Don't Miss Out on What You're Doing, Deleting Second Brains, drop dead [Friday Wrap-Up]

Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to the Friday wrap-up on the streamlined solopreneur. A short episode where I talk about three things. What's on My Mind, recommended reading and recommended media. This is the show that helps you automate your business so you can take time off worry-free. And hopefully this curation will help you think more about your systems. I'm your host Joe Casabona. It is Friday, May 8th, 2026. And here's,

Speaker 1: what's on my mind.

Speaker 1: I spent last weekend at my alma mater, the University of Scranton, where I serve on the

Speaker 1: university's alumni board. It's a board I've served on for the past few years. I really

Speaker 1: enjoy it because it helps me connect with fellow alumni, but it helps us connect more with the

Speaker 1: university and with current and future alumni. And community is a really

Speaker 1: important aspect of my life. And so I'm very, uh, it is a pleasure to be able to connect with

Speaker 1: this community, which has been such a big part of my life. Now, our meetings are on Saturdays.

Speaker 1: On Friday evenings, we usually have some sort of social event. And this time, we spent several

Speaker 1: hours doing a guided reflection at the university's retreat house on nearby Chapman Lake.

Speaker 1: it is one of my favorite places. I've only been there a few times, and it is so serene, so relaxing. It's really the perfect place for an activity like this. Now, the University of Scranton is a Jesuit university, and so this reflection was an Ignatian reflection. But I think that even if you are not Catholic, non-denominational, it's a very good reflection. We looked at where we,

Speaker 1: came from. We looked at our past and what shaped who we are today. We looked at who we are today,

Speaker 1: how we're feeling where we're at, checking in with ourselves, and we looked to the future. What is

Speaker 1: something that is important to us that will shape where we are going? I really enjoyed this

Speaker 1: reflection and we were invited to share our thoughts after. And

Speaker 1: I did share mine and where I came from and where I'd like to be and the hill I'm willing to

Speaker 1: die on, which is promote more critical thinking. But that's not what this is about. During the

Speaker 1: reflection, several of us mentioned the desire to reduce interruptions in our lives. And this was

Speaker 1: highlighted by the fact that we were listening to a free music playlist on YouTube where

Speaker 1: the music kept getting interrupted by ads. It really put an exclamation point on this idea that

Speaker 1: we are too connected and we are too consumed by distraction. And as you know, if you've been listening

Speaker 1: for a while, I've been thinking a lot about digital detox and this concept I came up with

Speaker 1: that is sort of the opposite of FOMO or fear of missing out.

Speaker 1: I call it moot, M-O-O-W-T, or missing out on what's there, missing out on what you're doing.

Speaker 1: I was excited to share this concept with my fellow alumni, given everything we had just talked about.

Speaker 1: And so I told a story about how we managed a strict no-screen policy at Disney World.

Speaker 1: we were there a year ago

Speaker 1: and I made it very clear

Speaker 1: that we were not going to

Speaker 1: bring our iPads to the park

Speaker 1: I bricked my phone

Speaker 1: before I left so I can only really access

Speaker 1: like text messages

Speaker 1: and the Disney app and a few other things

Speaker 1: but we didn't use our phone

Speaker 1: unless we needed to communicate with somebody

Speaker 1: or check our reservation or whatever

Speaker 1: in the Disney app

Speaker 1: contrast this

Speaker 1: with what I observed at least

Speaker 1: was families who were constantly on their screens, waiting in line for stuff, sitting just on their

Speaker 1: screens at the dinner table. And it really bummed me out because these people were paying a ton

Speaker 1: of money to do what they could do for free at home. And I get it. The days at Disneyland and Disney World

Speaker 1: are long. They are tiring. But

Speaker 1: generations survived without having a screen

Speaker 1: with them at the parks. And if you are going to pay the money to be at the

Speaker 1: park, then you should be at the park. And one particularly vivid

Speaker 1: memory for me is from Beast's Castle, a restaurant and

Speaker 1: perfect replica of the castle from the animated film. While my family and I were taking in the

Speaker 1: sights, enjoying the environment, like the lights would change and it would rain, beast would come in

Speaker 1: every so often, and there was lots to see and look at an experience. And while we were doing that,

Speaker 1: there was a family next to us. And they were all on their screens. Mom and dad were on their

Speaker 1: iPhones and the kids were on iPads. And I looked at my wife and I said, what is the point of being

Speaker 1: here? You're paying a premium for food because of the experience and you're not experiencing it.

Speaker 1: When I was on the focused podcast a few weeks ago, David Sparks, one of the hosts,

Speaker 1: shared a similar story from Disneyland, where he is an annual passholder and he will go there

Speaker 1: and he observes the same thing.

Speaker 1: And it got me thinking that we have such severe foamow for what's online,

Speaker 1: for what could be, that we're rendering our real life experiences, moot.

Speaker 1: Now, this concept is still a work in progress.

Speaker 1: Mood actually works pretty well.

Speaker 1: But the sentiment is real.

Speaker 1: Why don't we have a fear of missing out on what's in front of us?

Speaker 1: us, whether it's at Disney World or just out to dinner, right? We don't, we don't let the kids

Speaker 1: leave the house with their iPads unless we are going somewhere where we are spending

Speaker 1: multiple days. So just an outing, iPad stay at home. If we go out to dinner, we're not on

Speaker 1: screens. We're paying to be out to dinner, to be with each other. I have a more extreme

Speaker 1: stance, I think, I've been told at least, that, like, I will leave my phone in my locker

Speaker 1: at the gym. And I stream music from my watch. But I also have a digital music player. So if I

Speaker 1: didn't have my watch, I would stream it there. I want the gym to be in a wasis of nothingness,

Speaker 1: of some music. But like, I don't want distractions. I am not so important that whatever

Speaker 1: can't wait 30 minutes or 60 minutes. And I was at the gym, the gym,

Speaker 1: morning at 5.30 a.m. and the person next to me was on their phone the whole time and had their

Speaker 1: iPad in front of them. And and I don't I don't understand. And some people will say, well,

Speaker 1: this is just how people distract themselves from their workout or if if being on Slack gets them

Speaker 1: to the gym. No. I argue that if you are so important that you can't let 30 minutes go,

Speaker 1: by without something happening. If someone needs to get a hold of you immediately within a 30-minute

Speaker 1: window, you probably have someone who knows where you are at all times. And so I don't exist when I'm at the

Speaker 1: gym. And I think it boils down to can we be bored? Can we sit with our thoughts? Can we

Speaker 1: spend some time

Speaker 1: reflecting

Speaker 1: without distractions or interruptions.

Speaker 1: I think we need more of that.

Speaker 1: Well, let me know what you think.

Speaker 1: Streamlinetofeedback.com.

Speaker 1: I welcome your thoughts. I'm told my view is too strict.

Speaker 1: I don't think it is. I think that we should be able to be away from our phone for 30 minutes.

Speaker 1: Now, speaking of reflecting.

Speaker 1: My recommended reading is an article called I Deleted My Second Brain by Joan Westenberg.

Speaker 1: Now this piece was written about a year ago, and it seems to be making the rounds now.

Speaker 1: It's resurfaced in some other content circles where I hang out.

Speaker 1: And I'm really here for it.

Speaker 1: She basically talks about how she deleted all of her notes, 10,000 notes and her massive reading list.

Speaker 1: And she felt a sense of relief.

Speaker 1: And I am a big proponent of logging your idea so you don't forget them.

Speaker 1: My Obsidian Research folder, however, is a glut of text snippets that I am never going to read.

Speaker 1: I wrote about this last year when I said that I was trading highlights for voice notes when I was reading because I'm like a chronic highlighter and I never look back at them.

Speaker 1: And so this quote from the article in particular resonated with me.

Speaker 1: In trying to remember everything, I outsourced the act of reflection.

Speaker 1: I was mindlessly highlighting things, assuming I'd go back and revisit them, and I do still highlight.

Speaker 1: But now I immediately reflect on what I read.

Speaker 1: I will supplement my highlights with my own thoughts, either via paper and pen,

Speaker 1: or via voice note. If I'm reading in public, I'm not going to do the voice note. I still can't

Speaker 1: really bring myself to do that. But this is important. And I won't make the argument for Joan.

Speaker 1: I strongly recommend you read this article. But just highlighting stuff is nothing. It's aspirational.

Speaker 1: And it is procrastination. Because you are putting.

Speaker 1: off processing what you're reading now for some future time.

Speaker 1: So if you're a digital pack rat like me, I highly recommend this piece.

Speaker 1: It might give you the permission you need to delete some notes.

Speaker 1: I certainly am going to right after I record this.

Speaker 1: Okay, and recommended media.

Speaker 1: We're talking about missing out on what's in front of us, deleting brains.

Speaker 1: And so I think it only makes sense that today's recommended media is Olivia Rodriguez's

Speaker 1: performance of Drop Dead on S&L.

Speaker 1: Olivia Rodriguez was the combination host and musical guest on S&L last weekend,

Speaker 1: and her performance of her new single Drop Dead is fantastic.

Speaker 1: The set is amazing.

Speaker 1: The song is a bop.

Speaker 1: And I am recommending the live performance specifically because she absolutely

Speaker 1: crushes the vocals.

Speaker 1: She is singing this super,

Speaker 1: cool, somewhat complex song live and she's doing a fan-tastic job. There is a weird nostalgia that I also

Speaker 1: like to both the song and the official music video. And so once you watch the performance on

Speaker 1: SNL, I would recommend that you check out the music video. It's like very, looks like it's shot on a

Speaker 1: handheld video camera. So that is my recommendation for the week.

Speaker 1: I've been listening to the song nonstop.

Speaker 1: It is such a fun song, and I strongly recommend it.

Speaker 1: So that is it.

Speaker 1: The three recommendations, my thoughts on missing out on what's in front of us,

Speaker 1: deleting your second brain,

Speaker 1: and Olivia Rodriguez's performance of Drop Dead on SNL.

Speaker 1: Now, before we wrap up, on a sadder note,

Speaker 1: Yankee broadcaster, Yankee radio broadcaster,

Speaker 1: John Sterling died earlier this week.

Speaker 1: He was 87 years old and lived a very full life.

Speaker 1: It's easy for fan bases to take shots at him, especially in his later years.

Speaker 1: But he was the voice of the Yankees for 36 years.

Speaker 1: Nearly my entire life, certainly, my entire conscious life up until 2024 when he retired.

Speaker 1: He called over 5,000 consecutive games.

Speaker 1: He was synonymous with the New York Yankee.

Speaker 1: for me. He was a baseball fan through and through. And to say he's anything less than a legend

Speaker 1: is to show you know nothing of baseball or broadcasting. So before we wrap up, I just want to share

Speaker 1: John Sterling's legendary call when the Yankees won a game.

Speaker 2: Ball game over. Yankees win. The Yankees win!

Speaker 1: Rest in peace, John Sterling.

Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening to the Friday wrap-up for Friday, May 8th, 2026.

Speaker 1: If you want to join my newsletter and get a written version of this, you can head over to

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Speaker 1: You'll also get a bonus automation of the week that is only available on the newsletter.

Speaker 1: So again, that is over at streamlined.com.

Speaker 1: slash rap.

Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening,

Speaker 1: and until next time,

Speaker 1: I hope you find some space

Speaker 1: in your weekend.

Speaker 3: Ball game over.

Speaker 3: Yankees win.

Speaker 3: The Yankees win!