Move Fast and Break Things
Morning Coffee 52: April 10th, 2023
Good morning!. Currently listening to Ghost inside of Coding Playlist on Apple Music. Medium roast coffee, downtown. Spending extra time here today to do more writing than usual. Let’s begin.
The Box (For Your Consideration). Last night’s Succession. What an episode! A lot of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Playing and watching Hollow play it. A month away from Tears of the Kingdom.
Tactile Writing: Move Fast and Break Things
This week I break down some of the new ways I’ve been writing. Single File. Tactile. Check boxes.
Run Write Read
In Q2 (April, May, and June), I’m looking to push myself harder than ever. With my weight being at its lowest, with my new job position starting at the end of this month, and with my new office being complete, I’m excited for what’s ahead of me.
Daily running, writing, and reading is what’s making all of this possible. Staying sharp. Finding new ways to approach each one of those has been the key:
Running: Some days it’s the neighborhood with an audiobook or podcasts. Some days it’s the treadmill with a movie or Youtube videos. Some days it’s pickup basketball games for three hours. All three have collectively kept me moving and burning more calories than ever. Never missing a day has been my main focus over anything else.
Writing: Writing inside of a task manager that can be checked off after processing a thought, connecting ideas inside of Field Notes, writing at the very top of a single text file that has hundreds of thousands of words inside of it from years of writing, or using a permanent marker on index cards. My process is evolving in so many ways, with the focus being entirely on clarity and execution. Whatever it takes to keep going.
Reading: Kindle, Kindle app, Matter, Reeder, and physical books. Highlighting and making notes is the key here. Filling my brain with as many new ideas and perspectives as possible, and then translating that to my own work.
Move Fast and Break Things
I’ve stopped being precious with my writing. Move fast and break things is the new mindset. Not hoarding information.
I’ve learned that if you don’t do something with your thoughts, then they’ll sit there for years, rotting. Each project that’s been on the back burner for me, hasn’t gotten better overtime, but only deteriorated. I’ve outgrown those projects in so many ways, but yet, they’re still there, halfway done, taking up mental and digital space. I’ve finally started poking around through them again, but in a very different way than I would’ve ever expected.
I’m turning all of my old notes into a single text file. Instead of being hidden inside of folders and collapsible sections. One big text file that seems to never end. It’s a mess. And that’s ok. It’s more like a scratchpad now, using the search button to hunt down something I might be looking for if needed.
The best part of this process is that I just have one file to think about with older projects and writing. If it’s not an active project, it’s inside of “memory.md”. No more having to organize old information that has held too much weight over the years. That weight is now lifted. Being more nimble with all of this information is the goal now.
I’m also combining this process with another one that’s on the opposite end of the spectrum. This little box will sit on my desk with index cards inside of it. Those cards will be used with permanent markers, scissors, rubber bands, and glue. Very tactile.
The last part of my new writing process, is to spend most of my time building out these concepts and ideas inside of Things. Being able to throw ideas into Things, and then check them off when I’ve decided on it has been such a helpful solution for me. It’s a system I’ve grown to trust, and allows me to not hoard old thoughts. Once I connect two thoughts, I check off those original thoughts and watch it disappear. It’s a very clean way to handle a lot of information at once. (My last few newsletters have been written this way.)
