In April of 2024 I was obsessed with the idea of gamifying my life. I thought that if I could just hack my psycology with the right tactics I would gain access to an infinite well of motivation. I went so far as to spend over one-hundred hours building a custom Notion dashboard that rewarded me experience points and rewards based on task completed and goals achieved. While It was extremely good at getting me to complete minor and insignificant tasks, it wasn't very effective at reclaiming my...
13 days ago • 2 min read
At the start of 2025 I bought my first paper planner–a black, pocket-sized Moleskine Weekly Notebook that slipped into my Levi's with ease. I planned to carry it with me everywhere so I could have one less excuse to be on my phone throughout the day. By February I had abandoned it. While the pocket-size was convenient and portable, it was simply too small. I wanted to track goals, habits, and finances; make plans and record memories; create a historical artifact that I could look back on with...
20 days ago • 3 min read
One of my favorite categories of content is the "I tried (X) for 30 days" but that content suffers from a major problem–30 days is NOT even close to enough time to see true results. Often the creators who make these types of videos will make claims about the long term potential of the practice without actually understanding how developing competency changes your relationship to its efficacy. I've watched creators like Ali Abdaal and Matt D'Avella both make videos where they try the Bullet...
27 days ago • 2 min read
As I poured the guest his kettle soured beer, I heard him brag to his friend, "Bro, if I stopped drinking I'd be so f*ing buff. Three months and I'd be shredded." I placed the beer–his third of the hour–in front of him and chuckled to myself. Not because his statement sounded ridiculous, but because I remember spouting similar proclamations to my friends before I quit drinking. Getting "shredded" is hard enough, but so is getting sober. He didn't realize that his lack of a sweet tooth was...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
I'm currently in the middle of a video project exploring how journaling can save your creativity. I've been dealing with a lot of what Steven Pressfield calls Resistance which is why I'm making that particular video. Resistance is all of the invisible forces that hold us back from making the thing–procrastination, perfectionism, self-doubt, judgment, fear and anxiety. The cure, Pressfield tells us, is to stop approaching the craft like an amateur and to treat the creative process like a...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
"We saw two white owls on our walk with Haku," was the first journal entry I wrote with my new Platinum Plaisir fountain pen that my wife gifted me that Christmas afternoon. From the first glob of ink that oozed out of the nib I was hooked. The base of the pen sat snug between my forefinger and thumb. It made a subtle scratch against the grain of the paper that sent tiny vibrations through my wrist. Each stroke created a schwaa-cka sound as the ink formed the cursive symbols representing my...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
At the start of April, I unwrapped my new fox red Leuchturrm to begin filming a Bullet Journal setup video. It was to be my third and final Bullet Journal tutorial. I had grown tired of remaking the same video just for the sake of "content" but I felt like I needed to make one more before moving on. I still felt like there wasn't a good, all-in-one comprehensive guide on YouTube to set up and customize an individually tailored Bullet Journal for complete beginners and advanced users alike. My...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Writers know point of view is a critical tool for shaping the experience of the reader. But what about when the reader is also the writer, as is the case when journaling? You might be surprised to learn that I have a habit of writing in my journals in multiple points of view depending on the context. These different POVs allow me to look inside of my mind with varying degrees of distance and perspective, each one a specific tool to achieve certain desirable effects. I had never really thought...
2 months ago • 3 min read
A couple of months ago I published a video titled, "A paper calendar system that actually works." The video got a lot of positive feedback with many viewers sharing that they feel more in control of their time, attention, and responsibilities when they plan on paper versus a digital calendar. But not everyone had nice things to say. "Good god, talk about a waste of time and effort. Guy has a perfectly good system in his pocket, automated and works. Decides he'd reinvent the wheel by taking a...
2 months ago • 4 min read