Samuel's Thoughts

Samuel is in the final week of his break before jumping back into master’s work, and he’s using the downtime to fine-tune his systems and reset his mindset for the year ahead. He shares a few takeaways from How to Take Smart Notes—especially around linking ideas—and talks about building out Stream Deck workflows that speed up podcasting, research, and even launching games. The main focus is his annual “theme of the year” tradition: after a successful 2025 “Year of Relationship,” he’s naming 2026 the “Year of Balance,” with practicum and heavier program demands coming up—and a deliberate goal to avoid burnout while still making room for the people and projects he loves. Highlights Finished How to Take Smart Notes and wants to tweak his “second brain,” especially by linking related notes more intentionally. Stream Deck is becoming a one-button workflow hub (audio production, show prep for “Going Through Who,” research tabs, and more). Set up game-launch shortcuts too—less about “saving seconds,” more about fully using the tool he already owns. Explains why he prefers “year themes” over New Year’s resolutions (plus a quick tangent on “science,” skepticism culture, and not being a jerk). 2025 recap: “Year of Relationship” brought more intentional time with friends, new groups, and deeper community ties. 2026 theme: “Year of Balance,” especially with practicum approaching and the need to protect mental health and prevent burnout. How to Take Smart Notes: https://a.co/d/cQOSzFq To find previous episodes go to: tscn.tv/st To subscribe to this podcast put this link in your favorite podcatcher: http://feeds.feedburner.com/tscnst Want to support our content? Go to tscn.tv/support to find out how! Send feedback to: [email protected] or leave a comment below! Music from https://filmmusic.io “NewsSting” and “News Theme” by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Samuel is back behind the mic for a catch-up episode, talking about how his master’s program has taken over schedule-wise, why he had to step away from his job working with kids, and how he’s rebuilding his space and systems to better support his brain, his projects, and his people. Along the way he plugs new voice-acting work in Bill Meeks’ Everly Heights universe, reflects on a deep conversation about faith and disagreement on the podcast Agenda Fluid, and explains how Tiago Forte’s “Building a Second Brain” and the PARA method are helping him stay organized without pretending there’s a one-size-fits-all solution. He also teases his upcoming “year theme” episode and the annual Diamond Club New Year’s stream-a-thon for Children’s Miracle Network. Highlights in this episode: Why the master’s workload forced Samuel to give up his job working with kids (and what he took away from it) Decluttering the home studio with his mom’s “organization wizardry” and the saga of oversized academic textbooks Voice-acting as Louis Loop in Everly Heights Tales and helping introduce listeners to Bill Meeks’ new shared universe Guesting on Agenda Fluid to talk religion, faith, disagreement, and why “enemy mindset” and outrage politics are so harmful Living with anger as an epilepsy trigger, why Samuel refuses to lean into rage, and how that shapes how he shows he cares How “Building a Second Brain” and the PARA method (Projects, Areas, Resources, Archive) power his Notion setup, tabletop campaigns, joke file, Bible notes, and more Why organizing is a coping strategy for him (not a moral high ground), and his argument that everyone needs the system that fits their own brain Teasing the upcoming “Year of Relationship” recap and next year’s personal theme, plus the Diamond Club New Year’s stream-a-thon for Children’s Miracle Network Building a Second Brain: https://a.co/d/7BbihaL Everly Heights: https://everlyheights.tv/everlyheightstales/ Agenda Fluid episode: https://agendafluid.com/podcast/is-religion-necessary-in-a-scientific-world/ To find previous episodes go to: tscn.tv/st To subscribe to this podcast put this link in your favorite podcatcher: http://feeds.feedburner.com/tscnst Want to support our content? Go to tscn.tv/support to find out how! Send feedback to: [email protected] or leave a comment below! Music from https://filmmusic.io “NewsSting” and “News Theme” by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Just a quick announcement to let everyone know what has been going on this month from illness, schedules, and broken mixer power buttons. We will be back as soon as everything clears up!

On this episode of Samuel’s Thoughts I’m finally back and talking about my new approach to content without pressure and I do my review of The Wild Robot. To find previous episodes go to: tscn.tv/st To subscribe to this podcast put this link in your favorite podcatcher: http://feeds.feedburner.com/tscnst Want to support our content? Go to tscn.tv/support to find out how! Send feedback to: [email protected] or leave a comment below! Music from https://filmmusic.io “NewsSting” and “News Theme” by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

On this Samuel’s Thoughts I went to WWE Smackdown in Knoxville Tennessee and I wanna talk about it! What is it like being in the crowd of a live show and what feels different from watching on tv. To find previous episodes go to: tscn.tv/st To subscribe to this podcast put this link in your favorite podcatcher: http://feeds.feedburner.com/tscnst Want to support our content? Go to tscn.tv/support to find out how! Send feedback to: [email protected] or leave a comment below! Music from https://filmmusic.io “NewsSting” and “News Theme” by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)