Updated on October 22nd, 2025 from the comfort of my home in the Netherlands. The weather has been depressing as of late.
Business
I'm organising a treasure hunt in a major city. It serves as a way to get people talking about mental health, and decision fatigue in particular. I think the gifts will delight a few people. I am in the process of designing a data model to capture its effectiveness as a marketing campaign for a new set of limited edition products. Developing a brand has been challenging and fun.
A few days ago I hosted a workshop called Mind Meets Machine: Exploring the role of AI in Mental Health. I found the conversations we shared exciting. I don't think I'll do it again, but it taught me a lot about designing learning experiences for a specific audience.
Hobbies
I have recently rediscovered my love of building LEGO. It's triggering fond memories of my youth. I've been rebuilding sets from the 90s. I can't wait to get my hands on a modern set later this year.
I've been playing Hades on XBOX Game Pass. It's great fun. I will soon publish my favourite releases on the XBOX platform. They have made some horrible choices for their brand recently, and I fear it's killed the brand as a viable alternative to PlayStation.
Programming
I don't think I have the mind for programming at a professional level. I have been doing it for 7 years now, on and off, but it is never been more than a means to an end. The development process is incredibly tedious. I've realised it's not my strength, and that's okay. I still enjoy developing this blog with a manageable level of coding work.
Tooling
Notion (app) is still king. I use it for all my projects and I can't imagine using anything else ever again. It's stupid easy to stay on top of all my work. I maintain a single database with all my projects. I use a single 'project journal' for each project. I keep an ever-growing task list and knock things off whenever I'm able to. I organise my random notes that I collect as sub-pages on the 'master project list' once a week. Works like a charm. My productivity has skyrocketed.
Health
I've been going to the gym for a few months now and feeling better week after week. I keep track of my progress in a Google Sheet and an app called Hevy. It's fun to see your numbers go up.
Improved decision making
My sister wanted to buy a new laptop. I made a Notion database for her and used an easy scoring technique to get a weighted score for each laptop. I asked her what she was looking for in a laptop, then I ranked each requirement and gave them a weight (e.g. 0.3) based on my expertise as a developer and computer enthusiast. Her budget determined which laptops were eligible. I compiled a list of suitable laptops and scored them. Then I let Notion score each feature. It was stupid easy to select a new laptop this way. I used the same technique to help a friend pick a new coffee table for her new apartment.