I created a group in Ulysses called “Now”, it has all my now page updates and “Now and then” blog posts. I’ve managed to keep about 4 months worth of updates now and it’s starting to provide and interesting log that I can look back on and observe.

Last month: January 2019

January started at my in-laws in Lublin, Poland after spending Christmas in the UK. The rest of the month mainly centred around surviving the cold in Krakow and finding solutions to staying entertained while staying in doors.

I achieved many of the things I hoped for the month with finally finishing reading “Atomic Habits” and starting three new books in three different formats. I also finished a course I was working on and started to wonder about what I should do next.

I started a new writing experiment in Adversaria, I was thinking of rebranding iPad Guild to Adversaria so I could write about a few more general things, but I kept putting it off. Eventually I decided to just give it a try with a couple of post ideas I had. The main reason I wanted to change direction was to open up more options for writing. Writing about the iPad (only) felt too limiting and I found myself more interested in the intersection between digital and analogue tools. I had some minor success first from writing about podcast free commutes and then when Patrick Rhone linked to one of my posts on my attitude towards fancy notebooks (they are made to be ruined).

The podcast free commutes turned into a real theme. I had felt increasingly dissatisfied with my tech news focused podcast list and decided to ban podcasts during commenting (for some more thinking time). This had the side effect of making me much more selective over what I listened to as I had less time to listen. In the end, I haven’t really unsubscribed from many podcasts (yet) but it’s only a matter of time. There are shows which I haven’t listened to in two weeks, and they will be first against the wall.

p.s. the hobonichi is proving to be a great notebook and has been joined by a Leuchttrum 1917 in my notebook stack.

This Month: February 2019

I suspect this theme of reducing the noise of too many inputs will continue as well as my writing for Adversaria. It feels like a fun new writing experiment and is encouraging me to focus on a different style of writing which is more story focused. I’ve also signed up for a calligraphy class this month which starts next Wednesday. It’s copperplate style which is one I have never done so that should be an interesting challenge. Calligraphy classes are the sort of thing which makes time fly for me as I get into a state of flow. I really find them to be a meditative sort of experience.

Finally, I now have a content plan for my business goals this year and I need to start implementing it. That should help a bit but I need to make sure it doesn’t take too much focus compared to spending time with people.

I’m also working on my yearly goals of

  • learn and play 3 jazz standards at an open mic night
  • keep and play with a journal ([hobonichi])
  • spend less time on devices and more time with people, doing things
  • start taking more photos again