Thanks to a post by Brian Cassel on Bluesky, I realized that closing all tabs in Safari on iOS is several more steps that it used to be, so I built a shortcut that will do it: Close All Tabs in Safari.
If you’re not a “download shortcuts” type, here’s how to do it in iOS 26:
Long-time readers will know I’m a big baseball fan. I think it’s a great sport, and I find a lot of inspiration from it.
And not always good inspiration.
My favorite team, the New York Yankees, entered June in 1st place, leading by 5.5 games. That’s a pretty healthy lead.
But injuries started creeping in, players got shuffled around, and now they’re in 2nd place, behind the Blue Jays a little more than halfway through the season.
What’s most interesting is that it wasn’t their offense that failed them.
They consistently scored five or more runs per game (20/38 games, starting from June 1), which should typically be enough to win.
So why did they have a record of 18 wins and 19 losses? The issues ran deeper.
The issues ran deeper.
I’m sitting in a coffee shop in upstate NY thinking about how I can create a better personalized experience for coaching clients, while still automating it.
Right now, I’m sending them an automated DM welcoming them and pointing them to a pinned post in a shared community.
But a video would be better. Instead of telling them how the space works, I can show them, while giving them a tour of all they get in the program.
Here was my thought process:
First, that’s a lot of work and it’s not like there are dozens of people signing up every day, or even every week. I’d be automating something that doesn’t really need to be automated…at least not yet.
But second, what if the AI mispronounces the name? This is their first post-purchase experience, and it should be a good one.
Dale Carnegie said, “People love hearing the sound of their own names.”
A personalized video would be great…but punting on perhaps the most important part of it, where I actually welcome them by name…that could set us off on the wrong foot.
Ultimately, I either create a general video, or I have a mostly general video, and record a 10-15 second customized clip for each client, before throwing it to the general video.
The point: don’t automate the stuff that matters. We free up our time to show up better for people — not outsource showing up.
Do you want to know why I’m AI Hesitant™?
Because people use it for things to cheat the hard work of actual accomplishment. This was much more ubiquitous in the early days (you know, all those 2 years ago), but it still happens.
It reminds me of a few things:
About a year after ChatGPT went public, I posted saying that using it to write your book* is like saying you used a car to run a marathon.
Technically speaking, you did something. But you skipped the hard part. The part where you actually work towards an end goal.
And great accomplishments only come with hard work; you can’t put it on autopilot, skip to the end, and reap the rewards.
When I was in college, I was pretty smug about certain things — like people getting degrees they’ll never actually use.
Philosophy came to mind, a lot.
Nearly 20 years on, two things are true about me:
The fact that I’m not using my Master’s hasn’t always been true. I taught Computer Science at the college level for a decade.
I worked in software development for higher ed, and for agencies. I wrote 4 web development books.
But today, I’m an automations and podcast coach. And when people ask me if I still make websites for hire, I sheepishly say, “no.”
Sheepish because I’ll say “yes” to some. But they need to be the right project.
Straightforward, clear, but a little interesting.
Usually for a non-profit. And I don’t want to code.
I only really code for LinkedIn Learning courses now.
But recently I took on a project I didn’t properly scope — I relied on my memory of WordPress tools, instead of seeing what they’re like now, post-Gutenberg.
I realized I needed at least some custom code.
So I turned to ChatGPT. And you know what?
In case you missed it, last week I talked about how in Curling, sweepers guide the stone by controlling the friction.
We can apply this to our business by looking at tasks we perform, or processes, and trying to smooth that over.
But what does that look like…practically speaking?
It’s been nearly 15 years since Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending film Inception came out, and I still think about it regularly.
If you’re unfamiliar, it focuses on a man named Dom Cobb, played by Leonardo DiCaprio. He’s known for stealing secrets from people’s subconscious by entering their dreams.
He’s hired to do the opposite — plant an idea in someone’s mind. This is called “Inception,” and since the movie came out, I’ve been using it as a verb.
If you’re in the dream world too long, you may forget and lose yourself in it. So Cobb has a token to keep him grounded in reality: a top. If it falls over, he’s in the real world. If it keeps spinning, he’s in a dream.
Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night with an amazing thought and then said, “I’ll remember it in the morning?”
I have. And just like death and taxes, it’s a guarantee that I’ll completely forget it in the morning. As my friend Cat Mulvihill pointed out on social media recently, “if it’s important enough, I’ll remember it,” is a lie.
If it were true, then we’d always remember birthdays, milk, and our kids’ lunchboxes in the fridge as we’re running out the door.
Without the right systems in place, we’d forget more than we remember.
That means following up with clients, fixing our product, and great ideas for podcast episodes.
That’s why idea capture is so critical to me — and why my system might seem like overkill.
But today I’d like to walk you through all the ways I easily capture ideas and thoughts — and the system I put in place, so I don’t miss anything.
Then we’ll cover what you should think about!
Raise your hand if you’ve ever thought: If I can just find the right tool, it will fix everything.
But here’s the thing—it won’t.
Don’t get me wrong. The right tool can solve a lot. But if you always grab a screwdriver because your drill is never charged, it doesn’t matter how fancy the drill is.
In other words, you actually need to use the tool for it to help you.
I’ve never been much of a CRM guy; everything I tried was either too complicated or just didn’t suit my needs. But there are three tools I use every day:
Using these, I built a simple CRM that does exactly what I need it to.
First, I created a new database in Notion called “CRM.” This is one of the few things that can be manipulated externally.
Then, I set up Make.com to access that database. (Unfortunately, you can’t grant workspace-wide access in Notion, so I had to do this per database.)
Finally, I created a “Discovery Call” event type in Cal.com.
In Notion, I have a CRM database that looks something like this:
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I track a lot of information in it, but what I love about using Notion is that I can hide most of that data in views and take notes directly on each entry.
The key fields for me are the stage, last contact date, and next follow-up. I’ll explain more about this in a minute.
Here’s the automation I use:
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I call it my “Scheduling Router.” Different actions are triggered depending on the event name—including a complete workflow for my podcast guest bookings. The branch of interest here, though, is for the “Discovery Call” event.
When someone books a Discovery Call, they’re added to Notion as a “Lead.” If there’s interest after our call, I move them to the “Prospect” stage.
Any other information from the booking form is mapped to fields in Notion.
This simple CRM has been clutch for me. It’s helped me land work and strengthened my client relationships. I’ve become so much better at following up.
But as I always say, systems and processes are iterative. I already have a few improvements in mind:
For one, client work is still my core focus, so a better system is better for business. But I also use it to manage potential podcast partnerships.
This CRM also frees up mental energy, letting me focus on:
…or just being sick without feeling like my business is falling apart.
And hey — if this sounds like something you could use help with, get in touch.
Sometimes we know the first step for something is an absolutely huge deal.
We know the first signer of the Declaration of Independence was John Hancock because the Second Continental Congress knew how important it was.
We know Neil Armstrong was the first person to step foot on the moon, which he marked with the eternal words, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
There are other times where we don’t know the impact of that first step until later.
We don’t really know the text of the first email. It was some keyboard-mashed thing sent by a computer engineer in 1971.
None of the guys who threw a Perfect Game knew from the first pitch how huge and rare that game would be (there have only been 24 perfect games in the approx. 235,000 games played).
When I created my first automation, I didn’t know how transformative automation would be for me.
In fact, when I decided to put an appreciable amount of time into automation back in 2018, it was well after the first time I created an automation.
I’ve been automating in some way, shape, or form for over 20 years.
The point being this: automation doesn’t need to be a huge deal when you start (or at all).
It’s about simplifying your life…not more complicated.
And it can be a slow burn. It doesn’t need to be a complicated mess.
It doesn’t even need to be for multiple tools. Here’s a 2-step automation I have for Notion:
Here’s what it does:
When a Lead is marked as “won” in my CRM database in Notion, add that Lead to my Clients database.
So now it’s your turn: what’s one thing you can simplify?
Comment and let me know. And if you’re struggling, let me know that too.
(and use it to your advantage instead)
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