Other

Current Experiments

I'm constantly experimenting and in search of new practices. Pointers to what works well for you welcome.

• Meditation and longer silent retreats as practices for mental clarity
  • Currently practicing "Real Attention: A 14-Day Challenge" on Waking Up
  • The Way with Henry Shukman
• Cognitive training apps and tools to complement intellectual work
  • Self-developed cognitive training app built on research from Oxford and Cambridge neuroscience departments
  • BrainHQ dailies
  • Chess puzzle of the day
  • Dual N-Back training (inconsistent)
• Piano study: currently exploring early classical and neoclassical composers
  • Le Onde - Ludovico Einaudi
  • Gnossienne No. 1 - Erik Satie
  • Sleeping Lotus - Joep Beving
  • Gymnopédie No. 1 - Erik Satie
  • Gnossienne No. 3 - Erik Satie (in progress)
  • Love Theme from Cinema Paradiso - Andrea Morricone (in progress)
  • September (piano version) - Joep Beving (in progress)
  • Nocturnes - Frédéric Chopin (in progress)
• Systematic reading: Economist, WSJ, NYT, Financial Times, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, ImpactAlpha, Petition 11, YC Hacker News, Polymarket, Nate Silver, Matt Levine, plus ~50 RSS feeds processed through Readwise Reader
• Diet and exercise geared toward long-term brain and metabolic health (including regular Zone 2 aerobic work) [mostly on pause as recovering from surgical op]
• Working with CBT to develop better executive function and decision-making practices [key focus]
• Personal knowledge systems: experimenting with Notion, Obsidian, and spreadsheet-based tracking
• Coding and intellectual exploration through vibe coding practices and financial analytics work (GitHub)
  • UK Index of Multiple Deprivation map - visualising areas of greatest deprivation across education, health, crime, and other dimensions
  • San Francisco city dashboard - processing public data, census records, and police incident reports to surface trends and improvement areas
  • Cognitive training tool - built on recent research from Cambridge and Oxford neuroscience departments
  • Marketing transcription & content creation app - an idea-to-content tool for my wife
  • Moneyball replication analysis - identifying undervalued baseball players using sabermetric methods
  • NFL talent analysis - assessing American football players to spot undervalued prospects and rising talent
  • AI-driven investment council - a multi-agent decision system for evaluating potential investment opportunities
• Writing practice, though a little inconsistent at the moment