Recent Posts
Brainstorming: Are All Ideas Welcome? Why You Shouldn't Discount Ideas Before They're Explored
Why I consider all ideas—not just the "good" ones—and how doing so improves my work, helps me find unique solutions in arguments and software, and leads to counterintuitive insights.
Making the Most of Our House with No Unused Space
The average American family uses only 40% of their floorplan—but we're not average! Here's how we make the most of our space, and how you can, too.
Why Watching My Parents Cook Means I Can't Share Soup Recipe—And How I'm Encouraging My Kids to Cook Too
Growing up, I spent many hours swiveling a barstool at the kitchen counter, watching my parents cook. Here's what I learned—and how I'm setting up my kitchen to encourage my kids to learn the same.
Start of the Homeschool School Year with Three Children (Fall 2021)
Our kids are young still, but pretty much all of daily life counts as homeschooling. Here's what we have planned this year: books, music, crafts, math, and more!
The Learning Edge: Independence Outside My Comfort Zone (Study Abroad #5)
To grow and change, we need to reach our limits and push beyond them. Being abroad was one big out-of-my-comfort-zone adventure—on campus, exploring Sydney, and beyond—and here's what I learned.
How My Phoneless Semester Reminded Me To Stay Present: Life Isn't All Digital (Study Abroad #4)
Phones connect us to the not-present. But the present is where we are. Here's why, and how, a semester without a phone showed me the best of putting my phone away to attend to what's in front of me.
Finding a Voice Down Under: A Short History of My Blogging Career (Study Abroad #3)
I started writing my first blog while abroad in 2009. Here's why I began, what I enjoyed about blogging, and the key reasons I continue now.
The Necessity of Solitude and Reflection in Learning (Study Abroad #2)
Learning can have a cyclic nature from experiencing, to reviewing and reflecting, to learning from the experience, to planning for future experiences. Here's how that cycle played out for me while abroad.
Seeking Growth: Why I Decided to Study Abroad in College (Study Abroad #1)
Vassar's campus was a happy green bubble—but a predictable bubble. Outside the bubble, the unpredictable heralded change, learning, and personal growth.
Incremental Organization: How We Made Our Garage Better For Playing, Storing, and Working
Every week, we ask: What’s one incremental thing we can do to make our living space work better for us? This week, we tackled the garage.
Life as a Practice: Pursuing Excellence in Daily Life
In a practice, you progress: you level up. If we treat daily life as a practice, what does it mean to level up? Hint: It involves effort, excellence, and virtue.
Why I Left Full-Time Academia and What I Do Instead
A PhD doesn't mean you're stuck with a traditional academic career. Flexibility, family, freedom: Here's how and why I decided to take a different path.
Why You Should Pursue Excellence, Not Success
Pursuing excellence will help you succeed—but pursuing success won't make you excellent. Here's why I follow this life philosophy, and why you should want to, too!
It's Just Fencing: On Approaching Life with Playfulness and Sincerity, Not Seriousness
My fencing coach used to tell me to train hard... but in the end, it's just fencing. It's the paradox of play: real and not real, serious and not serious. Here's how to apply that paradox to the rest of life.
Important But Not Urgent: How I Manage Daily Incremental Routines
Before I had kids, I had a regular morning routine. Now? Mornings don't proceed the same way twice. Here's how I make a routine work anyway and ensure I don't leave important tasks behind.
How to Involve Kids in Modern Work
My 4-year-old son wants to help me work, but I write software—so how do I involve him? If I did physical labor or owned a farm, it'd be easy. But I sit at a keyboard. Here's what I'm trying.
How Reading Books Can Help You Reclaim Your Attention
Ever felt like you can't concentrate the way you used to? You're not alone. Scrolling through social media is easy. But reading a novel? You're in luck. Here's how to retrain your attention span.
How I Wrote 50,000 Words in Less Than Six Months (As a Parent Without Childcare!)
I write a lot—so how do I hit 50k words while also caring for my young children? Here's my secret. It hinges on one plain fact: The job of your first draft is to exist.
My Experience Writing Morning Pages As a Parent With Young Children
Julia Cameron initiated Morning Pages as a creative practice. In theory, it's easy to squeeze into your morning and leads to profound changes. In practice? Read on.
Freedom Through Constraints: Why Submitting to Rules and Tradition Helps Me Improve
I used to think I had to understand the reasons for rules before accepting and following them. Here's why I was wrong—and how tradition, history, and rules can help you, too.
Backyard Gardening, Year 3: Spring Planning, Planting, and Pests
Starting tomatoes, planting herbs, and preparing for a season of fresh vegetables! But how do we deal with the neighbor's new bunnies?
Bad Risk, Good Risk: Minimize Downsides and Maximize Upsides
Risk is to be avoided—right? Wrong! Some asymmetrical risks are good to take. Which ones? How can we minimize potential downsides while maximizing potential upsides?
How Curiosity Helps Children Build a Habit of Attention
Want your children to engage deeply with the world? Here's how to help them build a habit of deep attention and keep their curiosity intact.
A Strategy for Developing Antifragile Finances
How can you arrange your work and finances to not only be robust to unstable times and black swan events, but even thrive? Here are five ways to take advantage of uncertainty.