When trying out a new working style, it’s often helpful to ask for permission. This isn’t to slow you down, but to build up good will in the long term. For example, if you want to ping your team members when you publish a PR, instead of starting that behavior immediately, ask them first. ““Hey, do you mind if I ping you when I put up a...

🔗 Use Hyperlinks When your message is talking about something, include a link to that something. This is called Low Context Communication, and it's essential for remote work. Don't say "oh we discussed this on my last PR" without linking to that PR. When someone comes back and reads that message (you, most likely), they won't have to w...

Usually when you hear someone in management say "we're all a family", they don't really mean it. Not in the way you'd expect at least. When they say that, the relationship they have in mind is often one-sided. You should be willing to sacrifice for them. You should stay up all night for them. You might want to feel some love in return,...

tl;dr - The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu “Note: The following review has no spoilers outside of anything you see in the book description on Amazon.” This book, and it's two sequels, are a triumph of science fiction literature. Everything that a good sci-fi novel should have is in here: government conspiracies, aliens, incredible fut...

I recently read this New York Times article on languishing, and boy do I relate. For context, I constantly feel the the pressure to make use out of every moment of my day. Even if I'm doing something that is not objectively productive, like watching Netflix or reading news, I still want to be intentional about my time. If I watch Netfl...

This book disappointed me. Before I get into my review, I should describe who I am (skip the next two paragraphs if you don't care): I've been following Cal Newport for years. His book, Deep Work, was a game changer for me, and I've been reading every post on his blog since I read that book. I try to keep up with his podcast, but I mis...