Organization

I'm sure your not expecting this as a blog post but I want to talk about organizing your life a bit. I am a person that has to build routines to stay sane. Why? I'm not a morning person and can forget things. Outside of real life I think the same needs to apply in your digital life. So let's talk

PM Tool

I still use Notion even though they fucked up BUT there is asana, trello, excel, airtable...idk use something to help with tracking. Try to make a new "board" for life, school, and "the hustle". Mixing them could cause you to lose focus if your the type that likes to keep your eye on your task as you work.

Workspaces

This can be on your computer (different accounts) but I'm talking about where you do work. Try to separate those things so you can create a trigger. For example at my desk it very hard for me to game because for so long sitting at my desk meant it's time to code (still does really). If you have the funds to have separate systems. For example: I use my desk for a lot but when I'm on a laptop I'm coding or working on servers. If I'm on my desktop I'm making space to have fun. When I'm on my couch and I use my surface and that means I'm doing smaller and easier task (no coding).

My whole point is to create an area/device that triggers a certain mindset. If you can do that then it will be so much easier to get in the zone when you need to.

Notes

Since 2018 I been trying different ways to take noes from bullet journals to just a place to brain storm if I can get stuck at work. Find what works for you. I take the monthly planning layout of a bullet journal but then I brain storm on any other page. That way I'm able to see my thoughts by month if I want. I also have my yearly goals on the first page so I can always see it.

Another idea I picked up from school is having notebooks for common topics. So when your studying on say Junos certs that would be one notebook and then grant writing and research would be in another notebook. How you group things is up to you but again, it's easier if the topics are relatable.

P.S. Rocketbook has a way to digitize notes but it's very hard to work it into my workflow.

SOPs

The final thing to mention is standard operating procedures (SOPs) or rules/steps you take to start a task. Now your use to hearing these for work but here me out, you can make some to help guide life and help build your habits. For example my gym SOP would be: fill water bottle > stretch > 1 mile of cardio > more stretching (my body is old) > hanging things > 5x5 strength.

I can follow these steps at my sleepiest. You want to create these for yourself to help ease into that mindset we talked about. So I present another example: get up > morning routine > turn on stove > turn on water pot  > standup > toast bagel >make coffee > enter morning foggy flow state.

I hope these prove my point. Just like work might say "name branch feature-name and PR to dev", you too can set rules/structure around how you start your days and get into the zone.

I been really working on this myself and maybe I'm getting old, but I have to have more structure and wanted to possibly help you. Maybe like me you got stuck in the last week on a task and some of these things might help you avoid that the next time.