I typically spend a large part of the weekend and most of the public holidays resisting the urge to sit down and do some work. That is obviously a terrible state of affairs and it is not a lot of fun either, so what’s up and why not give in?

https://josvisser.substack.com/p/taming-the-monkey-brain

Being certain means that you don’t have to think about anything anymore, which results in more speed. You might be going in the wrong direction, but at least you are going fast, which is a great boon for all the people who confuse motion with progress. It also makes you look decisive...

Listen here or read and subscribe at https://josvisser.substack.com/p/the-unfortunate-desire-for-certainty

English is a great language and given that we all have to work together we need to speak a common language. I don’t care whether that’s English or something else, but since, for better or for worse, it is English (much to the chagrin of the French. by the way), let’s be aware that many people speak, read, and write English phenomenally well, but not perfectly, and let’s have that awareness influence our communication.

Read the full article, with bonus content at https://josvisser.substack.com/p/you-can-read-this

You should give yourself time to really reach the summit of any mountain you are going to climb, but you need to attack that mountain with a plan, and not just start ambling up the incline...

Read this article at https://josvisser.substack.com/p/ramping-up-is-hard-to-do. Includes bonus links!

Great chefs know more than just the recipes. They understand _cooking_.

Read the full article (with video!) at : https://josvisser.substack.com/p/the-black-box-engineer

Your value to the company is not that you can design the shiny city on the hill, that’s the easy bit. Your value is that you know how to get there while keeping the swamp that you are in right now functioning.

https://josvisser.substack.com/p/the-swamp-and-the-city

Strategies for how to get things done when you are stuck.

Read the original article (with links to additional content) here: https://josvisser.substack.com/p/overcoming-a-slump

One of the best decisions you can make as a senior person is to make yourself dispensable...

Read or watch at: https://josvisser.substack.com/p/the-gift-of-leaving, with many links to other articles and bonus content :-)

In my life so far I have made lots of mistakes but there are a few things I did well. Taking two very long breaks to figure out what I wanted to do at times when it was not at all obvious to me were among these. I can highly recommend it to anyone. It might be the greatest gift you have ever given yourself.

It is not hard to shine in a dim room...

https://josvisser.substack.com/p/pressure-makes-diamonds