Practically Paperless with Obsidian is a new blog series I am writing about going “practically paperless” (as in the practical sense” based on lessons learned from my Going Paperl…

If you are getting started in technical writing, you might be interested in this list of open technologies that make technical writing easier.

…is no choice at all. The stable owner gets to pick which horse you get. Take it or leave it. Some people prefer this. It means that we’re off the hook and not responsible. It relieves …

And then what happens? Many small businesses start with generosity and good intent at their core. But it’s a rough ride, and especially when outside funding is involved, it’s easy to ge…

In discussions about getting older, people will sometimes say, “When you’re young, you think adults have it together. But when you become an adult yourself, you realize grown-ups don’t know what they’re doing either!” This is shared as some kind of conspiratorial secret — a ubiquitous-yet-under-discussed truth. Yet this “truth” is hardly universal. There are […]

A business that says its mission is to, “reinvent local commerce to better serve our customers and neighborhoods,” can spend a lot of time doing not much of anything before they realize that …

There are positive aspects to social media, definitely, but it can also suck away a lot of your time, motivation, and positivity. So how do you balance it? First of all, you do balance it. You thin…

There are lots of useful, honest answers. Some might include: I do what I’m told I challenge the status quo I show up on time I solve complicated problems I absorb nonsense and create calm fo…

Why do people tend to learn less as they get older? What should we do to be the exception?

The fear of missing out (a.k.a FOMO) rules the world. In Influence, Robert Cialdini called it the scarcity principle. A millennia ago, FOMO was a matter

In 1812, Japanese woodblock print artist Katsushika Hokusai, who would later become famous for his iconic Great Wave off Kanagawa

Within the space of just three decades, monumental episodes of exploration and expedition, politics and violence, including the mapping of the Oregon Trail, the acquisition of California, and the Mexican-American and Civil wars, forever changed the history of the United States and the shape of the American West. And one man, an illiterate trapper, scout, […]

For many, the goal is to be the deciding vote, the donation that gets a cause over the goal, the person who counts. And often, we enjoy piling on. Once the cause or fashion or tech is clearly worki…

As someone who grew up without always having a computer on hand, I have an endless supply of notebooks that are scattered throughout the house. If you leafed through one, you’d discover everything from sketches to hastily jotted down dimensions to contextless phrases that surely were important at the time. I do love the act of writing, but it doesn’t work amazingly well for cross-referencing or context-switching. One of the areas that I find needs more structure and organization is that of keeping track of my contacts.

A Zettelkasten is a personal tool for thinking and writing that creates an interconnected web of thought. Its emphasis is on connection and not mere collection of ideas.

During my decade as a homeowner, I’ve noticed that there are a handful of tools I turn to on the regular for little jobs that need doing around the house. Instead of having to go out to my garage — particularly annoying because it’s downstairs — to get these tools and then having to go […]

There are mistakes. These are moments when reality teaches us something. And there’s stupid. This is what happens when we refuse to learn from our mistakes. “Don’t be stupid&#8221…

Maybe one piece of information is insufficient to get from where you were to where you just ended up. When we gradually walk our way to conclusions, we’re a lot more likely to find something …

In the years after World War I, longtime Army colleagues and friends George S. Patton and Dwight D. Eisenhower contemplated what would happen if another global conflict broke out. As Patton envisioned it: “In the next war, I’ll be the Stonewall Jackson, and you can be the Robert E. Lee. Ike, you do the big […]

Paul Cronin's book of conversations with filmmaker Werner Herzog is called Werner Herzog - A Guide for the Perplexed. On the bac

Who has their hand on the dial? Talk with someone who works at Apple, Amazon, Google, Linkedin, Facebook, etc, and they’ll be happy to give you tips on how to work the platform to your advant…

Before purging your belongings to tidy up à la Marie Kondo, consider this organizational tactic championed by two artists with ties to the American furniture manufacturing company.

The apps my two newsletters use every week

Perhaps it’s a proprietary manufacturing technique, or the fact that you add a little chickpea flour to your dosa batter. Professionals often develop secret approaches and recipes that they u…

They’re easy to confuse. An event happens at date certain, then it’s over, nothing more to be done. A journey might include an event, but it’s bigger than that, and ongoing. A wed…

Exercise has been a central part of my life since at least the age of 17. Nearly three decades’ worth of hiking, running, lifting, and more have taught me conclusively that physical activity, combi…

Keep links to any app, Shortcut, or file in your vault, right next to your bookmarks

Pronouncements are more common than ever. It might be an insurgent announcing a way to change the government, a CEO with a bold new plan or an entrepreneur seeking funds. Or perhaps it’s a pu…