc3f" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Hire editors who retrieve Riverside files and finish episodes end-to-end so you don't have to intervene. - Choose reliability and predictable delivery over occasional high-skill but inconsistent contributors. #### 💬 Quote > The ideal is I do it all in Riverside which I do already then I record an intro in Riverside and then they can go into Riverside and pull all of the files and just make the podcast. > — Aaron Francis Aaron Francis describing his ideal workflow for outsourced editing #### 📚 Transcript **Aaron Francis:** This is very easy. **Ian Landsman:** I mean, yeah, it should be pretty straightforward. And you're going need somebody like this to do the course anyway too, right? Or no? I am. Yeah. So you'll have some other stuff for them once you get a little farther along here. **Aaron Francis:** Yep. --- Created with [Snipd](https://www.snipd.com) | Highlight & Take Notes from Podcasts