A little ain’t enough

Well, that’s another horizontal line filled on the life calendar in my office – another trip around the sun.

Unfortunately, I think this calendar has outlived its usefulness. It used to be a reminder of how far I’ve come. It’s turned into a weekly chore now. Thanks a lot, brain.

Soon it will be replaced by this minimalist print, inspired by the most offensive video ever shown on MTV.

I don’t care about the video, but the song itself happens to be one of my happy-place songs — a song I’ve played after every big victory in my life (since 1990). It’ll add a touch of much-needed optimism to this office.

Life isn’t to be checked off by the week and a little ain’t enough.

– CJ

There’s been a lot of great analysis recently of a favorite topic of ours: the fuzzy line between personal and business newsletters. Bottom line: “Don’t compete with yourself.”

I love this guy’s approach to organization in his lab, which stems more from experience than theory (work with your brain’s flaws, don’t fight them). And this guy’s system for storing and labeling his gear is next-level (go BIG with text and labels). I promise you, getting just 1% better at this kind of thing improves your life exponentially.

The band as a brand is dead. So why are brands still behaving like bands?

When does text win over video? When the entire world gets “video fatigue.” If you can say something in a sentence, say it in a sentence. Get to the point.

Over 70% of consumers check their spam folder. Just like me. Email providers have failed at this task for more than generation of consumers. But most consumers use ad-supported email providers, so where’s the incentive to improve?

Quote of the week: “What the hell is a Letterboxd!??” — John Carpenter