Some of my most productive moments happen when I'm so focused that time disappears. I love when that happens. What I'm noticing lately is that working with Claude creates its own rhythm. I'll set it on a task that takes a few minutes to process. While it works, I could open two more tasks and start bouncing between them. Sometimes that works. Sometimes I end up scattered, getting less done than if I'd just waited. What's been working better: I step away from the computer entirely. Yesterday I...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Last evening, my husband and I went for a walk. Along the way, an elderly neighbor asked for help picking cherries from his tree. Long story short, we ended up with over a gallon of cherries and I had the opportunity to figure out what to do with them. It gave me a taste of what seasonal living is really like. I grew up having everything available year round at supermarkets. I often wonder about what life was like before modern conveniences. What did people do? Well, when your neighbor's...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
I finished a book last night that made me mad. And I mean that in the best possible way. Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke had a premise I couldn't resist: a tradwife influencer forced to actually live in 1855. As someone who believes the past holds real wisdom worth recovering, I was curious. I wanted to see an author take that question seriously. She didn't. And I've been sitting with why that bothers me so much. I also wasn't expecting to end up disappointed in Anne Hathaway. You don't need...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Last week, I talked about my excitement to try out building with Claude. I built two full apps that actually work! (If you're interested in trying them out, let me know, would love feedback) And I mentioned at the end how my neck hurt. Well, it got worse. I spent that whole weekend resting because it literally hurt to move my head. And on top of that, I had my monthly reminder to slow down — the kind that comes whether you're ready for it or not. I find that when I actually honor that time in...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Heyo, I thought I might share some rougher thoughts and experiences with you. The more I work with LLMs, the more I see the signatures of LLM-speak in the posts and content I read. I use it, obviously, and I'm finding it so refreshing to human-written stuff. Both are true! And I do believe we can create beautifully human things with AI assistance. I use different AI tools for different purposes. I use both ChatGPT and Claude. And I always have. I've found that they're great at different...
3 months ago • 1 min read
There's a moment that happens for a lot of us before we're fully awake. Before we've had water, before we've looked out the window, before we've noticed how we actually feel. We reach for our phone. I've done it many times. And for a long time I didn't think much of it. It's just what you do. But lately I've been sitting with a question that's hard to shake: what was I doing before that became automatic? What was I reaching toward before I started reaching for a screen? I've been thinking a...
4 months ago • 2 min read
I heard someone say this in a call with writers the other day. It's understandable to be resentful of large language models (LLMs) when you're a writer and see the market flood with AI generated content. It can feel discouraging. Especially when you take pride in your craft as a writer. I totally get it. However, the stance "anti-AI, pro-human" gives me pause. For one thing, are you sure you're anti-AI? Do you use Google to search information? Do you check the weather? Do you use Netflix or...
4 months ago • 1 min read
I've spent years watching people interact with technology they didn't fully understand. Not judging them. Studying them. I’m a user experience (UX) researcher and I make my living studying how our users interact with our products and translate that information to the team so they can make actionable decisions. I observe research participants navigate screens that my team created and talk through their confusion out loud. In the process, they reveal exactly what works and what doesn't. My job...
4 months ago • 2 min read
I travel a lot. Sometimes for work. Mostly for pleasure. And I love it. It's what I dreamed of being able to do when I was younger. And it's also challenging to stick to your ideal way of eating. There's always a balance because you want to experience the local cuisine and you also don't want to throw yourself off too much. You'll hear me talking a lot about the Three Zone Framework. I first developed it to help us have a way to relate to technology. Then I realized we can use it for...
4 months ago • 1 min read