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    ๐Ÿ““ Woo, excited for the new comics book from War and Peas creators: Once Upon a Workday! Eagerly waiting for my copy as of today.

    Wednesday April 3, 2024
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    ๐Ÿ““ Thereโ€™s a correlation between my dogs barking in their sleep and them spotting a rabbit on our evening walk. ๐Ÿถ๐Ÿ‡

    Tuesday March 19, 2024
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    ๐Ÿ““๐Ÿ’ฌ A quote often attributed to Niels Bohr or Yogi Berra:

    It is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.

    Friday February 23, 2024
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    ๐Ÿ““ For a while now, the cringy face thumbnails on Youtube โ–ถ๏ธ have the opposite effect on me to what the authors aim for - views. Even when creators that I like and follow do it. Itโ€™s so infantilizingโ€ฆ like a mass game of peekaboo. Ugh. ๐Ÿ˜‘

    Tuesday February 20, 2024
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    ๐Ÿ““ I value The Economist as a publication but their subscription cancellation process uses several dark patterns. ๐Ÿ™…๐Ÿปโ€โ™‚๏ธ For example, they offer you a discount for renewal (could be nice but still) and just now I had to chat with a person to cancel (who tried to offer me discounts).

    Monday February 19, 2024
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    ๐Ÿฟ Bullet Train ๐Ÿš… is the right kind of silly I needed today.

    Thursday February 15, 2024
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    ๐Ÿ““ When I ask for a shopping list from my partner, invariably there is 1 โ€œimpossibleโ€ ingredient. Itโ€™s either not available in every store, itโ€™s sold out, or it requires next level treasure hunting skills to find the right isle. Either way - one does not simply get everything on the list. ๐Ÿ‘Œ

    Sunday February 11, 2024
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    ๐Ÿ“ฑ I canโ€™t believe it - I canโ€™t close all my Activity rings because of 1 stand hour, multiple days in row ๐Ÿคฆ๐Ÿปโ€โ™‚๏ธ It will break my weekly streak and most likely itโ€™s due to having the watch off charging here and there ๐Ÿ˜ก

    Saturday February 10, 2024
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    ๐Ÿ““ It’s been a week that feels like a month. Reviewing my daily journal helped me recollect a lot, even though I felt it in my bones. One theme I’ve paid special attention to is what recharged me ๐Ÿ”‹:

    • Walks, strictly not in a rush
    • Deep work - thinking and “designing”
    • Solid mid-day breaks
    Sunday February 4, 2024
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    ๐Ÿ““This is quite an unshaped thought. Integrative garbage - the ugly outcome of combining too many, and often conflicting, ideas with the goal of creating an all-encompassing solution. Connected thinking is great. Generalists are great. Too much of a good thing - integrative garbage.

    Tuesday January 30, 2024
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    ๐Ÿ““ Wikipedia: Petrichor

    Petrichor (/หˆpษ›trษชหŒkษ”หr/) is the earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry soil.

    TIL ๐Ÿค“ I thought the smell of rain is the smell of ozone. Itโ€™s a bit more complex because - life.

    Monday January 29, 2024
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    ๐Ÿ““๐Ÿ“ท Together we are safe (from the vacuum cleaner)!

    Two dogs resting on a cozy couch surrounded by patterned cushions.
    Sunday January 14, 2024
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    ๐Ÿ““ After a week of temperatures closer to -20C, walking the dogs at -5C feels like spring is coming. ๐Ÿ˜… Snapshot from the wintery city landscape in Helsinki from last weekend. ๐Ÿ“ท Alt text courtesy of Bing chat ๐Ÿคท๐Ÿปโ€โ™‚๏ธ

    A snow-covered city with buildings and construction cranes silhouetted against a blue and orange sunset sky.
    Tuesday January 9, 2024
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    ๐Ÿ““ Home-made chai latte, incense stick, headphones on - it’s going to be a particularly zen weekly review. ๐Ÿง˜โ€โ™‚๏ธ

    Sunday January 7, 2024
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    ,

    Management

    2023: an assorted list of personal takeaways

    ๐Ÿ““ Reviewed my weekly takeaways in 2023. Unsurprizingly to me, the themes that emerged are wellbeing, work and career, and productivity. It is also clearly apparent how intertwined they all are. There is enough here to repeat and work on for many years ahead. Here goes.


    ๐Ÿชด Wellbeing

    • Burnout symptoms - exhaustion, cynicism, ineffectiveness
    • Hobbies and pursuing interests are effective recovery mechanisms
    • Messy flat - messy mind
    • Never too late in the day or week to write a journal entry
    • Take care of yourself so you can take care of others
    • At your limits, it is OK to say no and focus on recovery
    • Poor short-term memory is a symptom of too much stress
    • Ominous meetings and days are often better than anticipated
    • Resilience is showing up every day

    ๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿ’ป Work and career

    • Managing enthusiasm is essential to keeping things simple
    • Career growth requires crossing the boundaries of your role description
    • Challenging situations are an opportunity to build skill and improve the status quo
    • No one is going to remember your work achievements in a year
    • Know your โ€œchase the funโ€ and โ€œa place to call homeโ€ activities at work for effective recovery
    • There is no place for guilt in have to take a sick leave
    • Do not exhaust your “complaint budget”, i.e. pick your battles
    • Trust the fundamentals especially when feeling overwhelmed
    • The role of leadership is to maintain the necessary tensions and the constructive interaction stemming from them

    ๐Ÿคน Productivity

    ๐Ÿ“š Misc

    Wednesday December 27, 2023
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    ๐Ÿ““ Iterating over my annual retrospective. Work seems to have a too big effect on how I feel about life. There is a lot to love about 2023, but itโ€™s muted by work at each step. I am proud of how Iโ€™ve coped and grown. Still, I could appreciate the good things in life more and in full color. ๐Ÿ™‡๐Ÿป

    Monday December 25, 2023
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    ๐Ÿ““ One of the nine hells is perpetual flight travel with connecting flights ๐Ÿ›ซ And most importantly - filled with people flying for the first time.

    Saturday December 16, 2023
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    ๐Ÿ““ Changed back to standard time today. The oven clock is right again and itโ€™s dark by 17.

    Sunday October 29, 2023
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    ๐Ÿ““๐Ÿ“ท This is the best sourdough loaf ๐Ÿž Iโ€™ve baked so far! All this time I think Iโ€™ve been adding too much water. Iโ€™ve been underestimating the water content in my starter is my guess.

    Floured sourdough boule on a kitchen cloth.
    Friday September 29, 2023
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    ๐Ÿ“ Finally created some evergreen notes ร  la Zettelkasten. Lesson learned - I should have just started without overthinking it. Hereโ€™s something that has helped me through hectic times recently:

    Scrying your TODO list

    Scrying is a mechanic from Magic the Gathering tabletop card came. It allows for a player to:

    • look at their stack of cards
    • decide to put cards at the bottom of the stack
    • decide to keep cards on the top and re-order them

    Scrying your TODO list could be a useful metaphor for prioritizing tasks. The order of tasks, especially the next 2-5 tasks, is more important than completing the whole list.

    A useful heuristic for scrying a TODO list is deciding which tasks need doing today and which tasks will make tomorrow easier.

    Source: Cortex - #142 Scrying Your List

    Friday September 8, 2023
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    ,

    Gaming

    ๐Ÿ““๐ŸŽฎ Last day of summer vacation. The highlight that will stick with me is a visit to Tampere. Really liked the vibe of the city. Throwback to some retro gaming and a Stimpak cocktail at the Lategame bar and cafe.

    Person in a white t-shirt sitting on a couch with two small dogs at a game bar.
    Tuesday August 15, 2023
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    ๐Ÿ““๐ŸฟStarted watching Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 absent-mindedly last night. Turned out to be a total blast!

    Sunday August 6, 2023
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    ๐Ÿ““On vacation since last Wednesday. My sense of what day of the week it is, is already completely ruined. Going well ๐Ÿ‘Œ

    Tuesday July 25, 2023
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    ๐Ÿ““ Itโ€™s not often (yet) that I can declare complete success with baking bread. Today, however, I can say so ๐Ÿ˜‹ This organic sourdough rye loaf turned out perfectly. Huge thanks to this video! ๐Ÿž

    Sliced rye bread on a wooden cutting board.
    Saturday July 22, 2023
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    ๐Ÿ““๐Ÿ“ท It’s been some time since I posted a photo. Throwback to Helsinki Pride w/ Elli and my happy shirt ๐Ÿถ

    Sunday July 9, 2023