Last week my wife and I had our third (!) boy. His name is Benson, and he’s awesome.
Everyone is doing well, and there is much excitement here at the Blanc house. Benson’s older brothers love having this little guy around. We are all feeling full of love and thankful for this life we’ve been given.
You’ll find me sharing kid pics on Instagram and Twitter.
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My thanks to Fuego Box for sponsoring the site this week. Sponsorship via Syndicate Ads.
Last year I made the mistake of paying full-price for an unlocked iPhone 6s Plus so I could get out of my 2-year contract cycle with AT&T. If I had thought a bit harder about it, I would have gone with Apple’s Upgrade Program.
From what I can tell, the numbers I crunched last year still stand. In fact, if anything, the Apple Upgrade plan is even a better deal now than it was last year.
As I said in this article last fall, if you like to upgrade every year, if you’re not ultra-thrifty, if you don’t care about keeping your old hardware, and if you like to pay for convenience, then Apple’s Upgrade program actually sounds like a pretty sweet deal.
The only “inconvenience” of the Apple Upgrade Plan is that you have to make an appointment at an Apple Store to swap out your old phone for the new one.
Speaking of podcasts, I was just recently interviewed by Nick Snapp for his productivity show, Make it Snappy.
Nick and I had a fantastic conversation. We discussed living a focused life, building a business, balancing creative entrepreneurship while raising a family, how do develop habits, doing karate moves, and more.
My friend, Ben Brooks and I recorded an impromptu podcast episode to talk about yesterday’s iPhone 7 event. (Those of you who remember the B&B Podcast, you’ll like this.)
Topics we cover include our first impressions of the new Apple Watch, the iPhone 7, the shift toward carrier upgrade and payment plans based, buttons, and more.
If you’d like a direct download that you can toss into Overcast, you can grab the MP3 from the SoundCloud player above (by clicking the download icon). Or download the file directly here.
Here is a quote from Ernest Hemingway that I often refer to in my own professional life:
I learned not to think about anything that I was writing from the time I stopped writing until I started again the next day. That way my subconscious would be working on it and at the same time I would be listening to other people and noticing everything, I hoped.
I added the emphasis on the word “learned”.
You see, I’ve always taken that quote and referenced the part about how he would let things brew in his subconscious. Which is pretty common advice. People tell you all the time that when you’re stuck on a problem you should go take a walk or build a kitchen table or something.
But what I’ve always missed is how he says he had to learn not to think about anything he was writing.
Let’s break it down:
So often I bring my work with me wherever I go. And by “bring my work” I mean that I keep thinking about it when I leave my office, or go on an errand, or go out to eat with friends.
A few months ago I decided to stop reading business books in the evening before bed. They would get my mind too fired up to sleep. So instead I read fiction.
It is a challenge to stop thinking about the things I’m currently writing or working on. It’s a skill to be able to shut off work. To learn to give my mind a break and not to think about what I’m currently writing. But I’m working to learn it.
One of my goals with my creative business is to continue the work I’m doing now for several more decades. And a big part of that requires that I work at a sustainable, healthy pace. A marathon pace, if you will.
And to do that well, means leaving work at work. It means learning not to think about anything I am working on from the time I stop working until I start again the next day.
Not only does this lead to a higher quality of work produced, but it also leads to a less stressful lifestyle. Win-win!