MonkeHacks #81

Schedule, Adjusting, Amsterdam

Author

Monke
October 23, 2025

MonkeHacks #81

My new feline alarm clocks, Meap and Tora, pester me awake at 7:15am every morning to be fed. Needless to say, my sleep schedule has magically corrected itself. The first week was incredibly stressful, but both the cats and I have settled into somewhat of a routine now. They sleep for most of the afternoon, so I use that time to have coffee and do some work. As far as kittens go, they’re pretty well-behaved.

Tora is a very photogenic little guy.

Weekly Ideas / Notes 

  • It became very apparent to me that I need more space - my flat is about 40-45sqm, and most of that is occupied by the cats. Because of this, I started doing some viewings, and I think I’ll end up flat-sharing with a friend of mine. I did look at more expensive places - but I don’t want lifestyle creep to kick in, so I’m avoiding pricier options. I’m hoping to make that move in November, after the LHE. Lifestyle creep is terrifying, and it can creep up on you so suddenly, I’m just thankful to have friends looking out for me who snapped me out of it.

  • Speaking of the LHE… I’ll be taking part in HackerOne’s H1-3120 LHE in Amsterdam! I’m looking forward to meeting my hacker friends there. If you’re going, let me know! :)

  • I’ve finally settled into a routine with the cats. I have Loop earplugs (which are amazing, by the way, especially when everything is a bit overwhelming). The cats have forced me into a routine of productivity, and I can no longer hack into the night because they’ll wake me up at 7am anyway.

  • On the technical side, I did a small Spot Check on HackerOne this week (the first one I’ve gotten in many, many months… I have no idea how those things work or get distributed). I also gave a virtual talk to UMass Amherst (the university in Massachusetts) and I’m flying to Dublin tomorrow to give a talk to TUD (Dublin’s technical university). My friends are taking care of my cats while I’m away. I decided to apply to YC with my startup project, so I’m writing the application for that at the moment. But all in all, figuring things out with the cats has taken up way too much of my time. Things should settle down a bit in the next few weeks. I hope. The compounding effect of my lack of sleep, with the extra cat tasks, the talks, and the upcoming LHE… it’s definitely taken a toll on me, and I need to find a new rhythm. I feel like an octopus, working on these many projects in parallel and keeping them all ticking along. There’s definitely a little bit of “decision fatigue”. One of the downsides of being self-employed.

Reading List

It was a non-fiction week this week - I read some of Founders at Work. Very good book.

  • Currently:

    • Fiction:

      • Solenoid by Mircea Cărtărescu (130/600 pages)

      • Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

    • Non-Fiction:

      • A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel (150/300 pages)

      • How The World Made The West by Josephine Crawley Quinn (180/400 pages)

      • Founders At Work by Jessica Livingston (63/472 pages)

  • Next on the list:

    • Fiction: Mort by Terry Pratchett

    • Non-Fiction: Day Zero to Zero Day by Eugene Lim (SpaceRaccoon)

Resources