Takeaways from using it for 60+ days. — Most note-taking systems only work if you’re rich, childless, and less than 30 years old. There’s no chance that a parent with a normal job, meals to cook, and self-regenerating chores can find so much time. You have to tend to those systems, like puppies, multiple times a day. At…

And how I stay (somewhat) productive in the midst of it. — Wailing in the bedroom. My neighbors must be thinking we’re ripping our 4-year-old son apart. Don’t worry: Leonardo just doesn’t want to pick up the jigsaw puzzle he deflagrated all over his bedroom floor. My wife blocked him while he tried to escape and closed the door. …

Lessons from the true story of an author who made his own luck. — Content creators can engineer serendipity. I have the perfect case study to prove it. It’s full of insights you can replicate in your strategy. You can also jump to the end for the main lessons. But I would be really really sad if you do it.😉 The story of a humble blogger James has a successful…

How I finally understood my audience and got rewarded. — By now, the silver plaque celebrating 100,000 subscribers on YouTube should shine in the background of all my videos. But the cruel Youtube dashboard slaps me in the face every day with this depressing number:

Refund requests hurt. But abusing your customers isn’t the best strategy. — Consider these my final words. From now on you are blocked on every channel. — A Medium author that will remain anonymous An inconceivable bitter ending to a refund request. Especially since it was for a $30 ebook. There’s a no-brainer way to handle refunds. …

I never thought becoming a better storyteller would cost me so much. — April was my best month ever on Medium. May erased 5 months of progress. Successful monthly reports are more motivating. But failures and obstacles also teach us useful lessons. Please stay on my side through this depressing exercise. It started with a long-awaited vacation I knew my output would be limited in May. I spent one…

I may have defeated a lifelong struggle with the post-lunch slump. — Fifteen years ago, my afternoons were agony. I was doing my Ph.D. in computer science. After lunch, I was useless: tired, stiff, and unfocused. Coffee, walks, stretching: nothing helped. But since I started working from home, I’ve been tinkering to design the perfect day. It now includes an over-optimized nap. …

Five hopeful scenarios for writers scared by ChatGPT and its friends — I started writing consistently on Medium in September 2022. By the end of November, everyone was showing off complete articles written by ChatGPT. Good timing! I did not sleep well for some nights. As writers, we can’t avoid being afraid about the future of our careers. But we are wrong. …

Don’t be fooled by ignorant or mischievous creators — Creators in any field know the shortcut to a successful headline: put an outrageously inspiring result front and center. They are constantly on the lookout for negligible baby steps to blow up into Guinness World Records. I wasted too long reading these stories. …