Hello, fellow tinkerer 👋

Happy Wednesday. This is the first whole issue I've written FROM SCRATCH since my brain surgery in July. I'm so grateful to the people who contributed guest content to keep this newsletter running while I recovered.

I'm mostly back to my regular self. I still have some lingering facial paralysis, but my dimple is slowly reappearing in my left cheek when I smile. I also have double vision, which is corrected by covering my left eye with an eye patch (I'm a pirate!) The eye might take a lot longer to heal, but I'm under the care of a neuroophthalmologist who is fantastic.

There's a little bit of tumor left that the neurosurgeon couldn't remove due to its location. It'll be monitored via MRI, and if it starts to grow at all, I'll get a dose of radiation to take care of it.

If you'd like to follow my ongoing brain surgery recovery you can read updates here.

1) Reflection:

I started working again a few weeks ago. At first, I was very tired and worked at a fraction of my usual pace. It's a lot better now.

I've been a go-go-go person for most of my working life, so the forced slowdown has been uncomfortable for me. It's also made me rethink how I'm spending my time. You can read my reflection in my Substack: Picking up the pieces.

2) Product

I spent a lot of time scrolling on my phone while I was recovering because I couldn't move very well for several weeks. Phone addiction is no joke and I've had to wean myself away from the never-ending feed as I've started working.

I really like the Brick device. I've tried iPhone's built-in screen time limits, but they're too easy to override. With a Brick, I have to physically go to the device to unlock my phone. I've placed the Brick inconveniently in my kitchen, so I have to get up and walk downstairs. It's enough of a deterrent that I usually will leave my phone locked.

3) Tip

For the first few weeks after my surgery, the vibrancy of my phone screen was overwhelming.

I put my iPhone in Grayscale mode. It's not the easiest setting to find, but you can find it under Accessibility --> Display and Text Size --> Color Filters.

Even if you don't have a need like mine, there's some research that shows Grayscale mode reduces screen time (probably because it makes your screen really ugly and makes certain apps a bit harder to use).