diff --git a/blog/gtd-on-paper-2021-06-13.markdown b/blog/gtd-on-paper-2021-06-13.markdown new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b75c03c --- /dev/null +++ b/blog/gtd-on-paper-2021-06-13.markdown @@ -0,0 +1,274 @@ +--- +title: Using Paper for Everyday Tasks +date: 2021-06-13 +author: Heartmender +--- + +# Using Paper for Everyday Tasks + +I have a bit of a reputation of being a very techno-savvy person. People have +had the assumption that I have some kind of superpowerful handcrafted task +management system that rivals all other systems and fully integrates with +everything on my desktop. I don't. I use paper to keep track of my day to day +tasks. Offline, handwritten paper. I have a big stack of little notebooks and I +go through them one each month. Today I'm going to discuss the core ideas of my +task management toolchain and walk you through how I use paper to help me get +things done. + +I have tried a lot of things before I got to this point. I've used nothing, +Emacs' Org mode, Jira, GitHub issues and a few reminder apps. They all haven't +quite cut it for me. + +The natural place to start from is doing nothing to keep track of my tasks and +goals. This can work in the short term. Usually the things that are important +will come back to you and you will eventually get them done. However it can be +hard for it to be a reliable system. + +[Focus is hard. Memory is fleeting. Data gets erased. Object permanence is a +myth. Paper sits by the side and laughs.](conversation://Cadey/coffee) + +It does work for some people though. I just don't seem to be one of them. Doing +nothing to keep track of my tasks only really works when there are external +structures around to help me keep track of things. Standup meetings or some kind +of daily check-in are vital to this, and they sort of work because my team is +helping keep everyone accountable for getting work done. This is very dependent +on the team culture being healthy and on me being somewhere that I feel +psychologically safe enough to admit when I make a mistake (which I have only +really felt working at Tailscale). It also doesn't follow me from job to job, so +changing employers would also mean I can't take my organization system with me. +So that option is out. + +[Emacs](https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/) is a very extensible text editor. +It has a turing-complete scripting language called Emacs Lisp at its core and +you can build out just about anything you want with it. As such, many packages +have been developed. One of the bigger and more common packages is [Org +Mode](https://orgmode.org/). It is an Emacs major mode that helps you keep track +of notes, todo lists, timekeeping, literate programming, computational notebooks +and more. I have used Org Mode for many years in the past and I have no doubt +that without it I would probably have been fired at least twice. + +One of the main philosophies is that Org Mode is text at its core. The whole +user experience is built around text and uses Emacs commands to help you +manipulate text. Here's an example Org Mode file like I used to use for task +management: + +```orgmode +#+TITLE: June 2021 + +* June 10, 2021 + +** SRE +*** TODO put out the fire in prod before customers notice +Oh god, it's a doozy. The database server takes too long to run queries only +sometimes on Thursdays. Why thursday? No idea. It just happens. Very +frustrating. I wonder if God is cursing me. + +** Devel +*** DONE Implement the core of flopnax for abstract rilkefs + CLOSED: [2021-06-10 Thu 16:20] +*** TODO write documentation for flopnax before it is shipped + +** Overhead +*** DONE ENG meeting + CLOSED: [2021-06-10 Thu 15:00] +*** TODO Assist Jessie with the finer points of Rust +**** References vs Values +**** Lifetimes +Programming in Rust is the adventure of a lifetime! + +** Personal +*** DONE Morning meds + CLOSED: [2021-06-10 Thu 09:04] +*** TODO Evening meds +*** TODO grocery run +``` + +Org Mode used to be a core part of my workflow and life. It was everpresent and +used to keep track of everything. I would even track usage of certain +recreational substances in Org Mode with a snippet of Emacs Lisp to do some +basic analytics on usage frequency. Org Mode can live with me and I don't have +to give it up when I change jobs. + +I got out of the habit a while ago and it's been really hard to go back into the +habit. I still suggest Org Mode to people, but it's no longer the thing that I +use day to day. It also is hard to use from my tablet (iPad) and my phone +(iPhone). It also tends to vanish when you close the window, and when you have +object permanence issues that tends to make things hard. + +[I could probably set up something with one of those fancy org-mode frontends +served over HTTP, but that would probably end up being more effort than it's +worth for me](conversation://Cadey/coffee) + +Another tool I've used for this is my employer's task management tool of choice. +At past jobs this has ranged from GitHub to Jira. This is a solid choice. It +keeps everything organized and referenced with other people. I don't have to do +manual or automated synchronization of information into that ticket tracking +system to be sure other people are updated. However, you inherit a lot of the +inertia of how the ticket tracking system of choice is used. At a past job there +were unironically 17 different states that a ticket could be in. Most of them +were never used and didn't matter, yet they could not be removed lest it break +the entire process that the product team used to keep track of things. + +Doing it like this works great if your opinions about how issues should be +tracked agree with your employer's process (if this is the case, you probably +set up the issue tracking system). As I mentioned before, this also means that +you have to leave that system behind when you change jobs. If you are someone +that never really changes jobs, this can work amazingly. I am not one of those +people. + +Something else I've tried is to set up my own private GitHub/Gitea project to +keep track of things. We used one for organizing our move to Ottawa even. This +is a very low-friction system. It is easy to set up and the issues will bother +you in your news feed, so they are everpresent. It's also easy to close the +window and forget about the repo. + +There is also that little hit of endorphins from closing an issue. That little +rush can help fuel a habit for using the tool to track things, but the rush goes +away after a while. + +[Wait, if you have issues remembering to look at your org mode file or tracker +board or whatever, why can't you just set up a reminder to update it? Surely +that can't be that hard to do?](conversation://Mara/hmm) + +[Don't you think that if it was that easy, I would already be doing that? Do you +think I like having this be so hard? Notifications that are repetitive fade into +the background when I see them too often. I subconsciously filter them out. They +do not exist to me. Even if it is one keypress away to open the board or append +to my task list, I will still forget to do it, even if it's +important.](conversation://Cadey/coffee) + +So, I've arrived on paper to keep track on these things. Paper is cheap. Paper +is universal. Paper doesn't run out of battery. Paper doesn't vanish into the +shadow realm when I close the window. Paper can do anything I can do with a +pencil. Paper lets me turn back pages in the notebook and scan over for things +that have yet to be done. Honestly I wish I had started using paper for this +sooner. Here's how I use paper: + + - Get a cheap notebook or set of notebooks. They should ideally be small, + pocketable notebooks. Something like 30 sheets of paper per notebook. I can't + find the cheap notebooks that I bought on Amazon, but I found something + similar + [here](https://www.amazon.ca/Notebook-Kraft-Cover-Pocket-Squared/dp/B0876LYNYH/). + Don't be afraid to buy more than you need. This stuff is really cheap. Having + more paper around can't hurt. [Field Notes](https://fieldnotesbrand.com/) + works in a pinch, but their notebooks can be a bit expensive. The point is + you have many options. + - Label it with the current month (it's best to start this at the beginning of + a month if you can). Put contact information on the inside cover in case you + lose it. + - Start a new page every day. Put the date at the top of the page. + - Metadata about the day goes in the margins. I use this to keep a log of who + is front as well as taking medicine. + - Write prose freely. + - TODO items start with a `-`. Those represent things you need to do but + haven't done yet. + - When the item is finished, put a vertical line through the `-` to make it a + `+`. + - If the item either can't or won't be done, cross out the `-` to make it into + a `*`. + - If you have to put off a task to a later date, turn the `-` into a `->`. If + there is room, put a brief description of why it needs to be moved or when it + is moved to. If there's no room feel free to write it out in prose form at + the end of your page. + - Notes start with a middot (`·`). They differ from prose as they are not + complete sentences. If you need to, you can always turn them into TODO items + later. + - Write in pencil so you can erase mistakes. Erase carefully to avoid ripping + the paper, You hardly need to use any force to erase things. + - There is only one action, appending. Don't try and organize things by topic + as you would on a computer. This is not a computer, this is paper. Paper + works best when you append only. There is only one direction, forward. + - If you need to relate a bunch of notes or todo items with a topic, skip a + line and write out the topic ending with a colon. When ending the topical + notes, skip another line. + - Don't be afraid to write in it. If you end up using a whole notebook before + the month is up, that is a success. Record insights, thoughts, feelings and + things that come to your mind. You never know what will end up being useful + later. + - At the end of the month, look back at the things you did and summarize/index + them in the remaining pages. Discover any leftover items that you haven't + completed yet so you can either transfer them over to next month or discard + them. It's okay to not get everything done. You may also want to scan it to + back it up into the cloud. You may never reference these scans, but backups + never hurt. + +And then just write things in as they happen. Don't agonize over getting them +all. You will not. The aim is to get the important parts. If you really honestly +do miss something that is important, it will come back. + +Something else I do is I keep a secondary notebook I call `Knowledge`. It +started out as the notebook that I used to document errata for my homelab, but +overall it's turned into a sort of secondary place to record other information +as well as indexing other details across notebooks. This started a bit on +accident. One of the notebooks from my big order came slightly broken. A few +pages fell out and then I had a smaller notebook in my hands. I stray from the +strict style in this notebook. It's a lot more free flowing based on my needs, +and that's okay. I still try to separate things onto separate pages when I can +to help keep things tidy. + +I've also been using it to outline blogposts in the form of bullet trees. +Normally I start these articles as a giant unordered list with sub-levels for +various details on its parent thing. Each top-level thing becomes a "section" +and things boil down into either paragraphs or sentences based on what makes +sense. + +An unexpected convenience of this flow is that the notebooks I'm using are small +enough to fit under the halves of my keyboard: + +

The REAL reason to get +a split keyboard pic.twitter.com/I3qBMDU5sQ

— Xe from +Within (@theprincessxena) June +9, 2021
+ +This lets me leave the notebooks in an easy to grab place while also putting +them slightly out of the way until they are needed. I also keep my pencil and +eraser closeby. When I go out of the house, I pack this month's journal, a +pencil and an eraser. + +Paper has been a great move for me. There's no constant reminders. There's no +product team trying to psychologically manipulate me into using paper more +(though honestly that might have helped to build the habit of using it daily). +It is a very calm technology and I am all for it. + +[Is this technology though? This is just a semi-structured way of writing things +on paper. Does that count as technology?](conversation://Mara/hmm) + +[To be honest, I don't know. The line of what is and what is not technology is +very thin in the best case. I think that this counts as a technology, but +overall this is a huge It Depends™. You may not think this is "real" technology +because there's no real electronic component to it. That is a valid opinion, +however I would like to posit that this is technology in the same way that a +manual shaving razor is technology. It was designed and built to purpose. If that +isn't technology, what is? Plus, this way there's no risk of server downtime +preventing me from using paper!](conversation://Cadey/enby) + +Oh, also, if you feel bored and a design comes to mind, don't be afraid to +doodle on the cover. Make paper yours. Don't worry about it being perfect. It's +there to help you tell the notebooks apart in the future after they are +complete. + +So far over the last month I've made notes on 49 pages. Most of the TODO items +are complete. Less than 10% of them failed/were cancelled. Less than 10% of them +had to roll over to the next day. I assemble my TODO lists based on what I +didn't get done the previous day. I write each thing out by hand to help me +remember to prioritize them. When I need something to do, I look down at my +notebook for incomplete items. I use a rubber band to keep the notebook closed. +I've been considering slipstreaming the stuff currently in the `Knowledge` +notebook into the main monthly one. It's okay to go through paper. That's a +success. + +This system works for me. I don't know if it will work for you, but if you have +been struggling with remembering to do things I would really suggest trying it. +You probably have a few paper notebooks left over from startups handing them out +in a swag pack. You probably also have never touched them since you got them. +This is good. I only really use the small notebooks because I found the more +fancy bound notebooks were harder to write on the left sides more than the right +sides. Your mileage may vary. + +[I would include a scan of one of my notebook pages here, but that would reveal +some personal information that I don't really want to put on this blog as well +as potentially break NDA terms for work, so I don't want to risk that if you can +understand.](conversation://Cadey/enby)