I am in the process of restructuring my life. After the recent streamlining of tools I use, the following are left:
- Scrivener
- Reminders (the one that comes with iOS and MacOS)
- write.as
- Workflowy
Scrivener is for long-form writing of fiction + podcast scripting.
Reminders is mainly for recurring, brainless things. (ex: take out the trash every Monday.) I have always used this app for this purpose, and it wasn’t affected by the recent dropping of tools. It’ll probably stay in my toolbox to serve this function, so long as I mainly use Scrivener for long-form writing. (Scrivener on iOS and MacOS syncs beautifully and saves me so much time and effort. I doubt I will leave the Apple ecosystem while I actively use Scrivener.)
write.as is a blogging tool—but I might start using some private blogs for long-form nonfiction work, which can later be put together in Scrivener and turned into a book. There’s just something about write.as that allows me to write a lot, especially nonfiction. I don’t know what it is. It’s like magic!
The one tool left is Workflowy. And because I think in bullet points, Workflowy is marvelous for restructuring my life. These are the big buckets that I am using:
0. Vertex
Simply put, “Vertex” is the word I use for “the end.” This does not necessarily involve me in my deathbed (!!!) but instead, it’s like the ending of a fiction book that is part of a long series. The series of my life will (probably) end with me dying, but until that end, there will be many small ends. Each of those ends is a vertex. An arc ends. But the story continues.
A vertex is different from a goal, in the same way that the ending of a book isn’t a goal. A vertex is the last scene of a movie. It is a state I want to find myself in. The more often I think about the series of vertices that I want to connect, the more likely I will stay on course.
1. Now or never
Examples include workouts and sleep.
ex) Today’s morning run can only be done today. You can’t “save up” on Morning Runs and do seven morning runs in one day.
ex2) Same with sleep. Tonight’s sleep can only be slept tonight.
“Postponing” these activities isn’t actually postponing. “Postponing,” in their case, means that they will never happen. And yet, I have a tendency to “postpone.” I must stop doing that.
2. Deadline-free endeavors
This is another set of activities that frequently gets postponed.
ex) finishing fiction WIPs
In this case, postponing isn’t “postponing,” necessarily. Technically, even if I don’t finish a WIP for ten years, I could end up finishing it at some point after that.
Still. If I keep postponing these things, they will pile up. More importantly, I will feel miserable.
3. Deadline-governed endeavors
Podcasts and blogging and such.
4. Collaborations
MODERN GROTESQUE TIMES and 고막사람 things.
5. Archive-ish
For example, quotes I like.
Also, various repetitive processes that aren’t suitable to be included in Reminders. (ex: manuscript cleaning step-by-step checklist)
Also, seeds for stories. The really raw #seeds, I have and will keep uploading to this blog and my Korean blog. But some seeds are half-developed, in which case I might use them for my own stories. And in which case, they’ll remain private ;)
#life #admin
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