Discover more from Adi Patil
Tasty Morsels from Groovy Hubs #8
A podcast that will give you the escape you need, How to not suck at WFH, Important reads to make sense of the world right now
Hello People!
I don't have a quirky opening line nor an anecdote to start today's edition. It seems that the last two weeks have taken too long to finish. And I am certain March 2020 is in the perpetual slow-mo mode with the poor video quality. I checked my privilege last week and looks like the account is full. This experience helped me see a lot of what is happening around the world with a fresh perspective. I am sure this is a short period, and I will quickly go back to cashing on my privilege.
I was contemplating if sharing non-covid19 stories were relevant in tumultuous times like these. I asked the question to my friends on Twitter, and a journalist had this to say:
"feels irrelevant to be doing anything that doesn't have an immediacy or connect in some way ... And there are always stories that you can find that can resonate ... If they do with you, they will with readers."
I am going to share stories that resonated with me last week with the hope that they will resonate with you as well. Here we go:
The case of the missing hit
I subscribe to The Ken's Nutgraf, a weekly newsletter that summarises the weekly stories with a dash of wit and incredibly funny analogies. I look forward to this email every Saturday. I strongly recommend you to subscribe as well. Your Saturdays won't be the same anymore. In the last edition, they suggested listening to the Gimlet's "Reply All" podcast episode titled "The case of the missing hit." Podcast fanatics are calling it one of the greatest podcast episodes ever. I am not exaggerating, even Guardian wrote about it. I listened to the episode and was unbelievably moved by it.
In the podcast, a listener writes to the host about the lyrics of a song he can’t seem to remember and not find any trace on the Internet. The host starts a journey to find out how did the Internet lose track of a song that was a popular hit in the late 90s. We see the investigation leading them to some fascinating people, and they end up re-doing the song with musicians to increase the chances of finding the songwriter.
The episode champions the human quest of curiosity. In a nutshell, it's a beautiful human story which may just make your day. And that’s all we need right now.
WFH - How to not suck at it?
Some of us are working from home and learning new things every day. Those who have been working remotely for a long time are going ballistic in sharing the best practices. We even have a website that collects all of these tips. That may well be a good start if you want to become an expert on WFH. My first full week of WFH sucked because I committed a lot of rookie mistakes. Here are four tips from my mistakes and having read all I could on that website:
Have designated workspaces at home. Separate home and office.
Get prepped as if you are going to the office and log in at the same time as you do at your office.
TAKE BREAKS & POWER NAPS
Do a lot of asynchronous communication (memos, writing, videos) as compared to synchronous communication (calls/instant messages).
My second week has been better than the first week, but I am committing new mistakes and learning!
Here's a section of useful resources you may want to read:
Product
Marcopolo is an exciting video chat app where you send messages to your friends using videos. It caught the world's attention much before Covid-19 and was popular in the west. I tried it but unfortunately couldn't convince my friends to use it. Maybe now is a good chance? You should try it and see if it works for you.
That's it for today's edition. Thank you for reading. Stay safe and indoors.
We will get through this period together and reminisce about the covid-19 era as a painful memory that taught us a lot about life.
Thank you to everyone who reads the newsletter every week. Every edition is an attempt to improve and deliver more value. I started the newsletter to offer morsels of insights that otherwise are hidden across the Internet.
If you find value in reading this newsletter, I request you to forward this to a friend who might enjoy reading it. And, as always, if you have feedback or comments, please respond to the email and confirm your humanity! Thank you!