Tech Productivity Issue #367 (How To Estimate Work)

Issue #367 (How To Estimate Work) 02/23/26

Learn Visual Studio Code
A 346-page e-book, written by a human, for beginner, intermediate, and advanced VS code users. The book contains 150+ tips on using and customizing different features of VS Code, the world's most popular code editor.

With a few exceptions, all the features and tips discussed do not require use of any extensions or external tools. These are almost exclusively tips on using VS Code's native features.

You'll get bite-sized quick tips on navigating the app, UI customizations, terminal tips, working with tabs and windows, IntelliSense tips, the file explorer, accessibility, profiles, customizing menus, and lots more.

The book includes more than 450 high-resolution screenshots and is available in EPUB and PDF formats.

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I'm sure many of you have tried out Obsidian, the popular native notes app. Some of you may use it extensively, or possibly it's one of the many tools you use, depending on the kinds of notes involved.

Whatever the case, I thought you might want to check out this thread by Wes Bos on X. He mentions trying out Obsidian many times and asks for suggestions from his followers.

The discussion includes lots of technical suggestions related to Obsidian, including some tools that interact with Obsidian that you can add to your workflow to make Obsidian work better for you. I'm not sure if the thread ended up help Wes out, but maybe some of the tips will benefit you.

Now on to this week's productivity links!

Tools & Apps

NOTKI — A project notes app to track progress, organize updates, and share polished reports with clients in seconds, built for freelancers, consultants, and agencies who value clarity over chaos.

Newtab — A Chrome new tab page that lets you organize your tabs with features like tab search and filtering, organization with smart tags, background tab automation, and smart notifications.

Learn VS Code — An e-book in EPUB and PDF formats featuring 150+ tips on using and customizing Visual Studio Code. Content covers native features almost exclusively and the book includes 450+ high-res screenshots. sponsor

blank.page — A simple writing tool in the browser that has no database, files, or other clutter, just write in the browser with features like dictation, dark mode, spell check, live word count, dark theme, and more.

PulseBoard — A platform for analyzing team health that offers continuous signals on mood, energy, and workload with AI-powered insights.

cobalt — A tool that helps you save anything from your favorite websites, including video, audio, photos, or gifs. just paste the link, with no ads, trackers, or paywalls.

yey.email — A service that lets you turn any email provider into an encrypted inbox with unlimited aliases, anonymous replies, and full privacy with no tracking or logs.

Articles & Resources

How I Estimate Work as a Staff Software Engineer — The author discusses why estimation is generally viewed as impossible, where estimates come from, and how most estimates are done with backwards thinking.

LLMs and Your Career — "The people who were only willing to look at existing frameworks and libraries and applications as black boxes were already not the most competitive when it came to finding and retaining work."

TLDR Dev — Get smarter about software in 5 minutes. The most important software engineering news in one daily email. Join 250K+ subscribers. sponsor

Curiosity is the First Step in Problem Solving — An honest set of admissions where the author confesses to making numerous mistakes in the past and how he believes curiosity is the best technique to reduce the cost of being wrong.

Life Happens at 1x Speed — Many today are consuming content at 2x speeds or higher (e.g. videos, podcasts, audiobooks) but the author believes if something isn't worth consuming at 1x, it's not worth consuming at all.

A Little Bit Uncomfortable — Some observations based on the fact that people tend to perform best when they're under heightened stress, as long as the stress levels don't get overwhelming.

10 Ways to Beat Procrastination — The first of a two-part series on fighting procrastination. The other 10 tips are found here, and if you're interested the tips are based on an associated course.

Suggestions?

Have a suggestion for a productivity-related tool, article, or other resource? Send me a direct message via X or chat via Bluesky and I’ll consider including it in a future issue.

Stay productive!

Louis
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