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Where you work changes how you work
My first internship was at Virtual Team Builders, a company that helped companies work remotely. I had no idea this was even possible. I would go on to work remotely, or in a hybrid workplace, for most of my career. Working remotely doesn’t necessarily mean working from home. Getting out of the house can feel…
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3.15.20
Five years ago, there was precious little to look forward to. And then, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, Donald Glover released his fourth album as Childish Gambino, 3.15.20. It was surprising, because Donald’s best known for his rollouts. Because the Internet’s rollout was accompanied by listening parties, a nationwide tour, and a short…
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“Football is life”
This is the motto of Dani Rojas, a football player in the TV show Ted Lasso. It usually comes out when Dani gets to play football, because he feels really happy. He’ll run around kicking the ball, chanting, “Football is life!” One day, something bad happened to the team. The owner traded away their best…
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20 lessons from 2 years in NYC
On one of my first trips to New York City, I visited the NoMad library. It made me feel drunk on interior design. I quickly developed an affection for the Big Apple, visiting several more times in my 20s. Each trip brought with it a moment of equal delirium. A couple of years ago, after…
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AI as an answer key
One of the first things I learned in high school was that my math textbook had an answer key at the back. Which was weird. My impulse was I could shortcut my homework simply by writing the answer key down on a piece of paper. Of course, the teacher required us to show our work…
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Notes on fragmented sleep
I’m really good at waking up. I’m so good at waking up, in fact, that occasionally I wake up two hours too early. I used to find it difficult to fall back asleep. When I asked a doctor about this, they told me it was called “fragmented sleep” and there wasn’t that much they could…
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Convenience, growth, commitment, and sacredness
When a theater shows a movie, it’s not convenient. You need to buy a relatively expensive ticket. You need to arrive on time. You can’t pause it. There will be a day the theater stops showing it. Movie theaters are not growing—they are in decline. Movie theaters make you do something that a streaming service…
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Limitations of causal reasoning
A few days ago, I wrote about causal and effectual reasoning. You’ll be familiar with these two paths—but having words to describe them really helps. “When you think with causal reasoning, you focus on what you want to do—the desired end goal, or the destination—and then work backwards from that,” I wrote. “Business leaders, managers,…