What's your method to the madness?
There's an ample amount of distraction these days to say the least, or perhaps that's just my shortened attention span due to social media (I'm joking, kinda). Less to say, it's easy to get wrapped up in the noise of daily life, and forget some of your to-do's.
So I ask again, what's your method to the madness? And let me specify, by method I mean organizational strategy, and by madness I mean daily life. Do you have a "Get Shit Done" list like my brother? When he's feeling extra productive, he'll list out a few things, in order of priority, that he needs, not wants, but needs to get done today. It seems to work out pretty well for him.
Maybe you use Microsoft planner like my quite organized German friends in my cohort. Or you check things off a pen and a paper like my girlfriend.
I've been thinking recently how can I get more organized, and like any proper improvement have taken inventory of my current process. When I have something important come up, I'll throw it in the notes app on my iPhone.
Sometimes these entries end up being funny to look back on, sometimes organized, sometimes totally random without the context of date / time / location, and every now and then a little deep. While it's not particularly affective (effective?), it does make for some good material to look back on. As I scroll through the yellow app, it reminds me of looking at some childhood drawings or journal entries.
Some of the thoughts are half finished, the to-do lists partly done, and who knows if the groceries were ever picked up.
Take a quick look below into some of my notes entries. Preemptively, I'd like to say that you can't ask any follow up questions, disfruta!
These are real entries, exactly as is
Stories - Oct 2023
"I was stretching at the end of my flight from LA and this woman grabbed my foot.
Pub and Kitchen
Harp and crown
Dan dan
Miss Conduct
City Tap House"
I have no idea what this first part is about, I can't even remember that happening. When I wrote this down in October almost two years ago, I must have thoughts it would be a funny story, now I have no recollection.
As for the second list, I can credit a friend of mine for giving me some spots to grab a bite to eat, although I never visited one of them. If you're reading this, forgive me.
The note ends with a $310 order receipt from revolution taco in Philly.
On a more productive note, I highly recommend this cheat code for the people who can't think when it's time to think. I keep a rolling gifts list just titled "Gifts" that I update throughout the year. It has my immediate family and closest friends names listed on it.
Anytime I see something they might like, I write it down. Then, when the holiday season, anniversaries, or birthday's come around, I have five items that I can pick from to give them. It's genius and exceptionally overlooked.
Now for another entry...
Pecorino - Nov 2022
"Guanciale(pig cheek or bacon)
Black pepper
Boil pasta and add salt
Cube Bacon
Cold - medium high heat
Garlic In Pan
Black Pepper in pan
Egg in Bowl
Pecorino in Bowl
Remove Garlic
No heat
Pasta and water in pan
No Frying
Soap
Past
Cheese
Wine
Flowers"
A rough idea for a Carbonora recipe from the pre AI days. Side note - one of my favorite uses for LLMs is the recipe ideas, no more scrolling through the story of how this person is in love with this dish or useless advertisements.
Back to the old note, it was in College, so by the ending it sounds like it was for a date night. I still haven't figured out the sauce quite yet. Also interesting point of this: the weird spacing between ingredients and steps. Nonetheless, it always helps me think.
For the House - March 2024
"Plant
Two plug in sensory things
Sponge caddy?
Pork Tenderloin
Green beans
Rice"
Yes, definitely two clear paths of thought. I was moving into a one bedroom apartment in Manayunk and doing some house shopping, I love the question mark on the sponge caddy, it obviously was something I wasn't fully committed to yet, it was just too big of a decision.
As for the second piece, a staple in the apartment in Manayunk. Pork tenderloin in the slow cooker, green beans and overcooked rice. Exceptionally bland and does not sit well if you're trying to meal prep. 3/10 would recommend.
Now that I look back on them, they're not all complete nonsense, some are a nice surprise to review, take a look at the next one.
Journal - Feb 2023
"It's interesting that in todays society you can pick which decade you would like to live in.
If you'd like, you can dress up from the 50's in a cardigan or a leather jacket. You can dance to soft music like Leon Bridges.
It's 2023, but still you can gather a group of individuals who have chosen to live in the 90's, wearing a black and greasy hair like green day.
Still, in this decade, you can wear cowboy boots and a hat and think you're in Yellowstone. All the while living in another decade, you're in the present."
An unique take that I still stand by. You can go out and play dress up, choose from a time traveling catalogue where you get to pick and choose different styles. Think about the 50's greaser look. Walk through any major metro with a temperate climate and you'll find some guys wearing the straight leg and white T combo.
From a motivational perspective, my notes app is littered with remnants of the fleeting surges that arise from a video or a rock bottom moment. Here are a couple of examples.
3 affirmations - Oct 2020
"Less procrastination, be stronger, more positive.
I want to procrastinate less, I want to be stronger, I want to be more positive."
There is no excuse not to be great - May 2020
"I don't have any self discipline. I sleep in late and don't clean up my room. I don't eat what I should and don't get on things as soon as I should. But I would never allow somebody I know slack the way I do. The only way to change my perspective is to act as if I were coaching myself in somebody else's body"
I have ideas that were never completed in the app too, plenty of them. Notes from old meetings, ideas for businesses and wifi passwords.
Again, no follow up questions. I don't recall the stories or the lists or the surges of motivation, but I'm happy they're in there, that I can look back and flip through chapters and thoughts.
If you have a journal or a notes app, flip through and take inventory of yourself.
Thanks for reading.
