36th editions of CSIFm woohoo! every edition is a celebration, maybe i should call them eid-itions (laugh or ill remove u)
couple updates:
been off the smokes for a whole week!!!
we have another Post Moves event in early May in SF, and working on a NYC one to follow as well
visited a Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Cal and it warms the heart that the kids are alright
this weeks content will be short as i have other things to tend to so it’ll be more a loose collection of thoughts versus a more thoughtful essay (sorry!)
consistent imperfect decisions
i find myself leaning more towards making little imperfect decisions more than waiting and contemplating on every decision. much like many others, i deal with a lot of decision paralysis. between running chai and vibes, freelancing, and myriad of other life things — i find myself sitting paralyzed not knowing what to do.
it’s important to have a matrix to help prioritize. a lot of people like the Eisenhower matrix, and i think that’s a great start. but really i’m talking less about practically approaching decision making, but rather a mental model of how i handle things. for that i think about decisions as imperfect or perfect.
when i talk about perfect/imperfect decisions i’m talking about the answers to a few questions i usually have in mind.
do i have enough information to make a decision?
do i completely understand the thing i’m making a decision on?
what are the costs associated with making the decision?
not-making a decision is also decision. there’s a cost to not making a decision, and there is a cost to making early imperfect decision— i.e. you can make mistakes and make the wrong decision. but i think decisiveness is important because the habit of little consistent imperfect decision making just removes a lot more from your “decision” backlog. it’s really about making snap judgements on decisions that aren’t as costly so you can take your sweet time with decisions that are of consequence and matter. over time, i think the arc of your decision making bends toward being more sound because you’ll eventually achieve a balance of intuition and reason.
deep dive on how to increase "serendipity surface area" by EmilybyNight
i found this thoughtful thread to be really neat. i feel it important to note that the context of this thread very much feels like “serendipity” with respect to one’s craft. now whether that means the craft that you do out of passion, outside a 9-5, or your 9-5, there’s this balance you need to strike between honing craft and sharing what you’ve learned. reminds me of the popular Picasso quote where he says when artists meet they talk about “about where you can buy cheap turpentine.” there’s value in opening up and talking about what you do, as long as you’re doing something alongside your talk.
Interior Design Pinterest Finds!
Architecture Twitter Finds!
i made u (well it was for a C&V drop) a playlist, here’s another playlist for the road:
Thanks for reading this edition. Share this with your friends, your grandma, or your neighbor. And if you made it to the end of this essay and you didn’t just scroll, dm me the words “kehlani” on either twitter or instagram. or leave a comment! As always,
Sincerely,
Haroon
P.S. Check out my previous newsletter if you’re curious: Cool Stuff I Found #35