Being a dad and a husband. Working from home for a big company. Writing a newsletter every Monday morning. Filling my Watch rings every day. Last updated: September 21st, 2023.

Morning Coffee


Latest Issue: Areas of Life

Latest Issue: She’s 22 Months

Latest Issue: A Space Story

Latest Issue: A Vertical Sling (Four Month Review)

Latest Issue: A Stack of Cards

Latest Issue: The Box Comes Alive

Latest Issue: Preparing for the Stars

Latest Issue: Folders and Bridges

Latest Issue: The Bigger Story

Latest Issue: Synthesizer

Latest Issue: How to Build a Website

Latest Issue: How to Pack

Latest Issue: Sunday Sabbaticals

Latest Issue: Hole in the Wall

Latest Issue: Time is Shrinking

Latest Issue: Ready Player One

Latest Issue: Habit Stacking Marathon

Latest Issue: This is Plastic

Latest Issue: Rose Turns 18 Months

Latest Issue: My Favorite Computer

Latest Issue: The Ghost

Latest Issue: The Perfect Day

Latest Issue: Every Monday For An Entire Year

Latest Issue: Move Fast and Break Things

Latest Issue: An Open Field

Latest Issue: It’s All Projects

Latest Issue: The Beauty of Chapters

Latest Issue: Building a Studio

Latest Issue: The Return of Mixtapes

Latest Issue: The Architect: Crafting a Better Story

Latest Issue: The Shrine Hunter: Exploring Creativity, Fitness, and Adventure

Latest Issue: 15 Months

Latest Issue: My Writing Workflow

Latest Issue: Getting Things Done

Latest Issue: Selective Sync

Latest Issue: The Great Consolidation

Latest Issue: The Year of Depth

Latest Issue: The Story of 2022 (Morning Coffee: December 26th, 2022)

Latest Issue: The Best Of (Morning Coffee: December, 19th, 2022)

Latest Issue: Omni (Morning Coffee: December 12th, 2022)

Latest Issue: Easy Mode (Morning Coffee: December 5th, 2022)

Latest Issue: The Partitions (Morning Coffee: November 28th, 2022)

Latest Issue: What’s Holding All This Together (Morning Coffee: November 21st, 2022)

Latest Issue: Rose Turns One (Morning Coffee: November 14th, 2022)

Latest Issue: Rose Turns One (Morning Coffee: November 14th, 2022)

Latest Issue: Showing Up and Looking Forward (Morning Coffee: November 7th, 2022)

Latest Issue: Robots Painted This (Morning Coffee: October 31st, 2022)

Latest Issue: Sharing Sofa (Morning Coffee: October 24th, 2022)

Latest Issue: Crates and Presets (Morning Coffee: October 17th, 2022)

Latest Issue: Homecoming (Morning Coffee: October 10th, 2022)

Latest Issue: The Traveling Drone (Morning Coffee: October 3rd, 2022)

Latest Issue: System Thinking (Morning Coffee: September 26th)

Latest Issue: On This Day (Morning Coffee: September 19th, 2022)

Latest Issue: On This Day (Morning Coffee: September 19th, 2022)

Latest Issue: Dynamic Island (Morning Coffee: Sept. 12th, 2022)

Latest Issue: Organizing Health (Morning Coffee: Sept. 5th, 2022)

Latest Issue: Up Ahead (Morning Coffee: August 29th, 2022)

Latest Issue: Dancing with the Stars (Morning Coffee: August 22nd, 2022)

Latest Issue: Dancing with the Stars (Morning Coffee: August 22nd, 2022)

Latest Issue: Military Backpack (Morning Coffee: August 15th, 2022)

Latest Issue: Military Backpack (Morning Coffee: August 15th, 2022)

Latest Issue: Space Between Time (Morning Coffee: August 8th, 2022)

Latest Issue: A Tiny Gameboy (Morning Coffee: August 1st, 2022)

Latest Issue: 5,000 Photos (Morning Coffee: July 25th, 2022)

Latest Issue: Upgrading the Newsletter (Morning Coffee: July 18th, 2022)

Latest Issue: Emoji Folders (Monday Coffee: July 11th, 2022)

Latest Issue: Happy 4th of July (Monday Coffee: July 4th, 2022)

Latest Issue: WE ARE THE ENERGY (Monday Coffee: June 27th, 2022)

Latest Issue: My First Father’s Day (Monday Coffee: June 20th, 2022)

Latest Issue: Hard Work Pays Off (Monday Coffee: June 13th, 2022)

Latest Issue: A Lens Blur, A Time Blur (Monday Coffee: June 6, 2022)

Latest Issue: Yelling Into The Void (Monday Coffee: May 30th, 2022)

Latest Issue: Today is my birthday (Monday Coffee: May 23rd, 2022)

Latest Issue: New Motivation (Monday Coffee: May 16th, 2022)

Latest Issue: A Camera Changes Everything (Monday Coffee: May 9, 2022)

Latest Issue: A Camera Changes Everything (Monday Coffee: May 9, 2022)

Latest Issue: Make Gifts (Monday Coffee: May 2nd, 2022)

Latest Issue: Make Gifts (Monday Coffee: May 2nd, 2022)

Latest Issue: A Cheap Projector to Watch the Suns Lose (Monday Coffee: April 25th, 2022)

Latest Issue: Monday Coffee: April 18th, 2022

Areas of Life

Morning Coffee 75: September 18th, 2023

Press reply. Say hello.
Good morning. I’m writing this entire newsletter right before sending it to you. One topic. Just a quick update on it. Me and Rose are at a nearby coffee shop. She has a clear backpack with her, with books and colors and a little crocheted turtle. This week on Morning Coffee, I write about Things and how I’m structuring all the areas. I hope this letter finds you well.

The Box is a Mek. Gundog. Starfield. Studio Ghibli. Ahsoka. Spider-Man 2 previews. NFL games. Colorado vs Colorado St. Three events (Apple, Nintendo, Playstation).


Areas of Life

I recently changed up my Things system for this busier season. Before, it was very simple. And even though I prefer it be that simple, it wasn’t as helpful when needing to get a lot of things done. Now, there’s a bucket for everything. This makes it easier to know where things are, or when adding new tasks, it’s easier to know where each one goes. I’m sure I’ll make some more adjustments, but this is where I landed so far.

Areas:

  • Creative
  • Family
  • Home
  • Personal
  • Queue

What a day looks like

This is what a recent day looked like for me. A variety of things needing to get done, all separated by their respective areas. It was easy to see the handful of tasks to do at home, and knock them out before going run errands. I also had a bigger creative project that had a few tasks to get done before the evening. What could’ve been an overwhelming day felt much easier thanks to this separation.


The Correct Way

If you’re familiar with Things, this setup is the correct way to use the app, but I’ve been avoiding it for awhile. It now has a much busier look than I’d like, but the combination of using emojis in front of the buckets and the app’s new adjustable text size update has helped keep the look as clean as possible.


Seasons

Each season of our life looks a little different, and it’s important for us to be adaptable when those seasons change. This current system is what’s helping me now. Make a note of all the different parts of your life and see if there’s ways that you can adjust it to be more efficient.


This is Morning Coffee: a weekly newsletter that arrives in your inbox every Monday morning. I write about productivity, technology, and the cool things I find each week. You can subscribe here, or join the Dollar Club here. See you next week.