The Bike Shed

Start taking notes in this episode as Joël and Valerie discuss the different ways in which they structure their note taking systems to improve their workflows.

Together they cover the best ways to get started with serious note taking, how to best map out your thoughts so they make the most sense when you come back round to them, as well as examining the different use cases they have for them both over the course of a working day.

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The Sponsor for this episode has been Judoscale - Autoscale the Right Way. Check out the link for your free gift!

Take notes like a pro with Obsidian and then read what Joël has to say on his own note taking.

Your guest this week has been Valerie Burzynski, and your host for this episode has been thoughtbot’s own Joël Quenneville.

If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website.

Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: [email protected]

This has been a thoughtbot podcast.

© 2025 thoughtbot, inc.

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Credit: Ad-read music by joystock.org

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Joël and thoughtbot colleague Sally Hall set out to find an answer to the question, what exactly are the differences between paper data structures and digitals ones?

They compare the different ways humans store and access data, from rolodexs to the dewey decimal system, browsing a system vs searching it, and how the digital age has changed the way we assess and look at data stored in those systems.

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Change your organisational workflow and get yourself a Rolodex!

Find out more about the Dewey Decimal System.

Your guest this week has been [Sally Hall](linkedin.com/in/sallyannahall), and your host for this episode has been thoughtbot’s own Joël Quenneville.

If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website.

Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: [email protected]

This has been a thoughtbot podcast.

© 2025 thoughtbot, inc.

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Joël and fellow thoughtboter Aji Slater examine the unfamiliar world of Typescript and various ways of working within it’s system.

They lay out the pros and cons of Typescript over other environments such as Ruby and Elm and discuss their experience of adopting LLM partners to assist in their workflows. Using ChatGPT and Claude to verify code and trim down syntax, all while trying to appease the type checker.

Discover the little tips, tricks and bad habits they picked up along the way while working with their LLM buddies in an effort to improve efficiency.

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Check out Ruby2D for all your 2D app needs!

You can connect with Aji via LinkedIn and GitHub, or check out some of the topics they've written about over on their thoughtbot blog.

Your host for this episode has been Joël Quenneville.

If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website.

Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: [email protected]

This has been a thoughtbot podcast.

© 2025 thoughtbot, inc.

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Joël enlists the help of thoughtbot colleague Sally Hall as they dive into the complex world of time zones, daylight savings, measurements and coding.

Together they discuss their struggles with daylight savings throwing off their recent project reporting, the constant struggles of writing for different time zones and why writing your own code is never worth the hassle, and the similar battle of writing for different units of measurement.

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Check out the idea behind "If Hemingway Wrote Javascript" and how it could help you with your coding.

Watch Tom Scott’s own slow decent into madness over timezones and coding.

Your guest this week has been Sally Hall, and your host for this episode has been thoughtbot’s own Joël Quenneville.

If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website.

Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: [email protected]

This has been a thoughtbot podcast.

© 2025 thoughtbot, inc.

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Joël turns to fellow thoughtboter Jimmy Thigpen as he looks to expand his knowledge about the wide world of Typescripts.

Together they discuss the differences between Typescript and other common systems such as Elm and Javascript, how to best handle their edge cases and error flags, as well as the benefits of using Zod as your typescript library.

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Just starting out in Typescript? Try enabling Strict Mode!

Try out Zod for yourself in their browser playground, or check out Zod's homepage for more info.

If you’d like to contact Jimmy about all things Typescript he can be found over on LinkedIn

Your host for this episode has been thoughtbot’s own Joël Quenneville.

If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website.

Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: [email protected]

This has been a thoughtbot podcast.

© 2025 thoughtbot, inc.

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Joël talks with fellow thoughtboter Fritz Meissner about the thinking process behind his latest kata project and the vast world of coding problems.

Fritz explains why he developed the noisy animals kata and how it helped to better understand and streamline his code, the best ways to break down conditionals and how to clean them up efficiently within your workflow, as well as knowing where the limits of improvement are in each project you work on.

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Refine your conditional logic technique with a copy of 99 Bottles of OOP and then test your skills with Fritz’s Noisy Animals Kata. Compare notes with Joël and Fritz to see how you stack up once you’re done!

Listen to Joël’s RailsConf talk The Math Every Programmer Needs or check out some previous episodes for a refresher on some of the logic and math topics discussed in this show - Ep 398 - Ep 353 - Ep 418 - Ep 428

If you’d like to contact Fritz about his Kata or anything else programming related he can be found via LinkedIn

Your host for this episode has been thoughtbot’s own Joël Quenneville.

If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website.

Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: [email protected]

This has been a thoughtbot podcast.

© 2025 thoughtbot, inc.

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Joël is joined by fellow thoughtboter Aji Slater as they discuss their previous experiences in designing content for workshops.

Learn how to best structure your workshop for an audience, the benefits of a workshop over a talk and vice versa, as well as how to tackle the different hurdles your audience might face when working through your presentation.

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Try your hand at Joël’s recommendation of visualising your Git Branching.

You can watch Ali’s Enigma Machine workshop here, Or connect with them via LinkedIn

Your host for this episode has been Joël Quenneville.

If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website.

Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: [email protected]

This has been a thoughtbot podcast.

© 2025 thoughtbot, inc.

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Happy New Year from The Bike Shed!

Tune in to the one wrapped edition that really matters this holiday season, The Bike Shed Wrapped! Recap the year with Joël and Stephanie as they reminisce over their favourite moments of 2024.

The pair discuss ways they’ve stepped outside their comfort zone to gain a different perspective on their work, the growth they’ve each achieved as a result, and their ambitions for 2025 and beyond.

Discover Joël and Stephanie’s favourite episodes from the year as well as Joël’s favourite blog post of 2024.

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Re-listen to Joël and Stephanie’s top four episodes of 2024

Want to hear Joël’s gnome voice? Watch his RailsConf Talk!

Your hosts for this episode have been thoughtbot’s own Stephanie Minn and Joël Quenneville.

If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website.

Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: [email protected]

This has been a thoughtbot podcast.

© 2024 thoughtbot, inc.

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Stephanie is joined by follow thoughtbot-er Steve Polito as they discuss his latest GitHub resource, Botcasts.

Find out why Steve was so keen to make the app, what he learnt about Hotwire in the process and why he thinks you should stop listening to the show in your current pod-catcher and pick it up in Botcasts instead!

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Try building Botcasts for yourself over on Github!

Your host for this episode has been thoughtbot’s own Stephanie Minn, and was accompanied by Steve Polito.

You can find more of Steve’s work over on GitHub, or read what he has to say about his work on thoughtbot’s blogs. If you want to connect with Steve you can do so through LinkedIn.

Interested in birds instead? Why not check out Stephanie’s book recommendation!

If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website.

Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: [email protected]

This has been a thoughtbot podcast.

© 2024 thoughtbot, inc.

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It’s officially the holidays at the Bike Shed! Defrag your hard drives and take a break with Joël and Stephanie as they breakdown different ways to manage your focus during the day.

The pair discuss separating coding time from thinking time when working, the pros and cons of blocking out time for different tasks and clever ways to move seamlessly from one project to the next without losing momentum.

Joël has some more timezone facts to share, while Stephanie reveals her worst enemy when it comes to productivity.

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Try out the Pomodoro system in your workflow and let us know if it works for you!

Your hosts for this episode have been thoughtbot’s own Stephanie Minn and Joël Quenneville.

If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website.

Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: [email protected]

This has been a thoughtbot podcast.

© 2024 thoughtbot, inc.

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