Hello, fellow tinkerer 👋

Happy Wednesday. I'm now four weeks post brain surgery. I still have some facial paralysis on the left side and double vision. I saw the neurosurgeon earlier this week, and he said, considering all the potential outcomes of the surgery, I'm doing remarkably well. Time (and physical therapy) will help me heal.

Thank you to everyone who has sent me messages. I've read them all, even if I haven't replied (I get tired very easily, so I spend very little of my day at the computer). Your continued thoughts, prayers, and good wishes are much appreciated.

This week's takeover comes from my friend Reggie Powell. Reggie is a fellow freelancer and genuinely fun person — I always enjoy talking to him.

You can check out Reggie's website and Substack.

Here is a reflection, product, and tip from Reggie.

1) Reflection:

As someone who recently lost a year of my life to burnout, I’m making it a point to protect my peace these days–especially when it comes to my digital life.

This includes my recent exit from social media (except for LinkedIn), keeping “Do Not Disturb” on my phone 24/7, unsubscribing from News/Political YouTube channels, and leaving my fellow savages of the internet to have all the fun.

I’m not pretending that things aren’t happening in the real world.

But as someone who has been chronically online since 1998, the time had come for me to take a step back, let other people get worried about things, and continue working through the minutiae of surviving late-stage capitalism.

I’m not pretending I don’t miss it sometimes. Hell, 2012 Twitter was an elite time to be a citizen of the internet.

But there’s so much noise on the internet between the AI trash and propaganda that living life with a bit of delusion could do everybody good as we face the coming year.

2) Product

I work from home, and the ADHD gods are not always on my side. Sometimes I’ll be 30 Chrome tabs and four beverages deep before I realize I was supposed to finish responding to an email.

To avoid getting lost in space, I meet with some remote colleagues three days per week, and we get our body doubling fix in via productivity sprints on Discord.

After using the Forest App for almost four years with mixed results, we finally found a new productivity timer called Cuckoo Timer.

It's free and is the best app we’ve found so far because it’s web-based (no app to download), has customizable room links and timers, and is the least buggy of all the apps we’ve tried.

3) Tip

Considering how crazy the job market is, even people with good jobs should do themselves a solid by getting a professional certification in AI, leadership, project management, etc.

Verizon Skill Forward (a partnership between Verizon and EdX) provides completely free access to accredited certification programs from institutions such as IBM, Harvard’s continuing education school, the University of Maryland Online, etc.

Anyone in the US who is at least 17 with a valid email address can obtain free certs in HR, AI, project/product management, coding, cybersecurity, etc.

Also, if you don’t have LinkedIn Premium money in your budget, you can access LinkedIn Learning for free with your library card. Just sign in to your local library’s website, find their adult learning and/or job resources section, and access classes via “LinkedIn Learning for Library.”