During lockdown, I started going outside to work out. About five times per week, first thing in the morning, for 30 minutes. First I used YouTube, which I found it too cumbersome to find good workouts. After hearing good things about Freeletics, I decided to give it a try. Now, three months later, I really…
Category: Health
Sleep Tracking: My Oura Ring Review (After Two Years)
I have been using the Oura sleep tracking ring for almost two years now. I immediately fell in love with the form factor, as I can’t stand watches or bracelets. When do I wear it? I used to wear it all the time, but then switched to night-only. I’m not interested in tracking my steps…
Use Water, Not Toilet Paper
I’ve stopped using toilet paper one year ago. Why are we so obsessed with toilet paper? Does it really make sense to cut down trees, manufacture paper by truckloads, only to flush it down pipes, then filter it out again and burn it? Turns out, the majority of the human population is using water, not…
Time in Bed vs. Time Asleep
Time in bed doesn’t equal time asleep. Just because you’ve been in bed for 7 hours doesn’t mean you slept for 7 hours. It’s more likely that you slept 6. Based on my Oura Ring, my own difference is 30 to 60 minutes per night. This led me to the following rule: Allow a 1…
Keeping a Long-Term Perspective
In January, I wrote about my hopes and expectations for the new decade: “Something big will hit us. If not this decade, then one of the next. It will come out of the blue. A new vector. A bio attack, a pandemic, cyber warfare, eruption of a huge volcano. Something we won’t be expecting. Something…
The Four Pillars of the Good Life: Health, Wealth, Love, and Happiness
[This is a talk I recently gave at Ideaweek 2020 by MOI Global.] When preparing the remarks to share with you, I was reminded of the Stanford commencement speech by Steve Jobs from 2005. I remember vividly watching it in 2006 on YouTube, just as I was graduating from college, and it made a big…
4000 Push-ups Challenge (in January)
I’ve completed a 4000 push-ups challenge this month, together with about 30 others from my Crossfit gym. I decided to apply the “Margin of Safety” principle and did 150 per day, so I finished a couple of days early. It was a real challenge for me, as push-ups are one of my least-liked exercises. I…
Why I Stopped Drinking Alcohol
This thread reminded me that it is now 10 years since I stopped drinking alcohol. I haven’t had one drop since. Sometimes people ask me: Why not just one glass? Why stop completely? Why not enjoy life? The simple answer is: It simplified my life. It’s easier to quit something 100% than 98%. It eliminates…
Power Nap with Binaural Beats
I enjoy taking occasional power naps after lunch or in the afternoon. I rarely fall asleep, but when I do, it really is refreshing. One tool I discovered are Binaural Beats: A binaural beat is an auditory illusion perceived when two different pure-tone sine waves, both with frequencies lower than 1500 Hz, with less than…
This too shall pass
Life is a roller coaster with lots of ups and downs. It sometimes is a struggle to keep a balance, to not get carried away by the extremes. I have found the following mantra useful: “This too shall pass.” It’s a reminder that, given time, most things revert to the mean. Feeling bad? Having an…