Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
When was the last time you took a real vacation...not one where you're still answering emails? If that question bums you out, you're in the right place.
Streamlined Solopreneur is the podcast where solopreneurs learn to build simple business systems and automations that keep your business running — even when you're not at your desk.
I'm Joe Casabona. A few years ago, I was so overwhelmed by my solopreneur business that I had a panic attack. Today, I take 4–6 weeks off every year, worry-free. No team, no 60-hour weeks. Just systems and processes that do the heavy lifting.
On this podcast, you'll learn how to:
- Create playbooks and SOPs to make building systems easy
- Automate repetitive tasks with systems that don't break
- Use AI for grunt work (not creative work) to reclaim hours every week
- Capture every task and idea without relying on your memory
- Take real time off without your business falling apart
New episodes twice a week on solopreneur systems, business automation, and AI-powered productivity.
Free resource: Get my solopreneur automation starter kit → https://streamlined.fm/kit
Subscribe to stop being the bottleneck in your own business.
Hey everybody, and welcome to the Friday wrap on the Streamline Solopreneur, a short
episode where I talk about three things, what's on my mind this week, recommended
reading and recommended Media. This is the show that helps you automate your business
so you can take time off, worry a free, and hopefully this curation will help you
think more about your systems. I'm your host, Joe Casabona, and here's what's on
my mind. For June 26th, 2026,
this week I had a four hour workshop. It was two hours over two days each or two
hours each, over two days with Ecamm, and it was a blast. Something I covered a bunch
was my stream decks, and I actually do a case study of this very show, the Friday
wrap up, and how crucial EEC a m and the stream decks are to my workday. And with
the stream decks,
it's not just about Ecamm, it's everyday use. I have a ton of keyboard shortcuts.
There are too many to keep track of. So the stream decks that I have, I've got two
are fantastic for this, and now they have Raycast integration. So it's even more
powerful for me. In fact, the Raycast integration specifically is so crucial because
Raycast has really eliminated a lot of other tools I use like Carabiner Elements
and Keyboard Maestro and Text Expander. And so the fact that I can
integrate Raycast with the Stream deck means I can actually integrate a lot of productivity
tools and shortcuts into the stream deck. But that's really a topic for another day,
right? Maybe it's something I will cover in a future Automation of the week, which
is an exclusive for newsletter subscribers. You can get that over at streamlined
fm slash wrap,
but today I actually want to talk about the hardware side of it, not the software
prime week. I refuse to call it Prime Day when it's the better part of a week is
wrapping up as I record this and I finally gave in on Thursday, there were a bunch
of deals including noise canceling headphones and these new like Holly
lapel mics that I've been interested in. But
one of the purchases I made was the eight bit Do Micro. It is a tiny game controller
designed for the Nintendo Switch and Android, but it can also work as a tiny keyboard
with software that maps keys, key combinations to the device.
And, uh, in recommended reading, I will talk more about that exact thing,
but for Prime Week it was $15 and so I thought it was worth trying. Worst case scenario,
I have a third controller for our seldom used Nintendo Switch. So I have something
for when my kids are old enough to play Mario Kart.
The software is clunky, but I was able to map complicated keyboard shortcuts. Sadly
not the hyper key, which for me is, uh, command option control shift. And that's
mapped to my caps lock key thanks to Raycast,
but
good combinations of keys nonetheless. And I can map those keyboard combinations
or key combinations to the buttons on the little controller. The eight bit do micro.
I also remapped the dpad. Uh, so if you are
listening,
uh, it is a, it's so small.
it fits fully in the palm of my hand and, uh, it's got a directional pad and then
the XABY keys on it as well as the, uh, top corner keys like the l and r and
RL two and R two buttons. So there's like 16 Mapable keys on this.
Um,
and I remapped the dpad because I'm actually going to hold it vertically most of
the time. Like it's a, like, it's a clicker for speaking or something like that,
or, or a TV remote.
Um, it is, by the way, it is smaller than the Apple TV remote.
the reason I'm talking about this today is I like the idea of experimenting with
a little hardware automations like this, it's more tactile than key combinations,
uh, or keyboard shortcuts. It doesn't require as much mental energy to remember what
was that combination, especially
when they get complicated like mind do. And the hyper key helps with that. The stream
deck is especially good for this
because it has visual cues, right? It has icons. And so I can look at the stream
deck
and know the automation I am going to run or the shortcut I'm going to run. Uh, so
it's not quite as good as the stream deck, but it is about a third of the cost, uh,
of the smallest stream deck, which is the stream deck Neo, and it, uh, has lots of,
uh, programmable buttons on it.
And so with this, I've, I have a couple of use cases for it, you know, I'll use it
for raycast notes, uh, and doing stuff in obsidian. So, you know,
bopping around apps I use really regularly.
Um, I, I also have a little while I get used to this, I have a little card, uh, that
I've written the, the mappings to. I don't know how long this is going to last, but,
uh, I have it there just as I get used to it. 'cause this is, this is like day one.
So,
uh, the eight bit do micro, I will have a link in the description. I'm pretty excited
for this. It's, it's really small, super portable, and it, it's also something that
I can bring with me when I travel. Uh, I like to travel light
and so I'm not bringing a stream deck with me. And, uh, this thing is, is wireless
and I can
probably do some different mappings on my laptop.
Uh, it also, you can map it to the iPhone and the iPad as well. So
really excited for this.
Uh, now recommended reading is related to this. Uh, it is from Mac Stories. It's
called my latest Mac automation tool as a tiny game controller. Uh, it,
this is the article that inspired me to buy the eight bit do Micro John Voorhees
has a writeup. It's fantastic and it covers
several interesting use cases and that's what ultimately convinced me to at least
try it again, like for 15 bucks. It was definitely worth trying it. Uh, so right
now I am working with a first idea, best idea, the things that I wanted to map to
it. Uh, but as John points out in his piece, there are profiles
and the micro is also small enough to use invisibly on camera. So maybe I can map
the directional pads
to
the, the stream deck or E cam and I can move through these scenes that if you're
watching the YouTube video, you see the text changing on screen, maybe I can move
through those with the micro instead of having to reach slightly or make sure that
my stream deck is very close so that I can turn the knob without having to move off
frame or making it obvious. So,
uh,
that article just gave me a lot more idea. So if this is something you're interested
in, uh, I think Prime Day is happening for at least Prime Week is happening for at
least a few more hours, um, as this episode comes out. And so might be worth checking
out even off deal. I think it's less than 25 bucks, so totally worth it.
Alright, and the last thing, recommended Media
House of the Dragon. Season three, premier breakdown by New Rock stars.
I promise
I won't make House of the Dragon the focus of recommended media for the next two
months.
But after the season premiere
and really after every episode, there are two YouTube channels I go to for more context
analysis and clarification.
One is Alt Shift X, which is an incredible resource for all things Game of Thrones.
Uh, it's so good. He did a breakdown, I think of every Game of Thrones episode, uh,
as well as books and lore and, uh, a Night of the Seven Kingdoms. He also covered
really, really good stuff. The guy
deeply understands the world of Game of Thrones,
and while he does near three hour long live streams after each episode, I think he's
located in Australia. Uh, and so
it is morning for him, uh, when the episode is is finished.
Um,
he's not doing his normal explainer videos this season, which is a bummer, but he
has some other things he's working on. I totally understand. I can tell how much
effort goes into those videos
and when he is doing the three hour live stream and has other stuff, like I, I totally
get it super good, which is why I want to recommend
this other channel today.
Uh, it's new rock stars if you are into Marvel or Star Wars or any of those extended
like, um,
universes of fiction and movies. Uh, they do a really good job of these sort of breakdowns.
And while I think, you know, their headlines or or their titles are clickbaity, they
kind of have to be, that's how the YouTube algorithm works. Uh, and so a new rock
stars, they do a reaction video the night of,
but then less than 24 hours later, they published their breakdown, which is super
impressive.
Eric Voss and presumably his team, uh, does an amazing job at pointing out very missable
details. And so this is Eric Al. Eric Voss also knows The Game of Thrones universe.
I think that's how he launched the show, was talking about game of, or the, the,
the channel,
uh, was talking about Game of Thrones.
And so, uh, I really like his breakdowns. I especially like when he points out, um,
changes in the music or Easter eggs in the music. Uh, he has an ear for music, I
think he studied it. And so it's always cool getting that perspective. That's not
something, you know, you get like deep lore with alt shift X, um, and then you get
some of the more cinematography and music and, and score stuff, as well as the lore
with new rock stars. So I, I really like that. I recommend it if you are watching
House of the Dragon or Game of Thrones. Both of those channels are, are really good.
Okay, so wrapping up, uh, I did want to tell you that something I've been working
on for like a month
is, uh, the solopreneur system starter kit.
It's a lead magnet that I thought would be super cheap or super short, super easy
to make, and it ended up being over 9,000 words. And it goes really deep. I cover
four systems. Every solopreneur or small business owner should have admin work, CRM,
and client onboarding, content creation and ideas, uh, like idea capture,
uh, and, and, and verification. So that is completely free. It also has all of the
tools I use as well as an AI and automation swipe file. It is
easily my most valuable, uh, lead magnet to date,
uh, or resource, I guess, uh, my most valuable resource to date. You can get it completely
for free at streamlined fm slash kit.
That's streamlined fm slash kit.
Uh, so if you did enjoy this episode, you can join the newsletter. Uh, going to streamlined
fm slash kit will also get you on the newsletter, so you'll get the additional automation
of the week,
as well as regular emails on how to approach building systems to help you take time
off, worry free.
Thanks so much for listening, and until next time, I hope you find some space in
your weekend.