# DeveloPassion's Newsletter 78 - Heat waves Hello everyone! I’m [Sébastien Dubois](https://www.dsebastien.net/), your host. You’re receiving this email because you signed up for [DeveloPassion’s Newsletter](https://www.dsebastien.net/tag/newsletter/). Thank you for being here with me ✨ If you enjoy this newsletter, then [become a supporter](https://www.getrevue.co/profile/dsebastien/members) ❤️. It will help me keep going! Welcome to the 78th edition Another week, another newsletter! I hope that you all had a great one 🤩 This week was my last week of work for August. I’ve decided to take a few weeks off to recharge. There won’t be a full-blown newsletter in the next couple of weeks. I rarely go offline for so long, but this year is definitely not a usual one. I’ll do my best to come back in the best possible conditions to spend the rest of the year with you all. I’m very grateful for all the kind words I’ve received these last few weeks, as I was going through these difficult times. It means a lot 🙏 If you get value out of this newsletter, then [become a supporter](https://www.getrevue.co/profile/dsebastien/members). This will give you the possibility to join my private community, and it will help me keep going. ## Heat waves As I’m writing these lines, a [new heat wave is upon us in Europe](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-08/europe-braces-for-extreme-heat-as-power-infrastructure-wobbles). Temperatures of ~36 degrees (96.8 Fahrenheit) are expected in various countries, and Belgium is no exception. Heat waves tend to slow everything down, and even stop some things entirely. Few systems can sustain extreme temperatures for a long period of time without failure. As people try to cool off using air conditioners and consuming much more water than usual, power infrastructures and water reserves suffer a lot. Just like those systems, we humans also suffer from our own sorts of heat waves. Those get caused by overwork, overthinking, anxiety, high levels of stress, health issues, lack of sleep, etc. ![[heat-waves.png Caption: It's hard to keep momentum when we're hit by heat waves]] And just like those systems, when we get hit by a heat wave, we have to slow down, cool off, and recharge. If we don’t take the warning signs into account early enough, then we risk *catastrophic* failure, sickness, burnout, or worse. The thing is that most of us don’t learn to “monitor” ourselves and don’t know how to interpret the warning signs. Some of us even live in denial and don’t accept the truth when faced with it. The solution is not so much to anticipate those heat waves, but rather to design our environment so that those either never happen or are much less severe. If we feel stressed all the time, then we need to switch gears, find a new job, a new position, a different work schedule, etc. Same if we feel exhausted, demotivated, bored, anxious, etc. We need to design our work around our lives and not the other way around. The future of work is not only remote, but it is also much more aligned with our core values, with our specific needs, and is respectful of our own biological rhythm. It’s not an option, it’s a necessity. Society just takes too long to realize and adjust. Way too long. The good news is that we don’t need to wait for society to evolve. Maturity is responsibility. It’s up to us to take responsibility for our own well-being. Productivity really needs a rethink. Hustle culture is toxic and shouldn’t be promoted in any way. Yes, it’s okay to be in a rush from time to time, but no it’s not okay to always have to be at 110%. We are not meant to work like that. Just like the electrical infrastructure is not made to be put under intense pressure all the time. What we need instead is wellbeing-driven productivity, as [Martine Ellis](https://twitter.com/MartineGuernsey) calls it, or Zen productivity, as I like to call it. That is, sustainable productivity. Productivity that does not hurt us, and does not lead to heat waves. Think about that the next time you “feel the heat”! ## The Lab 🧪 This week was slow but interesting. After publishing [[The Feynman Technique (Article)|my latest article]] and sharing it on [Hacker News](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32340216), it quickly appeared on the front page and stayed there for a few hours. As usual, this led to a huge spike in visits: ![[2022-08-04-hn-visits-spike.png Caption: Visits on my Website this week]] This, in turn, led to many new subscribers to the newsletter, a few sales, new friends on Twitter, and a boost in ad revenue 🎉 I did not realize it until today, but I’m now past \$5K revenue on Gumroad. Quite cool! ![[2022-W31-gumroad-5k.png Caption: Reached 5K on Gumroad 🎉]] I’ve added a new option to the [Obsidian Starter Kit](https://www.store.dsebastien.net/product/obsidian-starter-kit/): an hour of coaching. I hope to book a few calls in September and learn more about how to help my customers. Fun times ahead! I’ve now sold ~180 copies of the Obsidian Starter Kit, and really feel like I’m just at the beginning of a long journey. I want to help raise awareness about modern note-making solutions and how they can help people reach their goals. On other news, I’ve bought a new camera and lens. I have more than I need to get started with YouTube when I return in September. I’ll just have to pick the first topic to cover (all ideas are welcome!), and to learn more about video editing 😂 ![[2022-W31.png Caption: Some of the things I've learned this week]] ## Recent articles [[The Feynman Technique (Article)|The Feynman Technique]] Richard Feynman has given us a wonderful technique to improve the way we learn. Discover the famous Feynman technique and start learning more effectively [[The Feynman Technique (Article)|dsebastien.net]] ## Quotes of the week - “The secret of change is to focus all your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new” — Socrates - “Some pivots are sudden, born of formative instants. Other song slow arcs. With these, the changing direction becomes clear only when you check your rearview mirror or raise your eyes to see a different vista stretching out in front of you” — Lisa McKay ## Books of the week [Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman](https://amzn.to/3oZUwY9) In this sweeping biography, James Gleick captures the forceful personality of a great man, integrating Feynman’s work and life in a way that is accessible to laymen and fascinating for the scientists who follow in his footsteps [Malcolm Gladwell - Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know](https://amzn.to/3BRFRWu) Something is very wrong, Gladwell argues, with the tools and strategies we use to make sense of people we don’t know. And because we don’t know how to talk to strangers, we are inviting conflict and misunderstanding in ways that have a profound effect on our lives and our world ## Tips of the week [Four science-backed strategies to stop a vicious cycle of self-defeating thoughts](https://www.inverse.com/mind-body/rumination-4-ways-to-stop) Rumination typically refers to excessive, repetitive thinking about personal problems. It often results in emotional distress. [(7) [email protected] \| MiniMail - Free Disposable Email Address](https://minimail.eu.org/[email protected]) Get a free instant mailbox and use it to hide your real email from spam. ## How cool is that?! [How normal am I?](https://www.hownormalami.eu/) Experience the world of face detection algorithms in this freaky test. ## Thinking and learning links of the week [Tiago Forte \| Building a Second Brain \| Talks at Google](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y86GOtc1KNo) Tiago Forte discusses his latest book “Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential”, a revoluti… [Feynman's Lost Lecture (ft. 3Blue1Brown)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdIjYBtnvZU) Check out Grant’s channel: 3blue1brown: [https://www.youtube.com/3blue1brownThis](https://www.youtube.com/3blue1brownThis) video recounts a lecture by Richard Feynman giving an elementary demonstratio… [Why Is the Human Brain So Efficient? - Nautilus \| Science Connected](https://nautil.us/why-is-the-human-brain-so-efficient-7216/) [6 ways to heal trauma without medication \| Bessel van der Kolk \| Big Think](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoZT8-HqI64) 6 ways to heal trauma without medication, from the author of “The Body Keeps the Score,” Bessel van der KolkSubscribe to Big Think on YouTube ►► [https://www](https://www/)…. [What Is the Cost of a Cashless Society? \| The Walrus](https://thewalrus.ca/cashless-society/) The trend toward digital payment could shortchange the country’s most vulnerable ## Tech links of the week [NestJS v9 is now available - Trilon Consulting](https://trilon.io/blog/nestjs-9-is-now-available) Today I am excited to announce the official release of Nest 9: A progressive Node.js framework for building efficient and enterprise-grade, server-side applications. [Technical Writing: a bibliography, tips, and tricks — Niklas's blog](https://pivic.blog/blog/technical-writing/) Your description for this link… [Data Mesh Architecture](https://www.datamesh-architecture.com/) A data mesh architecture is a decentralized approach that enables domain teams to perform cross-domain data analysis on their own. [GitLab U-turns on deleting dormant projects after backlash • The Register](https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/05/gitlab_reverses_deletion_policy/) Gitlab wanted to get rid of inactive projects. Then they faced a huge backslash and abandoned the idea 😂 ## Indie Hacking and bootstrapping [How Much Money Do Indie Hackers Products Make? \| Scraping Fish](https://scrapingfish.com/blog/indie-hackers-revenue) We analyzed the available data to check how much revenue are those products making and what are the most money making categories! [📺 Lessons starting a \$500M & a \$5M company in 5 years. \| Siliconvict](https://siliconvict.com/articles/5-lessons-starting-a-500m-a-5m-company-in-5-years) You’re here because I put big numbers in the title and the most important thing in the world is money so you’re like, “Fuck, I guess I need to read what this shithead has to say.” Summary tl;dr: Starting your second company after a successful first one is easy, and it’s e… [I Launched A Profitable Side Project With \$400 - Starter Story](https://www.starterstory.com/stories/ctrlalt-cc) Hey! I’m Daniela and I started CtrlAlt.CC - a directory (with a twist) that helps you easily find tools that might fly under the radar, but will make your startup life a lot easier. I started CtrlAlt.CC at the beginning of 2021 as a side project and only recently did things start to kic… [Stop Leaving Money on the Table: 5 Proven Psychology Tips to Catapult Your Conversions](https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/425797) Words sell. Injecting psychology into them will help boost your conversion rate and make you more money. [Subscribe to the newsletter](https://www.dsebastien.net/#/portal/signup/free) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ## Go Further LINK: [[10 Essential Knowledge Management Methods Every Professional Should Master (Article)]] LINK: [[Why Obsidian is All You Need - From Simple Notes to Complete Productivity (Article)]] LINK: [[The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Obsidian (Article)]] **Want to go deeper?** LINK: [Knowii Community - Master Knowledge Management + AI \| From €4.99/month](https://www.store.dsebastien.net/product/knowii-community)