Time passes in strange ways. Was it just yesterday 2020 started? What happened to this autumn? The blink of an eye, and all that.
Well, looking through this site I just found a way to make 2023 feel very distant: realizing that I wrote over 200 posts that year.
It felt like a whole lot longer than a year since I did all that writing. 2022 felt about right. But no, it was last year.
One part of me wonders how I could fit that in with everything else going on all the time. Another part of me takes it as proof of how little time it actually has to take to write a post. It can be squeeze in at so many points during even the busiest of days.
It would be natural to think "well, then perhaps I should do it again. Why not, when it was such a good thing to do?" In fact, I almost thought that myself writing this. But no, I do not believe that. I believe the enriching thing to do would be to find some other creative thing to pour moments like that into.
Perhaps something I have done before?
Perhaps something new?
Perhaps a series of different things over time?
I think the last option appeals the most to me. I am pretty good at keeping things going over time, but limiting something to a given period is not something I try often if at all. What would happen if I picked something and tried to do it daily for, say, a month? Or even a week? On the same relaxed level as I do with writing, or like I did playing with the PO-33.
Systems thinking
Somewhat related, I have become a lot more … relaxed about my systems for keeping track of things, weekly reviews and things like that. I think this is mainly good - I am getting what I need to done, I do go through my notes, and I do not feel that I lose things I want or need to act on. In short, the system is paying off in that I simply use it and do not constantly tinker or maintain it.
I am trying a little bit to get more into the habit of creating separate text files for distinct topics - a certain podcast episode, some idea I am thinking about - a very low-intensity effort I think would be good for building more on my thoughts and ideas. Baldur Bjarnason wrote something relatively recently about how many "productivity" systems really are about acting, checking things off of lists, tracking what is going on, capturing next steps and so on. But few are about thinking, working with ideas, letting them build up, gathering thoughts on a topic over time and watching them merge and evolve. This kind of thing actually excites me a lot more than the productivity side - I do want to be good at productivity too, but what I would really like is to delve deeper into thoughts and ideas, so that the things I create (and think, for that matter) can be more than just quick reactions to the latest input.
More long article or book, less reply toot.
Better inputs
I have started adding my first filters to Mastodon, to try and keep random outrage-inspiring energy form entering my feed, even unfollowing some non-aquaintances who I realized carry a high risk of posting smart things about negative events which I really neither want to capture my mind, nor can do much about. I aim to follow or stumble onto as few negativity providers as possible, especially since it is clear any actually important thing will still reach me. Just because it is a reasonable thing to be outraged about does not mean I need it right then and there. Plus, so many things are not important a day or a week later.