My projects and obligations outside work have grown over the past six months. Alongside my usual podcasts and writing, I started volunteering for a tutoring organization, and am looking to take on a contract role for some extra money. With everything building up, I need to reevaluate the tools I use to keep track of everything so I’m not letting anything slip by. The beauty of them being personal projects is I can use whatever system I want.
Continue reading “Chasing Down Order”Creative Powerhouse Device
With my Season of Creativity in full-swing, and some potential projects for next year circulating in my brain, I’m thinking more carefully about how I set up my devices. For example, I’ve been working on creating a “work phone” for myself, which I eventually managed by activating separate users on my Android phone. I like this separation of devices, so I’m considering how to setup a creative projects device. Thanks to an older MacBook holding its value surprisingly well, I have enough trade-in value for the newest 11″ iPad Pro to take on this new role in my life.
Continue reading “Creative Powerhouse Device”2021 Road Trip in Three Pictures
In what is now dangerously close to becoming an annual occurrence, I drove back to Minnesota a couple weeks ago. That trip, while exciting because I got to see some friends, did not generate particularly interesting stories. However, the first day driving back to California is vying for the largest rollercoaster of a day I’ve had during a road trip. Let’s explore.
Continue reading “2021 Road Trip in Three Pictures”Season of Creativity
As I discussed in my yearly theme check-in a couple of weeks ago, I’ve essentially wrapped up my Year of Transition, and am looking at starting a seasonal theme.
I’ve decided to go with the one mentioned in that post: Season of Creativity.
Continue reading “Season of Creativity”Organization At Work
Follow me through a brief journey of how I kept track of projects at work over the last year or so. It’s been a doozy.
Continue reading “Organization At Work”Year of Transition Check-in
I denoted this year as the Year of Transition. The overall goal was to look forward to, and make the most of, moving to a new city. Along with that came a change in my position at work, and continued adjustments to my lifestyle as the pandemic took its course. But it might be time to transition to a new theme.
Continue reading “Year of Transition Check-in”Weekly Check-in
I set up a Slack workflow to run every Monday morning at 8 a.m. on my company’s slack. It sends me a form to ask a few questions about how the previous week went, and a few looking forward to the upcoming week.
I find this short check-in to be incredibly useful. It primes me for the week, and helps keep me accountable to myself. Whether it’s for personal or professional aid, I recommend giving something similar a shot.
Quarter Century
The last several years have left me unenthused about celebrating my birthday to any great extent. I always did something a bit special, like going to get a dinner I wouldn’t do every week, but it was never much. I think it was the easiest approach when I was by myself.
However, this year just felt different. I turned 25, and wanted to make it feel special. While nothing I did was out of the ordinary—disc golfing, a baseball game, and homemade pizza—telling myself it was special made it better. I brought Erin to the disc golf course I frequent for the first time, and shot a really good round. I upgraded our tickets for the baseball game to be in row 6 off the right field baseline, and managed to catch a ball as a result. And the pizza was excellent alongside the brownies for dessert.
There’s something to sharing events, and naming them as special, that I’ve discounted in my adult life. While I don’t relish others trying to make a big deal out of my birthday, that doesn’t mean I should make it less fun for me. I hope to remember this in years to come. Even if I can’t manage to do anything special some year, the day can still be special if I choose to make it so.