The devlog.
Build-in-public notes from a studio of one. What I'm shipping, what changed my mind, and the small decisions behind the apps. Honest, unhurried, occasionally nerdy.
Voice memo journaling: what works, and where it quietly falls apart
I used my phone's voice recorder as a journal for a year. Capturing thoughts was easy. Reading them back was where voice memo journaling quietly fell apart, and here is what I do about it now.
How to find the best time to call someone across time zones
The weekly call home kept slipping, and "sorry, did I wake you" got old fast. Here is how I find the best time to call across time zones now, after years of getting it wrong while living abroad.
Why my Notion second brain kept failing (and what finally stuck)
I built beautiful, over-engineered Notion setups and stopped opening every one of them. Here is why a Notion second brain keeps failing, and the much smaller version that finally stuck.
How to stay active when you work from home
Working from home quietly strips the movement out of your day. Here is the unglamorous, non-hustle version of staying active when your commute is ten steps to a desk.
How to test ad creative without fooling yourself
I nearly bet a month's ad budget on forty clicks. Here is how to test ad creative without fooling yourself: one lever at a time, enough volume to matter and the honesty to kill your favourite.
Spaced repetition for reading: how I remember paper books
Highlighting a book isn't the same as remembering it. Here's the small, low-friction way I use spaced repetition for reading, on paper as well as Kindle.
How to pack for long-term travel when you work remotely
I have lived out of one carry-on for years, working the whole time. Here is how to pack for long-term travel when you also have to work, learned from a lot of overpacking.
Digital journal vs paper: which one you'll actually keep
I kept four paper notebooks badly and a digital journal for three years. The digital journal vs paper question is not really about depth or handwriting. It is about how much sits between you and the first sentence.
How to schedule meetings across time zones without the mental maths
Working from Asia with people in Sydney and London taught me that every time zone mistake I made came from the same habit. Here is how I schedule meetings across time zones now, and the four traps that catch everyone.
Readwise for physical books: what exists and what doesn't
Kindle highlights sync themselves. Paper highlights sit in the book forever. Here is what a Readwise for physical books setup actually looks like, where the tooling gives up and what I do instead.
How long does it take to build an app on your own?
The building was never the slow part. Here is where the months actually went on my last two apps, from a one-person studio, including the bits nobody puts in the estimate.
How to make a wishlist people can actually buy from
Saying "nothing, honestly" when someone asks what you want is not modesty, it just hands them the work. Here is how to make a wishlist that is genuinely useful to the person reading it.
SEO for small websites: what I'd do again, two months in
No budget, no backlinks and a site nobody had heard of. Two months and sixteen posts into doing SEO for a small website, here is what has been worth the time and what I would skip.
How to keep track of gift ideas so December stops being a scramble
The best gift ideas arrive in March and are long gone by December. Here is the small habit I use to keep track of gift ideas all year, one running note per person.
Is co-living worth it for remote work? The honest version
I have spent months in co-living places across Asia while working remotely. The honest version of whether co-living for remote work is worth it, and how I decide now.
How to adjust to a new time zone without a jet lag app
I cross time zones most months and have never used a jet lag app. Here is the low-tech routine that actually resets me to local time: light, meals and one honest alarm.
How to journal when you have no time (and actually keep it going)
For years I blamed the blank page, but the real reason I never kept a journal was time. Here's the one-minute, spoken version that finally fit a busy week and stuck.
How many days do you need in a city? How I decide now
There is no fixed answer to how many days you need in a city, and the listicles that hand you one are guessing. Here is how I decide now, after years of slow travel and remote work across Asia.
How to keep a routine while travelling long-term
My routine fell apart by day four of every long trip until I cut it down to three habits. How to keep a routine while travelling long-term, and restart when it slips.
How to connect goals and habits in Notion (so the daily stuff adds up)
Goals in one database, habits in another, and no line between them. Here is how I connect goals and habits in Notion with a couple of relations, so the daily ticking actually feeds the things I care about.
How to research a travel destination without over-planning the trip
I have over-planned trips into admin and under-planned them into regret. Here is how I research a travel destination now, enough to skip the regret and still leave room to wander.
How to come up with an app idea worth building on your own
Every app I've built started as something that annoyed me, not a brainstorm. Here's the honest filter I run an app idea through before I write a line of code.
Sunrise alarm clock apps: a gentler wake-up without the lamp
I wanted gentler mornings without buying another gadget. How a sunrise alarm clock app turns the phone you own into a wake-up light, and where it falls short.
How to build a side project when you've already got a full-time job
I built Novaire Digital in the hour before work most mornings. The honest version of building a side project while working full time: tiny sessions, ruthless scope, and protecting yourself enough to still be standing in a year.
How to find Wi-Fi you can actually work on while travelling
The listing always says fast Wi-Fi. Here is the ten-minute routine I use to check it before I book, and what I do when the connection lets me down anyway.
How to remember what you read from a paper book
I have a shelf of books I have read and can barely remember. Here is the small, slightly boring habit that finally made the good ones stick, and why paper is the hardest format to get right.
How to set an alarm for a different timezone (and not miss your flight)
Phones handle timezones their own way, and it is not always the way you want at 6am in a new city. Here is how I set alarms across timezones, and the app I built so I could stop doing the maths.
What to write in a journal when your mind goes blank
The blank page is usually a friction problem rather than a lack of things to say. What to write in a journal when your mind goes empty, and the one change that made it mostly stop happening.
Offline journaling: keeping a journal where there's no signal
The moments you most want to write something down are usually the ones with no connection. Why offline journaling matters, and what to check before you trust an app with it.
Own your journal data: how to export it and avoid lock-in
Three years of entries are worth nothing if you can't get them out. How to export your journal data, avoid lock-in, and keep your writing yours.
Using AI as a sounding board when you build alone
When you build alone, every decision runs through one brain. Here is how I use AI as a sounding board to get a second angle, and how I keep that thinking private.
How to keep a travel journal when you're always moving
Three half-filled notebooks taught me that travel breaks every journaling habit. Here's how to keep a travel journal that survives an actual trip, on the move and on your own phone.
How to stick with voice journaling when typing has failed you
Six dead journals taught me that talking beats typing. The honest version of what makes a voice journaling habit stick, and what quietly kills it.
Is your AI journal private? What actually happens to your words
Most journaling apps stay quiet about where your entries go. Here is the honest version: what the cloud model does with your words, what on-device changes, and what to check.
How to start a journaling habit when typing feels like homework
I tried to journal for three years. Notebooks, apps, reminders. Nothing lasted longer than two weeks. The problem wasn't discipline. It was friction. Here's what eventually worked.