Lately #004: The IC Question, Finding Focus, and All Things iOS 27

Summer admittedly snuck up on me this year. And for the first time in a long time, I feel a bit like a kid on summer break.

It's a weird feeling, if I'm being honest. I'm in a season where figuring out what's next is pulling me into a constant low-grade urgency of not losing momentum. But I've been trying to resist that and not let it take over the whole summer. My kids are only this age once, they're home, and I'd rather not spend June with my eyes on a screen all day while they're asking me to go play outside.

The quietness has been good for thinking, though. And watching. And reading. Spending more time as a content consumer, not just a creator.

ICYMI — Lately #003: Saving Time with AI, Paradise on a Treadmill, and What Comes Next »

Reading: The case for putting your hands back on the wheel

Elena Verna is a growth leader at Lovable, one of the fastest-growing AI startups around. And her newsletter, Elena's Growth Scoop, is a great read for anyone in marketing or growth.

One of her pieces from May makes the case for what she's calling the "high-impact individual contributor" — an IC with no direct reports who can do the work that used to take an entire team. The argument: getting back to hands-on work isn't a step down from leadership, but for a lot of folks right now, it's actually the flex.

Given where I'm at right now, this felt specifically pointed. I've managed people and loved it. I enjoy the leadership aspect and helping a team find its footing or helping someone grow in their career. But there's also a version of me that wants to just make things. To write. To build.

When I first launched Lately, I wrote about creating "heavy things." It feels like there's a common thread in a lot of the content I'm consuming at the moment. The question I keep circling back to isn't as much "manager or IC" as it is "what's the right ratio?" How do you keep the creative spark alive when the management stuff is filling the calendar?

Watching: Going on focus mode with a scenic twist

A lot of people are surprised that I can write with full-blown music playing (right now, I've got Apple Music's Discovery Station helping me discover new favorites while drafting).

But one thing I've tried to do with my mornings is take time to sit, read Daily Dad, and journal. And when I do these things, I've learned it's actually counterintuitive to have someone singing lyrics into my ear.

In my quest for a better way to breathe and focus while taking part in this morning ritual, I've gravitated toward ambient and lofi mixes on YouTube with scenic visuals — my current favorites being a beach-side coffee shop with lofi music or a DJ set with the New York City skyline as a backdrop.

It took me a minute to figure out why I like it more than just audio. When my eyes inevitably drift while thinking, they now have somewhere to land. Not a notification or another distraction, but something easy and slow. It doesn't compete for my attention, and it gives me a moment of calm to reflect before going back to the writing.

Using: Putting a speed bump on scrolling

Screen time has always been a challenge for me. Not necessarily catastrophic, but more the low-grade, passive scrolling here and there that adds up.

As I noted, I'm in the position of having the privilege of getting to enjoy summer with my kids. And I'm tired of the algorithms sucking me in so easily. So I decided to actually deal with it — not just for my own mental health, but because I'd rather be present in the moment.

Jomo is a focus and screen time app that lets you set app blocks tied to specific focus modes — allowing me to build rules around when and how certain apps are accessible depending on what I'm trying to do. That alone is useful.

But the thing I've been enjoying most so far is the labeling. I can tag individual apps as "productive" or "non-productive," which means my screen time report actually tells me something. My recipe app, for example, is excluded from the count entirely — so I'm not staring at a report with 45 additional minutes of screen time on the total, when the reality is it was just on while I was cooking.

About a week in and it's promising. Sometimes a little friction is all you need.

Wild Card: Apple's WWDC keynote and the beta I shouldn't install (but will)

I always block time to watch Apple's keynotes. Part of it is just being a tech and productivity nerd — I've always been interested in the "latest and greatest." But I also have a real appreciation for the way Apple thinks about their products: specifically the marketing and the way everything is designed to work together. The cross-functional cohesion across their whole lineup is something I find endlessly interesting, even when the updates themselves are incremental.

This year's WWDC was a little underwhelming compared to years past. But the new Siri updates are what I'm most curious about. Apple's been playing catch-up on AI for a while, and I am excited to see how their on-device approach holds up against the tools I'm already leaning on.

The iOS 27 developer beta is already out. I have a perfectly functional daily driver. I know better… and I'm probably going to install it anyway. (Self-restraint: not my strongest feature.)

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That's Lately #004. If something resonated, you've got a focus playlist, a screen time horror story, or thoughts on the IC question, hit me up at hello@joetacosik.com or on LinkedIn.

Talk soon!