Hey, Matt here!
Welcome to a new week, and to new readers since last issue. This week's mail comes to you from 35000ft, I'm off to Austin, Texas for a week. I leave you with the latest mixtape which is great accompaniment for this week's mail.
A reminder that you can find me on the web and on Threads AND that I'm writing every day in 2024, you can catch up with my daily notes here.
Thanks for joining me - now, onto the good stuff!
Monday Motivation. Let this week be the one where you give yourself some time to think. This article has some excellent practical advice on giving yourself a chance to break the daily grind and access your best self.
Ambition. Work-Life Balance is now more important than pay when thinking about a job. How ambition is changing in 2024. An excellent survey and report from Randstad.
Deadlines. Overcome your fear of a deadline by using Parkinsons Law to your favour. How to figure out the right amount of time for any project.
Age. This excellent HBR article states the case for hiring older workers into your organisation. The benefits of a more experienced team member far outweigh the percieved risks. (Thanks S for this one)
Fear. The future is a construct of our imaginations, and nothing more than that. Fear is a framing issue. Some great thinking that challenges why we are frightened of things.
Habits. 24 great habits to make life a little better this year. #4 is excellent advice. #15 is advice we have covered before (I have a kickstart for you here)
Over 500 journal prompts here
Books. The most anticipated books of 2024. What are you looking forward to reading this year, hit reply and let me know, let's see if our list is different to the BBC.
Hobbies. Writing Stuff is my hobby, and it helps my mental health having something that isn't work to focus on. Here's a list of 31 new hobbies that could be yours.
Future. What 300 top thinkers believe the world will look like 10 years from now. It's not all great news.
Soup. Do you know your Caldo Verde from your Yayla çorbasi? Twenty of the best soups in the world.
Recharge. A relaxing chair that recharges your phone, but only while you have your eyes closed.
Birthday. Happy 40th Birthday Macintosh. This site charts every Mac, desktop and portable from the beginning till today. Some terrific design and innovation.
Finally. Unzoomed. This is a clever little game for maps and/or aviation nerds. Identify a city from an aerial shot, the picture zooms out with every miss, and there are extra clues.
🔈 Stuff to Listen to...
🎧 After last week's fearsome Sprints album, I thought it was time to calm everyone down a little bit.
Benoit Piolard is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist and in a new collaboration with Offthesky has released this beautiful ambient album, 'Sunder'.
This is a windswept, melancholy collection of gentle keyboards and huge reverbs, that feels like it is played and recorded in a gentle soft focus.
I've listened to this a few times this week, and its great music to accompany flow times at work - non intrusive, but comforting.
Recommended album.
Stuff someone said.
“The future is already here—it’s just not evenly distributed.”
William Gibson
