When you work in tech, there's this pressure and expectation for you to be always available, or at least available after hours sometimes.

Hell, you probably have some coworkers who, when they go on vacation, they're like, "Oh, but I can still be reached by email. I'll still be checking."

I was never that bad, but I was still somewhat of a, "Yeah, you can reach me even after work hours," type of coworker.

And I'll tell you why I stopped doing that, but first I'll say there is, when you work in tech, a legitimate reason to work outside of work hours, and that is for fucking updates.

(And I know this because I'm saddled with that one this Sunday.

Got to wake up fucking 9:00, whatever, deal with the connection, etc.)

Things gotta happen outside of working hours because otherwise things would be horrific.

I get it.

That makes sense.

What doesn't make sense is checking your email at 5:48 for something that doesn't really fucking matter.

And by doesn't matter, I mean, if you check that, let's say, I don't know, 9:03 tomorrow, same shit.

That's kind of the crux of why I stopped being that often-reachable coworker, because it's pretty much never worth it.

Think about it.

Yes, there's some weirdos out there who, they'll be sending emails at like 7:48.

Fuck them.

For the most part, though, if someone sends an email at, I don't know, 4:42, right?

They're not going to expect this thing to be done by the end of the workday.

So if you read this at 9:30 the next day, it's not going to matter.

Nothing between when the email was sent and when you get to it is going to have mattered.

There is no expectation for that, realistically.

So if you don't feel like checking your email at 4:40 PM, that's totally fine because no one's going to check their fucking email till the morning anyway.

Like I said, you got some psychos out there who are checking and sending emails at 8:00 PM.

Don't worry about them.

No one else is joining them, okay?

This is especially bad on weekends for some people.

They're thinking, "Oh, man, I got to check my email and do this thing on a Friday at 9:00 PM or Saturday at 2:00 PM. Yeah, I'm sending an email responding back."

No.

I think that might've been the worst I ever got.

Maybe I would check an email after hours, maybe at 6:00-ish or something like that.

I don't know if I've ever gone crazy with the weekend stuff.

But some people are hooked on that, and it sucks because let me tell you something, especially in tech.

Let's be really real here: after 3:00, 3:30 PM on a Friday, jack shit is actually getting done.

So if some weirdo sends an email at 5:56 PM on a Friday, don't worry your pretty little head about it.

It's not going to matter until Monday at the fucking earliest.

That's just the main reason why I stopped being so reachable, because I realized if this specific thing, this communication, this task, whatever it is, if it had waited until Monday instead of whatever day it came out on, Friday, or if someone sent something on a Tuesday night, if I got to it on Wednesday, it wouldn't matter.

It wouldn't fucking matter.

And when I realized that this shit, it doesn't matter if it happens a bit after hours or even a bit before hours.

Some people also do the opposite.

They send stuff at 6:30 a.m.

Again, don't log on early just for those fucking weirdos.

Log on at your normal time, and then you see it just like everyone else.

Once you realize that this stuff is never that urgent, then the next step is to protect your after-work hours.

I stopped being online all the time, not only because I realized a lot of this shit didn't really matter till the next day, but because I want my fucking afternoon to be for my life, not for the job and me checking here and there.

No, fuck that shit.

I'm out of work.

I'm fucking done till tomorrow.

But if you're checking your phone and your computer and then emailing stuff after work hours, especially if you work remote or home, it's really tough for you to feel like, "Hey, I am off the clock," if you don't stop checking your fucking email or the other stuff.

You need a separation there.

You cannot be online all the time.

Even the best servers in the world, they only have 99.99% uptime.

There's still something that's got to go down.

The same with your brain, too.

Don't keep it up all the time on this work shit.

At the very least, be less of that online coworker.

Do you have any coworkers who are perpetually online?

(The ones you see emails from at fucking 8:52pm)

Or are YOU the online coworker?

If so, are you going to stop?

Till next time,

Kevin Tejada

P.S. No one's immune to this. Even I fell for this shit on Friday. I accidentally left my work computer plugged into my docking station, and I noticed a Teams message. Instead of ignoring it until Monday, I thought, "Oh, maybe it's related to that update that's happening on Sunday, which I have to do something for." And I looked at it. Shame on me. At the very earliest, I should have looked at it while doing the actual update on Sunday, not Friday at 5:58pm. So, there you go. We're not all perfect, but that's why you got to throw that work laptop away when work hours are over.

You're at your computer, doing your work, minding your own business.

You hear a ping from Slack, Teams, or whatever it is you use.

The message reads, "Hey."

You've done this dance before.

You reply with, "Hey."

And then they tell you what they wanted to originally tell you.

This is such a waste of time that I have to share how I’ve avoided suffering from this.

I think I might have gotten this idea from Cal Newport's book, Digital Minimalism.

What I started doing is this: for those coworkers who won’t reply unless you "Hey" them back, I just ignore them.

Unless your coworker is a legitimate psychopath who will run up to your desk and yell at you for this, there’s no downside.

There are 2 possible outcomes here.

▵ The person gets tired of waiting for you to reply "Hey" back and just tells you what they wanted to say.

▵ The even better option: they never reach out to you again.

Either way, you win.

What doesn’t happen is you suffering a staggered interruption to your workday and training your coworkers to annoy you twice in a row.

I swear to God, this works.

Next time someone says, "Hey," and you know they’re expecting you to say "Hey" back, just don’t write anything.

See what happens.

If you do have one of those psychopath coworkers who’ve gotten angry at you for this, please reply to this email and let me know.


And if you’re a person who has all notifications set up on Slack, Teams, desktop, and mobile, check out my course, The Sane Tech Worker’s OS.

I share my full notification setup for work so that I avoid burnout and being overwhelmed, along with a lot more systems to make sure you actually log off and keep your sanity.

Till next time,

Kevin Tejada

I hate Awareness Supremacists and Newsfeed Gluttons.

But let me dial it back a bit first.

For the longest time at my gym, they would have 20 TVs up.

They were all playing the news or music videos.

So I had to be inundated with whatever music was popular or some kind of news because, goddamn it, I can’t exercise blind.

If I look down all the time and look up all the time, my posture’s fucked, and I’m undoing some shit at the gym.

Personally, I really hated being inundated with all this information that wasn’t useful.

The same information that Awareness Supremacists love.

Recently, I moved, and I’m working out in a different location.

This location has no TVs whatsoever.

So if I go to the gym, I can listen to either nothing, music, or a podcast of my choosing.

And I got to tell you, it’s fucking awesome.

When you have less input in your brain, it’s very, very calming.

All this information takes up space in your head, and these awareness supremacists just fucking love it.

They revel in information that doesn’t mean anything because they can’t act on it.

It’s just taking up bandwidth.

Can you imagine how useless it is to know that, in a different country or government, something is happening?

Or that something is happening 2 towns over?

You’re not going to do anything.

It doesn’t really affect you, but, hey, wouldn’t you like to know about it?

Say no.

Do not be an Awareness Supremacist.

Those are the same people who, when you happen to not know something, are like, “Oh, how can you not know?”

“Don’t you care about what’s happening in the world?”

No, not fucking really.

If it doesn’t affect me, I don’t care that much.

And the thing is, I don’t need to access the news to know what will affect me.

You know what’s going to happen when something affects me?

I will be made aware.

I don’t need to be a supremacist to get that awareness.

Someone will fucking tell me.

I live in Chicago, and several weeks ago, there was some fire in Canada, and the smoke was coming toward us.

I noticed it when I left my home one day.

I was thinking, “Oh, it must be another fire or some world-ending catastrophe.

I guess this is how I’m finding out.”

I did not need to go to the news to find out that was going to happen to me.

Now, imagine some fucker in Germany is like, “Oh mein Gott! Can you imagine how hard it is for these people in Chicago and Canada?

They’re breathing in all this smoke!”

What the fuck does it matter to that dude in Germany who’s looking this stuff up?

That’s the same thing a lot of Americans do .

They look up stuff happening in other countries (that may not be cool), and they’re like, “Oh, how can this happen?

Guys, you got to know about this!”

Hey, are we going to do something about it?

“No, you just need to know!”

Cool.

This is the same fucked-up mindset that a lot of tech workers in my field use when they subscribe to all these email updates for every little ticket, every little project, every single thing.

If it doesn’t apply to you, don’t let it into your head because it doesn’t matter.

If it matters, it will reach you.

Someone will tell you. I promise.

I’m telling you all this because I used to be someone who would take in a lot of news and keep up with a lot.

During presidential election years, it can be funny sometimes, but it’s fucking horrific.

I wouldn’t recommend it.

And I wouldn’t recommend it when there’s not a bunch of silly shit happening either.

It’s not worth it.

I swear to you, the difference I felt from exercising in that gym with 20 TVs to a gym with none was staggering.

I feel so much better.

The day is calmer during and after.

It’s a game changer, honestly.

You can do this not just in the physical world, but in the digital world, where the biggest threat is.

The threat being all these fucking news feeds.

Don’t subscribe to them.

Don’t check them if you don’t need to.

(And you pretty much never need to.)

Now, if you’re keeping up with media stuff, like entertainment news, that’s a different thing.

It’s also not very important, but it’s not like, “Oh my God, there’s this real serious thing happening, and I just got to know about it.”

You don’t need to know about any of this shit.

And if you do need to know, you will know, eventually.

When people mention things that I don’t know about, I’m like, “Hmm, my day has not changed.

None of that information was important, and I’m glad I didn’t waste time seeking it out myself.”

It’s great.

If you work in tech and want to not get overwhelmed by shit like this, I have a lot of systems and tips in The Sane Tech Worker’s OS below.

Till next time,

Kevin Tejada

Three years ago, my coworker went on vacation for about 3 weeks.

Since I work in IT, that meant I had a shit ton of tickets to deal with.

Not only did I have to take on her load, but there just happened to be a bunch of shit going on, so my fingers were stressed to the bone with typing and clicking and all that.

At the end of one of those days, my tendons were so stiff that I felt like Wolverine.

After that, I had to go to physical therapy and occupational therapy.

Occupational therapy is the one you go to for hands.

Now, I’m pretty much better.

But what I learned from that experience is that (and this should’ve been obvious) when you do something repetitive each and every day, if you’re not doing anything to counteract that repetition, bad things are going to happen.

So if you type and click and blah, blah, blah all day, you have 2 options.

1. Counteract those exact movements with specific exercises.
2. Do less of that repetitive shit.

Ideally, you do both, but for me, what has reduced a lot of the repetition is Letterly.

Now, this is not an ad despite how glowing I’m going to sound about this, but this is a transcription software.

Yeah, I know.

With the advent of AI, everything has the feature of, “Oh, let’s capture your voice, and you can make 15 newsletters, 38 social media posts, and 10 blogs.”

No, this ain’t that kind of shit.

Although you can set up custom things to rewrite things in the way you want.

What I use this for is to say what I want to say, and then Letterly will capture it more accurately than any other transcription service by far.

I’m talking fictional character names, niche softwares, anything you can think of... it will, with a high degree of certainty, get it correct.

And that’s also on top of the relatively perfect grammar and punctuation it applies by default.

If you stutter or correct yourself when you talk, it will usually just have the best take, so to speak.

Now, that by itself is badass, right?

But the main thing that made me write this today is the recent dictation feature.

Now, you can download Letterly to your computer, hit a key combination, say whatever the hell you want, let go of the key combination, and it will paste wherever you are.

It’ll paste whatever you said exactly where the text field is.

So if you open an email, press the hotkeys, dictate the entire email, let go of the hotkeys, your email will be written.

Anything more than one sentence, and I'm just dictating it to Letterly.

And the awesome part is, it also works on your phone.

So if you have Android or iOS, it doesn’t matter.

The same thing applies.

You can set it up so that whenever you enter a text field, a little pop-up will show, and if you click it, it’s the same deal.

Say what you want, click the stop button, and then it will paste anything you said with perfect grammar, punctuation, and most capitalization.

You also have the benefit of putting in your custom words in the dictionary that Letterly has so that it can get things correct even more often.

Now, due to all of this, my typing has plummeted to rare occurrences where I have to actually type URLs or numbers or short text fields.

But anything longer than 5 words, I’m activating Letterly because my right hand can’t take that much typing anymore.

I just can’t.

I’m sure this applies to a lot of you guys as well.

So before you need occupational therapy (or if you're already going through it), add this to your routine.

I do not recommend getting Letterly’s monthly plan.

That’s about $20 per month, which is kind of wild, although it’s still arguably worth it.

I would go to appsumo.com and check out Letterly’s page because there’s almost definitely a lifetime deal active.

Now, the bad thing is that you need a license for each device that you use.

But I got to tell you, all of that is still cheaper than occupational therapy is.

So fucking go for it.

I know this sounds like an ad, but I promise I’m not getting paid (though I wish I were).

I just have found an insane benefit with this given the amount of typing I need to do, and I think you’d benefit as well.

So check that out.

Reply to this email if you’ve used it before or if you’ve found something even better.

By the way, if your troubles with your tech job expand far beyond just the typing aspect, check out the Sane Tech Worker's OS below.

It’s made for those who are awesome at their job but have no idea how to actually log off.

That course has all my systems in it, so check that out, too.

Till next time,

Kevin Tejada

We all have that coworker who says, "I'll be on vacation, but you can reach me by email or text."

Now, some of us think, "Oh, thank God. We might need you, man."

Other people, like myself, think, "I'm not going to reach out to you for shit because I don't want you reaching out to me for shit when I'm on vacation."

And that's what I did for the last week and a half.

I was vacationing in a different state.

And what did I do?

Made sure all work-related notifications were turned off.

That means Outlook and Teams notifications were turned off at a system level.

Turned off my work calendar.

To my job, I was dead, and that's how I am when I’m on vacation.

And guess what?

When I logged back on yesterday, nothing was on fire.

Everything was fine.

Sure, there was slightly more stuff than usual because I wasn't there, but nothing drastically different from any other day.

All this is to say: when you go on vacation, go on vacation.

Don't think, "Oh, my job might need me."

Guess what?

If you weren't allowed to take this vacation, they would not have approved your PTO.

(Side note: If you're expected to work during your PTO, that's a different conversation. (You might need to get a different job.))

When others are on vacation, just leave them on vacation.

That way, when you're on vacation, they'll leave you alone for vacation.

And even if they're available, that doesn't mean you have to be.

When you're on vacation, you should be dead to the world in terms of work.

It doesn’t matter if other people say, "I'm available every hour of every day. Just email me. I'll get back to you."

It's fine for them

But don't be like that if you don't want to.

I sure don't.

Next time you go on vacation, not only schedule those days off, but schedule when you turn off your alarms.

▵ Literally, turn off all alarms for Slack, Teams, Outlook, Gmail (for your job's account).

▵ Turn off the work calendar.

▵ Turn off notifications for work events.

I promise you’ll come back more recharged than before instead of draining your brain when you should be relaxing.

I promise you it'll be fine.

And if it's a total shit show when you come back, that's an issue with your job.

What I personally do is make sure there's enough documentation and whatnot so that when I'm gone, everything that should be done can be done.

If that's not the case for you, make sure it's the case next time.

By the way, if you have trouble unplugging, check out the Sane Tech Workers OS course that I have.

It's helped me regain my mental bandwidth at work, even when I'm not on vacation.

Till next time,

Kevin Tejada

I’m moving to a new apartment, and the process so far has been "fun."

As someone who fancies himself a digital minimalist, I do not like the requirement of a smartphone to do basic things.

And one of those things is to turn on my fucking keys.

The management company uses this program called ButterflyMX, and that requires activation through a smartphone.

Now you may be thinking, "Kevin, you can probably activate your account and whatnot through the website."

No, I fucking cannot.

A smart device is 100% needed to set up the keys to my fucking home.

When I work in tech, I have to spend a lot of time on a computer using different programs and applications.

But when I want to get into my home, I don't want to HAVE to use my phone.

Thankfully, in this case, once you set it up, you can do a lot of stuff with just a PIN code on a number pad on the door.

So that's cool.

But to set all that up, you absolutely need a smart device.

That's why, for those of us who spend a lot of time with tech at work and in our personal lives and try to keep things a bit more separated, I still recommend having a spare smart device around.

Have an old phone, a spare tablet, or something, because these fucking companies are allergic to not having an app.

It's like a sick compulsion that they have to funnel you into some kind of application to use services.

Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I could write it off as annoying marketing.

But when they make the desktop experience of a website or service literally impossible to access, that's where it's fucked up.

Now, am I being dramatic?

"Oh, everyone has a fucking smartphone, Kevin, why are you being such a baby?"

Because, dear reader, if I wanted to have a simpler phone because I don't need a whole bunch of tech bullshit outside of my job, I want the option.

(By the way, if you work in tech and want the systems that I use to actually log off and not feel like killing myself, check out The Sane Tech Worker's OS course. The discount code OS20 will expire by Wednesday (tomorrow).)

And it seems like the only way for me to have that option would be to have a spare fucking phone anyway.

So what the fuck?

This is my prediction, and you can mark this down somewhere.

By the year 2040, you will need a smartphone to use public bathrooms.

I'm very confident in that, as much as I would hate that.

That just seems to be the way things are going.

So what's the point of this rant email?

Well, basically, I want to still encourage you guys to minimize unnecessary digital tendrils in your life.

But keep in mind that life will not stop trying to dig those tendrils up your ass.

So have a backup plan.

I recommend getting a very cheap Android phone.

You can probably find them used for 50 or less or anything.

But also to limit the temptation to scroll on extra devices, keep that shit turned off in a drawer.

That's what I do with my Samsung smartphone that I use as a camera.

I keep it turned off in a drawer under some shit.

My main phone is an E Ink phone.

It's currently the Minimal Phone, but I'm looking into a Bigme Hibreak device because it has color, but it's still E Ink, so videos and scrolling are shitty experiences.

Reply to this email if entry to your home requires a smartphone.

I'm curious how common this is.

Till next time,

Kevin Tejada

(Read till the end for a discount.)

If you have trouble disconnecting from work, this is for you.

The SANE Tech Worker's OS is everything I've implemented to make my day-to-day work life tolerable.

Before I figured out all this stuff, I wanted to quit my job at several points and just explode, frankly.

Now, there are still some days where I wouldn't mind going up in a bit of a poof, but I'm much happier overall.

I don't stress much about my job at all these days, and I wanna pass that knowledge on to you.

If you fill out the work that comes with the course and actually follow the instructions in the videos, you'll hate your job less (or maybe not at all) pretty soon.

To reward you readers, you get a 20% discount with the code OS20.

If you click the link below, it already has the discount baked in.

The rest of you will have to pay $49 starting in a week.

Honestly, still a great deal because you'll save an absurd amount of time after work once you implement this stuff.

Have fun, and enjoy!

Till next time,

Kevin Tejada

Everyone says to remember that you work to live, not live to work.

But how many of you actually remind yourself of this?

How many of you finish your workday at fucking 6:30 PM and you're just counting down the hours until you have to sleep, wake up, and then log back into your computer?

Especially those of us who work from home, it feels like home is where work is, which means you can't escape it.

And it can be hard to remind yourself that your life is more than just time in between workdays.

So here's what I do.

I have a physical reminder that I see every single time I finish work for the day.

Every time I unplug my work laptop from the docking station, I see my label that reads, "Unimportant bullshit," as you can see here.

This is to remind myself that when I'm not working, none of this shit matters.

Yes, during work hours, what you're doing throughout the day is important because that's how you get money.

But when you're done with that, that shit doesn't mean a damn thing, and you need to remind yourself of that.

It's even a nice reminder in the morning when I have to plug in my work laptop to my docking station.

I can just set the mood with myself that, "Yeah, this is my job, but it's not my life. It's not that serious. It's just some shit I have to do today."

If you work from home, I recommend putting a label on your work laptop's lid, so when you close it, you see "Unimportant bullshit" or maybe something like, "I'm done for today."

If you don't work from home, you have to go to an office, I recommend putting your ID card or whatever it is under the label of, "Don't worry about this shit" or "You are done for today."

Just some kind of reminder that you do not have to worry about this shit until you are clocked in.

And for those of us who are salaried, I mean mentally clocked in.

Try it out.

You'll worry less after 2 weeks.

Thank me later.

Till next time,

Kevin Tejada

I'm in the process of moving, and during the application process, they require verification, which is fair.

They don't want some robot or weirdo moving in.

So I use my minimal phone, which is an e-paper phone that I love.

I'm able to take a picture of my driver's license just fine.

However, I then run into a snag.

Turns out the website is only accessible via mobile, and their mobile site for verification assumes the dimensions are of a long-ass rectangle phone.

You know, the average one that everyone has?

Me, with my minimal phone that's, I don't know, 25%, 30% shorter, literally cannot continue the application because I can't press the button to go forward.

No, desktop mode does not work because they just throw you a QR code so you can continue on a phone.

You cannot do this on a regular computer.

Because I don't want a basic bitch smartphone and get tempted by all this app bullshit, I could not continue my application to move out.

This is why I still have my old phone for using it as a camera and for situations like this, and this sucks.

I would love to just have a more modest phone and be able to do anything I want with it.

If I need to do something a little bit more involved, then I'm able to do it on a computer.

But no, you need to have a smartphone to fucking live these days, and that's horrible.

I lean towards being a digital minimalist, but I also live in reality.

▵ For anyone who wants to dumb down their life in terms of their phones or internet connectivity, I recommend that you have a spare smart device available.

▵ Maybe an old phone or a tablet or something that can connect to the internet, just in case some service stupidly assumes that you have a basic bitch phone and locks functionality behind the screen ratio of those kinds of devices.

I pulled out my old phone, did the picture thing, and oh, wow, the button is in view of the screen now.

Amazing.

I was able to apply to this apartment simply because I kept my old phone.

If I did not have my old phone or any tablets or anything, I couldn't move.

I don't like that shit.

I really don't.

I worry the world will never go back to a time when we can just do general things without owning a smartphone.

People look at me fucking crazy when I ask for a paper menu at certain restaurants these days.

Even if I have my phone on me, sometimes I'll say, "Yeah, I don't have my phone" because my phone is just an e-paper screen, black and white, so it's hard for me to order well.

They're like, "Uuuuuh, uuuuuh," and then they go in the back and look for something.

Sometimes they don't even have a paper menu.

They have a fucking tablet, and they hand me that instead.

▵ If you want to minimalize your tech life, just have a backup.

Otherwise, you may be fucked because the world doesn't want you to disconnect.

By the way, here's a logo for my new course coming soon: the Sane Tech Workers OS.

I like to think of it as an anti-burnout system for tech workers.

In it, I go through literally everything I do to make sure that I don't hate my life having a job in tech.

I'm able to disconnect at the end of the day and during weekends.

Stay tuned.

Till next time,

Kevin Tejada

Several weeks ago, I was at a friend's place and noticed he owned a Blu-ray copy of a movie I was interested in.

I borrowed it and watched it.

The ease of that scenario used to be the default.

The movie I saw was Ikiru by Akira Kurosawa.

If I wanted to watch it on my own, I would have to either get a copy myself or subscribe to HBO Max and watch it in not-4K quality.

But because my friend has physical media, I was able to borrow it and watch it ASAP.

This will become more and more impossible if tech companies get their way.

As you may have heard, Sony is halting the production of PlayStation discs starting in 2028.

Now, I've pretty much bowed out of modern gaming as of a couple of years ago, so I don't care too much.

I'm playing Game Boy games now, for the most part.

But that makes me sad, because on that same day—or same week, whatever—Sony also announced they were killing the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita stores.

Those consoles have been obsolete for about 10 years now.

But if you have PS3 discs or Vita cartridges, you can still play them.

When there are no more discs, and then they close down those digital storefronts, you are screwed.

You literally won't get the chance to own any of these games.

I used to be all in on digital.

I thought it was very convenient and saved a lot of space.

In some ways, that's still true.

But I no longer think it's that convenient anymore.

With all the account management, the passwords, the limitations, and the random removal of products from storefronts, I don't think it's that convenient anymore.

Sure, you can watch or read anything digitally within minutes.

But what about when you can't?

What about when the internet's down?

What about when the licenses run out or expire?

What about when people tangentially involved with the work are canceled and the product is pulled from storefronts?

When you buy a game, book, or movie physically, you have that forever.

Now, with games, it's a different story because recently games have become more like you buy the disc and then have to download the rest of the game.

You still have to connect to the internet and yada yada.

But pre-PS4, any game you bought, you could just play offline.

It didn't matter.

The same goes for all other physical media.

You buy it, you can use it.

It's totally fine.

You don't have to worry about licenses, storefronts, or companies going out of business.

You have it.

▵ Here's my plea to you: don't be so entranced by the convenience of digital to the point where you don't have anything.

▵ It's nice to be able to lend a friend a movie.

▵ It's nice to let someone borrow a book you think they would like.

▵ It's nice to just give a friend a game you don't care about anymore.

None of this is possible with digital.

If you like it, please buy it.

You might not get a chance to use it later otherwise.

By the way, I've been working on a course for tech workers that will prevent burnout by using systems to not drown in the technology you're forced to use for work.

Essentially, it's the ultimate work-life separator.

Stay tuned for The Sane Tech Worker’s OS.

Till next time,

Kevin Tejada

First off, I'm sure you've noticed, but Simplicity Over Sweat has become Signal Over Static.

I am going to focus almost entirely on digital minimalism and intentional tech use.

And I really wanted to keep the SOS, so I brainstormed, and Signal Over Static fits what I'm trying to go for.

I think tech is cool, but a lot of it is bullshit that wastes your time and mental bandwidth.

So here we are.

Secondly, I saw Toy Story 5.

And whaddya know? They're basically on my side.

Now, if you don't know, this movie tackles the question of where tablets and mobile devices fit into a kid's life when toys exist.

Because, as we know, mobile devices (and to a lesser extent, video games) have replaced toys for the most part.

Since this is a big movie from a big company, I figured it would take a lukewarm stance like, "Oh, yeah, tablets are not great if you use them too much, and moderation is good, and they're not so bad.

Just let the tablets babysit your kids only sometimes, and you'll be okay."

Now, the movie, since it's made by a big corporation, did not really go into how big tech companies hijack your psychology to heavily encourage you to waste time.

But they did go pretty hard regardless.

Many scenes showed children and people in dark rooms staring at tablets despite being in the same space together.

They all looked like junkies, and this was especially weird to look at because I see this shit in real life.

Now, I'm a person who has a unique phone.

My phone is ePaper, so you won't catch me scrolling on that thing.

When I'm on the train or waiting in line somewhere in public, I get to observe people more.

What I normally see is people breaking their necks, looking down at their phones almost all the time.

While they're walking across the street, while they're driving, while they're next to their friends and family.

It's very fucking weird, and this movie showed that many times.

And spoilers, but ultimately, the movie's message came down to: tech is a tool.

You just have to use it properly.

That's a pretty basic take, but one I agree with.

Instead of using tech as a replacement for a friend, an incredible distraction, or a cyberbullying weapon, you can use it to take pictures of memories you want to store.

You can use the GPS to meet up with your friends and communicate when you're going to have some social interactions.

There's a way to use tech that will make you happier.

So that's good.

Again, they didn't touch on the big companies using dirty tactics to waste your time, but Disney is a big company, so they're not going to rat on themselves now, are they?

But I really do appreciate how bleak they made modern tech use look because, as an observer, it does really look that bleak, I promise.

Seriously, next time you ride a train or a bus, keep your phone in your pocket, look up for at least 3 minutes, and you'll see everyone is entranced by that fucking rectangle.

It's not lookin’ good.

Anyway, thanks for reading.

P.S. If you were only here to read about fitness and weight loss, you might as well unsubscribe now because I don't give a fuck about telling people to count their calories for the 9,000th time.

But if you're a tech worker who's surrounded by tech all day but feels like throwing your phone out the fucking window sometimes, stick around.

I, too, am a tech worker, but I do not feel nearly as overwhelmed as I used to.

I'll share with you things I've done and observations I've had that have made daily tech use much more tolerable.

Till next time,

Kevin Tejada

We all know those people who consume news every second of every day.

I call them Awareness Supremacists.

Now, if you ask this person why they're reading or watching so much news, they'll justify it by saying that it's good to be aware of these things.

I call bullshit.

Here's the thing.

Most things that are happening in the world will not affect you, and you cannot affect them.

Let me prove it to you.

1.
2.
3.

In the time it took you to count those 3 seconds, a kid died in Vietnam.

Now, for these Awareness Supremacists, they think, "Oh, it's important to know that a kid died in Vietnam just now.

"In fact, you need to find out all about what's happening in Vietnam and what's up with their government, what's up with the recent political stuff, and blah, blah."

Personally, I don't give a fuck about that kid.

Now, do I wish he didn't die?

Of course.

Does it do me any good to know that a kid in a foreign country fucking died?

No.

Literally the only thing that can happen is that I feel worse.

Why?

Because I can't resurrect that kid.

I can't do anything with that information.

This is the case for almost all information that these Awareness Supremacists search for.

They want to talk about all these injustices in other parts of the world, but they don't vote in their own fucking local elections.

Now, you can argue that both of those things are useless, but my point is that being aware of something that you cannot have an effect on just takes up space in your brain.

You have limited space.

Don't waste it on shit that doesn't matter.

If it's important, you will find out, and you will have to take action.

If there's news that you have to seek out, it's 99% not going to affect you and not important.

So don't waste your mental bandwidth on that shit.

And no, I am not advocating for complete nihilism and apathy.

What I'm arguing is that the information that these Awareness Supremacists seek, it's useless.

They can't do anything with that information.

And no, bitching online is not useful.

So next time you want to open up your news app or watch TV, think, "Am I going to do anything with this information?

If not, do I really need to take it into my head?"

Focus on what's around you.

You'll be much happier, I promise.

By the way, check out my YouTube channel. I'm actually somewhat active on there again.

Till next time,

Kevin Tejada

Check out the main site for more helpful resources.

Sitting by the outdoor gym at Italy’s Papaya Beach, my girlfriend and I heard a faraway PLOP.

I turned to see a woman lying on the ground and another woman coming to her aid.

I would’ve gone to her myself, but I didn’t speak Italian, so I’d be useless, and there were already 3 other people on their way.

My girlfriend and I watched the situation from afar, still at the outdoor gym area.

After a while, it seemed like the woman wasn’t in any pain, but she wasn’t able to get up.

Just… chilling with her helpers while waiting for an ambulance.

As we walked by the group, I noticed 2 things that made everything make sense:

1. She spoke perfect English (U.S.)

2. She was overweight

“Oh… she’s American.”

Those were my exact thoughts as I shuddered to think about her future medical bills.

Not to be a total asshole, but… of course it’s an American who randomly falls to the ground and is too fat and weak to get up.

Don’t exercise to look good.

Exercise so you can pick yourself up from a tumble without waiting 40 minutes for an ambulance.

(Speaking of which, you can fit an effective workout into 40 minutes if you focus on patterns, not exercises.)

I’d recommend push ups and Turkish get ups, as those are optimal for getting you off the ground.

(By the way, you’d think there’d be more fat Italians with how damn good the food is.)

Okay, bye!

Check out the main site for more helpful resources.

Check out the main site for MANY MORE helpful resources.

I'm sure you've heard of drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, among other silly names.

From what I understand, they are primarily for diabetics to help manage their condition.

However, most people are using them these days for weight loss because these drugs suppress your appetite.

This makes it easier to lose weight since you're not constantly hungry.

I think if you don't have diabetes, you really shouldn't be taking them.

I used to be very against these drugs because I lost a hundred pounds on my own.

Deep down, I kind of wanted people to go through what I did.

But even deeper down, I don't want anyone to suffer if it's not necessary.

I was listening to a podcast recently with a doctor who shared many of my views on fitness.

He argued that if using such drugs is considered cheating, then going to the hospital would be cheating too.

He made a good point, although I disagree a bit.

If you think about it, two hundred years ago, people used bloodletting or leeches to heal.

Today, we have modern medicine and technology.

(We also have courses! Check out the Balanced Body Blueprint to gain the ability to work out wherever, with anything.)

If you break your leg, you don't just die; you get a cast and heal.

That's technically cheating death and nature.

So, my perspective has changed a bit.

If you're someone who has a lot of money and doesn't care about the science behind weight loss, and you want to rely on pills for life to avoid gaining weight, that's your choice.

But I suggest not doing that.

Going through the pain of losing weight naturally helps you appreciate what you have more.

There's a saying, "easy come, easy go."

If you lose weight too easily (via drugs or surgery), you won't care as much about maintaining your health.

You'll likely revert to old habits if things go south, thinking you can just get another procedure or take more drugs.

I went through a lot to lose a hundred pounds, and I'm determined never to gain it back.

The pain of that process is something I never want to experience again.

No drugs needed for me.

Besides, losing weight the natural way builds incredible discipline that applies to all areas of your life.

It hardens your mind, enabling you to handle long-term projects and goals.

If you just take a pill or use a syringe, it won't have the same effect on your discipline.

The only discipline you'll develop is remembering to take your dose.

If you learn to lose weight naturally, you gain both discipline and knowledge.

If you ever start gaining weight again, you'll know exactly what to do to lose it.

But if you're reliant on drugs or procedures, you won't understand your body's energy needs or how to manage your weight long-term.

Now, if you're rich and want to take drugs for the rest of your life because you're too lazy to discipline yourself, that's your choice.

If you understand the science and just don't want to deal with it, then go ahead.

But for most people, that's not a sustainable or healthy approach.

It's incredibly beneficial to build discipline and knowledge because you'll be much better equipped to handle other challenges in life.

Losing weight the natural way helps a lot with that, which is why I highly recommend it.

It's like having a bunch of dragon balls and wishing you weren't hungry anymore.

Would Goku do that? No.

He never wished to be stronger; he worked for it.

If you understand all this and still want to take something to lose weight, go ahead.

But I strongly encourage you to try the natural way.

You won't need a prescription or anything else, just your own willpower.

Do you really want to depend on big pharma and your doctor's handwriting for your weight loss?

I don't think so.

If you want some help with natural weight loss, there are many resources available (on my site, and elsewhere).

Feel free to reply back with any questions.

Okay, bye!

Check out the main site for MANY MORE helpful resources.

I just read some distressing news:

There are now 1 BILLION obese people on this planet.

This is now the leading form of malnutrition.

That means there are now more obese people than underweight and starving people.

And it's not a situation where underweight people are becoming obese because they're eating more.

There are still many starving people.

The people who can eat are simply eating more than ever before.

This is insane in terms of food and nutrition.

The biggest issue isn't that people are starving; it's that they're becoming obese and getting diseases like diabetes.

I'm specifically talking about obese people.

If we include those who are just overweight, it's even worse.

(If you’re a newbie to calorie-tracking, check out this easy calculator that does everything for you.)

In the United States alone, about two-thirds of people are overweight, and about half of those, or maybe half the country, are obese.

Worldwide, there are now more obese people than underweight people.

What's even more distressing is that 15 percent of these obese individuals are under 18.

A significant portion of these are kids and teenagers, which indicates that many parents are not managing this well.

My parents made similar mistakes.

When I was hungry, they fed me; when I wasn't, they still fed me.

Every visit to my grandma involved being offered food repeatedly.

It's no wonder I had to lose 100 pounds as a teenager.

This issue is worsening and becoming more common.

It's getting to a point where being underweight will be rare, not because there are fewer underweight people, but because the number of obese people is overwhelming.

Parents need to understand basic nutrition.

If they did, we wouldn't have 150 million obese kids.

When a child is overweight, it's usually the parent's fault.

Kids don't control their diets; their parents do.

Many parents don't provide healthy food choices, essentially forcing their kids into obesity.

Now, why is obesity more common than being underweight?

One reason, especially in the United States, is that the food is usually unhealthy.

It's tasty and calorie-dense, but not nutritious.

It's full of chemicals and processed ingredients.

We used to joke that hot dogs were made of rat guts and roach legs.

Now, that seems closer to reality.

Foods are often just a mix of unhealthy ingredients shaped to look appealing.

The availability of snacks and convenience foods has never been higher.

People can easily consume their daily calories from snack bars, which are often unhealthy.

This is more common now because people are working more and earning less, making quick, unhealthy options more appealing.

Even when I was a personal trainer, I relied on protein bars due to my garbage schedule.

(Click here to get your workouts down to under 45 minutes.)

Many people are in similar situations, leading to poor dietary choices.

The average person is obese because it's easier to access more food, and people are less active than before.

Most jobs are in cities, requiring commutes that reduce physical activity.

This lack of activity doesn't justify obesity; it's about balancing calorie intake and output.

This trend is fucked up.

There are 8 billion people on Earth, and 1 billion are obese.

I predict that by 2050, over half the planet will be overweight, and at least 3 billion will be obese.

This situation even affects me personally… like when I fly on planes.

There are rules!

• The middle seat gets both arm rests

• Window seat gets the view and an arm rest

• Aisle seat gets extra leg room and an arm rest

I’m a gentleman and let my girlfriend have the window seat, so I get the middle seat.

What do you think happens when obese people get on planes?

That’s right—I get inconvenienced.

It’s fucked up.

Feel free to reply back with any questions.

Okay, bye!

Check out the main site for MANY MORE helpful resources.

People often excuse bad habits by saying they only do them once a week.

I've done this too, and here's why it's a problem.

Once a week, I go to my buddy's house to play some board games.

We eat snacks all day (no, not Doritos and Mountain Dew), which used to reek havoc on my usual calorie-counting habit.

I’ve made excuses like not having access to a scale, but I could bring my digital scale.

I usually didn’t measure or portion my snacks, even though I could’ve.

This behavior was my fault.

I'm planning to visit Italy soon (like, tomorrow) and indulge in Italian food.

I wanted to lose weight beforehand to offset the “damage” from Italy.

After my weekly game day, my weight didn’t change much (mostly due to water weight from salty snacks, but also) because I was working against the habits that work.

Doing something once a week means doing it 14% of the time.

As a result, this backtracked my caloric deficit goal 14% of the time.

People underestimate the impact of doing something “once a week.”

They rationalize it as a small habit, but it's 14% of their time.

“1 out of X” doesn't mean it's a small amount; it's a significant percentage.

(This also means that exercising at least 1x/week is still significant, so check out this course to make those exercise sessions as easy as pizza pie. (The secret is patterns.))

If it's a bad habit, reduce it to less than once a week, once every two weeks, once a month, or eliminate it.

People often mess up the math and underestimate the impact of doing something once a week.

I've addressed my snacking habit by often bringing pre-calculated meal to my friend's place.

(And bringing a floss pick so I can use it to mark when I’m done eating.)

I also limit my snack portions and drink water to avoid overeating.

Resisting snacks is best, but if you indulge, get your math right.

This approach has helped me lose weight, so I can enjoy Italy without regret.

I’m ready… to “bulk up” back to my springtime weight (because I earned it).

Feel free to reply back with any questions.

Okay, bye!

Check out the main site for MANY MORE helpful resources.