Greg Thinks Things #28

2 Apr 2021 • 6 min read

I am going to start this edition with some aggressive positivity. You f**kin rock.

Hello Friends,

I am going to start this edition with some aggressive positivity. You f**kin rock. You’re doing an awesome job and should be proud of everything you’re doing. There are a million and one things to think about that make you feel down, but you’re still here (in some form or another) and you’re getting things done!

With that out the way welcome to another edition. One I am writing incredibly early due to an influx of inspiration and some boredom setting in with a quiet house. It’s 3:43 am in the Morris household and instead of stressing myself out trying to get back to sleep, I am doing something productive. It’s a reframing of ideas that can be expanded into so many places and really helps my positive thinking.

I feel like I am in the 13th month of March 2020, and times never change. As if everything is on hold. We are all waiting for a huge wave to break on April 12th and the UK returns to normal. Yet this time I know we’ve been here already and felt normal return to have it pulled away again. The thoughts of being back around people are exciting and anxious all in one, and so life continues hold for a little longer.

More Personal

There has been loads of movements in my personal publishing over the last few months. I’ve moved again and am not firmly rooted into the micro.blog ‘fediverse’. There are many complex reasons for this, but my main motivation is to have a place that is my own. To post whatever I want to my blog because it’s my personal space on the internet.

It’s not a place I want to drive clicks, not create a brand, it’s just my writing. However, it will also contain photos I take, podcasts I make and everything that a more social space might. I particularly enjoy posting about my recent gaming revival and books I am reading.

I’ve said this before but many people that I know that are really good writers have gotten bogged down in the publishing and perhaps if more people had a personal site this wouldn’t be such an issue. This isn’t an advert for micro.blog but its one for blogging.

What A Waste

Like so many things in life it’s easy to give yourself a bad time and feel like you should be doing something 16/7 (you’re allowed to sleep for a bit). The hustle porn modern culture tells is that if we want to achieve our dreams we have to be on the go, grinding away until we reach those goals we set.

No time to relax when there is deals to be done, money to made and skills to learn on your down time. These pushers of hustle will tell you time wasted is lost into the ether. Something you will never get back and you should feel bad about it.

If there is anything that I have taken away from resent months, it’s that down time is more important than anything. Work smarter and. It harder with rest and time off and investment and not a waste. Ten-hour movie marathons might be a bit too much, but if that’s what gets you to top condition by the time work times comes around then that what needs to be done.

De-Google

This already sounds impossible just by me typing out the words. The process of rising myself of Google products is a challenge I have semi-set myself for this month. Their business practices and control over the web is something I feel strongly about, much like my Facebook cull, I took the decision to not play the game anymore.

Some parts are easy, Gmail has been obsolete for quite a while since moving to Hey. Search is pretty easy too because I switched desktop usage to Duck Duck Go a year or so ago. The sticking point is going to be:

Movies - we have a huge library of purchases over the years shared with family members.
YouTube - I use it daily for anything from tech news, to how to guides and learning new skills.

I hunt quite worked out how I am going to achieve these steps yet, but I will report back with progress soon.

Making Videos

In January, I set myself a few targets, I put them on the blog so I could be held accountable to them and that might give me a bit more motivation. These included targets for writing a certain number of posts (which I am well in front of), learning some new skills and boosting my video production.

Unfortunately, the video part is not going to happen. Between everything I must do I am just not going to hit the targets I set myself for both content published and therefor subscribers. I am not pulling the plug but reframing the way I do things going forward and I think that’s a good thing.

I will still try and make some, but when I am editing 2-3 a week for work, as well as all my other commitments, video production is taking a back seat for now.

I will also be looking for a new home for the entirety of my video set up. My A7iii has sat unused for the best part of a year and I want to give it a loving home, along with lights and other paraphernalia that is just gathering dust in my office. Taking stock and adjusting where you want to be is a crucial tool to achieving things, and never be afraid to drop projects you can’t give the attention they deserve.

Links

Before I go

I’ve been thinking some more about making the newsletter paid. I don’t really want to do this currently and perhaps at all, however I would like to offer an optional support page. This means that I can hope to keep some income for the time I put in for both my newsletter and my blogging and not put anyone off.

As with the last membership option, this is optional, and all proceeds go straight into hosting. Any extra left over at the end of each year I donate to a charity that paid members will pick. If this sounds like your thing then feel free to leave a little tip.

Take care of yourselves my friends.

🤙

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