White Rabbit Pursuits

Since I’ve been writing a lot more lately, and referencing a lot of other articles while I’m at it, I’ve found myself craving an app that could help me with indexing my reads, as well as generate citations in customised formats. 

Thinking about this, reminded me of a post I said I would write for a friend. It was meant to be a list of ideas for apps I’d like to use. 

So here goes: 

Fitbit for dogs 

So I can track my dog and see how he’s doing even when I’m travelling. Must be non-invasive.

Indexing app

That pulls all my highlights from all the different places that I do my reading — Kindle, Medium, other articles, books etc and generates citations in a format that I specify. 

A multi e-wallet app 

In which I can top up any of the e-wallets I use, as well as use the e-wallet at any merchant that accept them (or the connected card). There are so many e-wallets in use in Malaysia, as well as overseas. I’d like to have less apps on my phone. Please, thanks!

Investment app

For me to keep track of all my investments in one place (and give me feedback) so I don’t have to disturb my advisor all the time. Must be very secure, of course. 

Voice to text to-do list

That formats properly. Right now all my to-do lists involve me having to type. Google Keep has great voice recognition but I still have to tap on the screen etc. 

If any of these already exist, let me know! 

I began a short experiment with working remotely earlier this week and thus far, there have been hiccups. 

I’m across the world from home now on a trip I didn’t pay for, being a part of something that I didn’t think I’d ever be a part of. It’s exciting, and before I took off from Kuala Lumpur, I decided that I’d use these two weeks as an experiment. 

It’s easy to work remotely in Kuala Lumpur, where I have everything I need. But when you’re traveling, I realise that there are other things to consider. 

#1 Jetlag is real

Due to my spotty sleeping habits, I’ve never truly experienced jet lag. But after flying about 30 hours to a country where you’re 12 hours behind your usual timezone, there are some effects. I’ll admit that my brain isn’t operating as efficiently as it should after all that. 

A possible solution to this is probably to not schedule multiple meetings — both on-site and via call on the first day you arrive. 

#2 Internet connectivity isn’t the same everywhere

If your work involves having to be online — video calls, live videos and such — make sure you have access to better Internet connections. 

Although the hotel here has wifi, it’s not as decent as what I have back home. I’m currently using my travel wifi and it’s alright, but there are moments when it’s as if I’ve been taken back to the days of dial-up Internet. 

But I have one more week of experimentation. Let’s see how it goes!

I remember how I first started coding. 

In Form Five, I built an Angelfire page that consisted only of Johnny Depp pictures that I found around the Internet. This was before the word “google” became a verb and I still used a search engine called Searchalot. (I googled and it still exists!)

I didn’t know any frameworks, and my HTML-only site was ugly af by today’s standards but the feeling of creating something of my own, just the way I wanted it, was magnificent. 

When I discovered blogging, my fascination with the Internet grew. It didn’t matter that barely anyone read my writing. It was enough that the people who did, were engaged. We had conversations. 

In his article on the value of personal websites, Matthias Ott writes that “the primary objective still is to have a place to express ourselves, to explore ourselves, a place that lasts while the daily storms pass by”.

He calls a personal website a “place to tell your story” and suggests that we find ways to create connections between a large range of personal sites so that we still have our personal spaces, while being a part of wider conversations.

For the last month or so, I’ve been weaning myself off social media. Writing here and having longer conversations via email / chat with readers has been far more edifying than the likes or comments on social. 

I’m using WordPress.com now, which I chose because I wanted to just focus on the words. But as a coder, I’m starting to feel its limits.

Let’s see how far I take this feeling.  

In The Four-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss and How to be a Capitalist Without Any Capital by Nathan Latka, they both talk about what it means to be part of the New Rich.

It’s not so much about having billions of dollars. It’s more about being able to do the things you want to, experiencing the things you want to, owning your time. All while seeing your bank balance grow.

I’ve been told that many of the tactics in those books are not applicable if you’re a resident in a Southeast Asian country. (Some of the tactics actually do talk about outsourcing labour to Asians, which is cheaper because of the currency advantage.)

But I’ve learned a lot from these books. It’s not about blindly following tactics. In order to be a member of the New Rich, it’s the endgame that we need to focus on.

How do we make more money, while spending less time on things that we think of as work?

How do we make more money, while doing the things that we enjoy?

How do we make our money work for us? How do we make it work even more efficiently? How do we use that money to get the most value out of life?