Tobias Sjösten

I was in the mood for a post-apocalyptic story, and John Christopher delivered, above and beyond.

Quick test: think of something you promised a colleague last week.

I picked this up wanting a straight answer to a practical question: how do you figure out what your message should be, to build your personal brand around?

I read a fair amount about productivity, but that is not what I wanted from this book.

Back in 2009, I wanted to build a web-based strategy game.

Amelia Sordell built an agency on the back of her own personal brand, and this book is her attempt at sharing how she did it, and has since done the same for her clients.

Mike Kim opens by asking himself what feeling a reader should get from his book.

Michael Hyatt has been on my radar for years.

I’ve always had a split feeling about superstition.

After eight years at STIM — helping hundreds of thousands of music creators get paid for their work — I’m stepping down as Head of Software Engineering.

I picked up this book because I wanted to understand how to think about right and wrong, and whether there’s any solid ground beneath our moral intuitions.

I didn’t expect to enjoy reading about accounting.

I wish I had read this book a long time ago.

I’ve spent decades working in and around software teams, and one of the single most persistent problem I’ve seen is teams drowning in work they don’t fully see.

I use a variety of calendars to organize my life, my family, and the many projects and businesses I’m involved with.

This is my 9th public, annual retrospection, where I summarize the past year and set some structure for the coming year.

Most small businesses fail because their founders wanted to create a better job for themselves, not to build something independent.

I do a lot of meetings.

A while ago, I wrote about how I’m starting a business and with which criteria I’m entering that journey.

Last year I read a series of book on personal finance, some of which made quite an impact on my life.

I’m currently exploring the world of podcasting, with the goal of starting one myself in the near future.

Another year has passed and it’s time for my annual review!

Money is one of the few areas where being “reasonable” beats being smart.

One of the areas for improvement I brought up in my 2022 review was finances.

My “Want to Read” list on Goodreads currently tallies 1'513 books.

I’ve been doing public, annual reviews for over a decade.

I began writing publically back in 2010 when I first published an article on the pros and cons of using the www subdomain.

Clean Architecture is a must-read for anyone working with software systems.

Meditations is one of the most impactful books I’ve ever read.

The Slight Edge argues that success and failure both come from the same place: small, everyday choices that compound over time.

I came to Starting Strength with some skepticism.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a complete geek.

The coin takes air and spins around in suspense before landing for the hundreth time in your palm.

As part of building my tool for remote teams I’m exploring ways to market it.

Finding your first business competitor can be scary.

I have been doing CrossFit here in Edinburgh for about four months now and I feel myself getting stronger for every passing week.

This February I packed my bags, said goodbye to Sweden and moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina. 12'000 kilometers removed from friends and family, in a foreign country where I didn’t speak the language and didn’t know a single soul.

I’m always looking to improve and learn new things.

I often describe myself as highly analytical and as someone who works very systematically.

I’ll start at the end and say that this is one of the most useful programming books I have ever read.

Being worth a certain value does not equate to being payed the same amount.

Stepping away from the computer doesn’t mean you have to stop tuning your skills and sharpening your tools.

Modern technology enables a lot of really cool tracking possibilities.

Google is a great source for finding answers.

The introduction of Extending Symfony2 (Web Application Framework, phew) explains that it’s for developers “already using Symfony2 and PHP” and its online description says you are expected to “have a good understanding of how Symfony works”.

I recently pushed the initial commit for a new project of mine.

I used to believe that, as programmers, our professional worth is directly tied to the code we produce and the technical knowledge we are equipped with.

Me and the rest of Symfony Sweden will be hosting a PHP conference in Stockholm this coming winter.

“Objects, Design, Agility” — the subtitle sums the book up quite well; PHP In Action is all about object oriented programming in PHP.

May 25th will see the second ever DrupalCamp Göteborg and I will attend it.