Reducing Clutter

I donated my Total Gym equipment to Goodwill after failing to sell it in the Facebook marketplace. I had a few queries but failed to close. I donated also my ergonomic desk for the same reason. My garage is looking much better now but a lot of work is still needed. I still need to get rid of my Ironman inversion table and inflatable sea kayak. I never used this equipment more than a few times and wonder why I bought them in the first place. I think it was the fear of missing out (FOMO) and the desire to start s new life by buying stuff.

The other day I entered all the online courses I purchased in a spreadsheet and recorded about 98. There are still a few that are not on the list. Buying these courses is an attempt to improve myself though I have completed a handful, not including the courses I took in Coursera that I paid for: on writing and on investment. I also took several online courses on writing at the Gotham Writer school based in New York and Writer's lab based in Canada. The courses listed range from writing, investment, literature, history travel, and internet entrepreneurship based on Amazon and Google.

The plan is to be organized learning by using a calendar to create a curriculum of regular study. I had envisioned attending these courses at some future date, but time is running out as I approach my retirement and realize the time is now. Daily meditation helps me focus on the moment and not dwell on the past or daydream about the future. Looking at all the stuff that I have accumulated is a lack of mindfulness as the object was to achieve a future state of well-being instead of working on it now.

It is like the character in 'The Mercy' where one dreams about achieving an ambitious goal (sailing solo around the world) and when he is in the ocean alone realizes that he has overreached which leads to his mental breakdown and suicide. I have more modest goals of being a novelist and intranet entrepreneur as a way to keep busy in my retirement and earn income. This goal is not farfetched looking at the highly successful youtube creators.

Leaving the Tunnel

Crossed a major milestone this week with the completion of several PRTs or problem reports in test. A hotshot young business leader helped pushed the team over the finish line with 2 weeks left before the end of the month. Daily meetings back to back with teams in India, France, and USA with management well represented. Initially I said that daily meetings are not required considering the many daily meetings already scheduled and the stress it would cause. I was wrong considering the success of the team before Thanksgiving holidays.

Nevertheless, some squad members experienced stress with body aches and flu symptoms, lack of sleep, emotional stress with one team member sobbing over the phone. A few resources are relatively new , young and fresh from college and I spent a few one on one meetings to get them over perceived slights. There were some complaints from the business which I tried to smooth over to keep these fragile souls to keep moving to the next day's challenge. All have proven to be resilient and capable.

Frankly, I have reached my own limit, losing interest and control; allowing the young hot shot to lead after I spent many months leading my squad. In fact, the deadline was an artificial goal since the whole project is delayed for 6 months with go live moved to mid 2023. The world wide project team has also seen good members leave the project due to unnecessary stress. I think these artificial goals is an attempt by the global leader to compensate for the delay.

Under this backdrop of stress, I lead several small projects with their own inidividual challenges. The squad is undergoing it's own growing pains and adjustment as our new members merge into the squad. I have 10 members that I lead into a cohesive team. My co leader (in the business) and I underwent a retrospective with our Agile coach to exchange ideas and plan the next steps. It is a period of soul searching and humbleness in my part.

The situation is really not as bad as it seems and I have started some intiatives such as leading dedicated work groups to solve certain problems. I have a role to play that is not flashy and showy as I would think. I see the boredom and humdrum days ahead and I try different tools to make the work interesting. Nevertheless, there are major challenges with the overflow of problems and information that new tehcniques like building a better brain will help. There is light at the end of the tunnel after all.   

Notion

I used Notion for the first time this morning by creating notes of websites I bookmarked on my phone. The bookmarks were building up as I do not have time to read these articles. My bookmarks have steadily increased causing me pressure to start reading. I got caught up in reading articles on the recent election result instead of these tabs on psychology, meditation, writing tips, and travel. I started to offload some of these URLs to Google Collections.

I used Notion for the psychology articles where I  noted the key ideas for me to practice. All of the articles come from Psychology Today which delves into mindfulness meditation and rumination. This website is a good resource for me especially since I stopped meeting with my therapist after she left the in-network list of my medical plan. I want to continue these sessions with another therapist next year. My therapist was very helpful to me during the periods of stress with the cancer scare, the death of my parents, and the change in my work situation.

Self-therapy helped me before working with an actual therapist when I explored CBT and journal writing on my own. I started exploring these subjects in detail when I moved to Singapore with the challenges of adapting to a new environment. However, reading self-help articles on the web and other challenges I face require knowledge management tools and techniques. 

I like Notion for its functionality and ease of use and generous fee-use option. Most of the content creators on youtube either use Notion or EverNote. I have used EverNote before but stopped using it after I exceeded my storage limit. I have started to clean up my old files and plan to return to being a user. These tools I now see these as indispensable in today's world with too much information overload.

'The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains' - mentions that the web has made our mind seek more information; like a user searching for drugs; for constant new information or mental stimulation. This has caused distraction and information overload and tools that manage knowledge like Notion or One Note become more important to daily life. The medium has become the message as well, especially the type that flows thru the web.

This challenge occurs every time a new technology is created. In the review of Nicholas Carr's book, the writer noted the experience of TS Eliot when he started to use the typewriter to create his poems. Eliot said the typewriter promotes lucidity but not nuance or subtle thinking. His poem ' The Wasteland' was typed partly on a typewriter when presented to Ezra Pound. It seems creativity has not been quelled. I have had similar thoughts when writing in my journal long hand as compared to typing in this blog.

Building a second brain with tools like Notion, One Note, etc. is a technique for self-care as well as being productive. To link the rise of these tools to the internet and information overload and the impact of the web to the way we think is valid. The goal is an organized mind with an emphasis on external thinking is also important in all endeavors such as being a writer. Having this framework in mind helps one understand how to use these tools.

Exploring Another Country

 Last weekend I read 2 books: one on travel called Better Than Fiction 2 and another on writing: Light the Dark. Both speak about the same thing: the growth of the individual by exploring new places. Travel expands your world view while writing is a journey into the introspective life. Outer travel involves discoveries of a new culture, new people, and new locations that one grows through the experience of travel. The writing life similarly is a journey into the creative unconscious, where one can either venture forth in a spontaneous free writing voyage or in an itinerary of plot and scene making.

I wondered why I borrowed these 2 books at the same time until I realized that both talk about a journey to a different place. Everyone it seems wants to be in a different place which mostly achieves by traveling or reading. Writing is a much harder venture as involves personal courage and confidence. I watch videos about productivity on youtube where people talk about building a second brain and all sorts of techniques that one can do using different tools. Other videos talk about their desk set-up with multiple monitors and standing desks.

In fact, these videos are a specialty of content creators; people who embark on a new career create self-help videos such as advice on productivity or are self-styled experts in productivity tools and whatnot. These people are part of the creator economy and use youtube to monetize their passions mostly by being content creators. It is a new way of life that smart people pursue. It is a venture into creativity where one masters new skills such as video casting and internet advertising.

I picked up some of these ideas such as adding large monitors and following the techniques to be more productive. Pressures in the office require us to perform and such techniques expressed by these content creators are helpful. I also need to embark on my own journey to be a better squad leader at work. At a personal level, kickstarted my goal to be a novelist. Several new purchases of Apple mini, Apply iPad, remakable2 writing tablet, Android, and studying youtube videos have made me inch forward with a set of new tools to use.

This is the way my mind works with my desire to accumulate things in an attempt to jumpstart my goals without actually doing the work. I need to move towards a 'frictionless' process to do it in both my working and creative life. The momentary pause caused by doubt and procrastination is no longer possible if I want to achieve my dreams. It is like exploring a new country where one can imagine a different life with the new world that one discovers.