Notes on Things
Books, games, films, tools, or any ideas that don’t fit anywhere else but are worth writing down. The miscellaneous notes of an examined life.
A Practical Guide for Unlocking Your Reading Habit: Mindset & Action
Have you noticed that activities like socializing and reading have always been considered cool in every era? It’s the same way we look up to someone who consistently goes to the gym and takes care of their body. I see reading as a positive lifestyle that everyone validates, because money alone cannot replicate it. You…
Learning Note: On Being Smart and Pleasant to Be Around
I’ll have my undergrad thesis defense next week and finally [unofficially] graduate. Which means I’m going to have to decide what to display on my portfolio in order to apply for a Master’s degree and jobs. It’s quite worrying. I feel the unrealistic pressure to be in the top 1% of certain skills just to…
One Move at a Time: Lessons From My Chess Journey
“I spend hours playing chess because I find it so much fun. The day it stops being fun is the day I give up.” –Magnus Carlsen Chess is a wonderful game. If you don’t believe me, try playing for a week. There is no GUI or a pop up congratulating you when you do the…
Why Retro Games Are Still Worth Playing
Gaming is fun. But as a young adult who is finishing his undergrad thesis, I don’t get much time to play. A year ago I found the wonderful online community of retro gaming, and I was hooked to the point that I bought this retro handheld a few months ago. It is called the Miyoo…
Finding Focus: The Power of Digital Minimalism
A few months back, I tried this offline EDC thing to fight my doomscrolling addiction. You can read about it in my previous post here: The concept was really charming: carry a handheld gaming console, an ebook reader, basically anything to keep me off my phone and stop the mindless scrolling. Spoiler alert: it didn’t…
Overcoming Math Anxiety with A Mind for Numbers by Barbara Oakley
Numbers are scary. That’s the notion we all developed when we went through math in school. Unless you’re a big nerd. Duh. Jokes aside, the ability to do math and science is critical for unlocking valuable opportunities and skills. By not trying to sharpen your math, I definitely think you’re wasting your maximum brain potential.…
My Anti-Distraction EDC: A Toolkit for Reclaiming Focus
I’d noticed a growing unrest and anxiety bothering me, a direct result of my doomscrolling and Instagram Reels habit spiraling out of control. I decided it was time for a change. I remembered a time before I had a smartphone, when I could finish tasks with genuine focus. It struck me that attention is the…
Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon: My Reading Notes
As an introvert, I’ve hidden my serious work for most of my life, always appearing as the class clown. Thus, when people get the chance to talk with me one-on-one, they’re often surprised at how serious I am. I hated self-promotion; I saw it as expressing arrogance. However, I’ve since realized that I did not…
Embrace Creativity No Matter What: Lessons from Franz Schubert
The creative projects you put off could be a novel on your hard drive, the guitar in the corner of the room, an empty sketchbook, an unfinished poem, or anything you can think of. Why is it so damn hard to find time? The circumstances are not always ideal. You got bills to pay, school,…
Study Effectively: What MOST People Misunderstand about The Feynman Technique
If you just type in Google “How to learn/study efficiently?”. You would probably find a bunch of content explaining the Feynman Technique. For those who don’t know, the Feynman Technique is a learning technique named after Richard Feynman that amplifies comprehension. It usually consists of 4 steps: It seems extraordinarily straightforward and linear. You rapidly learn…
