Issue #90 | Subscribe

Summer adventures. By Bas Fijneman.

Finding quiet and calm reading time has been a struggle for me lately.

With an increased workload at my day job and hundreds of other things to do on Hulry and general life, I had been missing those relaxed reading hours for months.

Looking to change that, I realised dedicating 45 mins to an hour before bedtime would be the ideal time to read books undisturbed.

And so I tried.

Unfortunately, it didn't work.

Why?

Because of this little shiny thing by my bed — my phone.

While I put my phone on silent, with it by my side, easily accessible, it was still an endless distraction.

As I read and stumbled upon a concept or phrase, my immediate action was to look it up on my phone.

And here's the thing:

What would've been a quick 2 minutes search usually turned into over 15–20 minutes of mindless browsing.

Anyway, even when I found myself mind-wandering and brought back my focus to the book I was reading, a part of my mind always lingered on other things.

Like what's happening in my Twitter feed, randomly wanting to search about the TV show I'm watching these days, or checking the time.

And with the phone so easily accessible, my following action was, as you might've guessed, to pick up the phone and go down a rabbit hole on the internet.

So, to solve this, I made a tiny change that has been working out fantastic till now — keep my phone away.

Before going to bed with a book, I stow away my phone somewhere across the bedroom, far away from a hand's reach.

While in bed, I only have access to a physical book or my Kindle.

No phone. No other distractions.

With few distractions, I can fully commit to the book I'm reading and have a more pleasant and focused reading experience.

And when I get the urge to check my phone, the added friction of getting out of bed and walking to the other end of the room to get my phone makes me not want to do it.

As an added benefit, I now have less wrist pain by not having to hold up my phone lying down for prolonged periods.

So:

Try this little change tonight if you've been using your phone too much before bed.

It might be a game-changer for you too.

Before moving on to the rest of this newsletter, here's an announcement:

If you missed the chance to bag an invite to Arc in the last newsletter, here are 5 more invites.

See if you can grab one this time. 🤞

Now:

Coming back to building good habits and positively impacting your life, have you heard about Foxley Coaching?

To explain more about the services, here are a few words from:

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•••

Your Next Read

The Pathless Path

Feeling stuck or demotivated at your current job or how you live your life? Paul's story will inspire you to step out of the default path into a world of opportunities.

Personal Growth

Apps & Services

Superlist

A beautiful to-do app with easy note-taking

Superlist is a gorgeous new to-do app enriched with powerful note-taking and collaboration capabilities. Each task and list has dedicated space for planning and collecting resources and ideas for the project. Available on macOS on an invite-only basis.
SoundPrint

Find quiet places near you

This is a crowdsourced community of quiet places near you. Find coffee shops and other quiet establishments nearby using accurately measured decibel readings. And if you stumble upon a new quiet, you can add it to the community with the mobile app. Available for iOS and Android for free.
UpNote

Powerful multi-platform note-taking app

With Evernote raising their pricing through the roof this week, this one will be a drop-in replacement for anyone looking to move away from Evernote or looking for a new note-taking app generally. Available on all major platforms, it is free to start and costs $24.99 for a lifetime license.

Handy Shortcut

⌘

'

Find misspelt words in your current document on Google Docs.
•••

Interesting Reads

The Exit Checklist

4 min read

Firesides

This system builds upon the Japanese concept of Shisa Kanko, that'll help you be more mindful of your environment to keep yourself and your belongings safe. I use this neat trick every single day, and it has never failed me.
Why I’m Always Late

8 min read

I never intend to be late to a meetup, movie, or other event. But, sometimes, I'm the last one to arrive. This blog post goes to the root of this problem and offers a gateway to solving it.
Designing An Intentional Life

8 min read

This article goes hand in hand with this week's book recommendation. With a digestible list of real-life examples and actions, this will be a good starting point for building the life you want.
The Hidden Toll of Microstress

24 min read

An eye-opening read for me. I had been quite stressed out recently, but I had no idea that some micro-interactions could snowball and add to the stress I was already under. A long but informative read for the weekend ahead.

Videos

Joshua Becker on 15 small actions you can take today to make your home more of a comfortable space rather than a source of stress.

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