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Hi, I'm Mark. I am interested in minimalism (inc. digital), stoicism, mindfulness, and tech.
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The Weekly Review ā€” Issue 14

Hey there! Iā€™ve been working on getting back into the groove of posting weekly, and I think Iā€™ve finally found a plan that will help me stick to it. If youā€™ve been following along, you might have noticed a few more posts recently ā€” and thatā€™s all thanks to some new habits Iā€™ve been trying out with my writing process. Canā€™t wait to share whatā€™s been working so far and keep this momentum going! Taking a pause from social media As I explained in my blog, Embracing JOMO, I find great joy in missing out on worldly events and social...

First impressions of Voicenotes

Discovering the Sixth Essential App: Revolutionising Productivity with Voicenotes Thirteen days after posting my popular blog on the five essential apps I use every day to organise my life, I believe I have found the sixth! Voicenotes by Coping Hard Inc has become an integral part of my daily routine in just four short days. Itā€™s remarkable how quickly this tool has established itself alongside the five other apps I use consistently every day. The ease of transcribing voice notes into text is truly impressive. From there, the possibilities seem endless ā€” creating tweets, summaries, and even blog posts becomes...

Embracing JOMO

Finding Joy in Prioritising What Matters In the past few months, Iā€™ve taken a deep dive into understanding what truly matters in my life. One thing that stands out is recognising the importance of distinguishing between what deserves my attention and what doesnā€™t. At work, especially during busy seasons, I make sure to redefine my priorities. This often means setting aside my personal ventures, like blogging and maintaining online social connections, in favour of maintaining focus. This requires going into radio silence mode, cutting off social media distractions. Itā€™s a maturity thing, something that helps in maintaining a balance. For...

Rekindling my use of e-ink books

From Apple Books to Amazon Kindle Paperwhite: A Journey Towards Focus and Immersion in Reading This past year, I have opted for Appleā€™s Book app and physical books. Physical books have always been a safe choice, and I have taken leverage of my local library to provide me with what I required. At the beginning of the year, I decided I wanted to exclusively use the Apple Books app to read digital literature. Apple Books is a great app. I have found some good deals. Some titles were cheaper than their physical counterparts. In fact, they were cheaper than the...

Five apps I use every day to organise my life (2024 Edition)

Many changes, same principleIt has been over a year since I last published my post on the apps I use every day on Medium. The fact the post is my most successful post made me think it was worth sharing an update because there have been changes along the way. As previously mentioned, these apps bring a persistent calm to my day. Iā€™ve matured in the way I select the apps I use and switching is not a thing I do these days. There was a time when new apps would appear in my life each month. As much as...

Blogging can be part of the mindfulness routine

How an epiphany made me realise I was approaching blogging entirely wrong.I havenā€™t written a blog in a while. In fact, the last time I wrote was a day before I set off for my holiday in Mexico (mid-August). Truth be told, I wanted to focus on my work. My occupation in a school is the most rewarding job I have ever undertaken, and I wanted to give it my all. Any teacher or staff member in a school will tell you ā€” the start of an academic year is tiring (in a good way). Living mindfully for healthy livingI...

The Weekly Review - Issue 13

This has been the week of nothing, as in, I havenā€™t done much. Itā€™s a good thing because I needed to recharge my batteries. Watch update Seven days without a smartwatch and I have to say it has been easy. Thereā€™s only two scenarios I have noticed to be an issue (first-world problems). First, I use my Apple Watch as a timer when cooking, so I reverted to my phone instead. The other is changing songs in Apple Music when I am driving. I start the playlist before I head off to my destination now. These are not real issues,...

The Weekly Review - Issue 12

Hello. I hope you are all keeping well and safe. What a week! Here are three main focuses to my week. Thank you for your continued support. I have noticed an increase in viewership that is wonderful to see. I appreciate it a lot. Become an Original TwoserParker on Twosā€™ YouTube channel announced users who sign up for the Twos app will get all future premium features for free. However, this is a limited offer, which will end on 2nd September 2024. You will become an OT (Original Twoserā€¦and you will get an OT badge next to your name)! The...

The Weekly Review - Issue 11

Iā€™m back as promised. There is a bit to unpack this week. Sticking with Ulysses for writing I was on the fence over what tool I would be using for my writing since I knew my Ulysses subscription was coming to an end. Ā£39.99 per year for Ulysses could be re-invested in an app that has a one-off payment, such as iA Writer. Other than repeated payments, I am not happy with Ulysses text checker called Revision. It scans the text and provides suggestions for US customers. Iā€™m English, so the suggests for where commas should be used not relevant....

The Weekly Review ā€“ Issue 10

Itā€™s been a while. I apologise. What was intended to be a weekly post had not transpired. Life got in the way, but I am here to give it another go. Self-doubt, lack of interest and work got too much. Iā€™m here to push away the excuses and try again.Ā  Writer's blockI havenā€™t posted much online recently because I wanted to focus on a few projects that were backed up on my project manager (Twos, of course). In doing so, I have lost the passion to write. Iā€™m at that stage where I donā€™t really care about any hardware, software,...

Why I became a Twos Champion!

In an age where subscription fatigue is real, and many apps force you into monthly payments, finding a note-taking app like Twos is refreshing. Twos doesnā€™t require a subscription, yet I choose to subscribe, and here's why. Supporting DevelopmentFirst and foremost, my subscription helps the Twos team continue to develop and improve the app. While Twos offers a generous free tier, subscribing allows Parker (developer) to keep enhancing the app with new features, faster updates, and better performance. Knowing that my contribution is directly impacting the evolution of a tool I use daily is incredibly satisfying. It feels like Iā€™m...

My minimalist approach to taking notes

How applying a minimalist philosophy to note-taking stopped the information overwhelm.I donā€™t take many notes these days. My workload, hobbies, and learning havenā€™t slowed down either. So, why have I significantly reduced the number of notes created each week? To answer this, I need to explain what was happening before I made the changes, as well as why I had made the changes I now follow. Enter note-taking or note making alongside the word ā€˜appā€™ or ā€˜PKMā€™ (or whatever word you can think of in this space), and you will quickly see people online advocating for their favourite productivity app....

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