Alex "Gus" Gustafson

Category: Life

  • Louisville Stoneware

    A coffee mug made by Louisville Stoneware
    A bit of home.

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  • Visiting Parents (and Their Cat)

    Made it to my parents’ house for a visit. Hope my cat doesn’t find out I’m ‘cheating’ on him.

    ladybug ber and alex

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  • Repeat Yourself

    One of my favorite bloggers is Seth Godin.

    If you read Seth enough, you’ll find he repeats some of the same ideas a lot. It’s become some ideas are worth repeating.

    Have you ever read a post and thought “I need to come back to this again a few more times to let it sink in.”

    Seth’s blog has that pre-installed.

    What’s a topic you need to repeat for your readers?

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  • To-do Debt Crisis Relief

    My colleague, Bryan Villarin, let me know on Slack last night that he was going to post a response to my “to-do debt” problem.

    I wasn’t expecting it to come so soon or with such detail, but it’s here! If you’re curious about the David Allen Getting Things Done approach to solving my problem, read on:

    “Battle To-Do Debt” on All Narfed Up 

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  • Fake Away

    A state of flow is always something to be desired. How you get there is a path you’ll need to discover on your own. But perhaps your path will look something like mine.

    Put  headphones on to keep the rest of the room out. Turn on some music and put it on loop – something instrumental or maybe an album you’ve heard a million times. Nothing new or interesting that will pull your focus. Keep the volume down lower than you’d expect.

    Turn your phone to silent for the next two hours. More if you like, but two hours is a good start. Set all your communication to away.

    You’re still there, but you won’t get nearly as many alerts, boops, or pings. It’s fake away.

    Next – do just the first one. Just the first email, the first sentence, the first thing that you’re about to do a lot of.

    And keep going. Let the flow take you away.  Just fake away.

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  • Avril 14th by Aphex Twin

    I was really into prepared piano in college. Drukqs is a great album and an even better one if you like prepared piano. This song came up in a piano playlist I listened to on Spotify this week.

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  • The Work Mistake You Should Start Making

    Make the mistake of focusing too much on what matters most, not too little, and relentlessly protect your time from everything else.

    via Sam Altman.

    Some good advice for the rest of your life too. Figure out what matters most and focus on that to the point of too much effort. Avoid the fake work that goes along with everything else. Tons of other nuggets in Sam’s post.

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  • Rule #8

    Don’t try to create and analyze at the same time. They’re different processes.Sister Corita Kent, Immaculate Heart College Art Department Rules

    (Hat tip: Simon)

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  • Turnin’ Knobs by Dopapod

    This track came up in my Spotify “Discover Weekly” playlist and it was amazing for working. I ended up listening to the album “Drawn Onward” on loop while working all day.

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  • Learning to Draw Cartoon Characters

    Batman (from Batman: The Animated Series)
    Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas
    Fluttershy from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

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