If I only had a second brain
There is a productivity trend to build on the Getting Things Done framework using software that combines capturing ideas on the fly and sorting them into notes that can be acted on coherently. I have become engrossed in developing my own app. It could be the most useful computer tech application I have ever used.
I have jumped from a notebook of bullet points and calendars to software. There have been a few. If a program did not offer enough flexibility I dropped it. The first one I used was Microsoft Notes, and on my phone,,, I used notepad. I got serious and started using the Evernote app. Now I am using a free app called Notion. I think Notion is incredible and terrible for the same reason. It's infinitely customizable. I have not gone very far with the customization myself. I watch a guru named Thomas Frank on youtube showing off his massively practical and complex database-driven Notion application. He has built a whole side business of showing how he uses Notion and sells templates that you can customize as you like. My Notion App looks more like the internet version of my 10th-grade social studies spiral notebook. I want to call my Notion app Abby Normal after the brain-napping fail in Young Frankenstein.
I have set it up to mimic my daily notebook format. Every morning my husband leaves for work and asks me, What do you have on for the day? I sit up and say "many things". I want to show him my Notion Daily planner I have color-coded to match my paper notebook. It's a total nerdfest. This summer, I will build out more links between my app pages. I currently have one page for blog post ideas, another for taking care of the housework, and one for planning exercises. I have been trying to limit my proliferation of areas, but there is no reason to hold back. I need to attach the proper links, and a framework keeps it all working together in the background. Mainly I use it as a check box to-do list for each day of the week. I strive to follow my personal "Nova" rule. Which states that I will not spend more time fiddling with something that I actually get to use it. I am looking at you Toshiba PC notebook. So with my second brain project in Notion I want to make sure it is more useful than the effort I put into maintaining it.
My Diet Project Week Two of Three
Shopping for no gluten, sugar, or dairy is frustrating. Everything seems to have one or more of these ingredients that I should not eat. In week two I have resolved that all I eat is rice, vegetable matter, and protein. Even if I read the labels, is is likely that there is a suspect ingredient. Better to eat clean and avoid the frustration. So here is my review so far, keep in mind that I am missing my colon and I take a M&M bags worth of supplements and Rx items that all seem to have the same side effects as my illness. What is normal for me is not the same as anyone else. Week one I did not notice any big difference. I did loose about two pounds. I generally feel like a 4/10 most days. I have no stamina. Now at the end of week two I confirm I feel better I have lost about four more pounds. I feel more like a 6/10 which I have not felt like in years and my husband says I look better, less bloated. I did not need any Tylenol and I had better stamina. I find this encouraging enough to eat rice and beans for another week. I miss fudge pops, but to paraphraze Don Draper in Mad Men, "pudding pops are for babies"
What Am I Reading
I am in the final part of Crime and Punishment. It's more death and the exploits of people trying to be more clever than they have the marbles to spare.