Hello!

It's been a while since I last posted here - 18 weeks exactly. Some of you know the real reason I stepped away from the keyboard, but for those who missed it, life took an amazingly good (and chaotic) turn with the arrival of our son Minchu 10 weeks ago. All the time leading up to the birth was spent in parks, walking around the colourful streets of Basavangudi, and spending what felt like the last few days of being just a couple with Varsha.

I wanted to push this out - one so that I can talk about Minchu and the changes he's brought to our lives, but also because this newsletter celebrates the last week of my 34th revolution around our friendly neighbourhood star.

-Teej

🚨 The Poop Protocol

It's 3 am. The baby grunts with a long mmmm. And the diaper, which we use only at night, has become heavy and soggy. Pulling yourself from the half-asleep state, while your partner is exhausted, only chaos reigns during the night.

This is when we developed the poop protocol - a simple system that kept our sanity intact, and made managing the midnight blowouts seem like a breeze.

* Warm water in the kettle, within arm's reach

* A caddy with

* Fresh diapers/langots neatly stacked nearby

* Clean clothes, in case you need them

* Small towels folded

Sounds quite obvious, right? But here's what I learnt - even smart people make questionable choices in the face of chaos (and sleep deprivation)! The protocol is about having systems in place, so that your brain doesn't have to think - a ritual, nay, a habit - that you can run on autopilot.

The magic of having systems in place is that you know by the end of it, your desired outcome will be fulfilled. It's the assurance that lets you coast while working at 30% capacity.

Meal prepping, coding with AI/LLM, everything is a system that you can develop and leverage!

🕉️ Dichotomy of the Ancient vs Modern

I joined a sandyavandane class, essentially to understand the nuances of some of the Vedas that we were taught as children. sandyavandane for those of you who don't know, is essentially a sun salutation - praying to the light coming from the sun. Every weekend, I sit in a class of 400 others and recite and understand 3000-year-old hymns praising the pagan roots we have - the sun, the water, etc.

This, juxtaposed with the software work I currently do, felt like jarring cognitive whiplash! I mean, how do you reconcile ancient wisdom traditions while building AI-powered apps? But lately, I'm realising they're not opposing forces - they're complementary forces(?) for different problems.

The Vedas teach presence, patience, and connection to something larger than immediate desires. Code teaches iteration, problem-solving, and building systems that serve others. Both are technologies for human flourishing, just operating on different timescales.

And both have enough meaning buried deep inside, if you have the right tools to peel them open!

🛏️ The Floor Bed

For the longest time, I've had a floor mattress. Luckily, my partner, too, was accustomed to a floor bed long before I met her. When we moved to Mysore, one of the first things I did was dismantle the cot and convert the mattress to a floor bed - not by choice, but because the bed proved to be too small for the three of us!

Best. Decision. Ever!

Suddenly, everything seems easier in the room - night routines, poop protocols, and the best part - no fear of the baby (and more importantly a parent) rolling off! This has also enabled easier nursing positions, simplified sheet changes, and felt like an upgrade instead of a compromise.

This is happening everywhere in my life now.Limited work hours due to baby care? I'm shipping more focused, intentional projects.Can't travel easily? I'm exploring my immediate neighbourhood more deeply (discovered a new idli joint nearby!).Fewer social commitments? Deeper relationships with the people who matter.No time to send out this weekly newsletter? Let's face it, I have no excuse other than "I have a new human".

Sometimes, the constraint is the solution! When you can't have everything, you discover what you truly need.

🎯 The Vision Test

Before Minchu, I was the king of shiny object syndrome. I still am!New project idea? Let's do it! Interesting opportunity? Why not! My attention was scattered across a dozen half-finished projects.

Now, with maybe 2-3 focused hours per day, I've developed what I call the "Vision Test" for any new idea:

* Does this directly accelerate my path to the farm vision?

* Can it be completed in less than 10 hours total?

* Will it generate recurring income with minimal maintenance?

If it's not three YES answers, it goes into a parking lot and gets forgotten like the cars and bikes outside a Bangalore police station. This simple filter has been life-changing.

When resources are scarce, you stop optimising for options and start optimising for outcomes.

🖥️ AI Coding Assistants

Years ago, I led a team where I had one amazing coder who couldn't communicate, and one amazing person to talk to who would take forever to understand the docs. Cursor + Claude is exactly like an unpaid intern version of these two!

I've spent significant time with both tools (and some with ChatGPT for its superior image generation capabilities). I've had days where I think I'm shepherding the tools in a good direction, only to realise they've walked off a cliff and I need to trash all development. Days when some of the changes the tools suggest amaze me.

What I've realised is that it's a lot more art than logic - similar to how managing a team is! Prompting, nudging, and making sure things are broken down into the smallest of pieces is how you can get work done by them.

It's like Aladdin's genie - Phenomenal cosmic powers! Itty bitty living space - LLMs now have amazing capabilities, but lose their context very easily.

End Note

Writing this feels like coming home. The newsletter format forces me to step back and extract meaning from the daily chaos, which is exactly what I need right now.

Life with a newborn is simultaneously the most natural thing in the world and the most disorienting. Every day brings new challenges that somehow feel both unprecedented and eternal. But buried in all this beautiful chaos are lessons about systems, priorities, and what matters.

If you've liked this post, I'd love it if you could share it with a friend. You can get them to subscribe here

I do my best to have 5 "fun" things I've been working on every week, hopefully on Thursdays. I'm stoked you're here on my journey, and would love to read/hear about what you think. If you think there are other things we can look at, do them my way!

Thanks for being here and reading all this. See you soon!Teej

P.S. - Minchu says hi. He also says "waaaah", but I think that's unrelated to the newsletter quality. Also, go read Minchu's weekly posts.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit teejofalltrades.substack.com