Discipline →

Published 2 Hours Ago  ·  All posts on Mar 14

What do you do when you don’t feel like it? Especially then.

~ Seth Godin, from Our practice

It’s been said that discipline is how you earn freedom; freedom in the sense of being able to do what you want with your time. Freedom, with a capital, is of course an inherent right. I tend to add systems and queues (a fancy word for piles of stuff to do) to both get things out of my head and to impose some order.

But to answer Godin’s question specifically: When I really don’t feel like doing any of the things I’ve set myself up for, I step back and survey. Because it’s usually a sound indicator that I’ve got too many things I’m imagining I’m going to get done.

ɕ

There’s more than we can ever do →

Published 4 Hours Ago  ·  All posts on Mar 14  ·  

While I’m distracted by doing all the things I really need to do I know deep down I’m avoiding all the things I really need to do

~ Jesse Danger, from Robbing Peter to pay Paul

My friend Jesse writes now and then. It’s not that what he writes is good (it is), rather it’s that what he writes is very often in sync with what I’m thinking. This one sat a bit before I hit publish, so if you go over, there are few more things to read published since.

I often (“constantly” almost works here) talk about how my default mode is to sit before the computer and do stuff, when the default mode I wish I had was— frankly, anything other than touch a computer. The key to unlocking that is to fixate on this: The computer is a tool. Tools are technology for doing something. Therefore, as I head towards a computer, what exactly am I going to do, and what exactly is the definition of done (so I then know to go back to the normal life I wish I had)?

This? The point was to sit with this thought, and to attempt to shine some attention towards Jesse’s writing. Done.

ɕ

You are not alone →

Published 22 Hours Ago  ·  All posts on Mar 13

When I set out to document the inner workings of sludge, I had in mind the dull architecture of delays and deferrals. But I had started to notice my own inner workings. The aggravation was adding up, and so was the fatigue. Arguing was exhausting. Being transferred to argue with a different person was exhausting. The illogic was exhausting.

Chris Colin, from That Dropped Call With Customer Service? It Was On Purpose

First I want to just say: You are not alone. That complex thing— that bureaucracy you’re trying to wade through— those phone systems, web site chat bots, email exchanges… we are all facing that. That’s the first piece. Take a breath and realize that the problem is not you. Yes, you may have actually broken whatever it is you’re trying to fix… or, you’re trying to save some moeny… or, countless other things that will lead you into the maze of twisty passages, all alike. But the problem is not you. Exceptional things happen, and—counterintuitively—they happen frequently. It’s not you.

Second I want to say that the best way to move through the sludge of a stupefyingly vast bureaucracy is to take good notes. As soon as you realize you are entering the realm of bureaucracy sludge, start taking notes. Put your notes into something dedicated—a single digital file, a separate notebook, a tablet, or just grab a stack of recycled paper and staple the corner. Start every note with the date. Write as much as you can and CRITICALLY after each interaction—each email or message you read, each phone call you attempt—take the time to READ your notes and THINK about what happened and make MORE NOTES right there.

This second part will NOT, in the least, make you more successful at “winning.” But it will save your sanity. Not having to rely on your memory will go a long way towards preserving your sanity.

ɕ

How we feel about it →

Published 23 Hours Ago  ·  All posts on Mar 13  ·  

We don’t get to choose what happens to us, but we can always choose how we feel about it. And why on earth would you choose to feel anything but good? We can choose to render a good account of ourselves. If the event must occur, Amor Fati (a love of fate) is the response.

Ryan Holiday

slip:4a1568.

Seven dwelling places →

Published 3 Days Ago  ·  All posts on Mar 11

This morning I was rummaging through a notebook and I was reminded of a great article I’d read about Saint Teresa of Ávila. More specifically, I was reminded that I had wanted to add some self-reflection prompts about Saint Teresa’s “seven dwellings” ideas. And then after some searching I realized I’d never even posted about the article either— or at least, I can’t find it here in the blog… I digress.

Imagine your inner self as a new love interest. You would get to know them by spending time and doing things together. Similarly, to know yourself better, you intentionally carve out space for introspective reflection.

Skye C Cleary, from Saint Teresa of Ávila

slip:4upyie20.

Self-knowledge. That’s the first dwelling place.

ɕ

The Mental Swirl Problem →

Published 3 Days Ago  ·  All posts on Mar 11  ·  

You know the feeling: journal, yoga, that project, call mom, the other thing you’ve been meaning to get to. They’re all there, circling. You can’t settle into any one of them because the others keep interrupting.

Here’s the problem with making a list: an ordered list implies sequence and commitment. Your brain reads “1, 2, 3” as a contract you’re already failing.

But if you don’t externalize the swirl somehow, it keeps consuming mental energy.

There’s a technique I call the Jumble Bullet. Make a quick scribble—a small squiggle, just one fast stroke that looks like a tiny mess. Then write the items horizontally on that line, separated by slashes:

journal / yoga / call mom / that email / budget thing

That’s it. One line. No hierarchy. No sequence. Just peers, captured.

The scribble looks like what it represents—mental clutter you’re getting out of your head. The horizontal format reinforces “these are options, not steps.”

Sometimes just writing it down is enough—you can let go and settle into one of the items because the others are captured. Sometimes you’ll look at it later and realize one thing matters more than the rest. Sometimes you’ll ignore it entirely.

The point is to get it out of your head so you can stop holding it there.

ɕ

This is part of a series about Hand-Write. Think Better.—a method for using paper to think more clearly. Get the book →

My way? →

Published 4 Days Ago  ·  All posts on Mar 10  ·  

For me, all these complex valences reach their peak in one song. And you know which one I’m talking about.

Ted Gioia, from “My Way” or the Highway?

slip:4uhopy2.

There was a time—20 years ago, I’d say—when I sang along. It was of course aspirational— or— I’m looking for a word; not quite “aspirational.” I was singing along as if the song in any way represents my actual story. In reality, I’m only acting as if I’d actually tried to do even a few of the things expressed, let alone actually accomplished all the things expressed. Is that posturing? …playacting? …attempting to borrow someone’s bravado?

I’m going to go with: self-deception.

There was a time, not too long ago, when I sang along in self-deception. Now the song reminds me that I’ve never actually even tried to do anything… let alone accomplished anything worth singing about.

ɕ

Like letter-writing? →

Published 5 Days Ago  ·  All posts on Mar 9

There are broadly two types of sources we identify when studying history: narrative sources and relics […] The former are things designed to convey something to future generations, […] Relics [sic] the other hand were not intended for future generations. They do not have a “transmission intent”. While they often hold true to the beliefs of the person producing them they tend to have little to no large-scale bias in recording history. They are also excellent records equivalent to oral history and can serve as both primary sources and secondary sources that are closer to an original event than subsequent scholarly literature.

~ Venkatram Harish Belvadi, from Relics of the future

slip:4uvere1.

I’ve now been typing away on this blog for fifteen years and what I have posted here has varied wildly in that time.

While it has occurred to me to wonder what happens to the blog after I die, it had never occurred to me to wonder if there might be actual value to historians here.

I’m honestly not sure what to do with that. Do I keep posting? Do I close the garage door?

ɕ

Part 6: The Brain →

Published 9 Days Ago  ·  All posts on Mar 4  ·  

I’ve been doing 16:8 intermittent fasting for years and recently started 48-hour fasts — dropping about three pounds each fast, gaining one or two back, and trending steadily downward. I wanted to understand what the research actually says about what I’m doing to myself, so I worked with Claude (Anthropic’s AI) to produce this series. I set the structure, chose the topics, pushed back on claims that felt hand-wavy, and guided the editorial tone. Claude did the writing and research synthesis. My curiosity driving Claude’s research and prose.

Mental Clarity, BDNF, and Ketone Fuel

Research brief — what happens in the brain during extended fasting. The subjective experience of mental clarity is real and widely reported; the science behind it is more complicated than the popular narrative suggests.

The Clarity People Report

Many people describe a distinct shift during extended fasting — typically somewhere after the 24–36 hour mark — from brain fog to unusual mental clarity. This is one of the most consistently reported subjective experiences of fasting, across cultures and contexts. It’s real. The question is why.

Three candidate explanations, not mutually exclusive:

  1. Ketone metabolism — the brain runs efficiently on beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB)
  2. BDNF upregulation — fasting may increase brain-derived neurotrophic factor
  3. Stable fuel supply — no more blood sugar fluctuations from meals

The first and third have strong physiological grounding. The second is where the science gets shaky.

Ketones as Brain Fuel

By 48 hours of fasting, the liver is producing ketone bodies — primarily BHB — as the body’s main fuel source. The brain, which normally relies heavily on glucose, can use BHB efficiently. Some researchers argue the brain actually runs more efficiently on ketones than on glucose in certain contexts, producing more ATP per unit of oxygen consumed.

This is part of the metabolic switch described in Part 1. (1) The shift from glucose to ketone-based energy isn’t just happening in muscles and liver — the brain is making the same transition, and the subjective experience of clarity likely tracks with this fuel switch completing. The “keto flu” brain fog (Part 2) happens during the messy transition; the clarity arrives once the brain has fully adapted to the new fuel source.

Evidence strength: Strong. The biochemistry of ketone metabolism in the brain is well-established.

BDNF — The Overhyped Claim

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) supports neuroplasticity, neuronal resilience, and the growth of new synaptic connections. Animal studies consistently show that fasting upregulates BDNF, which is why it’s frequently cited as a fasting benefit.

The human picture is much murkier.

A 2024 systematic review published in Medicina examined 16 human studies (from 2000–2023) on intermittent fasting, calorie restriction, and BDNF levels. The results were strikingly split: (2)

  • 5 studies showed significant BDNF increase after fasting interventions
  • 5 studies showed significant BDNF decrease
  • 6 studies showed no significant change

That’s about as close to “we don’t know” as a systematic review can get. The review concluded that IF has “varying effects on BDNF levels” in humans.

A 2022 narrative review in Frontiers in Aging attempted to synthesize the neurotrophic effects of IF, calorie restriction, and exercise, and similarly found the human BDNF evidence to be inconsistent and insufficient for strong conclusions. (3)

Why the disconnect between animal and human data? Several possibilities:

  • Animal studies typically measure BDNF in brain tissue directly; human studies rely on blood BDNF levels, which may not reflect what’s happening in the brain
  • The fasting protocols studied in humans vary enormously (Ramadan fasting, alternate-day fasting, calorie restriction, time-restricted eating) — these may not all trigger the same neurological responses
  • Measurement timing matters — when in the fasting/refeeding cycle you measure BDNF may produce different results

Honest assessment: The subjective mental clarity during extended fasts is real. Attributing it specifically to BDNF upregulation in humans is not supported by the current evidence. The more likely drivers are ketone metabolism (well-established) and the absence of postprandial blood sugar fluctuations (straightforward physiology).

Evidence strength: Strong in animals, weak and contradictory in humans. This is the weakest of the claimed fasting benefits in this series.

The Stable Fuel Supply

This is the simplest explanation and possibly the most underrated: when you’re not eating, your blood sugar isn’t spiking and crashing. The brain receives a steady supply of ketones instead of riding the glucose roller coaster. For anyone who normally experiences afternoon energy dips, post-meal drowsiness, or reactive hypoglycemia, the stable fuel supply of ketosis may account for much of the perceived clarity — not through some exotic neurotrophic mechanism, but simply by removing the disruptions.

Evidence strength: Physiologically obvious but rarely studied in isolation because it’s hard to disentangle from the other effects of fasting.

Sources

  1. de Cabo & Mattson 2019, NEJM — metabolic switching and brain ketone adaptation: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31881139/
  2. 2024 systematic review, Medicina — IF and BDNF in humans (contradictory results across 16 studies): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38276070/ (free full text: https://www.mdpi.com/1648-9144/60/1/191)
  3. 2023 narrative review, Frontiers in Aging — neurotrophic effects of IF, CR, and exercise: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/aging/articles/10.3389/fragi.2023.1161814/full

Part 5: Inflammation and Immune Renewal →

Published 9 Days Ago  ·  All posts on Mar 4  ·  

I’ve been doing 16:8 intermittent fasting for years and recently started 48-hour fasts — dropping about three pounds each fast, gaining one or two back, and trending steadily downward. I wanted to understand what the research actually says about what I’m doing to myself, so I worked with Claude (Anthropic’s AI) to produce this series. I set the structure, chose the topics, pushed back on claims that felt hand-wavy, and guided the editorial tone. Claude did the writing and research synthesis. My curiosity driving Claude’s research and prose.

Inflammation and Immune Renewal

Research brief — how fasting reduces systemic inflammation and primes the immune system for regeneration. Two distinct but related mechanisms.

Inflammation Reduction

Jordan et al. 2019 — Stefan Jordan, Navpreet Tung, and colleagues at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, led by Miriam Merad. Published in Cell, 178:1102-1114. (1)

This study directly tied caloric intake to the circulating inflammatory monocyte pool — a key driver of systemic inflammation.

What they found:

  • Short-term fasting reduced monocyte metabolic and inflammatory activity and drastically reduced the number of circulating monocytes
  • The mechanism: fasting activates AMPK in hepatocytes (liver cells) and suppresses systemic CCL2 production via PPARα, which reduces monocyte mobilization from bone marrow
  • Fasting improved chronic inflammatory diseases without compromising emergency immune mobilization during acute infection — the immune system’s ability to respond to real threats remained intact

The human component: The study profiled 12 healthy, normal-weight volunteers at 3 hours post-meal and at 19 hours fasting. The mouse experiments used longer fasting periods and showed more dramatic effects.

Caveat: The human fasting window studied was 19 hours, not 48. The mouse data showed more dramatic effects with longer fasts. Extrapolating to 48 hours is directionally reasonable — if 19 hours produces measurable monocyte reduction, 48 hours would be expected to produce more — but the specific magnitude at 48 hours in humans was not tested in this study.

This connects to the metabolic switch framework (Part 1): the drop in insulin and shift to ketone metabolism activates the same AMPK pathway that suppresses inflammatory monocyte mobilization. It also connects to autophagy (Part 3) — the cellular cleanup machinery is part of the same adaptive stress response.

Evidence strength: Strong for the mechanism, moderate for the specific 48-hour timepoint in humans.

Stem Cell Priming and Immune Regeneration

Cheng et al. 2014 — Chia-Wei Cheng, Gregor B. Adams, Valter D. Longo and colleagues at USC. Published in Cell Stem Cell, 14(6):810-23. (2)

This is the Longo lab study that generated the “fasting regenerates the immune system” headlines. The reality is more nuanced but still remarkable.

What they found:

  • Prolonged fasting (48–72 hours in mice; fasting-mimicking diet cycles in humans) reduces circulating IGF-1 and PKA activity
  • This promotes hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) self-renewal and lineage-balanced regeneration
  • Multiple cycles of fasting reversed age-dependent myeloid bias in mice — essentially resetting the immune system’s tendency to produce more inflammatory cells as it ages
  • Multiple fasting cycles reduced immunosuppression and mortality caused by chemotherapy
  • Preliminary human data showed protection of lymphocytes from chemotoxicity during fasting

The refeeding insight: The regenerative benefit largely manifests during refeeding, not during the fast itself. The fast primes the stem cells by reducing IGF-1 and PKA signaling; the refeeding phase triggers the regenerative burst. This is often omitted in popular accounts — people focus on what happens during the fast, but the rebuild happens when you eat again. This makes the break-fast meal (Sunday dinner in the scenarios from Part 2) more than just the end of the fast — it’s the beginning of the regenerative phase.

Important caveats:

  • The 48–72 hour window comes from mouse data
  • The human component of this study used fasting-mimicking diet (FMD) cycles, not water fasting
  • The human data was preliminary — Longo’s subsequent work has focused more on FMD than on water fasting per se
  • The pro-regenerative effects were demonstrated after multiple cycles of fasting, not a single fast

Connection to the 46–54 hour fasting scenarios (Part 2): A 46-hour fast (Friday dinner to Sunday dinner) puts you at the lower edge of the window where this research becomes relevant. A 54-hour fast (Friday lunch to Sunday dinner) is solidly in the range. The 70–78 hour options maximize time in this territory.

Evidence strength: Strong in mice, preliminary in humans. The 48–72 hour window is from animal models. The refeeding-as-regeneration finding is well-supported.

Sources

  1. Jordan et al. 2019, Cell, 178:1102-1114.e17 — fasting reduces inflammatory monocyte pool: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31442403/ (full text: https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(19)30850-5)
  2. Cheng et al. 2014, Cell Stem Cell, 14(6):810-23 — prolonged fasting, IGF-1/PKA, and hematopoietic stem cell regeneration: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24905167/ (free full text: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4102383/)