I used to check and answer my email at least 50 times a day. Multitasking by checking email regularly is one of the best things you can do to fry your brain…. It was difficult to change this habit, but when I finally did it it made me so much more productive and creative. Now I do so just twice… Continue reading Stop checking your email!
In the last years, I’ve increasingly felt anxious about my dependence on a few big U.S. tech giants. I waited too long, but finally pulled myself together and did it! What I did: moved my personal data over to European servers. And made sure no private information about me is sent to American servers anymore. It took me a year… Continue reading Goodbye U.S. Big tech (+ step by step guide)
Almost 10 years ago I started learning the beautiful Greek language. Almost every day (I study 5 days a week) I learn a little bit more. I’ve experimented with many tools, online as well as offline. And of course most of them were useless. I’m happy to share which tools and routines have stuck for years now. You can use… Continue reading How I learn Greek
This year, I started working with L&T Studio – 2 passionate young programmers (Lucas & Teun) who are studying computer sciences in Amsterdam. They help me automate processes for clients. I describe what needs to be done, L&T do the coding and make sure everything runs smoothly on their servers, I do the testing and we go live. It’s a… Continue reading We can automate your processes
After the acquisition of Spotted by Locals in 2021 – the beloved community Sanne & myself founded in 2008 – I stayed on as “Interim CEO” for a while. Spotted by Locals was the third start-up I co-founded that was acquired, after Eurodidakt Suriname (1997) and Gezond Verzuim (2001). What I did To prepare the acquisition I: After the acquisition… Continue reading Project case study – Spotted by Locals
I’ve always been fascinated – and frankly a bit obsessed – by “filing” information. I guess this gene was passed on from my father, who has always been an early adopter of technology and an avid digital filer of photographs. From his phone he will find a picture of a birthday party in 1987 in seconds! My father gave me… Continue reading Organize all the information in your life
Recently, I read “Buy back your time” by Dan Martell. If I had seen this picture before I got the book, I definitely would not have started…., And maybe you won’t want to read on either. But I do recommend you to get the book if you’re an entrepreneur. I read it twice! Outsource more The main message of the… Continue reading “Buy back your time” – get an assistant
If there’s one piece of software that’s had an outsized impact on my productivity, it’s aText. This tiny text expansion tool runs quietly in the background of my Mac, but it’s saved me so much time. At its core, aText is simple: you create custom abbreviations that automatically expand into full phrases, sentences, or even paragraphs. For example, when I… Continue reading My #1 time-saver: aText
