Aaron Matthews

Lawyer turned businessman. Notes to self on doubt, fear, and attempting to do something unconventional. Shared in case you need to hear them too.

[Aaron Matthews @AaronLMatthews]

These posts are notes to self. I am writing down the advice that I need to hear, and sharing it because I doubt I am the only one who needs it.

[Aaron Matthews @AaronLMatthews]

If you're on Windows, I am begging you, download Everything search and pin it to your taskbar.

Nothing is more annoying than spending time finding things, especially when Claude goes off the rails and saves something in some unknown hellscape directory. https://t.co/P9f1byhxHY

[Aaron Matthews @AaronLMatthews]

Think about the thing that went wrong two years ago. When is the last time it kept you up at night? When is the last time you even thought about it? Now apply that to the thing keeping you up tonight. If it will not worry you in two years, it is probably not worth the sleep it is costing you now.

[Aaron Matthews @AaronLMatthews]

Whatever story you repeat about yourself is the one that turns up when things get difficult. Mine defaults to doubt if I let it. I am trying not to let it.

[Aaron Matthews @AaronLMatthews]

If even that feels like a chore, you can hand it to Claude. Connect Gmail, ask it to find everything you never open, and let it unsubscribe for you. Trusting it with your inbox is your call. However you do it, you do it once, and the noise does not come back.

[Aaron Matthews @AaronLMatthews]

A girl I went out with once saw my home screen and flinched at my unread email count. Fair enough. I run multiple inboxes as a solo founder, and I am not perfect. The biggest fix was one afternoon unsubscribing from everything I never read. Here is the fast way.

[Aaron Matthews @AaronLMatthews]

Bonus tip. That Gmail feature also works on Google Workspace accounts. If your business inbox is the one drowning you, the same steps apply there.

[Aaron Matthews @AaronLMatthews]

Weird thing psychologists have found. If you are struggling, giving someone else advice helps you more than being given it. Saying what to do reminds you that you already know what to do. Which is, frankly, most of what is happening on this account.

[Aaron Matthews @AaronLMatthews]

When a decision is panicking me, I ask what my 80-year-old self will think of it. Two things happen. The decision shrinks, because at 80 it will barely register. And the answer is always the same. Give it a go and see how it turns out. He has never once told me to retreat.

[Aaron Matthews @AaronLMatthews]

If full-time grey feels too committed, set the toggle instead. Settings, then Accessibility, then Accessibility Shortcut, and tick Colour Filters. A triple click of the side button now switches grey on and off. Blocking apps entirely is a bigger topic. Another day.

[Aaron Matthews @AaronLMatthews]

A practical one. If your phone distracts you with things that do not matter, make it boring. It takes ten minutes, costs nothing, and you keep every app. Here is exactly what I did on my iPhone.

[Aaron Matthews @AaronLMatthews]

Bonus step. Turn the screen grey. Settings, then Accessibility, then Display and Text Size, then Colour Filters. Switch Colour Filters on and choose Greyscale. A grey screen is remarkably easy to put down.

[Aaron Matthews @AaronLMatthews]

If I am struggling with a decision, I think about what I would tell a friend stuck on the same one. Nine times out of ten that cuts straight through the worry. Psychologists call it Solomon's paradox. You reason more wisely about other people's problems than your own.

[Aaron Matthews @AaronLMatthews]

Your phone interrupts you by default. Every app arrives assuming it may tap you on the shoulder whenever it likes, and it stays that way until you say otherwise. Turning it all off took me an afternoon. I have never once missed what I stopped hearing.

[Aaron Matthews @AaronLMatthews]

The successful people you admire felt the same doubt you feel now. Maybe stronger. They are at a different point in the timeline, that is all. They went through the stretch you are standing in and came out the other side. It did not feel any more certain to them at the time.

[Aaron Matthews @AaronLMatthews]

The colleagues whose opinions keep you in a job you hate will stop thinking about you within a month of you leaving. They spend their days worrying about their own lives, the same as you do.