Location: 
My living room (which happens to be located on a farm near Willmar, Minnesota).

Current gig: 
At the moment, I’m in the process of looking for a gig that will result in an actual regular paycheck, so if you’re reading this and you know of something—let me know. Otherwise I still do some work for The Back 40/Bukovina, but not a ton as it slows down substantially in the winter. And, of course, I’m discovering Praxis. 

Current mobile device: 
This is kind of a painful topic, actually. My beloved iPhone 6 died a horrendously painful death this summer, three days into a big road trip out west. Thankfully, though, we were able to scrounge up something in the technological wasteland that is San Francisco, so now I have an iPhone X. It’s beautiful, it takes lovely pictures, and switching between apps is smoother than butter, but. . . I will be paying this phone off until I’m 37. 

Don’t become a slave to your technology, kids.

Current computer:
Oh boy do I have another story for you! I have no idea what kind of computer it is—it’s a Dell something something with a version of Windows that’s so old that it doesn’t even have the grid menu option. But I do know that it has this nifty feature (limited edition, I’m sure) where it refuses to hold onto a WiFi signal for longer than 1o minutes for literally no reason! Sometimes it reconnects after I restart the whole computer, but sometimes it doesn’t! Sometimes I get to spend 15 minutes turning it off and turning it back on again until it recognizes a signal! And sometimes my work gets saved, and sometimes it doesn’t! Ah, it sure has a mind of its own, that sly minx of a laptop. As they say, computers are like a box of chocolates—they get nasty when they overheat.

One word that best describes how you work:
Eclectic. 

What apps/software/tools can’t you live without? 
My father might disown me if he reads this, but Google Photos, Google Sheets, Google Docs, Google Chrome, Google Translate, Gmail, Google the actual search engine, etc. Big Brother already lives among us, friends. I’ve just learned to embrace it. 

What’s your work space like?
Because I’m currently working from home, the only thing consistent about my work space is the fact that I’m present. I don’t have a desk or cute little productivity nook, so I’ve learned to get stuff done wherever there’s a chair, electricity (within reason), and coffee. If I really want to focus, I go to a coffeeshop where I won’t know everyone (which can be tricky in a small town) and get in the zone there. 

What’s your best time-saving trick?
I’ve started tabling things to tackle at a later date, and that’s been incredibly helpful. I’m the kind of person who will Google “how to make an actual parallax please no coding” and fifteen minutes later wind up working diligently on a brand new budget. I’ve got a lot of passions, a lot of questions, and a lot of stuff to learn, which is awesome. Except for when I’m trying to focus. So when I start to get sidetracked on nonessential stuff, I’ve found that writing down questions, ideas, articles, and videos for later has saved a vast amount of time.

What’s your favorite to-do list manager?
My notebook! Being able to physically write something down and then physically cross it off (even if I had already completed it when I wrote it down just so that I’d have something to cross off) is immensely satisfying and morale-boosting. I’ve also started writing up weekly to-do lists in my notes app on my phone, screenshotting it, and then setting it as my lock screen. That way it’s impossible to ignore or cancel, and it’s always on my mind because I look at it too many times a day.

Besides your phone and computer, what gadget can’t you live without?
Indoor toilets that flush.

What everyday thing are you better at than anyone else?
Drinking coffee. Not being sarcastic, actually. I’ve really honed in my skill over the years. I now know how much caffeine I can handle before I start vibrating, when to drink it during an overnight so I don’t crash halfway through, whether it’s really time for a cup of coffee vs. a cup of tea (an eternal struggle), how espresso and black coffee affect me differently, and that sometimes I can drink a cup of decaf but get the same results because the placebo effect is real. It creates efficiency! (That’s what I tell myself, yeah.) 

What are you currently reading?
I’ve been reading the book Wake Up! by Arno Lamm and Emile-Andre Vanbeckevoort for a little over a month now, and it continues to blow me away on a regular basis. I’ve also recently started reading The Last Safe Investment by Bryan Franklin and Michael Ellsberg; I’m not in very deep yet, but so far it’s intriguing.

What do you listen to while you work?
My heavy rotation is various classical/instrumental albums and playlists, because something about it just makes my spirit feel alive inside. It really does depend on the task, though. And my mood. And the weather. So sometimes it’s Vivaldi. Sometimes it’s ABBA. Sometimes it’s Mediterranean-influenced music that incorporates Jewish, Southeastern European and Middle Eastern traditions, Gypsy punk, reggae, and electronica. And sometimes it’s Josh Groban. I don’t really have a rhyme or a reason, I just go with it. 

Are you more of an introvert or an extrovert?
I’m both and I’m neither. Depends on the need around me at any given time. I’m comfortable in both roles: people both energize and exhaust me, and I energize and exhaust myself. So good luck figuring that one out. 

What’s your sleep routine like?
Nonexistent. One of my goals for the immediate future is to establish a healthy and consistent sleep cycle. Right now I’m fighting the fact that I’ve trained myself to do my best work from 11pm-2am. Any tips would be warmly welcomed!

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? 
“Embrace the suck.” My dad said this comfortingly to me as I left for a three-week overseas mission trip because I was a little concerned about some (in hindsight) minor details. Basically, sucky stuff happens and sometimes life isn’t fair. Embrace it. Do the thing anyway, and do it with a good attitude. And, believe it or not, if you make an effort to shift your mindset about a situation, sometimes it doesn’t seem so terrible anymore! And that’s the story of how I got a bucket of rice-and-compost-filled slime dumped on my head. Good times. 

Is there anything you’d like to add? 
I feel like I need to clarify that I don’t listen exclusively to music. I’m not some heathen child who doesn’t ever listen to podcasts to keep up that consistent growth. Those mainly come into play while I’m driving or doing physical/relatively brainless work. I’m always on the look out for new ones, however, so if you’ve got a favorite, let me know!

Well, that’s about it for me, folks. If you’ve got a healthy work habit, ironic anecdote, or awesome podcast recommendation for me—get in touch! I want to hear what the world has to offer.