I’ve always loved the way Merlin Mann writes and does stuff. Whether it’s writing about his day to day learnings on doing things or the sarcastic, witty randomness of You look nice today, he often brings a smile to my face. But, that smile is often followed by a feeling of emptyness due to me not being as witty, clever or funny as him. Anyhow, he’s gone and stole the words right out of my poncy fountain pen, well he hasn’t, because the words are quite good. They are so apt and spot on with current challenges in my life that I wondered if Merlin had been reading my journal.
The post is about cutting back on the pointless things in life, it’s about craftsmanship of which Merlin thinks is lacking in many peoples worlds, epsecially the online one. It’s about looking after yourself by doing good things and focusing on stuff instead of trying to smear yourself everywhere with little or no concern about quality.
Here’s some stuff he tries to do everyday:
- identify and destroy small-return bullshit;
- shut off anything that’s noisier than it is useful;
- make brutally fast decisions about what I don’t need to be doing;
- avoid anything that feels like fake sincerity (esp. where it may touch money);
- demand personal focus on making good things;
- put a handful of real people near the center of everything.
It’s heartwarming to read this post and especially to know Merlin will endeavour to make world class dick jokes, instead of just dick jokes. I applaud that kind of dedication to quality.
