The “First Set Mindset” flips the script: treat your first set (and every set) like it’s your only set.

~ Schwarzenegger​, Arnold, The Muscle Principles, 2025

Sound advice, and not just for the gym. Apply this philosophy to life and work. 

Approach every action, every task, every project “like it’s your only set.”

As you can see from the image above, I am no longer on Twitter/X. 

In actuality, I’ve eschewed the dumpster fire that is Twitter/X since Elon Musk acquired it in 2022. But I decided that 2025 is going to be a year of simplification – deleting, tidying and streamlining. If it’s not needed, get rid of it. If it needs doing, just do it.

With this in mind, I deleted my Twitter/X account in January.

And a couple of weeks ago, I finally worked through the coding to make the archive plugin ¹ on this blog work the way that I want it to. The archive page is back to only displaying posts and not status updates. 

Next up on the list is to archive/flatten the blog I used for my Masters dissertation project. There’s no need for me to be maintaining the themes and plugins when it will never be used again. 

1. The archive plugin I had used for a long time was not being updated and had become incompatible with the version of PHP I was running on my domain. The best replacement I could find required a bit more knowledge of HTML and PHP to make it work the way I wanted it to. 

I turned to Twitter and asked Warren Ellis what service or plugin he uses¹. Having asked the question, I received a couple of suggestions from Doug Belshaw:

• Blog2Social
• Jetpack

Looking into both of these I could see that they would achieve what I wanted but I was not satisfied with either implementation. Blog2Social requires you to create a Twitter application. This is not a big deal (I’ve done it before) but I did not believe this was necessary to achieve my goal. Furthermore, it is heavy-handed on the promotion of its paid features in the WordPress backend. The other option, Jetpack, is too feature rich and its footprint on the back end of your blog is quite intrusive. Furthermore, to access all of the auto-tweet features a paid plan is required. This does not sit right with me given the open source origins of WordPress.

Returning to IFTTT, I could not shake off the feeling that there was a way to do it. The search function in IFTTT is a bit hit and miss with a high noise to signal ratio. However, there were several recipes that indicated images could be posted natively to Twitter from other sources. This lead to me taking a fresh look at the Twitter channel in IFTTT. I saw that they have added a range of options and this indeed included the option to tweet with an image.

So, to relieve the proverbial itch, I started from scratch (😉) and created a new applet to share my WordPress posts to Twitter with an image.

This was a definite case that proved it is always worth digging a little deeper! Dr. Amp would approve.

1. I subsequently found out that Warren uses the Jetpack plugin. However, he has recently written in his newsletter about issues he has had with this feature not working correctly. And I do believe he has since found a solution.

Just found out, via Brett Terpstra, that Drafts, my favourite writing app¹, works with Marked, allowing real time rendering of Markdown and HTML. And there’s an action that can be installed to open Marked from Drafts directly.

This makes me very happy! 🤘

1. Drafts, by Greg Pierce is the Swiss Army knife of writing apps. I use it for capturing ideas, notes, lists and drafting blog posts. Best of all, the built in actions allow me to act on my drafts right in the app.

My playlists…

Currents is a regularly updated mix of music that has grabbed my attention, alongside a few tracks that seem to stick around for good.

Running, Clanging and Banging is my original running and workout mix. Over 200 tracks of uptempo rock, heavy metal, rap, dance and pop. Use it to work out at home or if you live near lots of open space and can get outside (responsibly), let this mix propel you.

For long morning runs, I started to lean more towards chilled out sounds. Running at First Light evolved out of this having tried running to the Marconi Union album: ‘Weightless’. The way the ambient sounds drifted into the background allowing me to focus more on my form and breathing had a massive impact on my running. The playlist is also great for yoga and meditation, as well as a good candidate for those of you who require calm, quiet focus, to get work done from home.

Electric Miles is my favourite playlist; exploring, arguably Miles Davis’ greatest and most experimental period. Starting with the epic 33 minute ‘Circle in the Round’; the playlist traverses five prolific years from 1968 to 1972, taking in such archetypal examples of Jazz Fusion as ‘In a Silent Way’ and ‘Bitches Brew’. Make some coffee, turn the lights down low, and lose yourself with Miles.

Sticking with Jazz, In a Silent Way is a contemplative mix of late night jazz to be enjoyed over dinner or with a glass of wine on a spring evening.

Finally, (A) Spoonful of Disney is perfect for the young at heart; sing along with and lighten the mood in these dark, sobering times.

You can find all of my playlists on Spotify.

Other people’s playlists…

One of the features of Spotify that I have enjoyed the most since I signed up is the rich network of music fans and artists who create and share playlists. Here are some playlists made by others that hit the spot.

I’ve been a fan of Merlin Mann for some time. Most people know him as the Inbox Zero guy. That seems like such a long time ago! He is, now, better known for his many podcasts, one of which I have listed below. He is a prolific music fan and the playlist: Merlin’s World of Music covers an extensive range of musical genres from the 60s through to the 00s. While there are a number of well known tracks, a significant portion of the playlist is made up of deep cuts and lesser known tunes.

I’m also a huge fan of electronic music; particularly that of Kraftwerk and Aphex Twin. This playlist by Pitchfork founder Ryan Schreiber highlights Richard David James’ piano playing. This is another good pick if you need to find focus when working from home. Also, if you love the 80s, Schreiber’s Poolside ’86 mix is ab-fab!

In hist most recent newsletter, Austin Kleon shared a fantastic series of “epic yearly survey playlists” by Fluxblog. We started with 1979 (the year I was born) on Friday. We are now part way through 1980. They are beautifully curated, seamlessly transitioning between moods and genres.

And some podcasts…

When I discovered the podcast Strong Songs, I was blown away. Kirk Hamilton’s analysis of the ‘strong songs’ he breaks down is deep and intricate. As a musician himself, he directs each track, exploring the nuances of melody, timing, key changes, musicianship and lyricism. To get started, I recommend the following episodes:

• “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen
• “Moanin’” by Art Blakey
• “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin

There is also a Spotify playlist of the songs from season one of the podcast.

The next two podcasts feature the Labour politician Ed Miliband and radio presenter Geoff Lloyd. The first, Reasons to be Cheerful is a ‘podcast about ideas’. Started in September 2017, the podcast explores a diverse range of ideas that could help us tackle the biggest problems facing the world today. Their guests include experts, campaigners, academics and politicians from across the globe. It is thought provoking and a fantastic way to stay informed.

In addition to this, Ed and Geoff recently launched a spin-off show: Cheerful Book Club. Each week they interview an author about their writing and their lives.

Finally, Back to Work with Dan Benjamin and the aforementioned Merlin Mann is the original productivity podcast. I have listened to every single episode since the show launched in January 2011. Their chemistry is fantastic, and the podcast has remained fresh, covering topics as broad as project management, smart-home devices and parenting. You can jump right in or if you want to dip into the back catalogue, I recommend episodes #1, #5, #7 and #9 which introduce some of the long running themes and bits that have become an integral part of the show.

—

I hope that you find something in here that helps you navigate the coming weeks as we continue to face up to the Covid-19 pandemic. Stay strong!

I’m really enjoying The Slack Variety Pack podcast. In a recent episode they spoke with Tom Rath who offered some excellent advice about the importance of health and the value of saying no to ensure that you are doing meaningful work. Listen from 21:37 to 27:42.

“Once you decide on your occupation, you must immerse yourself in your work. You have to fall in love with your work. Never complain about your job. You must dedicate your life to mastering your skill. That’s the secret of success and is the key to being regarded honourably.”

~ Jiro Ono

I just finished watching Jiro Dreams of Sushi; a fascinating documentary about renowned Japanese sushi chef Jiro Ono. His opening words (above) sum up my lack of writing here and reduced engagement with social media over the past year. Work has consumed my time, or rather I have dedicated my time to work.

“My secret hardware weapon sits on the corner of my desk. It’s a phone. Plugged into the wall and everything. You can do amazing shit with it. For example, I’ve found that you can consolidate a 24 volley e-mail thread with a client down to five minutes if you call them on the phone. And, unlike e-mail, you can read people’s tone and awkward pauses. Not to mention you can actually hear them ‘LOL’.”

~ Mike Monteiro in The Setup

I do not share Mike’s love of the phone itself. But the principal that underpins his point, that of talking to someone directly, being more productive and useful than email, rings true.

My version of this is the face-to-face conversation. At my current place of employment, email is treated almost as if it is the lifeblood that keeps the place alive. To my mind however, email, like blood, is prone to clotting, and can cause a project or idea to go into cardiac arrest. To avoid this, I like to get up from my desk and sit down with a colleague (or colleagues) face-to-face. Which, ironically, is better for my circulation, having spent so much time sat at a desk – staring at a computer screen.

The face-to-face conversation, like Mike’s phone call, is far more powerful and productive than an email, which can invariably turn into an elongated quagmire, diminishing your capacity to move forwards. I get to see what people really think from their reactions (facial expression / tone of voice) and walk away with decisions made, actions decided upon. Moreover, I think it demonstrates how valuable the topic, idea or project is to you – and that you want others to share in that.

So, while I am a proponent of the ‘paperless movement’, I am no fan of the ‘lets do it all by email’ movement either. There are better ways than email… and you don’t have to be constrained by time or by geographical location, either!

“Put to best use, Inbox Zero is merely a philosophical practice of learning to be parsimonious about which and how many inputs we allow into into our lives—and, then, to responsibly but mindfully tend to those inputs in a way that is never allowed to hinder our personal commitment to doing the work that really matters to us.”

Learning to “tend” (manage) multiple “inputs” (inboxes) effectively is important. However, it should not become “the work”. Anything that vies for your attention is an inbox: RSS, Email, your todo list, Twitter. With so many inputs it is not hard to see why the idea of ‘Inbox Zero’ captures people’s imaginations. It is a goal and a tangible one. However, the truth, as Merlin so eloquently explains, is not so rosy. The time and attention that is often given to achieving such a goal directly reduces the time and attention given to the things that matter.

I have been guilty of tweeting with glee when I have emptied my email inbox or read through every item in my read later list. However, in listening to Merlin talk about time and attention on his podcast Back to Work, I have come to understand that there is a better way to achieve ‘Inbox Zero’. I have learned to live with keeping a few items in my email inbox; I have learned not to fret as I keep adding items to my read later list; and I have also learned not to get stressed out if I have to keep putting off a job in my todo list.

You see, most importantly I have learned to “tend” my inboxes less frequently. I think it still panics some of my colleagues when they ask me “Have I read this or that email yet?”, and I answer “No”, explaining that my email has been closed while I have been teaching. During my lessons I am giving “zero” attention to my inboxes and 100% attention to my students. After all, that is why I am there right? So, why would I put my time and attention elsewhere?

To do “the work that really matters” you have to find focus. You have to give it the time and attention it deserves. So, please close your other inboxes and take a moment to read Merlin’s post… there is much to be gleaned from his words.

Just glancing at my iPhone’s home screen, I realise that I have a lot of apps installed. However, there are a number that I do not use on weekly basis, let alone on a daily one. Therefore, I am just going to write about the ones that get regular use. Also, I have structured the post based on the folders that I use on my iPhone home screen…

Dock

Fantastical – Unlike on the desktop, I have found a calendar app for my iPhone which truly suits my needs. Rather than offering the traditional calendar views, Fantastical places emphasis on your agenda as well as providing an intuitive way to quickly look backwards/forwards to different days/weeks.

Wunderlist – As I said in my previous post, I would like to be using Any.DO but the lack of a desktop/web app is making me stick with Wunderlist for now. However, Any.DO is worth checking out. It has the most intuitive input for a todo app that I have found.

Chrome is also my browser of choice on my iPhone. Although there was some initial friction, many of the apps that I regularly use now allow you to open links in Chrome rather than Safari. As such Apple’s built in browser has been relegated to a ‘Sometimes’ folder on the second screen.

Launch Centre Pro – I am still training myself to use this app. As I have moved to organising all of my apps within folders, I wanted to be able to quickly launch them without having to go into folders all of the time. LCP allows you to launch actions rather than apps reducing the number of clicks needed. For example, with LCP open in one click I can be in the new email window of Sparrow, or the new event window of Fantastical. The more it becomes ingrained in my muscle memory the more efficient my use of the phone is becoming.

Folders

*A note on my folder structure. Each folder is named using a verb of the action that the apps are used for. They are also positioned on the screen based on the amount of use they get. As I hold the phone with my right hand, the folders with the apps that I use most frequently are positioned on the right hand side of the screen. The folders with the apps I use less often are on the left hand side. You can see this structure in the image at the top of this post.

*I am going to work through the folders in order of most used to least used…

Communicate

Perhaps unsurprisingly the most used apps on my iPhone are the ones I use to communicate with other people. This includes the Messages and Phone (Contacts) apps. I have Skype and Google+ installed although I rarely use them on the iPhone. My most used apps in this folder are…

Sparrow – Where I have managed to adapt Mail on my MacBook Air to be more aesthetically pleasing and user friendly, the same can not be said of the built in mail app on the iPhone. As such, even though development on it has been stopped, I am still suing Sparrow. It matches most closely the experience I get with using Mail on my MacBook.

Tweetbot is my Twitter client of choice. It was the first app that I installed when I bought my iPhone. It is a power-user client offering a huge range of features including people, keyword, hashtag and client filters. It offers a range of retweet styles, in app profiles, search, retweet information and also the ability to create and edit lists. With this app there is never a need for me to access Twitter via its web interface.

Read

Reeder is my RSS app of choice, like its desktop counterpart, it offers a beautiful reading experience, and offers a multitude of services allowing you to share what you are reading. I have mine set up to easily share to Twitter, Pocket and Delicious.

Pocket is where I read all of the stuff I haven’t got to yet. Although, progress is slow at the moment (check out the unread count on the folder!)

The Kindle app has had a significant impact on when I read and how much I am reading. As I have my phone with me at all times I can pick up and read whenever time allows. Moreover, due to small screen size and keeping the font at a reasonable size, I find that I am reading in bite-size chunks. I am not sure of the science behind this (and I could just be imagining it) but it certainly feels as though I am powering through books at a far quicker pace than I did with the printed page.

Write

Drafts deserves its own post, to be honest. It is so integral to my workflow that this post is significantly out of date now. I use Drafts to take notes during meetings, draft longer emails, capture ideas, and to write blog posts. It works with Markdown, meaning that I can be very efficient with my typing. However, the power of Drafts comes from the way that it leverages x-callback-urls allowing you to send the text that you have captured to a seemingly endless array of apps and places. I have it set up to share directly with my notes folder in Dropbox. It can be customised to follow any naming/tagging systems that you use. I have been so impressed with it, that I rarely use Byword anymore. I tend to only use it now to access and update existing documents in my notes folder. Most of the time I capture text in Drafts and push it straight out as an email, tweet or to…

Poster which is a beautiful blogging application for WordPress. It allows you to write, edit and publish posts/pages to multiple WordPress blogs. It parses Markdown meaning that when I push a draft post from Drafts I don’t need to do anything, apart from add images if appropriate. It has a clean and minimal UI which is pleasing. However, it is the ease of use that makes this such a great app. I have tried a variety of mobile blogging apps and have never been satisfied with them, usually due to a level of friction that they imposed on the writing/publishing process. Poster, on the other hand, makes the process seamless.

Evernote – As I mentioned in my previous post, I am using Evernote to organise my M.Ed. I use the mobile app for two specific tasks. The first is to capture notes during lectures and seminars. The second is to photograph sections of books, adding notes and tags. I stole this workflow from Doug Belshaw, which he write about here.

Listen

Beyond using my iPhone to get the work done, I use it to listen to music and podcasts a lot. In terms of music, I use the built in app. However for podcasts I use Instacast. The recent update to Apple’s own podcast app looks great but I’ve been an Instacast user since I bought the iPhone. It is looks great and is feature rich. The way that it displays and lets you work with show notes/links is particularly useful. Moreover, it offers a lot of customisation in terms of how you organise your subscriptions and playlists. I’m not going to list all of the podcasts that I listen to here but I recommend that you check out Back to Work featuring Merlin Mann and Enough featuring Patrick Rhone. They are both excellent and have really helped me in terms of focus and productivity.

Utilise

Dropbox – After Tweetbot this was the next app that I installed on my iPhone. I don’t think I really need to explain this one, see yesterday’s post.

Delicious is where I bookmark everything. While I could access my bookmarks via the web interface in Chrome, this app offers a far more pleasing and efficient way of searching them.

Calcbot is a beautifully designed calculator. If I am honest, it does not offer a great deal of functionality over the built in calculator. However, I am a huge fan of Tapbots’ applications and I use this one a lot. While I know there is a calculator built into OSX, I much prefer to do calculations on my phone. I guess this is the result of habit, having used a calculator so regularly in school.

Similarly, Convertbot is another Tapbots app. It offers a wide range of conversions including area, length, time, data size and currency. Like Calcbot it is beautifully designed with all the usual bells and whistles that you find in a Tapbots app.

Shoot

Although the iPhone comes with a very good Camera built into it, I only use it occasionally make use of it. I simply don’t take a lot of photos, I never have. However, I do use it to take photos from time to time. Usually, this is to capture a mind map or chart that I (or mu students) created in class. Sometimes, I use it to capture students’ writing so that I can put it up on the whiteboard for discussion. And occasionally, I do see something interesting when I am out and about that I think is worth sharing. The few photos that I do take are simply organised in the Photos app. I use the share function from with the app to send photos to my email account. I have Tweetbot set up to upload images via CloudApp when I tweet them out for the same reasons I explained in yesterday’s post.

Watch

I don’t watch a lot of anything really on my iPhone due to the fact that I feel the screen size is too small. However, occasionally I do use the YouTube app to browse for a music video. Invariably, I end up listening to the video I have found rather than watching it.

And there you have it. As with yesterday’s post, if you would like me to elaborate on how I am using any of the apps above, leave a comment or send me a tweet.