Updated: April 1, 2025

Hey there –

Up until recently, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of AI. Is it good? Is it bad? Should we embrace it or be scared of it? Recently, I’ve come across a few different things where AI has been quite useful…

In some ways I hate admitting it, but I now think that AI will continue on and change people and in some ways reshape work and society.

And it seems like there are 2 choices… adopt AI and at least keep pace with the curve so you don’t get left behind or start building your bunker in preparation for Skynet and everything else the Terminator warned us against.

It seems that through human history, technology has always disrupted us to the point where people were fearful:

Writing (and Books) – people were fearful it would weaken memory and reduce our deep understanding
Maps – people were fearful that our spatial reasoning and navigation skills would deteriorate
Printing Press – people were fearful that would flood our minds with shallow info
Calculators – people were fearful that our mental math skills would go away
Radio – people were fearful that we were passively being fed ideas
Television – people were fearful that it would numb our imagination

The list goes on – computers, video games, internet, smart phones, and now AI. The thing is – many of those fears weren’t wrong. Our memories are probably less sharp and our math skills rustier. But are we worse off for it? Would we prefer a world without maps and calculators?

So, I’m starting to lean toward embracing AI and making the most of it. Some of our fears will become realities, but in the end, hopefully, we’re not worse off for it – but instead we’re better off. And like we’ve always done, we continue to thrive finding new and innovative ways to spend our time and efforts.

📕Books I finished reading

The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin by Masha Gessen
★★☆☆☆
I knew nothing about Putin, so I figured I’d learn a little. This book got the job done, though it wasn’t exactly a thrilling read. I went with a hybrid approach of audio and physical reading, which helped with the pronunciation of the Russian names. In the end, I’m glad I read it – I now know a bit more about Putin, or at least one author’s perspective on him. Although I’m still not entirely sure how he came into power — it seems he acted tough and was known (for some reason) as a man who could change things and get things done. But was that really it?

The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias
★★★★☆
My wife and I were at the bookstore when she handed me this book and suggested read it. While checking out, the cashier also commented on the book. I started reading it and the beginning captured my attention — a man loses his young daughter to cancer while medical bills stack up beyond his control and his marriage crumbles. Before long, he’s lost everything. After his daughter’s death and his wife’s departure — how far will he go to turn things around, especially when he seems to have nothing left to lose? I enjoyed the story overall — but it got very violent and gory. There were some supernatural elements, but I was glad those were kept to a minimum.

🎸Music I’ve been listening to

Foxes in the Snow by Jason Isbell
I don’t care much for celebrity gossip or who’s dating who, but I was (kind of) sad when Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires, his wife of over a decade, divorced last year. They seemed like they were good together — at least, their music together was good 😀. This is Jason’s first album since the split, so it’s kind of his divorce album. It’s all acoustic, just him and his guitar. I think it’s the kind of record that takes 20 or more listens to fully sink in. I’m at about 10 listens now.

🎧Podcast episodes I thought were interesting

What’s Next in AI Productivity? Trends and Predictions for 2025, The Productivity Show
Like I mentioned above, I’ve been digging a little deeper into AI and looking for the practical uses for it. This podcast mentions some of what’s possible beyond just typing prompts into ChatGPT and Grok. Specifically it mentions Lindy.ai as a way to use AI to automate parts of your workflow including emails and similar tasks. I’m still exploring, but I thought this was an interesting listen on what might be possible down the road.

🎥Videos I thought were worth watching

What Your Teacher Didn’t Tell You About Native Americans, John Stossel
Growing up in America, we learned that Native Americans coexisted peacefully with the environment, only taking what they needed without waste. Is it true? This short video explorers some misconceptions that are taught about Native Americans.

🎬 My YouTube videos published last month

TickTick + Bullet Journal: My Hybrid Productivity Approach – I’ve always enjoyed the Bullet Journal Method, but I find it falls short for long-term planning. TickTick is still my go-to for task management, though I’ve started blending it with a bullet journal approach to handle my daily tasks more effectively.

Format text in TickTick using Markdown – You can format task descriptions and notes using Markdown. Whether you’re adding headings, bold or italicized words, bullet points, or even code snippets, Markdown lets you customize and format your task and note descriptions.

# TickTick Update: Batch Calendar Features, Postpone, Parent Linking & More – In this video, we look at TickTick’s updates that have been released in Q1 2025. Batch operations in Calendar View to manage multiple tasks effortlessly, the new Postpone feature to shift delayed tasks by an hour (or other increments), Alt/Option reveals full task time, Link Parent Task option, and link menu.

🖋 Quote I’ve been thinking about

“Information is endlessly available to us; where shall wisdom be found?”
– Harold Bloom, Preface of How to Read and Why