Most of my mornings look the same.

Breakfast.

Tea.

A quick Feedly RSS headlines scan on the latest news in the IT world (good morning, FOMO) while my brain is still booting up.

Despite being an early bird, I don’t feel functional enough to deal with my newsletter until I’m done with my tea.

I have this tiny free-time window before 8am.

Before the corporate MacBook opens.

Before the day stops belonging to me.

This morning, I got caught up with a few Monday morning priorities.

By the time I sat down to write, it was already 7:43am.

So I knew one thing for sure: I wasn’t going to finish the next edition.

I knew for a fact I wouldn’t even finish the outline in time.

But the cool thing is, I didn’t have to.

It doesn’t matter whether I finished. What matters is whether I was doing what I planned to do.

My brain was still itching from my Sunday night dopamine rush. I think I almost scrolled to the bottom of all available YouTube Shorts.

But there was this anticipation of how good it would feel to continue writing later, knowing I wouldn’t be starting from a blank page.

“Messy” beats “empty” the same way “done” beats “perfect”.

Starting from a messy page is annoying, but way easier.

A blank page asks: “Another YouTube video?”

A messy page says: “Okay, dude, we already began. What an idiotic start. Who wrote this?!”

Huge difference.

That reminded me of Hemingway’s rule.

He didn’t always stop writing when he was empty.

He often stopped when he still knew what came next.

Sometimes mid-sentence! (I made this up. Hemingway did not, but I did stop there.)

His point was simple: tomorrow’s work begins today.

Now I only need two things:

I finished writing this on Monday at 8:06pm.

Which means…

I wanted to make a cheesy conclusion here.

Something like, “Which means the system works.”

But this is closer to the truth:

Which means the final episode of Your Friends & Neighbors is waiting for me.

Well deserved, I think.

Possibly undeserved.

But waiting either way.

Till next time.

The Mathematical Reason Most People Never "Make It" - 8 min read.

If you needed a math-based reason to stop treating every task like it deserves equal attention, here you go. The article explains why you need enough attempts to find what works, then enough discipline to double down and ignore the rest.

In Favor of Giving Things Up - 5 min read.

This one is basically about voluntary discomfort. The idea is simple: give up one thing for a month and see who’s really in charge. Worst case, you miss it. Best case, you realize it had more control over you than you’d like to admit.

The Zeigarnik Effect Is Running Your Life - 6 min read.

Apparently, my brain remembers unfinished tasks better than completed ones, which explains a lot. Quick read on open loops, mental clutter, and why “I’ll deal with it later” is not exactly a relaxation strategy.

It is part memoir, part practical advice, and part Scott Adams making hilarious self-sarcastic jokes at his own expense. Worth reading if you want a more realistic take on success.

Some things are never enough. For some people, it’s screen size. For me, it’s desk size. But this tiny one is a good starting point for the desk of my dreams.

5:10 A.M. Start: Adams described a normal workday as waking at 5 a.m., making coffee, staying in pajamas, and being at his home-office computer by 5:10. His list that day included a blog post, two Dilbert strips, startup work, and taxes.

Exercise Before Drawing: When he had a heavy drawing workload, Adams preferred to exercise first. He said a tired, relaxed body made it easier to sit and draw for long stretches.

Systems Over Goals: In How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Adams argued that systems beat goals because systems create repeated behavior that improves your odds. A goal ends when you hit it or miss it, but a system keeps producing chances.

Goals for Simple Situations: Adams still used goals for narrow, clear contests, like winning a bowling tournament. But he thought career goals like “get my boss’s job” were too limiting because they could blind you to better opportunities.

Gym Door Rule: Adams described driving to the gym, walking inside, deciding not to work out, and still counting it as a successful habit day. The important part was preserving the identity and routine of someone who goes to the gym. Very interesting idea to adopt.

Daily Strip Discipline: For much of his career, Adams produced one Dilbert strip every day, including weekends and holidays. Read it once again: ideation + setup + punchline + drawing every (!) day.

Production Buffer: Adams said daily strips were due about five weeks ahead, while Sunday strips needed roughly nine weeks. That buffer forced a steady production rhythm and reduced last-minute pressure.

Efficiency as Craft: Adams treated small workflow improvements as part of the job. He moved to a Wacom Cintiq, created a font from his own handwriting, and kept reducing friction until the core comic work could fit into one or two hours a day.

Bad Draft First: For books, Adams said he writes badly and quickly at first so the ideas exist on the page. Then he rewrites until the thinking and wording are clear.

One Joke Standard: Adams said one strong joke a day was enough to make a daily comic work. That turned a large creative job into a smaller daily target.

Most money advice focuses on how to spend less. This focuses on something more useful: how to spend better. Now I just need the sequel about how to make more money to spend better.

Jakub said this part needs a punchline so people forward it to a friend. I had nothing smarter, so please forward this to a friend who is already very good at spending.

Enjoying the newsletter? Please forward this issue to a friend who might enjoy it too 😊🙏🏻

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