• 🏝️ I got 2 days off work and had an extra-long weekend with Monday 20th being a holiday here! 🥳 I didn’t have anything planned, I just took the time to relax and slow down. Reading, journaling, playing Stardew Valley, long walks, yoga and running. That’s about sums it up!
• 📖 I finished reading “A Closed and Common Orbit” by Becky Chambers and I absolutely loved it! I also had lots of fun reading “Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life” by Bryan Lee O'Malley.
• ✈️ We finally booked our flights to Brazil. We will travel in December, so we wanted to guarantee the best rates because we know prices will only go up from now on. Excited to go but also not too excited to be there in the high of summer (it’s going to be 40C ! ).
• 🎒 I’ve decided to upgrade some of my daily gear: my old backpack and my wallet. I’ve been using the same for quite some time now. The wallet could easily be 20 years old, the backpack maybe 15+ years? I’m not sure. I got myself a tote bag that turns into a backpack and a wallet that has a pocket for a phone and can also turn into a mini cross-body purse. I was inspired by the upcoming trip, and I wanted to be prepared with versatile gear.
• 📒 And talking about changes: I’m rethinking my GTD system, more specifically the app I use every day for tasks. I’m feeling less anxiety overall and I feel ready to explore other options. I want to be able to capture things more easily across my devices reducing ALL the friction. Also, I miss reminders and being able to customize a few lists. I feel I’m in a good headspace to spend time tweaking and testing with no rush.
• 📝 So, I decided I will test out Todoist for 90 days and see how it goes. It will require some time to set it up, test it, tweak it. Nirvana gives me structure and boundaries. Todoist a highly customizable app and I feel I’m ready to dive into something less structured. I’m in an adventurous vibe now!

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Post 06/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge (Round 2)!

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

• 📒I stopped time blocking hour by hour with Cal Newport's planner, and I'm doing a more “focus of the day” type of planning with the Rocketbook week spread pages. I'm liking it. It gives me a different perspective. Stil testing how it goes.
• 🚄I finally booked my train ticket to Scintillation 5 in Montreal. It’s a small literary convention where we geek out about sci-fi and fantasy, mostly.
• 👷‍♀️I went to a job site visit with my estimating team. It’s always nice to see in full scale what we measure on paper.
• Me and my partner went the Tulip Festival this weekend. It was an hour bike ride to get there, and it was very busy! The tulips were in full bloom, it was a nice day.
• 🏝️I’m taking 2 days off work this week for the Victoria Day holiday. Yay!

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Post 05/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge (Round 2)!

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

This is a note to self about planning my day:

• Lunch & Shutdown: Schedule the Lunch break and the Shutdown blocks.
• Email time: Add blocks to handle emails.
• Meeting Buffers: Insert buffer times before and after meetings for preparation and follow-up.
• Breaks: Add breaks/snack time.
• Check-ins: Rearrange my “Organizing” and “Check-in” blocks.
• Work Focus Blocks: Add work blocks by context or projects
• While I'm working on focused blocks, don't look at emails!
• Revise plan as needed.
• 🍵Take it slow, no need to rush!

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Post 04/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge (Round 2)!

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

• 📒I've been using my Rocketbook for a week or so now, and I'm enjoying it! I didn't like the pen that comes with it (a 0.7mm black Frixion) and got 0.5mm Frixion Synergy pens in assorted colors and I love them. I've always liked smooth paper, so it wasn't hard for me to adjust to the polyester paper.
• ✏️After getting an executive size Rocketbook I got a letter sized one, which is bigger for planning and time blocking. I still don’t know if I want to use both at work or use one for personal notes and the other for work notes/planning. I’ll experiment more this week.
• 📅I used my big Rocketbook to plan the month. Even though I have all the events on my digital Calendar, writing them down manually helps me become more aware and less anxious about the future. It just makes things more tangible if that makes sense.
• 🎈I’ve been thinking about better organizing my blog ideas. I have a list in Standard Notes, but I forget to look at it. I’m thinking if I should have them in my to-do list, in a separate Areas of Focus in Nirvana. And then, how to I get down to write? I’ve been not feeling very wordy lately. Some food for thought.
• 📺I started watching the Fallout Series on Amazon Prime. I never really played the games (I can’t remember why it was never on my radar) but the show is really good. I like the dark humour/satirical tone in it and the 50’s aesthetic.
• 🎸Had a good time re-listening to the first Black Sabbath album from 1970 on the radio. Every Sunday night my city’s local rock station plays a classic rock album non-stop. It’s called the Sunday Night Vinyl Series. With music streaming services I spend way less time listening to full albums.

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Post 03/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge (Round 2)!

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

1. Bookshops & Bonedust (Legends & Lattes #0) by Travis Baldree, 339p: I loved going back to this cozy fantasy world with a younger Viv. We can see how her experiences in this book lead to her choices in the first book. Viv is injured on a fight, and she must stay in this small town to recover. She ends up making friends, helping the town people and discovered a passion for reading. I loved the bookshop being renovated! And Viv's enjoyment of romance books, it was so relatable! It's the perfect read to get out of a book slump or just have fun and relax.

2. That Time I Got Drunk And Saved A Demon (Mead Mishaps #1) by Kimberly Lemming, 277: This was a fun read in a medieval fantasy setting with lots of humour and romance. It's funny, whimsical and can't be taken seriously. There are demons, all kinds of shape shifters and evil witches. The language is very modern and full of slang.  I gotta say that there were some violent deaths that were dissonant with the book vibes. It's not a book you read for the plot, you read it for the laughs and feel-good vibes.

3. The Getting Things Done Workbook: 10 Moves to Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen, Brandon Hall, 224p: This was a re-read for me. I got out of the GTD wagon, and I just needed a quick workbook to get back to the basics. I realized there were some issues with my capturing habit and that I was overcomplicating things. It’s a nice GTD refresher.

4. Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout by Cal Newport, 256p: Interesting ideas about knowledge work, and how to adopt a slower pace while doing relevant things. It's perfect for people who have lots of autonomy towards their work. I didn't feel I could use all the suggestions presented. Even though I'm a knowledge worker, I don't really have that much control over my working hours to be able to work at a natural pace or really do fewer things. I enjoyed the story about how Jane Austen got to write her books (it was NOT by writing a few words here and there in between house chores). Maybe because I've been listening to the author's podcast, I didn't find the book to be ground-breaking, and I already knew most of the stories he uses as example or inspiration to the slow productivity principles. It was not a hugely impactful book for me if compared to his previous ones.

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Post 02/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge (Round 2)!

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

• 🥳The horrible COVID headaches are gone!
• 📒I got a reusable notebook: Rocketbook Fusion and some blue and colored Pilot Frixion Synergy pens in 0.5mm. It comes with a black 0.7mm and I prefer writing in blue. I really like the feel of writing on it, it's exceptionally smooth. I haven't had much time to use it, I'll test it more in the following days.
• ✏️I realized (not surprisingly) that handwriting makes me slow down, it's good for me! And my handwriting got worse over the years. Gotta practice more!
• 🚲Me and my partner went for our first bike ride of the year after the winter. It was a total of 37km, I was completely exhausted after the ride but feeling great! It was 21C, perfect weather. I anticipate some post-exercise muscle pain tomorrow.
• 📺We got 30 days of Amazon Prime (trial) and we caught up on the “The Grand Tour: Sand Job (S05 E03)“. Just fun with cars and gorgeous visuals, this time they start in Mauritania and drive all the way to Dakar in Senegal.

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Post 01/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge (Round 2)!

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

I have a system I've been using since 2019 for taking notes at work.

I use an Arc notebook that I got from Staples that has refillable pages. It's a customizable system, so I can remove pages and insert them elsewhere in the book by simply pulling out the sheet. It’s really nice! I’ve had the same notebook for 5 years now.

I mainly use my notebook for meeting notes, notes from calls and notes about projects I'm working on. I also like to use a Pentel Energel 0.5mm in blue as my default pen.

Everyday I open up my 8-½” x 5-½” arc notebook and insert the day:

And then for every project or meeting that I'm currently working on I add a sequence number and a title/subject and start writing. If I change focus and start working on another subject/project/meeting, I will add a sequence number with the title and continue from there.

Some of those notes will generate new next actions, which I add an asterix or arrow so that I remember to capture those into my Nirvana inbox during my shutdown routine at the end of the day.

The notebook will hold 50 pages at a time, and when they are all filled up, I pull them out, and refill the notebook with new pages that I get from Staples.

I then scan all the written pages into a PDF and save the file. At the end of the year I will have around 350-400 pages scanned. Then I recycle the paper copies.

These are all the notes from 2023:

Thinking about Reusable Notebooks

After 5+ years of doing this, I can see the amount of paper I generate! I feel bad about using that much paper, honestly. That’s not even considering the paper I use for time blocking every day, and personal notes.

I'm curious to try out a reusable notebook, so I ordered a Rocketbook!  I will try the 6” x 8.8” Fusion (Executive size, like my current notebook) because I'm super curious to see how it works! And to know if I will enjoy writing on it.

It should be delivered later today, so I will write a post about my first impressions once I’ve used it for a while.

P.S.: Wow! This is the 100th post since I started the #100DaysToOffload challenge!! 🥳

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Post 100/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge!

#100DaysToOffload #100Days #notes #GTD #Productivity

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

• 🤯I've been having less and less headaches since I got Covid-19 48 days ago. I think it's timely progress!
• 🩺It's been a bit more than a month since I got the iron infusion for my anemia. I started to feel less tired this weekend, which I think is a sign it’s doing its thing. The doctor said it can take at least 3 to 4 weeks to increase the iron levels.
• ✅I had a small crisis regarding my to-do list, but it's all good now! Crisis averted! I did some experiments only to realize I still like my current setup with Nirvana.
• 🌹I finished a fantasy romance that was fun and silly 🙃 called “That Time I Got Drunk And Saved A Demon” by Kimberly Lemming.
• 📖And I finally started reading “A Closed and Common Orbit” (Wayfarers #2) by Becky Chambers. It's one of those books that gets me in the first paragraphs. I don't know why I took so long to pick it up! It's really good!
• 📖I’m also reading “Slow Productivity” by Cal Newport. Got to the part where he talks about Jane Austen’s writing routine, and how there are misconceptions about it.
• 💪No runs outside this week, it was too windy and cold, and wet. I went to the gym instead.
• 📺I watched the documentary “Raccoons: Survival Warriors” at Curiosity Stream. People usually hate them, I know, but they are so cute!
• THIS IS POST # 99 !! 🥳

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Post 99/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge!

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

So, when I started Rethinking My To Do list this week, I was feeling disconnected. I was craving for something different. I’m not sure why, but I was bored. And I didn’t want to look at my to-do list. So, avoiding it only intensified my disconnection. I thought I needed a new to-do list.

I wanted to get a better app and test other things. And I did test a few! Only to realize that the tool itself wasn’t the problem. I was just feeding the distraction dragon, searching for novelty.

But I wanted to see it for myself, stubborn that I am.

So, I looked at TickTick. It is an amazing to-do list! It has lots of features, calendar, pomodoro timer, timeline views, routine tracker, cross-platform, etc. It’s highly customizable: I saw I could set it up however I wanted to fit my needs. And then came the realization that I would have to spend several hours tweaking it. Creating lists, and folders and custom filters. And moving everything I have in Nirvana to TickTick. Moreover, I was not able to install the desktop app on my work computer, so that was a clear hint that my employer doesn’t approve of this software. Another detail I didn’t like: I couldn’t find a way to set up a shortcut key to add tasks to the Inbox. The “add task” shortcut will add the task to whatever folder/list is open in the app.

Then I looked back at Todoist. I’ve used it for a couple of years. Very flexible, cross-platform, super easy and fast at collecting and organizing things. But the new interface now has “hashtags” symbols to represent folders/projects instead of the old circles, which I think makes it more visually polluted. And then I remembered the entire process of creating the folder’s structure and the custom filters to use it with GTD the way I like it. I didn’t want to go into that rabbit hole again.

Lastly, I revisited Microsoft To Do. It’s a cute app, fast and simple and integrates well with my work system. But… there is something that always gets me out of it: projects management. I like linking projects to next actions, and things get very messy in MS To Do if I want to do that with hashtags, while using lists as my GTD contexts. I told myself I would use it for 90 days to see how it goes. But I changed my mind. Last time I used it for 60 days and abandoned it to get back to Nirvana. I remembered things that I don’t like about it: the Inbox situation (which is a list called “Tasks”), there is no direct “email to inbox” feature (I must send an email to Outlook, and then flag it: too many steps for capturing), I prefer Nirvana’s way of dealing with recurring tasks and organizing projects.

So basically, everything I wrote in January when I was Testing Microsoft To Do and saying goodbye still holds true. I will let it go this time. For real, let it go!

In the end the effectiveness of my GTD system depends on my commitment to maintaining and working my lists in an app that I’m familiar with. I still can use Nirvana at work (I can even install the desktop app on my work laptop) It synchronises on all my devices, it’s fast and reliable.

The issue wasn’t the tool itself but rather my quest for novelty. I can see clearly now.

I’ve decided to stick with Nirvana, which strikes the right balance between meeting my needs and minimizing frustrations.

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Post 98/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge!

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

There’s something going on with how I’m engaging with my To Do list (currently using Nirvana). I’ve been craving for something more interesting. I’ve had this feeling before, and when that happened, I tried out Microsoft To Do but it never stuck with me.

I’ve decided to do some exploration. I don’t want to be in a place where I’m compulsively looking out for new apps, but I want to use my curiosity to experiment with some options.

I will take a look at TickTick. I’ve never really used it and I’m curious to know how it works. I will also go back to good old Todoist, which has been my to do app for a couple of years and I remember I liked it because of all the colors, reminders, and super quick capturing and processing features.

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Post 97/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge!

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