💡 W6 Report

Jon and Nick help me realize time boxing doesn't work, some interesting reads, new favorite podcast, and more miles.

No major moves this week other than logging training miles (65 this week! My furthest yet).  Biggest news is that my PCT hike application was approved, so I'm very excited to begin hiking May 19. I have a little bit more prep to do as far as logistics are concerned, but otherwise I'm feeling pretty well geared up and in good fitness.  I knocked out a few more chemistry labs and coding modules, but no deep projects or sessions.

After talking with Nick and Jon about our efforts to timebox our schedules, I'm growing more skeptical of its effectiveness.  All three of us are defintely struggling to stay on time with the tasks despite varied approaches.  The commality seems to be that we don't like having a end time to each task.  Since most of us spend most of our time doing concept work, i.e. studying, learning, or planning, timeboxing seems to pose a threat to really getting lost in the learning process by assigning that finishing time.  What if I'm really in-the-zone and want to dive deeper into Organic Chemistry principles?  What if I just need more time to fully grasp callback functions?  My thought is that perhaps timeboxing is better suited to administrative tasks like email, filing out forms, doing taxes, etc.  Maybe it depends on the person?  No matter, I'm going to switch back to my post-it note todo method as my frist priority, but may try to timebox with fewer tasks that I think would be well suited to it.

I discovered a few really cool things this week I ought to share.

  1. The Moth podcast.  It's all about storytelling.  Seems like toastmasters, or an open mic, for storytellers.  I only listened to two episodes but was quickly sucked in to a story about a woman and her aging boobs and another about an inner-city civics teacher spraypainting a wall with her students in memory of their deceased friend.
  2. An interviewed with the man who made Steve Jobs' keynotes for 20 years.  Really going for the storytelling theme this week I guess.  Pretty amazing that somebody can tell a dramatic story about a hunk of silicon and plastic when I stop and think about it.
  3. Standing desks and a fancy LED WIFI light.  I finally upgraded from my folding table setup.  I went all out on the clean lines and uncluttered look.  Surge protector mounted underneath such that only one cable is seem leaving the desk.  Cable raceways to tuck any unsightly cords out of the way.  Cable-holders on the side to charge accesories.  Even a WIFI light that can have it's warmth adjusted (new favorite feature is the sunrise scene which is in sync with my morning alarm clock).  Needless to say, I'm proud of the new workspace.

Thanks for reading - please feel free to pass along to anyone you think would be interested.

🍻 Keegan