Three things that annoy me about myself right now I took some time recently to reflect on the three things I find most annoying about myself at the moment. It’s a useful exercise to revisit periodically. My current list is: (1) Letting people finish their thought instead of letting excitement or impatience get the better of me. This is a long-term project. It’s the dark side of a strength: a bias for action. The balance is tricky, but I’ve made some recent progress in my own self-awareness around it, and that gives me hope. (2) Removing “like” and other filler words has been an on-and-off project for years, and it’s been consistently on my mind this past year. My awareness here isn’t consistent yet, and that’s usually the first step. (3) Changing my relationship with my phone entirely. I wrote about this recently and my effort to simplify how I use the internet. I’m testing a few things and I’m excited about testing leaving the phone in one room of the house after work, so I get used to not having it on me. I’m hopeful it continues. As with most things like this, noticing isn’t enough. I’ve made some commitments and added this to my weekly review. I’m hoping to be annoyed by different problems twelve months from now. More to follow. https://alearningaday.blog/2026/10/30/three-things-that-annoy-me-about-myself-right-now/ https://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f528e18d064a5fb69887edf80ea41b006acdf54826e6555a87551be656963d41?s=96&d=identicon&r=G #threethings #letting #removing #changing #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

The invisible integration I was using Ramp’s app for a work expense recently and realized I’d forgotten to upload the receipt, which normally kicks off an exceptions process. Except the receipt was already there. I asked how, and learned Ramp has a direct integration with Toast, the restaurant payment system. Pay with a Ramp card at a merchant on Toast, and the itemized receipt gets attached to your transaction automatically. No photo, no upload, nothing from you. This is what good integrations do. They take manual load off the user without asking for anything in return. It’s also one of the hardest things to prioritize when you’re building a product, because integrations like this rarely show up on a roadmap next to the flashier features competing for the same slot. But the experiences that become invisible, because you made them that easy, are the ones users end up remembering most. https://alearningaday.blog/2026/10/29/the-invisible-integration/ https://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f528e18d064a5fb69887edf80ea41b006acdf54826e6555a87551be656963d41?s=96&d=identicon&r=G #ramp #toast #integration #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

Things could always be worse I heard someone recently describe a formative moment from his childhood. Every time something difficult happens to him now, he thinks back to what his mom said every time he told her something bad happened: “Oh honey, things could always be worse.” He imitated her voice as he said it, and the whole group chuckled. He said it’s the reason he’s an optimist today, because things could always be worse. It isn’t a new idea. But hearing the story brought it to life in a beautiful way. https://alearningaday.blog/2026/10/28/things-could-always-be-worse/ https://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f528e18d064a5fb69887edf80ea41b006acdf54826e6555a87551be656963d41?s=96&d=identicon&r=G #worse #always #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

Loyal to the absent One ideal I’ve found hard to live up to: being consistently loyal to people who aren’t in the room. So much of what we talk about is our reaction to other people, because so much of our life is shaped by them. Here’s an alternate ideal I’ve found helpful to aim for. With the people you work with regularly, or care about, be someone they know will tell them directly when there’s a problem. So, you never let things fester. That way, when you do end up talking about them behind their back (and you likely will), the conversation stays focused on getting to the root of the problem. https://alearningaday.blog/2026/10/27/loyal-to-the-absent/ https://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f528e18d064a5fb69887edf80ea41b006acdf54826e6555a87551be656963d41?s=96&d=identicon&r=G #loyal #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

Insight, not data. Clarity, not ideas. Often what’s missing isn’t data. It’s insight. Just as often, what’s missing isn’t good ideas. It’s clarity. https://alearningaday.blog/2026/10/26/insight-not-data-clarity-not-ideas/ https://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f528e18d064a5fb69887edf80ea41b006acdf54826e6555a87551be656963d41?s=96&d=identicon&r=G #data #insight #clarity #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

The process of giving feedback Someone gave me feedback the other day. But they didn’t just hand over comments. They took the time to understand what I was actually solving for. Then they shared a revised version based on what they thought could help. And they added a short note: no pressure if this doesn’t land, feel free to ignore it, this stuff isn’t easy. I felt elevated by the way they carried themselves through the whole thing. It was one of those experiences when the exercise of receiving feedback felt like a pleasure. It made me think harder about how I give feedback myself. Much to learn, I have. https://alearningaday.blog/2026/10/25/the-process-of-giving-feedback/ https://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f528e18d064a5fb69887edf80ea41b006acdf54826e6555a87551be656963d41?s=96&d=identicon&r=G #feedback #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

Even this will pass Time dulls the pain from every wound, especially the emotional ones. That won’t help in the moment, when a fresh wound is still raw. But it gives you perspective. How many emotional wounds from ten years ago can you even remember right now? Most have faded. You went numb to them over time, and eventually you could smile or shrug about the same thing that once felt unbearable. Even this will pass. https://alearningaday.blog/2026/10/24/even-this-will-pass/ https://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f528e18d064a5fb69887edf80ea41b006acdf54826e6555a87551be656963d41?s=96&d=identicon&r=G #pass #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

Put it down and stare If you picked up your phone to get one specific thing done, and you’ve done it, put it down. And just stare. It’s hard at first. The pull to open it back up is strong, to keep scrolling for one more hit. We love searching for that small comforting hit of having checked everything there is to check. But it’s worth training ourselves to put it down. And stare some more. https://alearningaday.blog/2026/10/23/put-it-down-and-stare/ https://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f528e18d064a5fb69887edf80ea41b006acdf54826e6555a87551be656963d41?s=96&d=identicon&r=G #stare #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

Calm, tact, and humor It’s amazing how many things feel better with a bit more calm, tact, and humor. The problem is rarely the what. It’s almost always the how. https://alearningaday.blog/2026/10/22/calm-tact-and-humor/ https://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f528e18d064a5fb69887edf80ea41b006acdf54826e6555a87551be656963d41?s=96&d=identicon&r=G #tact #humor #calm #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

Ten minutes now, two hundred minutes saved An idea that we discussed recently that stuck with me: ten extra minutes spent making sure what you send is concise and clear can save the organization two hundred minutes. The math is simple. Send something vague or sloppy to twenty people, and each of them spends ten minutes decoding what you actually meant. Brevity and synthesis aren’t just good writing. They’re a form of respect for everyone else’s time. https://alearningaday.blog/2026/10/21/ten-minutes-now-two-hundred-minutes-saved/ https://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f528e18d064a5fb69887edf80ea41b006acdf54826e6555a87551be656963d41?s=96&d=identicon&r=G #twohundred #hundredminutes #tenminutes #send #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit