Hello friends,

Greetings from Utrecht!

Sometimes, you look back on past decisions and think “wow, I was so wrong”. Sometimes, that moment comes years later. Sometimes, that moment was one edition of your own newsletter ago.

Remember when I said I wouldn’t buy Theatrhythm for a while? Yeah, that didn’t last very long. It’s a fantastic game though, and you should try it if you’ve ever enjoyed a Final Fantasy game or have heard about Nobuo Uematsu.

Remember when I announced my plans to improve Better Book Notes and increase the price point soon? Upon further reflection, I’ve decided to discontinue the notes in their current form. It just feels like hand-processing a bunch of notes (AI assisted or not) is a silly thing to spend my time on when ChatGPT and Bing AI can give you the same information within seconds. I might offer the notes in a different form at some point, but right now it just feels like too much effort for too little added value.

If you’ve bought the notes and feel like you paid for more than you ended up getting, let me know and I’ll give you a refund.

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Today at a glance:

• New essay: 5 Top Tips To Tame Your Timeline
• Group dynamics crash course
• From “to do” list to “done” list
• In defense of the unoptimized life

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5 Top Tips To Tame Your Timeline

Someone recently asked me how I manage my social media use and reduce the time I spend mindlessly scrolling through various platforms.

The truth is, social media can be a time sink if not used wisely. And on top of that, we’ve known for a while that the moments where we’re bored can be our most creative, if only we can manage to stay off our phones.

That’s why I have implemented some strategies that help me use social media to my advantage. Here are my 5 best tips for managing your time on social media:

Decide what you want

Before you start using social media, ask yourself what you want to get out of it. Are you looking for industry news and trends? Do you want to connect with other professionals in your field?

For example, when I really looked at own social media use, I realized that I wasn’t getting much out of my time spent on Instagram. Pretty pictures, definitely, but not a lot of value added to my life. Once you have a clear idea of what you want, you can start focusing your efforts on specific platforms.

Focus on people, not companies

When using Twitter, I follow people, not companies. I want high-quality content from a select group of people, not advertisements or marketing campaigns. I recommend you do the same. Follow people who share insights and knowledge in your field, and who can help you expand your knowledge and skills.

Curate lists

On Twitter, instead of defaulting to the main feed, I made lists of subcategories that I wanted to know more about. For example, I created a list for news in the videogame industry, a list for management insights, and a list for industry friends and colleagues that I want to stay in touch with. This way, I can quickly check the content that I’m interested in without getting distracted by irrelevant tweets.

As a bonus, you should consider making a “brain trust” list. If you’ve heard the line that “you’re the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with”, well, this is the digital version of that. It’s a list of the 5-10 people that I most admire, that I want to learn from and emulate. I spend most of my time on Twitter in this list.

Improve your Linkedin feed

LinkedIn is a great platform for professional networking, but when you’ve connected with a lot of people your feed can become cluttered. I improve my feed by following people who regularly share content that interests me, and I mute people who are in my network but outside of my current field or interest. This helps me stay connected with people who can help me grow professionally.

Breathe

For many people, myself included, hopping on social media has become the go-to solution to boredom and the preferred method of procrastination. Half the time, I didn’t even really want to go there!

The research-supported app One Sec helps you be more conscious about your social media use by staging short interventions before you open your social media apps. For example, it asks you to take a slow, deep breath, and then asks you if you still want to open Twitter. I’ve only just installed the app myself, but I’m very optimistic about its impact.

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I’d say I still spend too much time on socials, but these steps have drastically increased the value I get, while decreasing the time I spend scrolling and swiping.

Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time I take a deep breath and scroll through some cat pictures.

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The Best Bits

​Group dynamics crash course: Richard Bartlett has put together this neat crash course on group dynamics. He explains the most common interaction patters in groups, and what it takes to change them. Read this, and then pay extra attention to your team in your next meeting.

​From "to do" list to "done" list: In this essay, Oliver Burkeman argues that we should break free of the tyranny of never-ending to-do lists. His solution? Create a done list that you add to as the day progresses. This way, instead of work being something that you whittle down, it's built up, which can feel completely different.

​In defense of the unoptimized life: Another essay that goes against the grain of the productivity discourse. In this one, Evan Armstrong argues that overoptimizing on productivity means lowering your capacity to be inspired, and to follow that inspiration. Much better to leave some wiggle room, and see where inspiration will take you.

See you in two weeks!

Martijn

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