DEV Community: mitchofminify

TOP 5 Awesome Book on Summer 🌳📚🚀

mitchofminify — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 08:10:09 +0000

Now that the holiday season is approaching, I invite you to take a well-deserved break from your screens and immerse yourself in the world of captivating books. This collection of literary treasures has been carefully crafted to pique your curiosity, spark your imagination, and give you a new perspective on your personal and professional development.

Within the pages of these books you'll find a variety of topics ranging from science fiction to personal development and philosophy. Each of these books has the power to captivate, inspire, and enlighten you, making your holiday reading an unforgettable experience

Limes inferior - Janusz Andrzej Zajdel

Limes Inferior 🏙️

People demand far too much from life. (...) They seek happiness and contentment without first trying to figure out what these concepts actually mean.... For me, for example, a perfectly good realization of the idea of happiness is that moment when one lies on one's back rocked by waves, warmed by the sun's rays....

I am a big fan of retro-futurism. That's why I am glad to present you a book by a writer who, along with Stanisław Lem, was one of my favorite representatives of this genre in Poland.

This novel is set in a post-apocalyptic world and follows the journey of a group of survivors struggling to survive. The novel deals with several thought-provoking themes and offers several lessons that readers can take away from the book. The novel addresses the consequences of social inequality and shows the negative effects it can have on individuals and society as a whole. It encourages readers to reflect on the importance of fairness and justice in creating a harmonious and inclusive society.

Zajdel's work addresses the problem of political corruption and its impact on the functioning of a society. The book serves as a cautionary tale and underscores the need for transparency, accountability, and ethical governance

Human Resilience and Resistance: Limes Inferior shows the resilience of people who feel oppressed by unjust systems. Characters are shown overcoming difficult circumstances, fighting oppression, and striving for freedom and equality. This can inspire readers to resist injustice and fight for positive change.

Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams

Why We Sleep 🤔

“if you don’t sleep the very first night after learning, you lose the chance to consolidate those memories, even if you get lots of “catch-up” sleep thereafter. In terms of memory, then, sleep is not like the bank. You cannot accumulate a debt and hope to pay it off at a later point in time. Sleep for memory consolidation is an all-or-nothing event.”

This book is an exploration of the science of sleep and how it affects our lives. It provides a comprehensive look at how sleep works, and how to get the most out of it.

If you want to know why this book will help you, here are some insights from the book:

⭐ During sleep, your brain continues to work on problems and challenges you encountered while awake. It engages in a process called memory reactivation and consolidation, where it reviews and integrates information to form new insights and creative connections.

⭐ Sufficient sleep is crucial for optimal cognitive function and attention. Sleep deprivation can lead to impaired focus, decreased productivity, and difficulty in grasping complex concepts. Developers and learners require mental clarity and the ability to concentrate for extended periods, making quality sleep essential for maintaining optimal performance.
Sleep aids in the learning and acquisition of new skills. It enhances the brain's ability to absorb and retain information, which is particularly important for developers and learners who continuously need to acquire new programming languages, frameworks, or problem-solving techniques. Without adequate sleep, the ability to learn and adapt may be hindered.

⭐ Emotional well-being and stress management: Sufficient sleep promotes emotional well-being and helps regulate emotions. It enables developers and learners to better manage stress and maintain a positive mindset, which are important factors in maintaining productivity and a healthy work-life balance.

Building a Second Brain

Building a Second Brain 🧠

PARA isn’t a filing system; it’s a production system. It’s no use trying to find the “perfect place” where a note or file belongs. There isn’t one. The whole system is constantly shifting and changing in sync with your constantly changing life.

The third book is Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte. It is a guide to leveraging technology to capture, organize, and use information more effectively. It's an invaluable resource for any knowledge worker.

👇Check how I use this method by reading my earlier post

Start managing your projects, notes and every aspect of your life with the Notion and PARA method 💻 ✔️

"Building a Second Brain" by Tiago Forte is a guide to leveraging technology to capture, organize, and use information more effectively. It can teach readers how to create a reliable system for managing information, allowing them to free up mental bandwidth and focus on more important tasks. The book offers practical tips and strategies for managing information overload, creating a personal knowledge management system, and enhancing creativity and productivity.

The Death of Ivan Ilyich

The Death of Ivan Ilyich 💀

“Can it be that I have not lived as one ought?" suddenly came into his head. "But how not so, when I've done everything as it should be done?”

Fourth book is The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy. This classic novel follows the life of a man who has been living a mundane life, only to find himself facing his own mortality. It is a powerful story that explores the meaning of life and death.

"The Death of Ivan Ilyich" is a powerful novel that explores the meaning of life and death. The protagonist, Ivan Ilyich, is a man who has been living a mundane life, focused on his career and social status. When he falls ill and faces his own mortality, he begins to question the value of his life and the choices he has made. Through the character of Ivan Ilyich, Tolstoy invites readers to reflect on the importance of living a meaningful life and the consequences of living a life without purpose. The book encourages readers to consider what is truly important in life and to strive to live in a way that is authentic and fulfilling.

A Book of Five Rings

A Book of Five Rings 🎌

There is no one way to salvation, whatever the manner in which a man may proceed. All forms and variations are governed by the eternal intelligence of the Universe that enables a man to approach perfection. It may be in the arts of music and painting or it may be in commerce, law, or medicine. It may be in the study of war or the study of peace. Each is as important as any other. Spiritual enlightenment through religious meditation such as Zen or in any other way is as viable and functional as any "Way."... A person should study as they see fit.

This classic book is a timeless guide to strategy and tactics.

It encourages readers to approach challenges with a clear mind and to be flexible in their thinking. The book emphasizes the importance of understanding one's opponent and using that knowledge to gain an advantage. Overall, "A Book of Five Rings" is a valuable resource for anyone seeking to improve their strategic thinking and achieve success in their endeavors.

I hope that the above books will prove to be fascinating companions this summer. It's worth giving different literary genres a chance, because each of them can offer something unique. You may just discover new ideas that will enter your mind and inspire you in unusual ways. Reading is a wonderful experience that allows us to discover new worlds, delve into the intricacies of the human mind and develop our imagination.

I wish you an adventurous, stimulating and beautiful summer full of fascinating books!

Top 3 browser extensions to prevent distraction

mitchofminify — Tue, 23 Nov 2021 20:14:14 +0000

In the digital world, it's hard to stay focused for a long time. New notifications and social media feeds keep pushing new “interesting” content to us, effectively distracting us, and before we know it we're spending another hour meaninglessly scrolling through Instagram. Unfortunately, we often lack the willpower to resist such strong social engineering pressure.

I myself often had this problem and was looking for a solution, in this post I would like to introduce you to the tools i use.

Best tools:

BlockSite: Block Websites & Stay Focused

Do you also sometimes look at social media while working hard and before you know it you've spent half an hour browsing stupid memes? There is a simple way to prevent this. BlockSite is an extension thanks to which you can block specific sites and search phrases during working hours.

News Feed Eradicator

Another one is an app that has contributed a lot to my productivity, I use it for youtube, facebook, instagram and twitter. This app blocks feed and all recommended content on these platforms as well as recommended videos on yt. So you can focus only on consuming content related to your work or watching totrials on youtube without fear that you will find another interesting video distracting from your studies.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
Screenshot:

SponsorBlock for YouTube - Skip Sponsorships

Another extension may be a bit controversial, SponsorBlock omits sponsored content from YouTube videos where a device or service is recommended, or simply intro creators to channels. I know that often such ads can last for a long part of the episode, but on the other hand they are also a source of income for the creators. So it is up to you whether you prefer to save your time or watch the commercial and support the creator. I just want you to know that this way of saving time and increasing productivity does exist.

Check them out and let me know how they work for you and let me know what your ways of not getting distracted.
peace!

Start managing your projects, notes and every aspect of your life with the Notion and PARA method 💻 ✔️

mitchofminify — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 15:00:21 +0000

I'm crazy about step and calorie counting, scheduling, pomodoro and all time and task management methods that can increase my productivity and show life in numbers.

I tried different methods of planning and using notes like notepads or Evernote but everything had its weaknesses and I was missing one "all in one" tool.Finally one day I discovered PARA method and notion application and I fell in love with it immediately.

This set of tools takes task management to a new level, from now on you can have all your tasks and notes, ideas and other aspects of your life in one application creating something like a 'secend brain'.Now I keep all my notes, projects, todolists, article links in one place.

P.A.R.A. stands for Projects, Areas, Resources, Archives and it is a method developed by Tiago Forte. It assumes the creation of 4 spaces.

As you can see below I decided to create another page in notion where I manage recurring tasks to do in the following days.

Projects

On this card I write projects to do, a project can be any task that has a specific end, it can be creating an application, learning a new language or mastering a new skill. In the tab with the project we write all its assumptions and track progress.

Areas

Earlier I mentioned other aspects of life that we can track using notion you can do it on this site. Here you can write down everything from your bills, list of books to read, or recipes for your favorite dishes.

Resorces

I think this is the most important aspect of PARA, this is where we store all our knowledge, links and others. With the help of ready-to-use templates, we can create complete knowledge banks.

A useful tool for knowledge egragging is Notion Web Clipper with which we can quickly add links to our databases from our browser.

Knowledge aggregated in this way will assist us in completing projects. This way, when we do it, we won't have to rush around and look for valuable information because everything we need is already in our Notion database. This approach saves a lot of time, for example during the development and allows you to deal with the most important with a clear mind.

Week Agenda

Ok, so we have the projects and materials set up, but there is still the question of how to plan the work on the projects and tasks for the next days.
Well, and in this case Notion can come to the rescue.

The best way I have found is to create a database of to-do tasks and link them to Projects.

Using sorting, we can display daily to-dos only with the current date or display to-dos for the coming days

The big game changer is Notion APi which takes using Notion to the next level. From now on we can simply connect to different applications, add custom integrations and code ragments, automate processes and much more.

Conclusion

As you can see, this method gives us a large toolkit for dealing with a flurry of issues and responsibilities, allowing us to clear our minds and focus on the most important thing. Let me know what you think about this method. And if you know of an equally interesting one let me know!

This is my first post here sorry for any mistakes.
I will be grateful for feedback, let me know if you would like to read more texts about notion API and others.
Peace!