Walden by Thoreau, PodNotes creating notes, and new tools

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Hey there.

I hope you've had a great week.

What I've made for you

Book notes—Walden by Henry David ThoreauOK read due to a few interesting points made throughout. One can appreciate Thoreau's enjoyment of nature, however the many details of it can sometimes become a bore.

PodNotes updateThis week, I released update v1.11.0 which added support for:

• Note creation with metadata from templates

• Timestamp templates

Both features are built in to PodNotes.Now you don't have to use any 3rd party plugins to handle templating for you.I've attempted to make the syntax similar and clear: e.g.  to insert the title of the podcast.

And I have added some neat helper features, which I found useful myself—so I'm hoping you will, too! 

What are you investing time and effort in, that you shouldn’t be doing in the first place?

The worst thing to do is spending time and energy getting better at something you shouldn’t be doing in the first place.

This is the inessential: what we consider work, but isn’t actually work.

Examples:

• The metaphorical moving of dirt between piles

• Increasing the amount of tasks you do per hour / per day

  • Better to focus on value created, impact, or progress towards desired outcome.

• Consuming content is often treading a fine line—make sure your system for handling internet inputs is solid.

These are examples of Goodhart's Law.Email may be a necessity, but when it becomes the end—not a means—it is dangerously wasteful.

Less is more. 

  New calendar & mail app

I have made some cool discoveries, which I have tested for a bit now. Both are super awesome, so I'm very excited to tell you about them (not sponsored).

• Spark for fast email processing, so you have more time for focusing on what matters.

• Cron as the next-generation calendar. Filled with shortcuts and modern features.

A better email experience

Using Spark has made it possible for me to connect my 3 emails (work, personal, school) effortlessly. Now I don't have to switch accounts, fumble between Outlook and Gmail, or abandon my process each time I switch.

Likewise, it has some awesome integrations that help me process email much faster than before. Email gets out of the way of the work.

Here are some features I really like:

• Snoozing emails

• Reminding me if no reply is received within timeframe

• Smart inbox

• Capture to my todo-app (TickTick)

• Only get notifications for important emails (not newsletters, etc.)

The only con I've had so far is the lack of Windows client, which they seem to be working on.

A better calendar experience

Cron has seriously made using a calendar easier for me. It is filled with shortcuts and features that help you be more efficient with your calendar.

The Google Calendar experience is slow in comparison.

Favorite features:

• Creating an event takes very little time.

• Awesome command-bar.

• Sharing availability

• Shortcuts!

They have been acquired by Notion, which is pretty cool. 

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