Everyday Systems

:D Today I'm playing with strategies for turning ideas into polished writing. I believe all writing, intentional or not, is a bellwether for your thinking. It's also a courageous way to test yourself against other people's ideas and mettle. A few years back, I recall reading Steven Pinker's definiti...

Your yearly reviews are quickly becoming a reminder that a full year has passed me by. It's fun but gives me a good thumping as well. I'm glad to hear you're working on a writing project...I'm currently brainstorming ideas for a system to help me write as well (in truth, it'll probably be several sy...

Also: his book I believe is out of print. A quick and free solution is to read it on archive.org (a virtual library). You can set up an account for free and borrow the book for hour-long increments and read it in your browser.

Im 38 years old and relatively strong. I workout mostly with weights between 5 and 10 lbs. A person can get quite strong and fit using only this poundage. For a more comprehensive look, you should read Leonard’s Schwartz’s Heavyhands, published in the 1980s. He tells a fantastic story about his new ...

I have a feeling this post is going to be more about me thinking through some sticking points and noting observations I've made than anything else, but if anyone can shed light--all the better. I've noticed habits that require a time commitment, inertia, or too much focus on process and not enough o...

FlyLady.net is also a good resource for people looking to better their housekeeping skills. I think the fact that you're starting small is perfect. No need to overburden yourself in the beginning. One thing that has helped me is systematically downsizing. I realize you have kids so this is more prob...

If you're worried about fat content and want a protein boost and it's available, I'd use Skim Plus: Fat free, 11 grams of protein (versus the usual 8 grams), and tastes creamier than normal skim milk. Some versions of Skim Plus are even Omega-3 fortified. Now if you hate the taste of milk and/or are...

Cool! Good to hear.

I myself had to add a new habit this month: early rising. I found I was putting off many of my habits to the end of the day, and it was becoming a bit tedious. Much better if you get things out of the way early. Hope you the best in the new year, and keep us posted!

The title of this TED lecture is Atheism 2.0. This is not meant to offend anybody of religious faith, but is about how secular life is in need of taking from religion, specifically habit/ritual and an observance of calendar (HabitCal, anyone?). The entire lecture runs about 20 minutes. For those imp...

Great! I hope so. For me binge sessions don't work because every day would turn into a binge session...I become obsessive about writing and wording and grammatical structure and it prevents me from moving forward and completing stories. Inevitably I burn out and give up, hence why in addition to hav...

Here's an idea and one I briefly toyed with until I reasoned it didn't work with my way of doing things, but might be more suitable for you: raise your daily minimum output to something nominal, but allow for your binge sessions. Find an amount of writing you can realistically complete on your busie...

Well, I think the point of all this is to get you writing, so if you seem to have a method that works for you I'd stick with it. My own system addresses specific problems I have, so it makes sense for me to maintain. Do whatever works best, don't force anything.

Oh la la. Often that's the best kind. You gotta walk a bit on the wild side.

Cheers!

Let me know how it goes. What kind of fiction?

Hi Mika. How weird that you're a writer too. Always fun to bounce ideas off other people, so this is welcome. I think you're goals are good. My sentiment is it's better to have modest, teetering on underwhelming goals, than to burden yourself with unrealistic ones. Especially in the beginning. Perso...

This was meant to be a quick response about how I use Everyday Systems for habits other than No S Diet or Shovelglovel, and it turned into a lengthy, somewhat self-absorbed rant. I apologize if this isn't relevant to you, but here's the message: it's easy to adopt and tailor these ideas to your own ...

Well done, Larisa. It's funny, cause I too have come to some similar conclusions about cleaning. Living in New York City means you're often not afforded the luxury of a dishwasher - in fact, of the 5 apartments I've lived in in my 20s, only one had a dishwasher. I remember the years where my ex-girl...