Dependency chains are fun. Yesterday was the first time I ever edited a Kodsnack episode because I realized I needed to get the episode image drawn. Drawing the image means I need the episode title (and, preferably, some additional idea from the topics to base the image on).
And so: the need to edit before I am able to draw.
There is a lot of time to finish up the actual episode, but what I realized was that this was the last opportunity where I had convenient access to my usual drawing tools.
So, the dependency chain brought me here, where I have maybe fifteen minutes of work left to do before publishing the episode next week. And that feels great! I should finish things early more often!
… except life and late changes of plans and information and everything else of course. But apart from that? Getting stuff done early just feels so good whenever it happens.
Today is also a day off, and I have exactly zero commitments. I spent and eternity (measured in my own relative time) this morning just having a cup of tea and listening to the rain, feeling the need to do nothing at all.
I hope and aim to keep that feeling all day.
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I sort of knew this already, but this week's episode of Econtalk brought self interruptions to the front of my mind. They discussed focus and interruptions, and then the guest (David Epstein) mentioned that your mind gets to used to interruptions that, even if you are left alone, you will tend to interrupt yourself with a distraction at about the same time intervals you are used to.
That rings true to me, and I have been thinking about when and how I interrupt myself during the week. I have not necessarily been any better at stopping myself, but I have at least noticed. A further realization is that I think my self interruptions are setting my focus interval to a much higher degree than any external forces.
This annoys me. I have been attempting to deal with this - so many times - by closing tabs, cancelling services, screen time, and all the other classics. But perhaps it can be easier to make progress if I just focus on the interval? I do not have to cut anything out (which could also avoid the classic of just replacing one distraction with another) - if I just focus on switching to any distraction slightly less often. Small changes are easier, and just trying to move in the right direction instead of hitting some hard target leaves much less opportunity to declare failure and just give up.
That could work, right? It sure will not hurt to try.