Get Everything Done

I now carry an index card but no pen. This post meanders but it comes together in the end.

The current of a fast flowing river, should you swim it, will carry you far away and you never know when you'll be able to escape. This proverb is a metaphor for social media engagement. When you engage with the endless feeds of novelty, you are mentally transported away from your present location, and the system keeps trying to lure you in further. The problem is that to abstain from these things entirely is limiting. My favorite programming is on Youtube. My friends share what's going on with FaceBook.

My solution is not to stay out of the river entirely, but to find the pools of calm to swim in. Use social media, but block the predictive programming. Don't look at Youtube recommends, but only at your subscription list; not the whole feed, but select the one channel you want to watch. Use search to find the specific thing you decided in advance you want to find. On Facebook, skip their Feed and go to Friends. Pick one friend and see what they are up to.

Predicting Your Day (the latest blog post) is in the same vein. I still have a long list but I don't engage. Instead I have a prediction written last night of what I will do (with consultation of the long list), and I carry that card with me for reference.

Puttering, a term that came up in the blog post, is wandering about the house looking for small things to do. Put this away kind of things. This is swimming in a river. But it's your river, it doesn't flow quickly, and you control where you go, when you want and when.

Thesis: by not swimming in rapids, things will remain controlled.