writing

A note about notes

This is a conversation I must've had 20 or 30 times by now. I wanted to share why I write so many notes (tl;dr: 'human brains suck'), and how I'm using a tool called Obsidian to overcome a lot of the challenges and limitations of other note-taking apps I used before. My ultimate aim is for the knowledge I accumulate to compound over time, and I've found Obsidian great as a tool to help me on that journey.

Do not let the voices in your head take over

A ramble-y shower thought about striking the balance between stretching oneself and practicing self-love, and why, like with so many things in life, it's essential to stop every now and then to reflect on whether we're being *deliberate* about striking that balance.

Covid-19: My good, bad, and to-be-determined takes

I decided to take stock of the various opinions and predictions I've made over the course of the pandemic, and reflect a little on the meta subject of engaging with a complex, rapidly-unfolding situation.

Book review/notes: How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates

I wrote up this summary when I finished reading Bill Gates' book in March 2021, but I am only publishing it now because I wanted to share it with others. It is incomplete (I haven't typed up highlights/summaries for all chapters), and some reflections might be a bit outdated

Don't think the government restrictions are there to protect you

I often see people who genuinely want to minimise their risk of getting Covid, but who end up deferring a little too much judgement to what the government allows them to do. In practice, restrictions have to balance protecting lives from Covid against economic harms, other health harms, enforceability, and comprehensibility.

Some advice for the class of 2021

I was invited at the annual alumni panel at Imperial College Business School this year to share some advice to the newest MSc Management cohort. I figured a lot of it is more widely applicable, so I thought I'd share my reflections, insights, and advice in a blog post.

UK grocery shortages: It’s not just panic buying

What started as a short rant on Facebook turned into a full article with graphs and everything... An analysis of the UK grocery retail shortages in the first few weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown, and why it's mostly due to just-in-time supply chains being finely-calibrated, not due to panic-buying.