July 2017 Must-Haves

And… we’re back.

If you’re just joining, every month on or near the 15th I share things I’ve read, products I’ve used, music I’ve listened to and anything else that I think you should know about and give a whirl. If you want to see previous lists, here’s March and February of this year.

Without further delay, here’s July 2017’s Must-Haves:

  • GMail Keyboard Shortcuts – Easily one of the best-kept secrets of GMail are the keyboard shortcuts. If you spend a reasonable amount of time in email (and most of us do), Keyboard Shortcuts will save you a TON of time. I also highly recommend the Preview Pane plugin, which you can enable in the Labs portion of Settings in your account. I’ve been using both of these for years and it helps me rip through email very quickly.
  • The Daily Stoic – Stoicism is quite the rage amongst the Silicon Valley illuminati these days, which makes me want to keep it off my list, but I’ve been reading the Stoics for years and find them to be a source of fresh water in the dry land of self-promotion and constant grasping for more. This book has great, daily selections from the leaders of Stoicism along with commentary. It’s a great daily read in the morning before you get going.
  • Naval Ravikant and Nick Szabo Interview on Tim Ferriss – Brilliant, in-depth discussion of one of the most important technology topics of the last 20 years, crypto-currency. This is a must-listen for everyone from the novice to more seasoned on the topic. Plus, Naval Ravikant is always worth listening to, every single chance you get.
  • Slack’s Quick-Jump Keyboard Shortcuts – If you’re like me and have multiple Slack communities that you’re a part of (as of this writing I have 9 Communities in my Slack desktop), it’s a pain to jump around all the time. I’ve started to make heavy use of two keyboard shortcuts: Cmd + T (Ctl +  T on Windows) to jump between conversations in a given community and Cmd + (number) to jump between communities. There are a few others that I use all the time, which this person was kind enough to write about.
  • U2 – The Joshua Tree – U2 have been on tour this summer celebrating the 30th anniversary of one of the most influential albums of all time. I had the privilege of going to the concert in DC a few weeks back. What a night. Anyhoo… it reminded me of how great this album is and I have started listening to it again. And if you want a taste of the concert, here’s a full length video from Chicago.
  • Get rid of your stuff – Recently my in-laws moved to be closer to us. It’s been great having them nearby. One thing, however, became clear as we helped them move in. They had moved things to their new house that they would never use simply because it was hard to get rid of them. Over the last year or so I’ve cleaned out my personal belongings radically, and have instituted a 1:1 policy for all durable goods. If I bring something into my life, something else has to go. My big Must-Have for July is that you force yourself to have less.

Enjoy this month’s list and let me know what worked / resonated with you.

See you next month!