04 Oct 2026 #wellness
Poor sleeping habits can kill you. Literally.
Miss two days of good sleep in a row and you’ll feel like a walking dead.
And no amount of cups of coffee will help.
I know because I’ve struggled with my sleep recently.
On a recent checkup, I brought up the subject with my doctor.
Here’s what she recommended:
#1. Have a light dinner and have it early, preferably while there’s still sunlight.
#2. Before going to bed, turn off LED lights and go with a soft lamp in a corner.
#3. Keep electronic appliances out of your bedroom.
No more TV, LED alarms, or phones.
Sleep in a dark room.
#4. Go to bed early.
Better to wake up early next day than staying in bed longer.
#5. Avoid drinking fluids after dinner and go to pee before going to be.
And resist the temptation of get out of bed, if you’re used to waking up to pee.
#7. As soon as you wake up, get some sun light to synchronize your circadian rhythm.
#8. Keep your stress under control.
Stress raises cortisol and if your cortisol levels are already high, anything will wake you up at night.
Sleep is your best productivity hack and the easiest level to pull to live healthier and longer.
03 Oct 2026 #writing
This is my daily post #701.
This last 100 posts felt like crossing the final line in a marathon, without realizing how you got there.
It was just one foot in front of the other—or one post after the other.
My daily writing started in Nov 1st, 2024.
I was recovering from burnout and writing was my way of bringing joy back to my life.
I knew writing would take me somewhere else.
And I was right.
It’s one of the habits has changed my life.
In these last 100 days, my blog turned 8 years, I finished another book, Street-Smart Coding Manifesto, and I started a Substack publication to document my mission of living free from burnout.
My most-read posts
From blog aggregators, replies, and social blogs, here are
Here are my 100-post, 200-post, 300-post, 400-post, 500-post, and 600-post reflections.
If any of my posts has inspired you or taught you anything, and you want to support this blog, grab a copy of one of my books. You can pay what you want via Gumroad. They’re also available in Kindle and paperback formats via Amazon.
02 Oct 2026 #mondaylinks
Hey there.
Here are 4 links I thought were worth sharing this week:
#1. Do you remember the first lines of code you wrote? I do! It was in school using QBASIC. Here are 10 lines of code that shaped a career (6min). Maybe you recognized some of them too.
#2. When AI handles almost everything, we lose touch with our systems (6min). Just like pilots, we should train for what the autopilot can’t and shouldn’t do.
#3. The saying is true: We’re either the customers or the product. And we’re the product, here’s how to become useless to tech companies (4min).
#4. Are you considering starting a business or side gig? Here are 12 tips to make it fail. Maybe you can recognize some of them around you too.
And in case you missed it, I wrote on my blog, some time ago, about what to do in case of AI FOMO (2min) and, more recently, about 7 life lessons learned the hard way (3min).
(Bzzz…Radio voice) This email was brought to you by… Street-Smart Coding Manifesto. A case against syntax obsession. Because real impact comes from skills outside your IDE.
Keep coding smart.
See you next Friday,
Cesar
01 Oct 2026 #wellness #selfgrowth
#1. If it drains you, cut it out.
Screens, social media, doomscrolling, sales dashboards, anything with a number next to your name…
Either it energizes you or it’s out.
Time in front of a screen is time away from real interactions and yourself.
#2. Stick to your baseline.
For over two days, my overthinking didn’t let me sleep.
I woke up with my heart racing and breathing fast, just like when you had a bad dream with a love one dying in an accident.
I had to go back to exercising, sitting in silence, journaling, and walking in nature to quiet my monkey brain.
Have a set of daily healthy habits that keeps you regulated—and stick to it like your life depends on it.
#3. If you work for it, you’ll have a perfect life. But it won’t be perfect all the time.
Credits to my sister, when I opened up about my frustrations.
Struggling is always part of the journey.
#4. You get what you expect when you detach from the outcome.
The more you chase something, the more it gets further away.
It’s true for money, relationships, and pretty much anything else in life.
Do your part and surrender the outcome.
#5. “Better to have one handful with quietness than two handfuls with hard work and chasing the wind.”
From Ecclesiastes 4:6 (NLT).
Another proverb from one of the wisest man in history.
It came to my mind on a Monday evening when I was drinking a green smoothie and eating some olives at a cafe.
Only tourists and retirees were around—and me.
Better to find contentment in a boring but perfect Tuesday than in a meaningless pursuit just for the sake of money.
#6. There won’t be a perfect occasion.
It’s your job to make every day a perfect one.
#7. Your frustrations, worries, and anxiety has something in common:
You and your mind.
You create them and you have the power to control them.
Keeping a healthy baseline is one of the 10 Surprisingly Simple Ideas That Changed My Life. Big plans and New Year’s resolutions don’t change your life. Small daily actions do.
30 Sep 2026 #books
If someone recommends you a book you already read, it’s time to reread it.
Last week I asked a friend for a book when you want to slow down.
He’s the kind of guy who needs a separate truck for his books when moving out.
Of course, he had something for me.
He told me about the author he had in mind.
When we met, he returned one book I lend him and showed me his recommendation.
It was Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, a book I already had and read.
A perfect excuse to pick it up again.
Yes, rereading books is fine.
The book is the same, but we aren’t.
And yes, reading a couple of chapters is fine too.
You don’t have to read from cover to cover.
He was a bit upset, but of course he had another recommendation.
If you want to read more and love it, here are my 10 book reading rules. And here are my books if you want to apply those rules.