Neon-green, black-and-white collage with halftone portrait and cut-out eyes; text: You are your own sysadmin. You have root access. Small caption: Permission is inherent. Configuration is discretionary.

Permission Slip Not Needed

This month I got a ton done…just not wearing my analyst hat.

I soft re-launched my artist site, published a puzzle book on Amazon, set up Gumroad with freebies, sent my first studio newsletter in years, and rolled a LinkedIn announcement. I also felt a little dread about “needing” to publish on my analytics blog. So here’s the honest version, shaped by the words in the image.

Configuration Is Discretionary

Defaults are suggestions, not destinies. My systems are seasonal: some months are heavy on dashboards; this one is heavy on making. I’m letting the configuration match reality—lighter tooling, more art—and calling that intentional, not lazy.

Try this: choose one channel, one ask, one asset. Ship those; ignore the rest for seven days.

Permission Is Inherent

No gatekeeper is required to hit publish. Legitimacy doesn’t come from a posting streak; it comes from usefulness. If a single honest note helps one person (including me), it counts.

Tiny script you can steal:
“I made this to help someone like me this week. If it helps you, tell me one line about why.”

You Have Root Access

The switches I control today:

Scope: done = ~400 words + one image
Stakes: one specific reader, not “the internet”
Speed: 60-minute box; anything bigger gets sliced

You Are Your Own sysadmin

Uptime is energy. My maintenance rituals right now:

Patch: replace “shoulds” with a single next action.
Logs: one-line entry after I ship (date, what I shipped, where I shared, one note).
Reboot: go for a walk, drink some water, and listen to music.

When momentum is steady again, I’ll add instruments (Search Console, a key event or two). Not before.

What I’m Learning

Small loops are kinder and more repeatable than ambitious sprints.
A post can be a permission slip and still be useful.
My voice lands best when I write to one person I know.
The work grows faster when I leave room for play.
Configuration can be beautiful because it’s discretionary.

PS: If the image helps you keep moving, I put a pay-what-you-like download here — Get the artwork → ($0 is perfectly okay.)

If you try the one-line log, I’d love to hear what you notice after a week.

Links to milestones mentioned

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