bajsicki.com/content/posts/call-it-a-day.md

+++ title = "On the value of calling it a day (and how to get there)" author = ["Phil Bajsicki"] publishDate = 2022-09-30T00:00:00+02:00 lastmod = 2024-09-26T14:21:58+02:00 tags = ["psychology", "work", "projectmanagement"] categories = ["business"] draft = false meta = true [menu] [menu.posts] weight = 3007 identifier = "on-the-value-of-calling-it-a-day-and-how-to-get-there" +++

There is little as refreshing as finishing all the work you have to do on a Friday early.

There is little as relaxing as knowing - really knowing - that your next week is all scheduled, and you have time to just chill and vibe.

There is little as freeing as being able to confidently take some personal time and just be in the moment, without a care in the world.

Work?

Nah. It's the weekend. I'm off the clock.

It's great. It's been a long time since I've finished a week truly feeling like I'm done, like Monday is going to be a fresh start.

But it is!

And the biggest factor for it is catching up on all the overdue tasks we had in our project management platform, re-evaluating their importance, and then just killing them if they're no longer relevant.

If there's a task from 3 months ago that you never got to... chances are you can just cancel it. Nobody cares. Nobody remembers.

So it's fine.

And so, you can relax at the end of the day, because all the tasks for next week are lined up. There is no scrambling to find out what prep is needed... because the prep is planned too!

All with realistic deadlines, and accounting for delays. How amazingly good is that?

Now, on the technical side, here's the process that I used to got there:

1. Separate a bunch of org-mode files. I have:
   1. Inbox (with 3 headings for org-capture: Inbox, Work Inbox, and Business Inbox),
   2. Phil, for my personal tasks
   3. Work, for work,
   4. Business, for the business ideas I work on in my spare time,
   5. Reminders, for all the simple dates and appointments I have,
   6. Ideas, for what doesn't need any action yet, but may be useful in the future,
   7. Dates, for all the recurring things, like birthdays, anniversaries, and all that.
   8. Complete - for all the tasks that are done and don't belong in any of the above any more. This includes canceled tasks.

I put ALL new tasks/ projects/ ideas/ whatever in the inbox. Then I sort them out several times a day, to keep at inbox zero. The process is as simple as can be. I put my cursor on the task in the inbox file, I hit C-c C-w, and then choose from a list where I want that task to go, both in terms of which file, but also under which heading in that file it should be. It only takes a few keystrokes, and everything is sorted.

Then, things that I can do quickly, I do whenever an opportunity arises. I have emacs up on one of my three screens at all times.

I switch contexts based on what I'm doing. If I'm at work, I go through work.org. If I am working on side-projects, that's business.org. If I'm having dealing with things which only affect me individually, that's phil.org.

It's that simple. And any time I want to see what I need to do today, I just hit C-c n a a and I'm set.

I use Doom Emacs with vim keys disabled. ~C-c n a a~ opens the org-agenda view for the week.

It's a really fantastic, and very efficient system that I have not truly had a chance to explore before. It's a bit of a variation on the Getting Things Done method. Looser, and I don't do a weekly review, because my lifestyle doesn't require it yet.

But the point is, I can see at a glance how much time I have, and how much I can dedicate to any particular thing. Which means that I can much more accurately schedule tasks and events, have enough time between them to rest and recover, and still finish everything on time.

Combined with picking one single task to complete every day, that nearly guarantees that I remain at least somewhat productive even on the worst of days.

Anyway. Excited rant over. It's the weekend!