Noisy Deadlines

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

Journaling is a habit I started in 2013. I talk more about my initial experience here.

For some time, I was doing shorter entries, like “The 5 Minute Journal” style, where I would have a template to write daily on Evernote. That was 2017.

It was also the year I moved to Canada and lots of things changed in my life. I stopped using Evernote and moved to other tools. And when I moved away from that initial template, I wanted to write more freely. So, I started writing longer entries, “Morning Pages” style.

Since then, journaling is a part of my daily routine. During the worst of the COVID pandemic I struggled to keep it regular, but I did my best. I tried some journaling services like Journey and 750 Words. I tried using a private blog in Write.as to journal. Now I journal using Standard Notes, which I love!

I never liked the idea of using a public blog to journal private thoughts, but that's just me. My inner critic is still strong, and I must constantly tell him (yeah, I don't know why, my inner critic is a guy) to go away and just let it be. When I'm journaling, I want to be as free as possible, that's why I journal privately. I really like how the website 750 Words describes journaling:

I don't need to title my entries, or tag them, or enable comments, or any of that other stuff. This is writing, and it's online, but it's not blogging, or Twittering, or Facebook status updating. This is between you and you. — 750 Words

It's been a couple of years since I've been focusing on consolidating journaling as a daily activity for me.

I'm off to a good start in 2024 🤘:

My process:

  • I protect time in the morning, before I leave to work (it could be anytime, but that's what works for me). I plan my morning routine so that I will have 10 to 30 minutes to write. Sometimes less, sometimes more. All that matters is having this pocket of time protected.
  • I do it always at the same place: on my laptop at my home office, using the app Standard Notes. I use the Standard Notes “Daily Notebook” feature with a customized note title format. It's easy to open my notebook and go right to the note of the day.
  • I set up a timer to start writing and stop when it's over. Simple as that.

Since I started writing daily, I feel lighter. I feel like I'm living more intentionally. Days are not passing by so quickly.

Because writing is an exercise in being grateful. In remembering the good things. In learning with my errors. In forgiving myself. Daily journaling has helped me go through grief and process my emotions. It's a good mini therapy session!

Sometimes I will journal when I'm feeling overwhelmed and stressed at work. Sometimes I just need to do a quick mind sweep in the middle of the day to regroup and move on. So, I open the note I started in the morning and just write some more (I can access Standard Notes via web at work).

And the space I have for journaling is all private. It's a space where I can write whatever, it's not to be censored or edited. It's an exercise to clear my mind, a true brain dump. I usually get ideas to write on my blog from these journaling sessions. Sometimes I start a draft in my journal, which will then be transformed into a blog entry.

My plan is to journal every day, a little or a lot, it doesn't matter. I don't force myself for it to be 750 words or 3 pages long or whatever. I just write how much I feel like that day. Sometimes it's a note saying how I'm feeling now. And that's enough.

I think journaling has now become more than a habit, it's a daily practice to nurture my mental health and creativity.

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

These are some of the things that happened in my life lately:

  • 🩺It was my first full week after I tested negative for COVID-19 and I’m still having some headaches and I still wake up with my sinus blocked. It’s worse in the morning, but after I take an antihistamine and Ibuprofen I feel better. I will monitor it for one more week and see if the symptoms persist. Limiting screen time helps as well.
  • 📚This week I changed my blog font to monospace.
  • ⛸️Ice Skating lessons are over, but I still plan to go to the rink public sessions on Sundays until they are open.

  • 🏃‍♀️Outdoors running season is open! We are having afternoons with temperatures around 10C, so me and my partner went out for our first outside runs of the year:

    1. Mar 12 – Tuesday: 5.18km / 37min 44s

    2. Mar 13 – Wednesday: 5.20km / 36min 57s

    3. Mar 15 – Friday: 6.19km / 43min 55s

  • 📖I finished a romantasy book that I wasn't enjoying too much (A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L. Armentrout). I could have stopped reading it but I really wanted to see where it would go, because it's a prequal to a series I've already read. Note to self: I'm tired of vampire-like stories for now.

  • 📖I'm 18% in the book The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield. It's advertised as a thriller but honestly, I got bored with it. Maybe I'll finish it next week. I will give it another try.

  • ♟️After looking more into Chess I found out it's not what I was looking for. It's a very interesting game, but I found it to be too much cognitive work and I wasn't having fun with it. Which leads me to my next points...

  • 🎮I looked into options for games that would make me relax. Right now, I am tired of the huge triple-A games with realistic graphics and high stakes. I was looking for a peaceful experience with a bit of a challenge. Something like the old SimCity's came to mind. But I had the game Banished on my Steam, and I played it again. That's the vibe I was going for. I searched for similar games and found 2 more: Dorfromantik and ISLANDERS, which are described as “peaceful city builders”. So I played Banished for a while up until I could get through 2 winters without letting the villagers die. And today I played Dorfromantik which is such a lovely and calming game! I haven't tried ISLANDERS yet, but it seems it's the same vibe.

  • 🎮I mentioned my quest to find relaxing games with my partner and he mentioned Stardew Valley which is next on my list!!

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

In Gloria Mark’s book “Attention Span” she delves into the fascinating world of attention management.  We usually fall along a continuum for how we like to work:

  • Monochronic: we prefer to finish one task to completion before beginning another task. We thrive on focused, sequential work.
  • Polychronic: we prefer to juggle multiple tasks at once. We are comfortable with interruptions and context-switching.

Interestingly, Mark identifies a rare breed: the “supertaskers”. These exceptional individuals can seamlessly shift between tasks without sacrificing focus. However, most of us fall somewhere in the middle, balancing monochronic and polychronic tendencies.

While I was reading this, I felt represented in the more monochronic preference scale. And that explained a lot about the feelings of overwhelm I experience so often in my work life:

“As you might imagine, monochronic types are the ones who tend to experience role overload, and yet they are stuck switching among multiple tasks, trying to keep up. This is consistent with the many people in our studies who report feeling overwhelmed in their work.” — Gloria Mark, “Attention Span”, Chapter 4

I’m not a supertasker, but it seems there is this expectation from companies (and managers) that all office workers are natural multitaskers. The demands of our modern workplace are mixed with continuous real-time electronic communication, and that is exhausting!

The author points out that switching attention away from a challenging task can be beneficial at times. Moving to a new activity can refresh our cognitive resources. Incubating a hard problem can help us figure out a solution later.

“On the other hand, too much task-switching at a fast rate, where you are continually forcing yourself to refocus your attention, is often detrimental because of time and performance decrements, and it leads to stress.” — Gloria Mark, “Attention Span”, Chapter 4

Sometimes I feel bad because I can’t get to focus on something important and I wonder what’s wrong with my brain. But I’ve been learning that the problem isn’t my brain per se. The environment I work in does not foster focus. And then I might feel stressed and overwhelmed at the end of day. It’s fascinating how our personal preferences impact our work experience and vice-versa.

Anyway, this book is an interesting read and I hope the author will explore strategies to navigate this delicate balance between attention and productivity.

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

After switching all my systems/apps/blog to Dark Mode, now I'm looking at some font types. I've been journaling daily in Standard Notes using a Monospace Font and I noticed how much I like it!

So, I’ve updated the blog with the ‘ubuntu-mono’ font type. It makes text easier to read on all screen sizes and it’s better for my eyes as well, especially after I started wearing multifocal lenses.

With Monospace fonts all the characters take up the same amount of horizontal space, which makes the letters easier to recognize. It also has that old Typewriter look giving me some good nostalgia feelings when I used to play with my mom’s Olivetti (and where I started learning touch typing).

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

These are some of the things that happened in my life lately:

  • 😷After a week with COVID-19, I finally tested negative yesterday and I’m feeling much better. I still have the occasional dry cough and some headache, tho. I became super sensitive to bright screens, which triggered these horrible migraines.
  • 💻I changed my blog’s theme to be adjusted according to the reader’s preference of light or dark modes. I’m currently using all dark themes on all my apps, but for some people the light mode is more accessible. Thanks to Joel for pointing me to this CSS option!
  • 📺I finished watching this series on Curiosity Stream: The Story of Europe with historian Dr. Christopher Clark. It was a lot to cover in 6 episodes, but it was nice to have this overall view and be reminded of all the ups and downs. It is critical of all the horrific colonization endeavours in the Americas and Africa. It discusses the great wars and how much of the European culture was forced into other nations. But I found the overall tone of the documentary being positive, celebrating the achievement of the European Union institution as a way to foster peace among countries.
  • 🎮I had this urge to play some puzzle or city-building type of game. I re-downloaded the game Banished on my computer. I remember it was a relaxing game to me, yet very engaging with the right amount of challenge. I’ve always liked resource management and building cities (ie. SimCity). I’ll spend some time playing Banished this weekend.
  • 🧩 I finished the Dragon puzzle yesterday!

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

With my week experiencing Covid-19 I became extremely sensitive to bright screens. I already use a dark theme on my computer OS, email, and calendar. But I was not bothered by white backgrounds for other stuff. But this week ANY white background became unbearable to my eyes. I noticed it would trigger and worsen the headaches related to Covid. I stayed away from screens most of my week because of these headaches.

I’m feeling slightly better today, and I opened my blog and was I blinded by this bright white screen! So, I wondered why have I not changed my blog to a dark theme yet?

So, here it is!

Finally, a dark theme for my blog! 😎

And I’m changing everything I use to a dark theme, even Nirvana which I’ve always found nicer to use in light mode. But I’ve changed my mind, give me dark backgrounds everywhere!

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

I tested positive for Covid-19 this morning 😐. My partner got it first, 2 days later I started having symptoms. This is my second time; first time I got it was in December 2022.

I’m glad I took all the vaccines: now I don’t have any serious symptoms just the usual: sore throat, headache, some sneezing and running nose. The headache seems worse this time, tho! It’s like a bad migraine, stronger than I thought.

We are isolating ourselves at home. I called in sick at work today, and I will only get back at the office after 2 days of testing negative and having no symptoms.

It’s annoying, my head hurts, but I’m taking this time to rest as much as I can. I took a nap today, which something that I NEVER do during the day (unless I’m sick).

I will probably be working from home this whole week and I kinda missed it!? My company did not embrace the whole “work from home” movement or flexible schedule. But it’s nice to be in a quieter work environment for a change. I will be able to stop for 10 minutes and sit down on my yoga mat to meditate or stretch. I can pause and read a few pages of a book without feeling guilty. I will enjoy less interruptions from colleagues.

Reflecting a bit, I wish the work environment were more flexible in all industries. Only by working from home for a few days I realize how noisy and distracting my office environment is. I still have an office where I can close the door if needed (on a conference call, for example) but my manager is an advocate of the “open door policy” for collaboration. I wish I could keep my door closed for longer periods of time when I’m focusing on deep work, for example. Sometimes I do. But even my manager will knock and open my door to ask something if I’m in the middle of a conference call.

I never feel fully able to truly focus when I’m at the office, because people will interrupt me if they need something. The “open door policy” is strong at my work environment. The whole office will be renovated soon, and they will turn all the offices in cubicles because it’s better for “collaboration”. I don’t like the idea, I’ve worked in open office spaces before, and it was incredibly stressful to me. On the other hand, the office renovation will include a “wellness” room. We’ll see…

Anyway, I guess I’m ranting a lot today. Must be this Covid headache! 😷

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

These are some of the things that happened in my life lately:

  • ⛸️I’m feeling more comfortable skating backwards. I still do it slowly, and I started doing some backwards C-pushes on the circle: it’s very hard for me to do them with my left leg, tho! I have only one more ice skating lesson this season, but I’ll continue to go on the public skating sessions until they are available.
  • 🩺I finally got an appointment with a Hematologist to discuss my chronic anemia. Since oral supplements aren’t doing much to raise my Ferritin levels, I will do an iron infusion next week. I used to have to do these infusions every 2 or 3 years back in Brazil, so I finally got a prescription to do them here in Canada. I hope this will help with my energy levels and overall mood. I’ve been feeling very tired lately.
  • 📺I’m watching this series on Curiosity Stream: The Story of Europe with historian Dr. Christopher Clark.
  • 👟I enrolled for my first running event of the year. I want to do 10K this year! During the winter I do some treadmill running at the gym, but I find it super boring. Temperatures are getting positive now so I will start running outside again! (and get to that 10K!).
  • 📅Time Blocking (alongside GTD) continues to be my compass at work. Without it, I will get overwhelmed and lose focus. I've had some days when my attention was all scattered (usually on a Monday morning) and by noon I realized I haven’t planned my time blocks. I’m still using Cal Newport’s time block planner; I really like the spiral bound format.
  • 🧩I spent a lot of my free time doing puzzles this week. Got the Dragon one almost done!

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

  1. Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood, 362p: This book made want to learn how to play chess! I didn't know anything about the world of professional chess, so it was interesting to learn. I loved that the characters show intellectual admiration for each other, instead of just physical attraction. There is friendship and love, although it starts with a competitive vibe to it. I wish the ending were longer, I wanted to know more details about their final chess tournament. Overall, I had lots of fun reading it, and it triggered feel-good emotions in me, I loved it!

  2. A Master of Djinn (The Dead Djinn Universe #1) by P. Djèlí Clark, 431p: Interesting world building: alternate history Egypt with magic and djinn in 1912 Cairo.  It's a murder mystery but I enjoyed the world building more than the characters. The main character, Fatma el-Sha’arawi is the youngest woman working for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities. She is investigating the murder of an English Basha, who is the Member of a Secret Brotherhood. The world is super rich with the Djinn having become integrated into society and magic allowed Egypt to become a powerful prominent economy. I figured out the murderer at about 60% and that made the book drag for me in the rest 40%. So, it was a bit annoying that Fatma was still going after false clues, getting lost in her search, while I already knew who the murderer was. Anyway, nice read but not one of my favorites.

  3. Beach Read by Emily Henry, 361p: Somehow the title of this book didn't really match with the story for me. I don't know why that bothered me. The main character is dealing with grief, and she inherits her father's house by the water. It's meta in the sense that the two main characters are writers, and they struck a deal for each one to write a book out of their comfort zone. The woman is a romance writer who tries to write literary fiction, and the man writes literary fiction and attempts to write romance. I thought the pacing was terribly slow and the book didn't keep me always interested.

  4. Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment #1) by Rebecca Ross, 368p: I loved this book! It was a five-stars read for me. I loved the idea of enchanted typewriters that can send letters! The two main characters are adorable, and it is such a lovely story about friendship, hardship, and love. So beautifully written without being excessively flowery. I felt a full range of emotions while reading this book: sadness, joy, grief, compassion, anger. I cried and I laughed. It just a sign of a really good book: when it can touch me so deeply without being depressing. I sympathized with the grief portrayed in this book, and it helped me deal with own feelings of grief that were buried deep inside. The love story is amazing! So adorable and so authentic! I loved the whole thing about exchanging letters, like unknown pen pals that somehow connect using words. I can't wait to read the second book! (it's a duology!)

  5. Practical Meditation: A Simple Step-by-Step Guide by Giovanni Dienstmann, 185p: I enjoyed most of this book, it gives an overview of meditation practices from different traditions. There are gorgeous graphics inside explaining key concepts. I loved the “Mindful Mind Flow” diagram! One thing that I missed was an audio companion to the book (I read the e-book version). There are instructions on distinct types of meditation, but it is best to have listened to these instructions while we are meditating. Good reference book as an introduction to meditation, but I think it’s hard for a beginner to start without an audio guiding the meditations.

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

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