Speaking Aloud

I have recently read almost every blog post by Michael Lynch (https://mtlynch.io) and some posts by Cory Zue (https://coryzue.com/).

They both employ a couple of simple ideas for their task management: (a) retrospectives, and (b) writing for someone to read.

I think that I could benefit from using these tactics in my own life, for four reasons:

1. I write good
2. I want a record of my achievements¹
3. My life’s trajectory will be easier to predict and shift if I can see the exhaust
4. I have a website with my name in the URL

There is at least one reason I should not blindly follow the same patterns which these two successful people have laid out:

1. I do not have a successful professional career behind me, I am a novice

This might actually prove to be an even better reason for which to follow their patterns, since it implies if they had done the same thing much earlier, they would have been much more personally and professionally fulfilled by now. Instead of blindly following, I will regard it as learning from their mis-step of starting later than necessary.

Retrospectives

I have never been very good at looking back. At this moment I feel my life to be directionless, professionally. I very much have personal direction in most part due to having found my soulmate. But there exists a dire need to earn money to sustain a lifestyle for n≥2 people, so I must devote a significant amount of time to my professional endeavors if I hope to reach any goals.

Setting Goals

To look backward requires looking forward as well. One of the main things that resonated from Michael Lynch’s blog was “having something to look forward to” as being central for motivation. If there is nothing which gets me excited about in the future, then any action I take in the present will feel hollow.

While settings goals, there has to be at least one thing which I am looking forward to achieving.

The Structure

I have to set goals in order to achieve them, and so my basic plan is to set monthly and weekly goals.

• Weekly goals on Mondays, and do retrospectives on Fridays Saturdays, leaving zero cognitive load to be carried over the weekend on the day of rest.
• Monthly goals on the 1st of each month, and retrospect on the last day of each month.

Both will be published in retrospectives. For now they will mostly pertain to my personal projects. I plan to put the goals there at the beginning of the week, and then fill it out at the end. Ditto with the monthly goals.

Another pattern both Lynch and Zue employ is scoring their achievements with letter grades, which I will also do.

The Unstructure

Choosing priorities will be part of the process, but I have almost no say in what I actually think of. My mind is not suited to uni-directional thinking. Luckily the infinite digital latent space is the perfect void into which I can thrust half-baked schemes, ideas, and concepts. If at some point I need to retrieve anything from the deep murkiness of my harddrive, I can rely on indexing conventions and fast tools.

Three Good Reasons to Write for Someone to Read

1. It enforces coherence²
2. It keeps you accountable
3. It has the potential to garner attention from the right people

The third reason stated is merely hypothetical, as I know for a fact that nobody (except perhaps my mother) will read this in the near future, but I am optimistic that it will gain at least one reader in the future³.

If you have any questions or comments, post them on 𝕏:

I'm going to start writing things where others can read them.https://t.co/P7pGYKboLA

— Lucian Knock (@LucianKnock) February 21, 2024