Tech Productivity Issue #403 (Is A Startup Worth Your Career?)

Issue #403 (Is A Startup Worth Your Career?) 11/02/26

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At least once a week, I try to include at least one link that encourages something related to brain health. Sometimes it's a new study that indicates something about the brain. Other times it's an article with tips on improving brain health based on known brain science.

This week the most interesting brain-related piece I'm sharing is an episode from The Science of Happiness podcast called How to Protect Your Brain as You Age. You can listen to the episode or read the transcript on the page.

There's lots to benefit from in the 25 minutes, but maybe the most interesting are some of the tips for improving memory. One of the suggestions is a simple acronym-based exercise that helps you remember people's names.

So check out the full episode if you want some practical tips on improving memory and some myths and facts on brain health in general.

Now on to this week's hand-picked productivity links!

Tools & Apps

Super Menu — A Mac app that adds a fast, personal menu, like a small dock, to your Mac, for everything you open often, including files, folders, apps, links, shortcuts, etc.

Twilock — An iPhone app that blocks apps, to help prevent things like doom-scrolling, specifically before going to bed and first thing in the morning, which are the most common times for time-wasters.

Antalogy — A native app for Mac, Windows, and Linux that offers an AI-ready desktop word processor with the familiarity of a Word interface for Markdown, the privacy of local-first, and the LLM of your choice.

ExpertEdge by Packt — 4,000+ web dev, JavaScript and AI coding books and courses from Packt, Wiley and MIT Press in one subscription. Tech Productivity readers get 50% off the yearly plan with code WEBTOOLS50. sponsor

send/links — A platform for people who collect useful links every day and want one reliable place to keep them organized, offering browser, dashboard, and private mode that all work together for fast and easy retrieval.

TaxHacker — A self-hosted accounting app for freelancers, indie-hackers and small businesses, that uses AI to handle your taxes, scan your receipts, and analyze your expenses.

Upstream — An AI-powered Gmail plugin for teams that uses agents to organize your inbox, cut the noise, and draft replies in your exact voice, and also includes a Gmail cleaner decluttering your Gmail without deleting anything.

Articles & Resources

Irrational Decisions — "When I look back at my trajectory, I said yes to so many opportunities I was clearly unprepared for... how can you grow in life if you’re not up to some madness?"

The Part of Productivity Most Avoid (and Why It’s Costing You Tomorrow) — The 'part' referred to is the scheduling of proper rest and recovery, which is encouraged especially after a big productive day.

Passion to Passive Profits (E-Book) — Jamie Northrup shows you the exact methods he uses to create 7 different types of digital assets, and how he leverages different marketplaces to make passive income from each one. sponsor

Is A Startup Worth Your Career? — The message you get from founders vs. one from recruiters is completely different, but in both cases you're essentially 'going in blind', so the author offers a checklist to truly gauge if it's worthwhile.

How Can I Make Better Decisions When Facing Uncertainty? — The suggestions here are based on something called "trialectics", inspired by a workshop by knowledge management researcher Dave Snowden.

Building A Backyard Office, The Build and Cost Breakdown — Here's something different: A write-up on one software engineer's journey building an actual office (kind of like a tool shed) in his backyard.

3 Things to Future-proof Your Career in the Age of AI — The tips here are to audit your AI use regularly, do the hard tasks yourself first, and build skills AI can’t replicate.

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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