Theme of the month

Dealing with distraction.

This year I read Slow Productivity by Cal Newport. I didn't read it this month, but this month was the first time that the changes that I implemented in my life were first challenged by it. When busywork piles up, it's easy to forget about the systems that you incorporated. It's important to remember that the systems are in place to protect you and to help you produce your best work, not just to "slow you down".

Even though I have a "new build" project typically happening, I still have to support the other applications under my responsibility. This month, it felt like every product that I support was generating more work than usual, making my "new build" feel like it stalled out completely. This raised my baseline stress level since I felt busy, jumping from one task to another, but never felt like I was making any real substantial progress.

It wasn't until I started intentionally setting aside my mornings as "builder" time and designating my afternoons to "support" tasks that I started to feel like I was making progress again. At the end of each day that I tried this, it was easy to see the tangible piece of my "new build" that I had completed and one or two support tasks that I had done on top of it.

This isn't a new or exciting way to manage time, and that's the point. When busywork arises, my temptation is to let my time management systems sit on the sidelines while I "get the important work done". Looking at my task load for 5 extra minutes on some of my more frantic days would have revealed the urgency of some of the tasks over others, reduced my stress, and likely helped me to work at a more natural pace while still shipping necessary changes on time.

"Do the little things." - Someone that I don't want to look up right now.

Small wins

• My wife and I celebrated two incredible years together! (BIG WIN!)
• I support for external registration forms in one of our applications, and I did it a day. I like small projects.
• I continued moving our events business logic out of our front-end applications with each bugfix. Paying down tech debt, one "ticket" at a time.
• My coworker and I got to chat about the meaning of work in light of the gospel and encourage one another. Isaiah 6:5-7

Worth a read

• Dark Matter by David Crouch - I didn't like it at first, but turned out to be a really good, mind-bending story
• Golf is Not a Game of Perfect by Dr. Bob Rotella - Broadly applicable life-lessons through the frame of the mental game of golf
• Taking Ownership is the Most Effective Way to Get What You Want - The essence of a healthy relationship with work and life

Other things

My wife and I found a wonderful place for date nights. Well.. she already knew about it, but now I do too!

July is shaping up to be the "Month of Trombone". I'll be playing a concert per week in various communities around me! Happy America 250!

I'm back on my emulation game. Just got my first Miyoo Mini+ and I've already started getting my MacBook emulation setup rolling.