#focus@will

A Good Friday to you.  Here’s some stuff I’ve found.

Jared Polin has some great advice for us.

Yesterday I mentioned on Instagram that I’d share with you my super-awesome Pomodoro Tool.  It’s called Focus@Will, which gives me some Chill Music while I work.  It’s a paid service, but I think it’s worth it. 

Watching an anvil drop from 150 feet onto a pyramid of watermelons is oddly satisfying.

Two words: Mona Greasa

Yesterday was the seventh Anniversary of meeting two sisters that I didn’t know I had.  Let that sink in for a second.  We lost Terry a short time later to cancer, but Sue is still here, and moved down here to the area.  

The sisters have been on my mind a bit lately since I went home to Maine again this summer, and had a chance to connect with other members of my extended family who I haven’t seen or heard from in years.  Aunts and cousins who lived in Maine while my family was stationed all over the place in my youth.  I’ve covered this before. 

However, I think Terry was talking to me when a friend of mine, a photographer named Pete, showed some of his photos mounted on canvas.   He had a photo of the pier at Little Island Beach, and the angle is…well, it’s damn near uncanny.  

See, there’s a bench right about where Pete likely stood to take this photo.  That bench is where Terry’s ashes were scattered.  

So now, that canvas sits in my living room, because I pretty much needed it. 

Happy Sisterversary, you two.   

Focus at Will the Productivity App You’ve Been Looking For

Some of the links in this post are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers.”Sometimes, when you come across a product that improves your work flow, you just need to tell everyone about it! Last year, I was…

One of the things I find difficult when I’m transcribing interviews is that I can’t do that and listen to focus@will at the same time.

1. Coffitivity

Work with coffeeshop sounds in the background.

Like I'm doing right now.

2. Ethan’s Private Stash of Really Good Reads

For one of my recent jobs, I spent a year combing the web for the best long form articles out there. This was the result: the very best reading on the web, curated by me.

Ideal audience: curious humans.

3. focus@will

I gotta have music when I work. Since all my favorite Pandora stations now repeat songs, I go here:

#AlphaChill

4. The Ridiculous Amazing List of Vocab Word Flashcards from Elite Prep

Why is it ridiculous amazing? I’ll just put it this way: the company spent a lot of money figuring out which words are likely to appear on your future standardized tests–SAT, ACT and AP–and it was nothing illegal, the company was just really thorough.

And hear the words read aloud here, if you prefer. Listen while you work or as you go to sleep, as one of my colleagues does (no joke).

5. Meditation

That’s right: our own breath and mindfulness = best resource ever. Ever try meditation and fail? (Yeah, me too.) Here’s an eight-minute meditation exercise that features the most relaxing song ever. Or just listen to the songhere.

6. O*Net Online

Amazing resource for learning about different jobs and careers. Not sure what you want to study, or specific jobs exist in your field? Just type a search term like "medicine" into the box at the top right. You'll learn a lot in a little time.

…i just. i just paid attention to a book for a full fifty minutes.

that's not a thing i can normally do.