Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 24/09/20268 out of 10 of you told me you have trouble saying no to things that eat the part of the week that's actually yours. The skill isn't complicated. The script's been in front of you for years. The hard part is using it at 3pm when the ask is real and the guilt does the talking. 100
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 20/09/2026"In the beginner's mind, there are many possibilities," said Zen monk Shunryu Suzuki. "In the expert's mind, there are few." 000
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 13/09/2026Happy NFL Sunday Kickoff! share.collx.app/mittendad/st... #football #nfl #hobbyshare.collx.appCollX • Matthew Tilmann • 2026 Topps Football Inserts2026 Topps Football Inserts — 35 cards from Matthew Tilmann on CollX. 101
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 09/09/2026In honor of today being my birthday, I thought I’d do a little something fun on my CollX Store. Meet the $4.20 seller minimum, and I’ll throw in 1 .99 and under card of your choice for as long as supplies last! Lots of moderns, 90’s and more to choose from! share.collx.app/mittendadshare.collx.app 000
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 21/08/2026The moments your mind keeps returning to tell you more than any personality test. Pay attention to what you reach for when it's quiet. 000
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 09/08/2026Søren Kierkegaard called boredom “the root of all evil — the despairing refusal to be oneself.” mittendad.substack.com/p/boredom-no... #productivity #mentalhealth #burnoutmittendad.substack.comOpen the Fridge Three Times and You'll Know7 small quests that break the photocopy of your week 040
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 08/08/2026Everyone who says they're "not creative" was told that once. Probably by a teacher, a boss, or a version of themselves trying to stay safe. The people you call creative just kept going past the part where it got uncomfortable. No perfect mornings required. They just never got the message to stop. 000
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 02/08/2026You want to take the kids to Hawaii, but you don't have 200 hours to plan the logistics or the desire to pay full retail. 100
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 25/07/2026Dinner. Laundry. The mental tally of everything you're the only one tracking. That's Round 2. The burnout most of us feel isn't from the job. It's from the second shift nobody calls work. open.substack.com/pub/mittenda... #worklife #burnout #parenting #mentalhealthopen.substack.comThe Second Shift Nobody Calls WorkGive me 5 minutes between rounds and i'll show you where your energy actually goes 010
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 22/07/2026Talking to yourself is just externalizing the processor. Some brains need to hear it before they can sort it. My daughter does it while building LEGOs. I do it while writing. The only difference is she hasn't been told to stop yet. 000
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 18/07/2026How often have you found yourself drifting out of the moment, instead of just being present? Read on for a way to help you be more present with those you love: mittendad.substack.com/p/stop-curat... #selfcare #parenting #mindfulnessmittendad.substack.comStop Curating the Moment. Start Touching the CarpetThe internal auditor trades real presence for a mental highlight reel. Three ways to fire it tonight. 020
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 13/07/2026Sometimes I feel like I get interrupted 40x a day, so I built a fix: park what you're doing with one hotkey, come back and pick up right where you left off. $14.99 this week. Interrupt Stack: apps.apple.com/us/app/inter... #productivity #parenting #writing #deepworkapps.apple.comInterrupt Stack App - App StoreDownload Interrupt Stack by MATTHEW PHILIP TILMANN on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips, and more apps like Interrupt Stack. 100
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 07/07/2026I don't recommend tools often. Most don't survive the first week. Eden did. I've been using it since it was called Kortex. It shows you what's actually working before you write a single word. Real outlier posts. Not AI guessing. Then it helps you make the idea your own. 100
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 04/07/2026If you’ve ever answered a question about your loved one’s day with the same vocal temperature you used on a budget call, you already know the feeling I’m describing. You were standing there. You just weren’t in the room. Read on for more: open.substack.com/pub/mittenda... #selfcare #productivityopen.substack.comYou Can't Out-Schedule a Lack of TransitionsNobody taught you how to close a tab in your own head. Here's the missing skill. 010
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 02/07/2026I said yes to something before I read the fine print. Turns out it was joining the launch team for Jesse Mecham's new book — the founder of YNAB. @ynabofficial.bsky.social is the only budgeting method that actually changed how I think about money. Not tracking. Thinking. 100
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 02/07/2026"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." - Thomas Edison 000
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 01/07/2026Most #burnout advice assumes you're just tired. But for a lot of us, the problem isn't that we did too much. It's that our nervous system has been processing the wrong kind of demand for too long. Rest doesn't fix a wiring problem. 120
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 30/06/2026If you've spent 6 months trying to pick a niche and still feel hollow, you're probably avoiding the harder question underneath it. 000
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 28/06/2026☕️ Daily Refill - A notebook system that beats most apps. It's $2.99 right now. dailyrefill.beehiiv.com/p/bullet-jou...dailyrefill.beehiiv.com☕️ Daily Refill - A notebook system that beats most apps. It's $2.99 right now.The Bullet Journal Method Kindle edition hit its lowest price in 30 days. No subscription. No notifications. Just paper, a pen, and a framework that doesn't need your Wi-Fi password. 000
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 28/06/2026The problem isn’t capture. Our intake is fine. Most of us are excellent at saving things. Screenshots, highlights, bookmarks, “I’ll come back to this” tabs. The funnel is wide open. The drain is clogged. Nothing comes back out. Read on for more: open.substack.com/pub/mittenda...open.substack.comStop Building Your Second BrainThe system was never the point. A retrieval-first approach for people who've rebuilt their folder structure fourteen times and abandoned every one. 010
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 24/06/2026Your phone is a slot machine with better branding. Political texts are just the current jackpot. There will always be another one. Do Not Disturb is the wall between the world's noise and your 12-minute window. Turn it on tonight. Not just for the texts. For the window. 000
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 23/06/2026Most modern decisions aren't made under swords. They're made under Slack. The samurai had a filter for fear and ego. You'll need one for urgency. "If I die tomorrow, does this choice still matter?" 100
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 19/06/2026Corporate work has no ritual for endings. Theatre does. A curtain call. A dressing room. A walk to the car in the dark. You're grieving something real without permission to name it. Nobody told you the commute was your curtain call. 000
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 18/06/2026Most people think the problem is: Not enough time Too many meetings A demanding boss The real problem is nobody taught you how to close one version of yourself before opening the next. Theatre has a curtain call. The office has 'let's circle back.' #balance 000
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 18/06/2026If you're on the lookout for a new "up north" cottage, small home, you name it on the lakefront, make sure to check out the below listing! www.zillow.com/homedetails/... #Michigan #realestate #puremichigan #cottagecore #cottage #upnorthliving #upnorthmichigan #homesweethome #HomeOwnership 010
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 17/06/2026You told yourself real life starts after the promotion. After the launch. After the kids are older. It already started. Coffee cooling. Inbox half-read. Your daughter asking the same question twice. This is the whole film. Stop auditioning for a life you're already living. 000
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 16/06/2026Rest is not a reward you earn after the work is done. It is part of how the work gets done. 000
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 15/06/2026Your nervous system relaxes when your content runs without you. 000
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 13/06/2026Dozens of responses in this week’s essay. From Michigan and Macedonia and the Shenandoah Valley. From nomads and retirees and moms and people who’d lost their homes and people still looking for one. And not one of them named an address. open.substack.com/pub/mittenda...open.substack.comWhat 30 Strangers Taught Me About HomeI asked one question on Substack. The answers rewired how I think about belonging. 000
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 12/06/2026Tomorrow morning, I'm publishing something a little different. A few weeks ago, I asked one question on Substack: What does home mean to you? #home 100
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 12/06/2026You need a version of your goal that runs on 12-minute fragments. The clear month you're waiting for isn't on anyone's calendar. 000
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 12/06/2026Quiet Burnout Is Worse Than Regular Burnout — Here's the 40-40 Rule That Spots It dailyrefill.beehiiv.com/p/quiet-burn...dailyrefill.beehiiv.com☕️ Daily Refill - You're Getting Better at Your Job While Your Body Sounds an AlarmQuiet burnout doesn't look like burnout. You're hitting every deadline while your body sounds an alarm you've learned to sleep through. Here's how to spot it, plus three experiments that won't cost yo... 000
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 05/06/2026The self-care economy: what actually restores you (and why it's mostly free) dailyrefill.beehiiv.com/p/self-care-...dailyrefill.beehiiv.comThe self-care economy: what actually restores you (and why it's mostly free)Self-care is a huge industry. Most people still feel depleted. Here's what the research says about what actually restores you — it mostly costs nothing. 020
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 03/06/2026Most people get this backwards: Ikigai isn't a diagram you fill out and forget. It’s a daily compass, not a map. Here's what I learned: The popular "four circles" version is a career tool dressed up in philosophy — but it misses the point entirely: 100
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 01/06/2026☕️ Daily Refill - Quiet burnout is the 2026 epidemic (and 3 ways to refill before you crack) dailyrefill.beehiiv.com/p/quiet-burn... #burnoutdailyrefill.beehiiv.com☕️ Daily Refill - Quiet burnout is the 2026 epidemic (and 3 ways to refill before you crack)Quiet burnout hit 2 in 3 workers in 2026. Spot the early signs of high-functioning exhaustion and 3 small ways to recover before you crack. A 2-minute read. 000
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 27/05/2026I hit a subscriber number I'd been chasing for 18 months. Closed the laptop. Waited for the feeling. Nothing shifted. The mistake was treating the goal like an arrival point. The 90-minute morning writing habit was the real outcome. The number was where I stopped counting. 000
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 26/05/2026A goal is something you cross. A habit is something you repeat. A practice is something that changes who you are while you do it. Most creators advise optimizing for the first. Real durability comes from the third. 000
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 26/05/2026Curious - what does the concept of “home” mean to you? The physical place? A state of mind? A longing for what once was? No right or wrong answer. #home 000
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 25/05/2026Open a note. Title it Tuesday morning. Answer this: if I had 60 minutes tomorrow before anyone needed anything from me, what would I do that would still matter in a year? That's the only ikigai question that ever mattered. Everything else is decoration. 010
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 22/05/2026The four-circle ikigai diagram is a career-planning tool with a Japanese label. The actual Okinawan elders, the book studies talk about a garden. A grandchild. A 6 am ritual. The diagram did laps on LinkedIn for a decade. The elders? They kept gardening. 110
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 21/05/2026I hit a subscriber number I'd been staring at for 2 years. Opened the dashboard, saw it, closed the laptop. Nothing shifted. The person I'd become to get there was the actual reward. Consistent. Clear. Patient enough to trust the quiet months. 100
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 21/05/2026Creators chase the next milestone like it will finally settle something. More followers, more revenue, and the book deal. It won't. The system you built to get there, the calm you learned to hold, the person you became between dropoffs — that's what actually changes your life. 000
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 21/05/2026Most goal-setting advice is backward. It asks what you want to have. The question that actually matters: who will you need to become to get there? That person stays with you long after the goal collects dust. The trophy doesn't change you. The training does. 000
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 20/05/2026I decided to give Noom a test spin. I like how it teaches you why you eat the way you do instead of just restricting calories. They gave me codes for a free two-week trial, then 20% off if you want to continue to hand out to others if you've been on the fence: 100
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 19/05/2026After 15 years managing corporate budgets, I got good at one thing: tools that actually earn their keep. Here's my full toolbox — apps, platforms, and resources I use daily as a dad, analyst, and creator. Investing. Email. Podcasting. AI. Note-taking. 110
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 19/05/2026One of my favorite books on managing ideas and information just went on sale. Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte. $3.99 as an eBook through May 24. Normally $14.99. #productivity #pkm #secondbrain #obsidian #notetaking 220
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 19/05/2026You took the time off. You said no. You slept. And still. That quiet wrongness. The sense your days are pointed somewhere you didn't mean to go. Overexertion responds to doing less. Depletion responds to real rest. 100
Matt Tilmann @mittendad.bsky.social · 18/05/2026I don't write about systems because I have it together. I write about them because people keep telling me I seem like I do, and the gap between what they see and what's actually happening in my head is so wide it's almost funny. Almost. 100