Connect with me
Website designed & developed on Webflow by Connie Ngo with ❤
Current obsession: Improving my writing
Status: 🟢 Available for 1 additional project (hours negotiable)
What's on my mind: How can I make the best use of my skills and time in order to lead a productive and fulfilling lifestyle that works best for me and my family right now?
I'm well overdue for a re-read of The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferris.
Current obsession: Wordsmyth (iOS App Store | Google App Store)
What's on my mind: Autonomy over one's own time. Barring any extenuating circumstances, when we say we're busy, it's because we've valued the things that keep us busy over other things.
Being "too busy" for that workout during a workday is an excuse to prioritize work over our health. Being "too busy" to write or read means writing and reading aren't important enough. Again, barring any extenuating circumstances like mental health issues, we make the time for what's most important to us.
Current obsession: Nonograms (Wikipedia)
What's on my mind: How marketing will change in the age of AI. I'm not afraid of robots taking my job. They do a lot of work for me as it is (I'm looking at you, Meta Ads algorithm) and companies still hire me to feed manage the robots.
Once we (i.e., society) get over our fear, I think we're going to start seeing even more AI tools in mainstream use that will drastically enhance how we work, allowing us to focus on doing the things that we humans do best: thinking outside the box.
Currently reading: Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models by Gabriel Weinberg, Lauren McCann
What's on my mind: Quality versus quantity. Neither is necessarily "better" and is context-specific. Of course, we don't want to swing in the extreme one way or another, but in some cases we want to prioritize one over the other.
For example, if I want to get better at writing, I don't want to limit my writing to when I feel I'm at my best; in that context, simply writing often, regardless of the final output quality, is more important that waiting for the "prime" writing moment.
In another example, lately I've slowed down my reading consumption by quite a lot. I had set myself a goal of 12 books for the year but blew through that a few months back. Then I upped my goal to 15. I thought to myself, "does it make sense to read like this anymore?" With the types of nonfiction books I've been reading recently, many of them reference one another, touch similar topics, illustrate the same examples. And with so many books in circulation, do I want to slave through the rest of my life, chasing the dopamine hit of having finished yet another book? Is there a better, more thoughtful way for me to find, consume, and re-consume the books that will improve my life?
What's on my mind: As of late, my LinkedIn newsfeed is abundant with layoff posts (my heart goes out to all those who are struggling to find employment—if you or someone you know would like advice, resume review, or interview prep, email me!). It has me wondering/worrying not only about those individuals who lose their jobs, but also those who remain in the wake of layoffs.
I don't envy those who have to carry out the layoffs; they're typically middle management, with none of the power but much of the blame. In a world where growth (at all costs) is the main incentive structure, are there ways we can thoughtfully change the system, a little at a time, to a point in which consistent revenue and profits are acceptable?
Currently reading: SuperFreakonomics by Stephen J. Dubner and Steven Levitt
What's on my mind: As much as my career has relied on paid media performance, I've always considered organic social media an integral part of any company's growth. Some of the best and well-known brands leverage social well, but it can be difficult to gauge its impact on paid initiatives.
But luckily, a client of mine that's relied heavily on paid acquisition is now looking to expanding to their organic social efforts. Will report back on my findings.
Currently reading: Butter: A Rich History by Elaine Khosrova
Update: The majority of the website redesign is complete! I'm working through the QA process and getting friends & family to donate a few minutes of their time to make sure nothing's broken.
Currently reading: Heretics of Dune by Frank Herbert
Update: I'm slowly working through my site redesign between client work, and it's been a great learning experience to understand firsthand how difficult it is to translate design into something functional. It's not as easy as product designers and engineering teams make it seem!