Listen Later: Get Your Articles as Podcasts (Sponsor)

This week, MacSparky is pleased to welcome back Listen Later as a sponsor. Listen Later is a service that transforms articles, emails, and PDFs into personalized podcast episodes using their advanced AI narrator. This allows you to listen to your reading list during commutes, workouts, or any time you’re on the go.

This service really scratches an itch for me. There is so much good long-form content out there these days and consuming it while washing the dishes, walking the dog, or on a long commute is very satisfying.

Their AI not only narrates but brings life to the content with a quality that stands out among AI voices. You can access your personalized podcast episodes on all devices through any podcast app, ensuring you stay connected with your preferred content anytime and anywhere.

Beyond articles, Listen Later can also convert emails and PDFs into podcasts, making it perfect for transforming work documents, newsletters, or any textual content into listenable formats. Additionally, Listen Later can translate content into multiple languages, making global content accessible and enjoyable in your preferred language.

Sign up for the service today, and you’ll receive $2 of free credit, providing an easy way to try it out for yourself at no risk. Experience the convenience of turning your reading list into a personalized podcast with Listen Later.

Breathable Is Free

Breathable, my Air Quality app of choice is now free. There is no interface for the app, it’s just a front for a pleasant-looking widget. Today, it’s telling me to stay inside as the smoke from the LA fires is lingering about.

Related, I’ve had several emails from folks asking how I’m doing with these terrible fires. Luckily I live on the opposite side of Los Angeles and we’re not at risk.

Time Tracking Made Easy with Timing (Sponsor)

When it comes to time tracking, it’s only as useful as the data is accurate. Setting manual timers often leads to bad data. As humans, we’re not very good at throwing switches every time we mode shift. We’re in a new year and this would be a great time to start figuring out how you are spending your time.

This week’s sponsor, Timing, gives you the benefit of time tracking without the inconvenience. Timing is an app for your Mac that automatically tracks your time. You don’t need to push buttons. Timing just does its job. It’s smart, it’s beautiful, and it’s easy to use.

Just download and install Timing, and it’ll start recording how much time you spend on each app, document, and website you use.

And now Timing will import your iPhone and iPad usage from Screen Time as well! This means you’ll get the complete picture of how you spend your time across all your devices.

If you haven’t tried Timing lately, you should. They added a new vertical timeline that is really nice. It’s easy to read and easy to edit. Time tracking gives me a lot of insight about where I am really putting my efforts. Timing is a great way to do it.

If you’ve tried time-tracking before and gave up on it, try Timing. It does the work for you. I’ve even made some videos showing how the app works.

RadioShack As a Brand

Image: Reuters

Back in 2017, RadioShack, unsurprisingly, went bankrupt, but now it looks like we will start seeing RadioShack-branded products. I must admit there’s a warm spot in my heart for RadioShack. When I was 12, I used ride my 10-speed to RadioShack every day, where they let me write text text adventure games on the in-store computers to help sell those old Tandy TRS-80s and color computers to customers. It was like I worked there. Then, of course, when I got just a bit older, I actually did work there, selling transistors and diodes, as any self-respecting nerd of the day would.

All that said, I can’t imagine myself buying any actual RadioShack branded products.

Sparky‘s Happiness Formula

Over the past several years, I’ve spent a lot of time reading classic Hellenistic philosophy. I find those thinkers’ willingness to take on the big questions interesting. Because when it comes to thinking about philosophy, I’m practical. I couldn’t care less whether or not I’m living in a simulation. I am very interested, however, in finding and sharing happiness. And the Greeks thought about that question a lot. Maybe Aristotle said it best:

Happiness is an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue.

From Nicomachean Ethics, Book I, Chapter 7

That’s really the aim of my Productivity Field Guide. To get people to figure out what roles are important and how to become their best version for those. Having lived this system and now taught it to many people, I’m increasingly convinced that the payoff is more significant than being your best self. I believe I’ve found a formula for happiness. Put simply:

Pursuing your best self (Arete) + Ethical Living = Happy Life

That makes a lot of sense! Many of the ancients argued that living ethically and in accordance with virtue is key to achieving eudaimonia, often translated as happiness or flourishing. Arete can easily substitute in for virtue. It is very similar. Fulfilling one’s potential and living in line with one’s true nature along with ethical living gets you there. Or, at least, it gets me there and several others I’ve talked to going through the Productivity Field Guide.

Does this mean this formula makes you immune from suffering and disease? Of course not. It does, however, give you a mechanism to cope. True happiness can come from living a life of virtue and striving for personal excellence. The more I pursue these goals, the more I see it in myself and others.

I’ll cover this more in-depth in a new edition of the Productivity Field Guide, which will be released later this month. Stay tuned.