Tiny steps and a long walk & New ways to collaborate with Creativerly

Philipp Temmel -

My name is Philipp and you are reading Creativerly, the internet corner where I unpack my musings, curate and write about noteworthy apps and software, and explore the latest trends in design and tech.

This issue of Creativerly is sponsored by Almus, your AI BFF for journaling.

Hey and welcome to Creativerly 344 👋

This week, I use this intro section to make two announcements regarding Creativerly. First things first: as it is still a super relevant topic, and an increasing number of folks are looking for ways to analyze the traffic on their websites without invading their visitors' privacy, I decided to give my post You do not need Google Analytics - A list of privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternatives an update by adding some more Google Analytics alternatives, as well as a neat table of contents, which makes it way easier to browse through the whole post (as it now consists of over 7.000 words). If you ever thought about migrating off of Google Analytics, and you are on the hunt for an ethical, privacy-focused alternative, the post I have written is a great starting point to get an overview of a couple of options out there.

Secondly, over the past couple of weeks, months, and years, I have really enjoyed writing deep dives like As smart and seamless as note-taking can get – with Popt, Transforming your journal into an intelligent companion – with Almus, The tools for decentralized social networks – How to interact with Mastodon and Bluesky, or I do not like horses except this one – with Horse Browser.

For some of those posts, I collaborated with the creators and teams behind the apps, tools, and resources I wrote about. Based on the insights I got from the deep dives I have published on Creativerly, I can confidently say that they get the most traction, which means it is well-appreciated content. And I am incredibly thankful for that, since I deeply enjoy writing them. What I also enjoy is connecting with like-minded folks who are building sustainable, privacy-focused apps and tools, calm companies, or great resources. Therefore, I decided to revamp Creativerly's advertising packages. I am offering now three main sponsor packages, The Spotlight, consisting of 4 main spots in the newsletter as well as a deep dive feature, The Amplifier, consisting of 4 main spots in the newsletter, and The Launchpad, consisting of 2 main spots in the newsletter. Besides that, there two classified ad packages, The Classified Pro, consisting of 4 text ads, and The Classified Lite, consisting of 2 text ads. To get more information about those packages, head over to Creativerly's Advertise page.

And in case you are interested in supporting Creativerly, my work, helping me to keep this whole publication a sustainable project, as well as putting your project in front of an audience, which is actively looking for apps, tools, resources, courses that help them design faster, stay productive and focused, build up knowledge, elevate their workflows, or learn new skills, I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Let us work together.

And now, enjoy this week's newsletter!

Your journal holds the keys to your growth, but only if you can unlock them.

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Most journals become vaults, full of thoughts you’ll never revisit. Almus makes your words work for you. Search your past entries instantly, discover when you’re at your happiest or most creative, and uncover the clues to your growth hidden in plain sight.

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This is a paid promotion to support Creativerly. If you are interested in putting your tool, product, or resource in front of over 2000 creative minds, consider advertising in Creativerly and book a sponsor or classified ad spot. Find all the important information at creativerly.com/advertise.

Fresh Updates, news, and findings

Pagecord – Publish your writing effortlessly. →

We are nearing 2026 and I still believe everyone should have a blog where they share and publish what they are passionate about, what interests them, what they have learned or experienced, the places they visited, the music they have listened to ... you get my point. And to get everyone going with publishing online and setting up a blog, we need super simple tools, which give everyone access to a place where they can share there thoughts online. Thankfully, there loads of tools to do that, and I recently discovered one which was new to me, and that tool is called Pagecord.

With Pagecord you get a beautifully designed page, which looks simple and straightforward. It is packed with a delightful text editor supporting all formatting needs. You can schedule posts, add tags, and more. What is also really cool: you can post by email, yes you read that right, you can use your email client, compose, tap out a message, send it to your Pagecord email, and done, the post is live. Pagecord is free to use, and you get access to unlimited posts, the possibilitz to write by email or use the rich text editor, custom pages and themes, tags, RSS feeds and media embeds, and full site HTML export. For $29 per year you additionally get image attachements, email newsletter (upt to 100 subscribers), page view analytics, custom domain, reply by email, and you support independent software.

Super cool tool, definitely worth checking out!

Deta Surf 1.0 will launch on October 1st →

Well, the time has come, Deta Surf 1.0 will get launched to the public on October 1st. The team at Surf has been hard at work to build the notebook for the web, and the result of that is a new browser. Surf has been built on one truth, which is that the greatest ideas have always started in notebooks. And now, Surf takes that idea and brings it to the browser.

Mental Wealth

❯ Tiny steps and a long walk – “People often say life is a marathon, not a sprint. But I think neither is quite right, because life isn’t even a race. It’s a long walk, and we’re free to run when the mood strikes, to take tiny steps if that’s what feels right, or to sit and rest for a while. It’s never about who’s ahead or behind; it’s about living each day so fully that regret doesn’t have room to grow.”

❯ How to Rethink Work Stress – “Where does a politician go when they want to talk about creating more jobs? They don't go to a high-rise office building. They don't visit the insurance agency storefront in an office park. They don't go to the local restaurant with a "Now Hiring" sign emblazoned across its front door for the last three years.”

❯ When being an “expert” is harmful – “Expertise hinders learning. Learn from these examples, so that you leverage your expertise, but aren’t blinded by it. Insights come from curiosity, not certainty.”

❯ The Professionalism Trap – “I’m in the process of rewriting a talk I gave a few weeks ago in order to record it and publish it online. When I mentioned that to a friend who’s a filmmaker and knows how lighting and all that works he offered to help me doing it “right” so it doesn’t look like shit. Which – if we are honest – my recording totally might.”

Do not miss out on this ...

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❉ Three apps to declutter your work and mind. The it Toolbox* bundle gives you access to DoneIt (visual task mastery), Accountit (effortless expense tracking), and Creativit (idea capture without the chaos). Less friction, more flow, try the trio today!

❉ Struggling with information overload? There's a better way to organize your digital life. The Calmer Notes* framework gives you a step-by-step method to create your own reliable, customized system for organizing your ideas, notes, and documents.

These are paid promotions or affiliate links to support Creativerly. If you are interested in putting your tool, product, or resource in front of over 2000 creative minds, consider advertising in Creativerly and book a sponsor or classified ad spot. Find all the important information at creativerly.com/advertise.

Appendix

❯ ICYMI

The reality behind personal knowledge management: why complex productivity systems fail, how true note-taking thrives, and what remains when the hype fades. In my post Systems Over Substance, I take a critical look at the PKM landscape.

❯ Quick Bits

Thank you to the sponsor of this issue, Almus, your AI BFF for journaling.

Till next time! 👋‌‌‌‌

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