Digital Minimalism

By Cal Newport.

Newport makes a strong argument that we should sharply reduce the time we spend on smart phones and with social media. We are at our happiest and at our best, when we focus, when we actually have a conversation, when we actually engage in focused leisure.

Social media, with it's blips and sips of conversations and likes is a distraction that drags us down.

Using social media to arrange actual conversations... that is keeping in touch with someone. Facebooking for hours, skimming, clicking likes, that is unhealthy. It's an addiction.

Use technology intentionally, with a deep seated philosophy and set of goals.

The cost of a thing is the amount of life you had to exchange for it.

Reclaim leisure. Prioritize demanding activity over passive consumption. Use skills to produce valuable things in the physical world.

Dreyer's English

By Benjamin Dreyer.

Dreyer knows the style and rules of English far better than I every will. Several times he admits that there are more exceptions in English, than there are rules. At the end of the day the only rule is "Does it look right, and is it clear, to someone who knows and loves the language?" Convention, Consensus, Clarity & Comprehension.

Somethings to remember...

Stop using very, rather, really, quite, in fact, just, pretty, of course and actually. Sentences can be shorter and more clear without them. 

Read your prose aloud. It's one of the best ways to determine whether your prose is well-constructed.

If you can append "by zombies" to the end of a sentence, then you have written the sentence in the passive voice.

Use the series (Oxford comma.) It's more clear.

High Output Management

By Andy Grove.


On career reviews... "There are three L's to keep in mind when delivering a review; Level, listen, and leave your-self out."

On managing the unexpected... "The motto I'm advocating is 'Let chaos reign, then rein in chaos'"

The book contains three ideas...

The first is an output-oriented approach to managment.

The second idea is that the work of a business, of a government bureacracy, of most forms of human activity, is something pursued not by individuals, but by teams"

"The output of a manager is the output of his or her organization."

Third idea-- High managerial productivity depends largely on choosing to perform tasks that possess high leverage. A team will perform well only if peak performance is elicited from the individuals in it.

"If a person is not doing his job, there can only be two reasons for it. The person either can't do it or won't do it. Either he is not capable, or not motivated. This enables a manager to dramatically focus her efforts. All you can do to improve the output of a team is motivate and train. There is nothing else."

"How you handle your own time is, in my view, the single most important aspect of being a role model and leader."


"As a rule of thumb, a manager whose work is largely supervisory should have six to eight subordinates. Three or for is too few. Ten is too many."

Solitude. A return to self

By Anthony Storr.

I was hoping this book would provide a powerful case for Solitude. I starts to, but then meanders off and in the direction of Freud and his thoughts on social life. It concludes that pursuit of the whole needs both interpersonal relationships, and time alone.

"When a person is encouraged to get in touch with and express his deepest feelings, in the secure knowledge that he will not be rejected, criticized, nor expected to be different, some kind of rearrangement or sorting-out process often occurs within the mind which brings with it a sense of peace; a sense that the depths of the well of truth have really been reached."

"The capacity to be alone thus becomes linked with self-discovery and self-realization; with becoming aware of one's deepest needs, feelings and impulses."

"It appears, therefore, that some development of the capacity to be alone is necessary if the brain is to function at its best, and if the individual is to fulfill his highest potential. Human beings easily become alienated from their own deepest needs and feelings. Learning, thinking, innovation, and maintaining contact with one's own inner world are all facilitated by solitude."

Twilight of the Idols by Neitzsche

Every now and then I like get the urge to read classic books. This time, I thought I'd try Twilight of the Idols by Nietzsche.

I don' t think I'm going to make all the way though this book. Nietzsche doesn't really agree with me.

First off. I think he is less philosophy and and more like self-help. He is a lifestyle coach. He wants us to live vibrant, exciting & meaningful lives and has major problems with any system of values that doesn't nurture that.

But, in his thrust for vibrancy, he looses depth. While there is a lot to be said for living like that. Sometimes it's good to slow down. To be more thoughtful.