All Writing by Jamie Miles
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Trues Stories & Reflections
Vegan, But Bacon: How To ‘Cheat’ Your Way Forward
50% is better than 0, especially when 100% isn’t possible. Embracing this attitude is one of the most useful tricks for “cheating” your way towards your goals, building new habits, and ditching old ones.
#4: Vegan, but Bacon
It’s Mother’s Day in the UK, so I wanted to share a special and sweet recipe to honour my mum. I’ve also written up a trick for “cheating” your way to better habits and shared a story that was previously a secret bonus read.
#3: Pancakes & Open Loops
With another year under my belt, I’ve been reflecting on which parts of my past I don’t want to drag into my next solar orbit. The shift in perspective has been so liberating and energising that I’ve made it the star of this week’s article.
Radiohead vs The Preacher
‘Accept our Lord and saviour, Jesus Christ!’
Ugh. This guy again.
Ever since I got burgled, I’ve become more defensive when it comes to protecting my home. I haven’t told you about the burglary yet. It happened in May 2025. I’m still dealing with the fallout…
Closing loops, re-energising your life
With no other obvious culprit, we blame our exhaustion on our modestly packed schedule. Yet, when we check our maths, the numbers don’t quite add up. There’s another factor at play. We have too many open loops.
The unanswered message.
The unfolded clothes.
The unfr…
#2: Malala & Poisoned Chores
This week, I saw Malala. Yes, Nobel Peace Prize winning Malala. I also looked at my dad’s search history after he died. What I found shook me.
Capacity, Not Character: Rethinking ‘Domestic Failure’
There’s a mean story many of us carry around: if you can’t keep up with the dishes, the laundry, the bathroom, there is something wrong with you. Not with what you’ve been through. With you.
Of course, that’s not true. You’re suffering because you’re morali…
The Last Google (and Why I Write)
I already know the name of my next book: The Last Google. It will be dedicated to my Dad. The idea for the title came from a bittersweet discovery on his phone after he passed away. When we die, we leave echoes. They get quieter as time passes. Lipstick‑stained mugs…
#1: Marking a New Chapter
A year ago today, my life was very different. I was writing a eulogy for my late-father’s funeral, figuring out how to telescope together 31-years of love and memories into a ten minute speech.
The Energy/Money Matrix: A Better Way to Manage Your Life
Most advice about productivity quietly assumes you have plenty of energy and not enough time. It shouts ‘swim harder’ when you’ve already swallowed half the pool and is blind to the exhaustion you feel after years of standing up only to get knocked down again.
In…
An Icy Start
It was January 7th, 2026 and I’d already dialled 999. The morning had brought an unnatural cold. The streets were iced and London was taken by surprise.[1] I rushed out, eager to swing into the New Year. I had big plans for 2026, but I didn’t expect to be greeted by…
Grandma turns 100(!)
This week, my sister and I went to visit our grandma for her 100th birthday, which is a sentence that already feels like a lie.
Marcus Brown
Note: the names have been changed for the sake of privacy. This story is about Marcus Brown, but first, I need to tell you about coffee shops. The next time you visit a coffee shop lay on the ground. Don’t offer any explanation. Just lay there for a solid 30-seconds,…
Temptation Bundling: Beating procrastination at its own game
Is there a way to get through the more miserable tasks on my to-do list?
Self-control is overrated and how to play the long game
The importance of using self-control to reign in our impulses is often overstated. Pop psychology has spread this myth by misinterpreting The Marshmallow Test. We’ll debunk The Marshmallow Test by using new research to show how impulse control is relatively unimportan…
A Jubilee Encounter
Through the crowd, a voice cut through, ‘You have a lucky face’. Weaving through the jubilee bustle, I’d ducked down Bow Street to skirt the edge of the celebratory storm that stretched from Buckingham Palace to Leicester Square and overflowed into Covent Garden’s…
Untucking Revenge Bedtime Procrastination
How can I stop procrastinating before bed? It’s turning me into a zombie during the day, but breaking the habit is hard.
Almost Giving Up Alcohol
Trigger warning: this story mentions drink spiking. At 24, I decided to give up alcohol for the year. Well, 99% of the year. A month before my birthday, I had my drink spiked. It was a blackout moment for me. I was at a party with dire wolves, caged dancers, and…
Speilburgers
What we gain in luxury, we lose in community. Sometimes that’s brilliant. Community can be the undoing of many joys. Take community peanuts. They’re theoretically a fun snack, but sharing is certainly not caring after being touched by a few unwashed hands. That’s when…
Chickens in the Attic
‘I’ve been told to tell you that you need to check your pidge’. She buzzed with mulled wine and held my gaze, seeing if her message had made it through the Christmas jingles playing in the Old Kitchen Bar. It hadn’t, so she urged me with her eyebrows, lifting them in…
4:6 Breathing for Focus and Calm
The quality of our feelings affects the quality of our thinking. How we feel, however, based on an increasing wealth of clinical studies, is a skill. We can, far more than we might expect, direct our mood to overcome challenges like procrastination, anxiety, short atten…
A Strategic Way to Make Sense of New Topics
When problem-solving, how do I make sense of new topics efficiently?
Jamie’s Butterfly
The butterfly’s first mistake was visiting my balcony. His wings were the colour of optimism, and he’d popped by after spotting the greenery growing in my plant pots. He would flutter and land, flutter and land, acknowledging each plant with a quick perch like a…
The War Between the Grey and the Green
My parent’s garden is unlike the others in the neighbourhood. If one of the satellites falling through space were to cast its camera over the part of England where I grew up, it would see a sprawl of suburban houses. With each passing day, the satellite would uncover…