Hank and the squirrelGet through life. Keep your sense of humor.
One wants to finish something. The other just found a very interesting video about moving to Antarctica.
Practical help for modern distraction. No perfect morning required.
The ongoing argument inside your brain
Neither one is the villain. That would be simpler, and therefore suspicious.
“Can we please complete one thought before opening another tab?”
Hank is a raccoon with middle-aged energy, a terracotta coffee mug, and a profound desire for eight uninterrupted minutes. He is calm, practical, and only mildly surprised by what happened to the day.
Meet Hank →
“Quick question. Have we considered beekeeping?”
The squirrel is every notification, fascinating side quest, and urgent need to reorganize a drawer during a deadline. He is not lazy. He is extremely busy doing something else.
Meet the squirrel →
“We can fix it. But first, is that snack for anyone?”
Murphy is the supportive one: curious, enthusiastic, and willing to help clean up whatever just happened. He brings calm when it matters, chaos when it does not, and the occasional useful head tilt.
Meet Murphy →Origin Story
The author, Knute Steel, has gone through phases of organization and chaos throughout his life. When the chaos takes over, he eventually hits a tipping point: stop, take stock, and get organized again.
This time, Knute documented it. The notes became conversations, the conversations became jokes, and Hank and the squirrel showed up to narrate the argument. Hank wants calm, progress, and one useful thought. The squirrel wants novelty, motion, and whatever just appeared in the next tab.
Neither one is the enemy. They are the two project managers living in the same brain—and this is the place where we let them argue in public.
The book
Get Sh*t Done is about dealing with life when your brain, the world, and the Wi-Fi password are all competing for attention. Funny, practical, and written for people who already know what a to-do list is.
Useful, without becoming earnest
Turn the foggy, oversized thing in your head into one action you can actually begin.
Try it →02Protect attentionGive every brilliant, urgent, completely unrelated thought somewhere safe to wait.
Try it →03Finish the dayCount what moved. Stop letting the twelve untouched things erase the three that mattered.
Try it →From the archive
Cartoons, observations, and notes from the ongoing negotiation between focus and fluff.
Browse the archive
The idea pile
Submit a post concept, explain why it belongs in the pile, or vote on someone else’s idea. A free account is required to submit or vote, because even the squirrel agrees that twelve browser windows should not count as twelve people.