Maker Mind

Selective ignorance.

Hi friends!

You are now more than 25,000 wonderful people receiving this newsletter! 🥳 Thank you so much for trusting me with your most intimate space on the internet: your inbox. I'm humbled, grateful, and super excited to be on this journey of discovery with you all. This is the perfect milestone to end the year. I'm wrapping up my first ever online course, reading the lovely feedback, and slowly getting ready to take a nice break over the holiday season.

Did you know this year is the first time ever the Oxford Dictionary didn't name a word of the year? They described 2020 as “a year which cannot be neatly accommodated in one single word.” I couldn't agree more. Instead of a single word, join me next week to work on a personal end-of-year review. We'll share stories and write together.

And if you'd like to better manage chaos in the future, scroll down for an article on selective ignorance, a concept first coined by Tim Ferriss. I also wrote about the difference between three words that used to confuse me: efficacy, effectiveness, and efficiency.

Enjoy the read, and hit reply if you have any questions, feedback, or want to say hello!

p.s. sneak peek into my December reading list. :)

Brain food

Selective ignorance: intentional knowledge in a chaotic world (7 min)
Curious minds tend to value knowledge as an enabler for personal growth. While there is no lack of opportunities to learn, are all these opportunities equally worthwhile? What's the true cost of knowledge?

The difference between efficacy, effectiveness and efficiency (5 min)
These terms sound confusingly similar. Commonly used in medical research, project management, and decision science, they are often mixed up in everyday conversations. So what's the difference?

Curiosity and consistency: thoughts on growing a newsletter (13 min)
To celebrate 25K readers, I asked you to share your questions about launching and managing a newsletter. Here are my thoughts. Wherever you are in your journey, I hope you find these answers helpful.

Brain candy

Waterfall
“This is a waterfall. It is called the Bride Waterfall in Peru. Can you see why?” (if you can't see why reply to this email and I'll tell you)

The best Christmas tree
“The annual book tree is up! Always with a heavy Crim-literature presence and this year topped off with a T-Rex.”

Fingers crossed
“What I want 2021 to be like.” (same here!)

Brain trust

Here's a sneak peek into what's going on behind the scenes. Don't miss out—if you enjoy Maker Mind, become a member to support the newsletter, expand your mind, and connect with like-minded people!

• Feedback for writers. Amazing first session last week! Want to write better? Join the next session led by Bhumi to improve together.
• AMA with Rosie Sherry. Rosie Sherry, community manager of Indie Hackers and a leading expert in community building joined us to answer all our questions. Watch the recording.
• Obsidian knowledge share. Miguel is organising a Q&A session to learn how to make the most of the note-taking app Obsidian, from taking notes to connecting your thoughts and creating content.
• Productivity dashboard. Join the amazing Yina to build a productivity dashboard that will keep you honest and accountable, while allowing for flexibility when life gets in the way.
• Improv. The first improv session this week was a lot of fun! Join the new #Improv support group to participate in the next session.
• Support groups. We now have groups for #Parenting, #VisualThinkers, #BookLovers, #AudioVideoCreators and more. And for specific tools for thought, there are dedicated groups for #RoamResearch, #Obsidian, #Notion, and #Evernote. Join a group or start your own!
• Conversations. Currently discussing making an anti-résumé, using an iPad to be more prdouctive, the second brain method, exercises for inducing a creative state, working with a wellness coach, our relationship with social media, research papers about metacognition, and more. Join the conversation.
• Collector to Creator. We are now in the last week of the course. There will be a second cohort early next year. Sign up here to stay updated!

Brain waves

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