An engineer lost in thought, surrounded by a maze of circuits and the glow of futuristic interfaces.

Lately, I’ve been swamped with projects and short on energy to tackle them, partly because of my worsening eyesight. I have glaucoma, but thankfully no loss of vision. My treatment includes twice-yearly eye pressure checks and nightly latanoprost. Even so, my glasses prescription seems to need constant updates, and I’ve always had a lot of floaters. My ophthalmologist reassures me that the floaters and eye pressure are fine, but my vision keeps changing, which is frustrating. After a recent visit to an optometrist for new glasses (an immediate improvement at first), I quickly found myself struggling again. It’s baffling how fast my eyesight shifts.

This ongoing vision issue is a big reason I’m putting off other projects. Other medical concerns, like my heart health, are actually improving. I have two SunFounder Pis to build, a few minor tasks, and I’m refining my blog and social-event posting software. I expect these projects to be fully functional soon, and I’ll update my blog as they progress.

Despite having plenty to work on, my motivation is flagging.

#technology #personal #productivity

After 12 years being free from corporate, I could never go back.

The other day, I was on a walk, thinking about my professional life and the path that led me to where I am now. I thought about what was next for me (though I'm in no hurry). Start a new project? Join an existing one?

Then it hit me: I'm 100% unemployable.

Specifically, I could never work for a company again. Meetings, presentations, weird lingo, forced office hours and all the pageantry. I couldn't stand them in my pre-entrepreneurial life, I would never have the patience for it now.

Which Makes Me Wonder...

If I were to start another business and hire some folks, how could I create an ambiance that reflects these values of mine, and doesn't include all the garbage that I listed off?

I think I did a good job with this when LearnDash was a small team (up to about 12 people). But when we start pushing 40, we had to do all the “formal stuff”. Performance reviews, managers, bi-annual presentations, staff meetings, etc.

Maybe it's required at scale, but I missed the early days of the flat, nimble structure.

If I start another business, I'd want it to grow, but not grow that big.

#personal