New year's resolution 2021: Double up
New year's resolution 2021: Double up

We all have different personality profiles with corresponding strengths and weaknesses, and I have learned the hard way that one of my biggest weaknesses is my ability to gather and pack my stuff on a short notice. For example, a couple of years ago I was going to do a university lecture and record it for later YouTube publication. As you can imagine, it involves a lot of technology with microphones, cables, sound cards, cameras etc… My lecture was scheduled to start around 10:00 in the morning, and since we lived close to campus back then, I thought it would be fine to gather up my stuff in the morning just before I leave. My wife got home before me that day, and when she entered our little office the whole place was a complete mess. Cables and stuff were lying everywhere, and it is probably what a home burglary looks like. However, my wife knows me well so she could easily figure out what had happened.

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Habits, TravelRikard Öqvisthabits, travelling, productivity, lifehack, packing, simplify, stress, planning, focus, new years resolutionComment
Get it done early
Get it done early

One of the most important lessons I have learned is that you should always do the important stuff as early as possible in the day. Take this blog post for example. I have been publishing my blog posts every Saturday morning for the last year and it has become a natural part of my week. At the time of this writing, the clock is closing in on midnight and every minute I spend writing is one minute less of sleep. I do not like to write as the concluding activity of the day. My mind is filled with thoughts and honestly, I feel a bit stressed when writing this. But on the other hand, if I do not write this post now, I will break a year-long habit and I will have to worry about it tomorrow instead. So, to sacrifice a little sleep is still the lesser of two evils.

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HabitsRikard Öqvistwriting, family, blogging, habits
Acoustics and Men’s style
Acoustics and Men’s style

Earlier this year, my wife introduced me to Bailey Sarian’s Youtube channel. She produces a program called “Mystery and Makeup”, where she talks about True crime and Makeup. She is insanely popular with 3,4 million subscribers and I can understand why, even if I have only watched one episode. Her passion is apparent and shines through like a bright light. She is indeed a great storyteller. The episodes start out with Bailey completely without makeup and then she tells a story about some famous true crime while putting on a professional makeup. About 30 minutes later she finishes the story and by then the makeup is finished. Bailey Sarian is perhaps one of the strangest combinations I have come across and it works. She is the perfect example of when two seemingly unrelated ideas are synthesized and produce something new and greater than the sum of the parts. She planted a seed in me. If I were to do something similar on Youtube, what would it look like?

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Acoustics, Education, Engineering, Habits, StyleRikard Öqvistacoustics, elearning, education, synthesis, ideas, youtube, style Comments
The secret of successful New year’s resolutions
The secret of successful New year’s resolutions

Most of us probably have probably struggled with new years resolutions of one kind or the other. It is all too common to fail on a commitment. We might show up a day or two, or a week, but even if we have some early motivation boost it often goes away after a while. It is like the first phase of a loving relationship. The initial period is filled with passion which fills us with energy. We feel that we can do anything! That phase cannot last forever, and neither can the initial joy of taking up a new skill. Honestly, it gets kind of boring after a while! (The skill practice, not the relationship ;) ). I have done several projects by now. New years resolutions are among the best things I know, and I never fail them. The secret? Keep it simple and be consistent. Do something every day for 365 days and it is physically impossible to not get at least decent at it. If you miss one single day, you will fail.

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HabitsRikard Öqvisthabits, discipline, focus, consistencyComment
Should you diversify or focus?
Should you diversify or focus?

For the past 216 days I have created a painting/sketch every day. For the first months I used a timer set at 60 seconds, no more, no less. In the beginning I tried out some different techniques and tools, and I quickly settled with Autodesk Sketchbook on the iPad pro. Simplicity was the key. You can just fire up the iPad, grab the Apple pencil, choose an object to draw and then you do it. Indeed, extremely fast, and simple. But there is a drawback: When you are travelling, the iPad is too cumbersome. That’s why I went to Panduro and bought a small artist sketchbook, some graphite pens, an eraser and a sharpener. As an artist, my kit is perhaps as portable as it gets, considering the infinite possibilities on offer. I was planning to use it only when travelling and go back to my iPad when I got home. As it turns out, I haven’t used my iPad for weeks now. I stayed with the pen and paper.

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Education, Habits, PhilosophyRikard Öqvistlearning, painting, sketching, art, graphite, apple, ipad, growth, focus, openness, creativity, schoolComment
One year and 52 blogs later
One year and 52 blogs later

Today is a one-year anniversary! This is my 52nd weekly blog post. A year goes by quickly. It is amazing how much easier the writing process is now, compared to the first one or two months. The friction is all but gone now. Writing is an incredibly useful and valuable skill, and I am glad I started this habit. I have now reached a point where I can decide to sit down, write a blog post, and publish it. Even if I start from scratch and no idea what to write about, I can produce something. And that is often enough. Something always beat Nothing.

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HabitsRikard Öqvistblogging, writing, consistency, growth, anniversaryComment
Practice mind control with livestreaming
Practice mind control with livestreaming

The last week, I have been experimenting with livestreaming instead of vlogging. I have played various musical instruments on FB live. When I play music on a livestream, I have noticed that my mind runs the same program as when I am playing a concert in front of an audience. Time stops. I am so hyper-focused that I am not aware of my surroundings anymore. The best example is when I did a livestream and decided to play Bleed in the original tempo (230 bpm). Bleed is arguably one of the most difficult songs there is. I have been practicing the song for over a year on drums and now guitar, so I knew it well, but I have never been able to play it in the proper speed, only slower. I started the livestream and just played. And I got through the whole song with only minor mistakes. I was NOT expecting that! But because I did it as a livestream, I activated the “live concert program” in my mind which gave me access to untapped potential. I can still hardly grasp that I managed to pull that off.

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Philosophy, HabitsRikard Öqvistmind control, mindset, focus, growth, productivity, trance, hypnosis, livestreaming, musicComment
What is the purpose of 500 vlogs in 365 days?
What is the purpose of 500 vlogs in 365 days?

Last year I attended an online course called the London Real Business Accelerator. The course had a strong focus on video and its importance for online business. A recurring theme throughout the whole course was to record vlogs. I believe most of you will agree with me that it is a strange and scary feeling to speak into a smart phone and publish it to the whole world forever. One of the tasks the first course week was to record 10 vlogs in 10 days. And on the 5th of November last year I recorded my first vlog. I had just finished an awfully long field day of measurements in the south of Sweden and had gotten into my rental car about to head back home. But I knew that I needed to record that vlog before I go, because it was late in the evening. So, after a LOT of resistance, I grabbed my phone and started talking about the thoughts that were in my head at that moment and published it on Youtube and shared the link on my other platforms. I did not stop at 10 vlogs, I just kept going. Now, a year later I am closing in 500 vlogs and the friction is all but gone. Here are some of the most important things I have learned.

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HabitsRikard Öqvistvlogging, habits, discipline, consistency, video, practice, social mediaComment
Build your Ark before the storm
Build your Ark before the storm

We had a storm last week; the worst one I can remember. I had read the forecast and knew that it was about to rain a lot, but I did not notice the wind prediction. I was just expecting a very wet day. Monday came, it was mostly business as usual. However, as I was working, I heard a noise from outside. It was my little façade flagpole that snapped and was thrown to the ground by the wind. Shortly thereafter the power was cut. I realized that I need to go and get my son from kindergarten ASAP, because when darkness falls it could turn ugly. When I stepped outdoors a gust of wind threw my off my feet. The winds were approaching 30 m/s. I got in my car and drove off but I was quickly stopped by a fallen tree blocking the road. And I could see more fallen trees behind it. We were isolated.

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Philosophy, HabitsRikard Öqviststorm, neighbors, community, ark, countrylife, chainsaw, prepper, preparation, relationshipComment
How do you over-book yourself, while keeping space in your calendar?
How do you over-book yourself, while keeping space in your calendar?

One thing that I have clearly noticed as a self-employed consultant is that you always need to over-book yourself. Because even if your schedule is at 125%, things get cancelled, deadlines are moved, and most of the time, my 125% schedule becomes 100%. This has worked fine for me for the last year. However, you also need to allocate time for unforeseen events, which runs contrary to the above statement. Your kid might get sick, your dog needs veterinary treatment or urgent mistakes come to the surface with your clients. These instances may bump your 125% schedule up to 200% if they coincide. These past weeks has been some of the worst ones so far. And it traces back to problems about a month ago. So, what can I do to avoid similar workload explosions?

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Philosophy, HabitsRikard Öqvistmotorcycle, racing, racetrack, scheduling, analogy, planning, consultant, parentComment
Erhan the taxi driver
Erhan the taxi driver

Last Tuesday I went to Stockholm to do field measurements. I took the first flight down and had booked the last one home. I wanted to minimize the time away from home, but I learned the hard way that it is not worth it. When you are leaving with the first flight, your night sleep is severely disrupted. I woke up before my alarm clock at 04:00. Isn’t it funny how we tend to wake up without an alarm when we have some important appointment in the morning? Anyway, the trip went fine, and I met up with my colleague at the construction site and we worked all day. When at a building site, you are obliged to always wear protective helmet and glasses. I am not used to that. After lunch time, the slight pressure on the sides of my head in combination with the sleep disturbance had set off a headache. A really bad one, that got worse by the hour.

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PhilosophyRikard Öqvisttravelling, taxi, kind, kindness, love, potential, headache, migraine, karma, coffee, authenticityComment
Embrace your weakness
Embrace your weakness

Last week I bought a secondhand computer monitor for the home studio that I am creating. It is a huge Philips 43-inch 4k monster display, one of the very best on the market. I had been looking for a computer monitor for a long time when this behemoth showed up in my feed, close to where I live, for a fraction of the sticker price. However, the ad stated that the previous owner had damaged it by dropping a tool when installing it, which resulted in a big bright dead pixel with white light in the middle of the screen. Here’s the catch: I find dead pixels extremely annoying! My eyes are drawn to that sucker constantly. Even though the price was a bargain, the dead pixel disturbed me so much that it was a no-brainer to walk away. And that is precisely the reason that I bought it.

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Engineering, PhilosophyRikard Öqvistperfection, focus, productivity, it, growth, mindset, engineer, 4kComment
Designing the ultimate home studio
Designing the ultimate home studio

When designing a room, you need to balance and prioritize certain aspects against each other. For a home studio, I consider the following three to be the most important: 1) Acoustics, 2) Aesthetics and 3) Functionality. I am currently building my fourth home studio in my garage. Each iteration has had a different priority order and the results have varied accordingly. As with any project, you need to write down the purpose of the room, to understand how the parameters should be rank ordered. In this article, I will describe what I have learned from my different home studios.

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Acoustics, Art, Habits, MusicRikard Öqvistacoustics, home studio, recording, habits, discipline, consistency, creativity, architecture, studio, sound, sound quality, beauty, function, functionality, sound absorbersComment
What teachers get wrong about e-learning
What teachers get wrong about e-learning

I read some excellent posts and comments this week by Jakob Heidbrink, where he explains the friction he has encountered with the sudden shift to e-learning. More specifically, he described the agonizing process of recording his lectures and how he spent eleven hours to record a 60-minute lecture. Heidbrink is correct in his analysis regarding the required time. I usually say that it takes 10X the time to record and post process a lecture (video editing), compared to just giving it in the classroom. I suspect most teachers that have tried this route will agree with the observation. However, it sounds to me like Heidbrink suffers from the “perfection equals paralysis” condition (also common among engineers). The primary reason for the 10X increase in time he explains, is that he re-records over and over because he stumbles upon words, scratch his nose, cough, and so on – basically just being human. He claims that when a teacher does this in the classroom it is acceptable, but on a recorded lecture such mistakes are not allowed. I disagree and here’s my proposed solution.

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EducationRikard Öqvistelearning, education, educationforall, transformingeducation, distance learning, livestreaming, recording, lecturesComment
Discipline equals freedom
Discipline equals freedom

I always write my blog posts on Saturday mornings, but today I am writing this post at a café in my hometown Umeå, around lunchtime. I haven’t gotten enough sleep the past week, and last night me and my wife had an important discussion which dragged on past midnight. I realized that four hours of sleep on top of the already empty sleep account would come back to bite me, when my alarm went off at 04:45. The icing on the cake was that my son had cuddled up next to me in the night, sleeping peacefully. Even my dogs were extraordinarily calm (they usually want to go walking around 05:00). It was that kind of a moment that you only get a handful of in a lifetime and I wasn’t going to miss it. I decided that my blog can wait a couple of hours and switched off the alarm.

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HabitsRikard Öqvistblogging, writing, consistency, flexibility, freedomComment
The one-minute method
The one-minute method

A New Year’s resolution is a good example of a (commonly) failed commitment. Many people promise that they are going to do this and that on a daily basis, and then they do it a couple of times and then they give up. I believe the problem is that they set the bar too high. The solution is to define a daily activity and set your bar so low – I mean extremely low – that you cannot find an excuse not to do the daily activity, no matter what happens. Read that last sentence again. The habit must be performed Every. Single. Day. Because the moment you stop doing it, it is not a habit anymore. And if the bar is too high, the habit forming can be very difficult, because we all have bad days.

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Art, Habits, PhilosophyRikard Öqvistconsistency, habits, discipline, progressnotperfection, growth, routineComment
Live streaming university lectures on Youtube
Live streaming university lectures on Youtube

When I do my university courses, I usually reserve the last five minutes of the final lecture for course evaluation. I have found that the most valuable method is to keep it simple. I ask the class to write down on a small anonymous paper note one (1) thing that was good about the course, and one (1) thing that they wish I do next year. This is a powerful method, because when you are forced to give just one answer, you tend to choose the one at the top of your mind. The most important. On one of the notes I read “I wish that you would record the lectures, so we can go back and repeat them”. When I read those words, it felt like a bolt of lightning had struck my head. Of course! Why hadn’t I thought of that? I am doing the lectures anyway, so why not add a camera and a lapel microphone and start recording them? If you are reading this post, old student who wrote that note, I salute you. That little note back in 2017, planted the seed of a powerful idea and you have helped hundreds of people by now with their studies in acoustics, and the number is growing. I cannot thank you enough.

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Education, Acoustics, HabitsRikard Öqvistelearning, distance learning, educationforall, transformingeducation, learning, livestreaming, teachingComment
A change of tool changes your perspective
A change of tool changes your perspective

One of the things that I HATE is to solve a task using an incorrect tool. The perfect example is to use a Phillips screwdriver bit on a Pozidriv screw. Or when you don’t have the bit of the right size. It makes my blood boil! But what if there is a smarter way to complete the task using a different tool? Certain tasks are more inclined to have a “right” and a “wrong” way of doing them, but if we get locked in our minds that there is only one way to solve a problem, we risk stagnation. However, it makes a lot more sense to try out different guitars to play the same song, than to use different screwdriver bits for a given type of screw. The latter would be the equivalent to play death metal on a Harp. If your desire is to play the harp, you are probably better off choosing a different musical genre than death metal.

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Art, Engineering, Philosophy, MusicRikard Öqvisttools, productivity, wacom, drawing, speedsketching, screws, drawing tabletComment
Epic video gaming moments
Epic video gaming moments

What Microsoft has done with Flight Simulator 2020 is nothing but mind blowing. They have digitalized the entire world for us to fly around in. They have used map data with height geometry and flight and satellite photos from Bing and combined it with AI magic that have generated buildings and trees with image recognition technology. The weather is rendered in real time, so if you look outside and it’s a rainy sunset in Umeå, that is precisely what you will experience if you fire up the simulator and take off from Umeå Airport. If you go low enough, you can even see cars driving on the roads. The graphics are nothing short of stunning. It is by far the most beautiful video game I have seen. However, that last sentence will probably age poorly, because I have said the same thing about Super Mario on the NES.

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Travel, Education, EngineeringRikard ÖqvistMicrosoft Flight Simulator 2020, review, gaming, simulator, video game, NES, geography, learning, graphics, AI, machine learningComment
What I have learned from 38 weekly blogs
What I have learned from 38 weekly blogs

I wrote my first blog post on the 6th of December 2019 and have posted an article every week since then. I still remember writing that first post. I was on a business road trip with a very busy schedule and I had decided to get it online before the end of the day, no matter what. I wrote it late that night, after bedtime for most people. I knew that every minute I spent writing, was one less minute of sleep and thus I just wanted to get it online as fast as humanly possible. Which I did, by the way. I don’t remember how much time I spent on my first post, but I am pretty sure it is one of the fastest I have written. In hindsight, that might have been the optimal way to start! Just get it done and move on. When you start out with anything, your first attempts will likely be mediocre at best. Maybe that’s how it should be done? Set a timer and go. Actually, I will do that right now. There. Timer set for 30 minutes. This post must be online before the timer runs out. Let’s do it.

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HabitsRikard Öqvistblogging, consistency, speed writing, focus, productivityComment