Hello !

Welcome to a pretty late edition of the Sunday Surprise! I'm writing to you while on call (again) in between patients. How is the weekend treating you? Let me know!

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In this week's email...

• Week in the Life - read on the blog
• Creative Update - randInt - Dr Antony Rapisarda
• Gadget - PowerUp app controller paper planes
• Read - The Dark Forest
• Watch - The paradox of choice
• Quote - “For many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes”

Week in the life

After the month plus of taking little bits of leave, this week felt like a return to the normal working, but with a vengeance! I began typing this email out in between cases from the on call on Sunday but we ended up finishing so late that I'm finishing this off on Monday instead! I was hoping to share some epic photos this week, but plans for that fell apart. What the plan? Well that's over on the blog...

Creative update

I missed the target of creating something this week 😒but am hoping that having a bit more time this weekend will allow me to catch up! I've actually got a whole pile of photos/videos/podcast ideas ready or half done, but it's finalising everything that takes the time! In the mean time, here are some things you might've missed.

• randInt podcast - Dr Antony Rapisarda - from researcher to medical doctor and now CEO
• Medium - 5 talks that will change your life
• Ramadan & Fried Chicken - I gotta edit and post the last few videos on this, but here's the latest!

Gadgets/Tech

PowerUp app controller paper planes

If I didn't already own so many drones, I'd definitely be getting one of these for sure! Basically the kit allows you to fold your own paper plane and attach the kit and make it into a

Other gadgets

• Kaweco sport pen - My new favourite compact fountain pen
• Nanopresso - Tiny little device to make some GREAT espresso. I use this at work to avoid bad coffee!

Read

The Dark Forest

After reading the amazing Three Body Problem, I've started reading the next book in the trilogy.

I am still finding it so fascinating reading science fiction as a genre originating outside of the western world. While it has all the usual weirdness with aliens and futuristic gadgets, the thing that strikes me the most is all the little things in day to day life that aren't meant to stand out, but are at a clear contrast to modern western life.

Watch

The paradox of choice

This is an oldie but a good one!

In this talk, Barry Schwartz discusses the strange phenomenon of dissatisfaction that rises when humans are given too much choice.

Given that almost anything in day to day life from salad dressing to brand of car has so many options, I found his way of looking at choices interesting.

Quote I'm pondering

“For many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes”

– Pareto

That quote is known as Pareto's principle and while the ratio might not be exact, the essence is very much observable in many aspects of life. About 20% of your work day probably produces 80% of the productivity. Just getting a little bit of exercise leads to the greatest health benefit overall (but like will not get you shredded) and so on.

The reason I bring this up is that I was talking to a friend who was learning something new and he's specifically learning it in a way that focuses on the 20% to get the outsized impact. We're both short on time and we both know that there just won't be enough time to be able to muster the effort to get the other the bit of expertise in something that isn't our core competence. I found it fascinating that instead of trying to take shortcuts on the whole subject, he just focussed on getting good at the essential 20%.

Is there something in your own life where focussing on the 20% will pay some outside dividends? Let me know!

That's all for this week! Stay safe!

- Raffy

PS - What was your favourite part of the email this week? Do you like/dislike the subtle changes this year? Let me know with 1 click! I read the survey every week (& keep tweaking things with your feedback!)

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