Well, the merry-go-round of changing how I build my website continues, this time from Wordpress back to Hugo. I think I'm going to do the same as with my obsidian year I will stick with this for 2024 - it is too much faffing about. So why change again? Mainly speed, whatever I do with Wordpress some things are a little slow. I expect throwing money at the problem would solve some of this but I could just change to Hugo and things be zippy.
A few of the things that made it a memorable 2023. film An accidental find. Quirky, funny and sad all at the same time. Never wanted to go to Honolulu until I saw this. [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JfWZd4CtIE) television The fact that someone even thought of this way of optimising the way we work, even just for a TV show, makes me slightly scared. [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEQP4VVuyrY) event Not a regular visitor to art galleries in general, but really enjoyed seeing all different types of art from local artists together in one place at the Royal West of England Academy's Annual Open Exhibition.
This is a simple shortcut that will ask for some content and push it into the bottom of your daily note. If the daily note doesn't exist it will create it. Note: You will need to install the advanced-uri plugin for this to work. It is available from the community plugins section inside obsidian settings. This is an easy one to build, once you get to grips with the advanced-uri structure.
Perhaps I like messing about with the tools more than actually using them, but I regularly change where I keep my notes - a merry-go-round of Apple Notes, Bear and Obsidian. I suspect this is a good old fashioned example of procrastination, honing the tools whilst looking for the next even better thing. I've decided to stop and stick with one tool for a whole year(!). The tool of choice will be Obsidian, it seems to do most the things I need and is highly configurable - yes I know I will be tempted to tweak rather than do.
Having just returned from a week lying by the pool in Ravello, Italy I am contemplating what makes the holiday so relaxed and whether I can bring back anything to the hustle and bustle of daily life. the view from the swimming pool I'm not going to recreate the scenario where my breakfast is made for me (cakes are a win, not for my waistline though), and I am probably going to have to make my own bed and clean some clothes, but there were a few things that perhaps I could all do with bringing back from my time away from work.
So far, so bad. My adventures into the world of bullet journaling have rather stalled. Most definitely enjoyed investigated the kit, looking up which pen and notebook I would use is exactly the sort of project I can waste spend lots of time on. Getting the kit and working out which of the templates I would use also seemed fun, although committing the pen to paper was weirdly stressful - I didn't want to spoil my lovely journal.
I must be one of the last people who has ever looked up productivity on Youtube and not tried bullet journalling. I remember it being a big thing a few years back, but it never struck a chord with me at the time. I think I was put off by all the images and videos of complex and over-decorated notebooks that seemed to be more about artistic prowess (of which I have none).
One of the parts of David Allen’s getting things done that have really lasted throughout the last few years for me is the concept of lists. These lists aren’t temporary, although they may eventually disappear, they are lists of interesting things to do, places to go and activities we would like to engage in. We collect these as inspiration and then can refer to them when the time is right.
This morning has been spent planning out what is happening in 2023 and making sure we all know what the 'big ticket' items are for the coming 12 months. Blocking out the fixed items in our year helps to reduce 'faff' when things have to be moved around last minute and gives us a view of our year. The thinking goes something like this: When are our holidays booked or planned for this year?
It is the time of year I like to do a bit of a digital declutter, cleaning my digital life sets me up for a new year. It also tends to trigger thoughts about what next year might bring and the things I might like to pursue - always worth having a notebook to capture these as I go. Here are the things I like to declutter... photos I take a look at the photos I've taken this year and delete those I don't need any more.
I have tried to like bluetooth headphones, I really have. I have tried on-ear and Airpods (the pro variety). I live in the Apple eco-system, so I always end up reaching for my Earpods – here is my rational for staying ‘old-skool’. Simplicity The just fit in your pocket, and you don’t have to charge them. I repeat, you don’t have to charge them! No extra cables, no little box for your headphones to live in whilst they charge.
Many of us are contemplating the return to the regular commute. Perhaps we aren’t going to be commuting quite as regularly as before, but commute we will. The current thinking seems to be pushing us towards a ‘hybrid’ style of working, with some days in the office but the majority spent at home. Back into the grind of the commute we go. This time it really will feel like the commute is eating into our time, time we had got used to having to ourselves.
It looks like I am going to be one of those hybrid workers, in the office 2-3 days per week. COVID19 has taught organisations and employees that the daily grind of office working isn’t getting the best from us. With a mixed home/office working week, the so-called ‘hybrid’ model becoming the schedule of choice for office-based employees. There is plenty of information for leaders and managers on hybrid working, this from HBR is a useful summary, but little for us employees on how to navigate hybrid working.