I admit it. I’m a bit chaotic with managing my own tasks. It’s why some fairly routine, and regular tasks, like renewing my car registration, have, in the past, been delayed, when they could easily be done as soon as a few moments are set aside.
I looked at various systems, such as Getting Things Done, and even bounced around with multiple tools, such as the basic reminders of my computers and devices. I’m also aware that it is as simple as putting pen to paper, but I am very reluctant to
Recently, I think I’ve settled, once again, on a set of tools, in the Things apps for desktop and phone. I know it might be overkill, but it feels “right” without having to learn any particular method. I’ll see how it goes.
Any Things or even just GTD users out there, or what other systems do people use to remind themselves about what to do?
Pencils are a great writing tool (amoung other uses.) They can quickly be used to jot down nearly any idea, as well as to sketch out designs, should that be your cuppa. If there’s something you don’t like that you put on the paper using a pencil, then it’s easily able to be removed, or reworked, with a few rubs of an eraser. The only requirements to making a properly made pencil work is exposing its tip, and moving the tip across a peice of paper, or other surface you’re allowed to use.
Pens, on the other hand, are also good for many, if not all of the same reasons. The key differences are that pens usually use a liquid or gel-based material to make their marks, and usually, their marks are more permanent, or at least very difficult to easily remove, especially on paper.
Now, each has it’s pros and cons, but those are usually determined with specific writing situations in mind. If the final product is to be something that can and should be edited on the same document, a pencil is a great tool for it. Another example is using it as a basis for something more permanent, such as a sketch, to be gone over with a paintbrush, or entered in a computer. Note-taking is good to do in pencil if space is limited on paper, or if something needs to be neatly replaced.
Ink on paper, however is the preferrer, or even required method for many things, such as things that need more permanence, such as submitted reports, or authorizing legal and financial documents. Memorabilia is also more awesome with signatures written in ink.
I recently considered a particular type of pen, the fountain pen, since it’s a favorite type for me, but I do also have a preferred type of pencil; the mechanical pencil. Wood and graphite shavings lose every time, for me, to the click-click.
The bottom line is that the choice is largely a personal (or professional) matter. For me, I actually, somewhat regrettably, haven’t had much use of either over recent years, and, even then, it’s mostly form-filing out or signing receipts. Even check-writing is a rare act for me. “Paperless” no longer feels novel, and hasn’t for quite some time.
I did some free-writing to kick things off. I literally set a timer for 10 minutes, and just spewed. A bit of my views on work-related things slipped in there since I’m a bit of a workaholic.
This was just a start. I will also be posting more about my quest for the good writing environment.
Day 4: Rest
A quick breather.
Day 5: Patterns?
Spent time pruning the list of categories. I also combined some categories and tags and even converted some categories to tags. It’s not super lean yet, but is getting there. Spring cleaning started early.
Day 6: About Page
Went ahead and further refined my about page. I think it’s good for now.
Day 7: Analytics
An easy one, since I’m already using Google Analytics. I double-checked it’s working, but somehow didn’t get around to posting. I should remind my self better when there’s a deadline looming for the blog, just like for things like work and social engagements. Lesson (re)learned.
A brief, unavoidable intermission took place at this point. It delayed posting for a bit over a day since this site’s database server was down.
Day 8: Goals
I set a few goals. I think they’re challenging, but doable. The basics are laid out.
Day 9: Open Day
“Just write”
That’s what I did, sort of. I wrote about a writing tool, the fountain pen. It used a prompt from another great resource, the Daily Post Blog. That’s brings me to…
Day 10: Reflections
Today’s activity is simply this: I’d love for you to reflect on the last 10 days and write about how you feel completing the 10 day workshop. Naturally, some of you will also introspect a bit, asking yourself some of the “meatier” questions about where you’ll take it from here, how this has changed your perspective on writing and blogging, and why you feel the way you do.
Done! I think I’ve made improvements, and they will continue.
I did an image search for “just write”, and the eleventh image that appeared was the first image in a post on a blog named Just Write.
This image (the image above is not the one I found) features a writing implement that I am fond of: the fountain pen. This immediately reminds me of the times I sought out, and purchased a few very basic fountain pens. For practicality, I chose a pen that was carried-loaded, as I anticipated heavy usage. I was in college, and anticipated copious note-taking.
I remember it was a Sheaffer pen, and I’ve had (and lost) a few since then. I’m very tempted to pick another up now, and perhaps to take better care of it, especially to keep my handwriting muscles in shape from more than just the act of writing my signature.
Of course, should I pick up another fountain pen, I really feel like I’d want a notebook to match, such as one from Moleskine.
In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Image Search.” and also part of a writing workshop, 10 Days to a Better Blog, over at the Desk community site.
So, what’s coming up in 2015? The question that is nearly as daunting as a blank screen. Let’s see what are a couple blogging goals.
These are a few of the measurable goals I’ll work to attain:
At least 1 post per week (daily would be ideal!) – That would be more than I did in 2014 by quite a bit.
Leave a substantial comment on at least 3 separate blogs per week. Also, make a post about it, if possible.
1 game review per month (February will be the first!) – This also has a side effect of getting some of the backlog of games cleared.
I almost want to add more goals, but I do want to be realistic here. The above are things I know I can do that would be more than in previous years. Forcing myself to be more focused and regular about it is what I’m making myself more accountable for.
Today’s assignment is a bit more behind-the-scenes than the earlier ones, but it could be interesting.
I sort of rebooted this blog decently well this past November, with Blogging 101, but the assignment today is something I should now be able to start on, and it’s the ever-so-exciting task of analyzing how it’s doing, and what’s working, and what’s not, or at least, that’s my interpretation of the assignment.
Stats from before November had very few human visitors and even then, a quick peek based upon a Google search (for, among things, “guild tabard”).
More interesting is how things went in November. A decent analysis to get an idea of how slow my blog was most of 2014, generated by Jetpack. You can take a look at it here:
I’m sure I have too many categories for most of them to be useful, and the same is true for my tags, so I’m removing many of them. My tag cloud is more useful now, I hope.
Yeah, there’s a few clear winners for tags…This feels less scattered somehow.
I spotted some mistakenly created tags as well as some broken posts that still are based on an older address for this blog, so this process is already worth the time spent. I’m not “done”, as this is an ongoing process, but I have a better idea how I’m going to keep tags and categories somewhat manageable. I’ll be a bit less liberal with tags and less likely to create one if it’ll be used rarely on the site.
Today was some work, alright, but I think it’ll pay off in a less random structuring of content. We’ll see.
This post is part of a workshop I’m participating in, and is my response to the day #5 assignment, over at the Desk community site.
I’ll be honest, I haven’t put much thought into where I want to primarily sit down and write at, so I often wind up writing where I have spare time and a computer. Since I’m mostly* a Mac user, the app Desk is usually at hand, but the most recent WordPress update has done well allowing distraction-free writing, if I’m not sitting in front of one of my Macs. I do want to improve this, since sometimes I still allow myself some distractions (too many!)
Ideally, the place and environment I’d want to go with is a place with a comfortable seating environment, room to deploy my writing machine, and music (via headphones, if needed) is really the “essentials” for me.
I’m going to try a few places that are available to me as I go through the current challenge. Having a MacBook Pro handy should help with that. First, I think I’ll try a few areas around the homestead. Then I’ll take a look at some remote locations, including a few break areas around the office. This post is just the start.
