Green time over screentime
A sketchnote book summary, why simple drawings win, and some lettering inspiration
Last week we had not one, but TWO public holidays in Poland.
The 1st and 3rd of May are both holidays so I did what any sane person would do. Take one day off work between and get a reverse week (2 days working, 5 days off).
The time off inspired today’s visual essay below (here’s a sneak peek first).
Interesting links
Communication is an incredibly valuable skill, both personally and professionally. Check out this sketchnote by Tanmay Vora on Charles Duhigg’s latest book “Supercommunicators”
I love this visual from Jun Han Chin. I’ve seen more detailed versions of the “two paths” idea but this shows how simple icons can communicate an idea quicker than highly-detailed drawings.
Want some new text and headline styles for your sketchnoes? Ian Barnard has you covered. In this YouTube short, he shows a series of different styles in Affinity Designer.
Quick Sketchnote: Adverserial thinking
This is a great mental model (and a practical implementation) from Arvid Kahl.
Adverserial thinking is attacking your idea like an enemy. It helps you find weaknesses and defend against them. But Arvid shares a great tip for how to use this in your writing.
Put your text into ChatGPT and ask it to attack it.
As a writer, I thought this was genius. It’s certainly a far better use of AI tools than asking them to write something for you. And it helps come up with more robust ideas.
Visual essay: Greentime over screentime
My in-laws have a small farm in the Polish countryside.
It was a godsend during the COVID lockdowns. Instead of bottled up in a small apartment building, our kids had space to roam while we worked. But being outside isn’t just great for lockdowns, it’s important all the time. And this last week was a reminder for me.
The area of Poland has poor mobile connectivity, and the farm isn’t hooked up to the internet (or sanitation. Say hello to the outhouse 😬). Plus as it was a public holiday with family and friends, I didn’t want to spend my time on my phone.
So I didn’t.
I left my phone inside while I went outside.
I didn’t check my emails every day
I didn’t even make any sketches on my iPad 😱
And guess what? The world kept spinning.
But even better than that, I felt more rested and inspired. The photo at the start of the newsletter is from a walk I went on with my daughter. She can struggle to fall asleep but a quick stroll in a pushchair is more effective than any sleeping pill.
And while I did listen to some podcasts on occasion, I also took time to listen to what my brain wanted to tell me.
And that resulted in new ideas for visuals that I’ve been drawing this week and important conversations for my family.
Do you default to screens like I do?
I’ve not thrown my screens away or anything (look where I’m writing). But if I don’t set boundaries, I can easily spend all my time with a screen — And that sucks.
Making sure I get plenty of greentime makes me enjoy using screens more.
I don’t know what your breakdown of screen to green is, but maybe you’d like to push it a bit higher like I’m trying.
I don’t think you’ll regret it.