2026-08-30 -  As long as you've prepared for the challenge ahead, try to be relentlessly optimistic about your chances of success. There's no downside to absolute belief in yourself, and worry can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

2026-08-23 -  From the CEO who once drove a forklift to game developers taking 250,000 photos of New York, real experience beats abstraction every time, and can make the difference between good and groundbreaking.

2026-07-19 -  June in the UK was something of an endurance test, with temperatures regularly hitting the 30s. Also – reflections on my Amazon Kindle review a year on, and how to zero in on your most valuable work.

2026-05-31 -  I've spent years writing about technology without identifying the thread connecting it all. Then I realised: I'm obsessed with people who care about the things they do – and frustrated by those who don't.

2026-05-10 -  Brian Armstrong is bracing against market volatility with a flatter org chart, hands-on managers, and fleets of AI agents. But Coinbase's pivot comes with its own contradictions – and exposes it to new risks.

2026-05-03 -  From my travels on the small web to Steven Pressfield's theory of creative Resistance, this month's Field Notes is about people who create things because they care – not to chase clout, acclaim, or riches.

2026-03-15 -  Between a trip to Malta and a novel about memory-eating monsters, I thought a lot this month about what we actually need. The answer, it turns out, fits in a hotel room with a book and an espresso.

2026-02-22 -  The key to good business writing is empathy – not emotional, but practical. Put yourself in the recipient's shoes to make action effortless and eliminate painful back-and-forths, making for more efficient business.

2026-02-01 -  Tools like Claude Cowork risk condemning knowledge workers to endless reviews of AI-generated work. We must use AI to augment human thinking – not replace it – and preserve the value and craft of the process.

2025-09-21 -  We all waste far too much time online. There’s overt time wasting, like the mindless auto-queued videos on TikTok, and less obvious time wasting, like time spent browsing Hacker News and reading semi-technical blog posts. “But Matt,” you might say...