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The five-minute to-do list.

Hello, my friends. It’s J.D. here with another day of Apex Money. As you might have noticed, I missed Monday and Tuesday this week. I was feeling guilty about that, but then I remembered what Jim always says about this site: “It’s a lark!” We don’t make any money here, and we’re just doing it for fun. If I miss a couple of days once in a while, I shouldn’t beat myself up about it. 😉

One of the things I’ve been dealing with is my frickin’ tinnitus. In April, I began taking Wellbutrin to treat my depression. It does a good job! But it comes with one lousy, lousy side effect: a constant ringing in my ears. Some days are worse than others. The past fews days have been pretty bad. Makes things tough to concentrate.

Enough grousing! Let’s get to the real reason you’re here: some interesting links to stories that may (or may not) have something to do with money.

To lead a meaningful life, become your own hero. [Scientific American] — “Some stories are better than others—some evoke awe and excitement, while others make people yawn. We wondered whether the hero’s journey provides a template for telling a more compelling version of one’s own life story. After all, the hero’s journey lies at the heart of the most culturally significant stories around the world.”

17 lessons from 17 years of The Marginalian. [The Marginalian] — “14. Choose joy. Choose it like a child chooses the shoe to put on the right foot, the crayon to paint a sky. Choose it at first consciously, effortfully, pressing against the weight of a world heavy with reasons for sorrow, restless with need for action. Feel the sorrow, take the action, but keep pressing the weight of joy against it all…”

What are the quiet luxury brands that only the super rich know about? [/r/AskReddit] — This is just a long list of replies (7600 of them!) detailing what the super wealthy do with their money. Sample: “I had a rich friend once tell me that Gucci is what poor people think rich people wear. Since then I noticed that all of her clothes fit perfect, but she never has logos on anything.” Warning: This thread is a time suck!

The five-minute to-do list. [The Art of Non-Conformity] — “A quick idea for you today: keep an alternate to-do list that consists entirely of things that can be done in 5 minutes or less. This list should live on your desk for small pockets of time or transition moments between bigger projects. That’s the short version! But of course, more details in the post…” [Great idea!]

Lastly, you may have already seen this, but if not it’s worth a watch. Here’s an eight-minute video of the mad scientists at Boston Dynamics programming their robots to be walking/talking tour guides via A.I. Kind of a wild mesh of technologies here.

We’re living in the future!

Speaking of the future, I’ll be back tomorrow with more fun stuff. See you then.