In my 9 years of programming and doing electronics projects I have slowly found love for writing simple and clean yet effective code, doing every part of a project I reasonably can on my own and using privacy respecting as well as FOSS software.

I am currently using Kotlin as my primary programming language, but have extensively worked with C++ in the past and also write some Java, Rust as well as JavaScript/TypeScript code from time to time. Other than that I prefer to use FreeCAD for designing parts, Inkscape for creating vector graphics, VSCodium as my text editor as well as C++/Rust/JavaScript/TypeScript IDE and IntelliJ IDEA as my Kotlin/Java IDE. My desktop operating system is customized Pop!_OS (awaiting the release of COSMIC) while I run CalyxOS on my phone.

One of the things that drives me the most is the desire to change something that I consider meaningful within my lifetime. One day I noticed that we don't have too little time in our lifes, but just don't use enough of it - which then introduced me to the productivity community.

Nowadays, I'm still very much in the process of leveling-up my productivity game, but consider this journey to be its own dedicated hobby of mine and an important aspect of who I am. That's also why this topic gets roughly the as much attention on my blog as technology - sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less.

Everyone needs a way to relax and for me that's mostly reading. On the one hand, some might call me a bookworm, but I think the amount of time I spend reading is absolutely reasonable and definitely better invested than watching TV or doomscrolling social media. On the other hand, many of my friends question my taste in books, since I mostly read generic sci-fi novels, thrillers or non-fictional works - not necessarily works of art - and prefer the often inferior German translations.

Some of my favourite books in particular order are:

• Cline, Ernest: Ready Player One
• Collins, Suzanne: Die Tribute von Panem - Tödliche Spiele
• Dick, Philip Kindred: Blade Runner - Träumen Androiden von elektrischen Schafen?
• Graßhoff, Marie: Neon Birds
• Huxley, Aldous: Schöne neue Welt - Ein Roman der Zukunft
• Orwell, George: 1984
• Roth, Veronica: Die Bestimmung
• Bregman, Rutger: Im Grunde gut - Eine neue Geschichte der Menschheit
• Clear, James: Die 1% Methode - Minimale Veränderung, maximale Wirkung
• Rosling, Hans: Factfulness - Wie wir lernen, die Welt so zu sehen, wie sie wirklich ist
• Snowden, Edward: Permanent Record - Meine Geschichte

Since I don't drink coffee, tea or alcohol and would never even think about consuming other substances, my number one drug to lift the mood, exercise extra hard or get into a productive mindset is music. Due to these very different settings, the music I listen to also differs vastly.

When working, I stick to soundtracks of popular movies like Inception or Interstellar. When excerising I exclusively listen to Kontra K and for everything else I'm fine with anything electronic as well as bass-heavy - preferrably along the lines of Scooter, Harris & Ford and Hardwell.

To balance out all the time I spend indoors and in front of the computer, I love to go cycling and running in my free time. I'm certainly nowhere the performance of a professional athlete, but with sports in general the goal is not to become better than others, but better than yourself.