Hipster PDA Nano

It’s been over a month since I’ve posted anything new.. This doesn’t meant to say that I don’t have a folder full of ideas and half started drafts.. It’s more that I’ve been working harder, and more flexibly, namely taking my evenings to catch up with clients

Part of this diligence requires an upper level of organization. I’m all about organizing myself, helping other with their own projects, and so forth.. I’ve tried using a digital device, going from phones to tablets to cloud synced solutions.. I’ll admit that I’ve spent money on subscriptions to services like Todoist, GTasks, and others, always turned away because I have to make allowances for the software.. it’s never flexible enough.

How a To-Do list looked at age 6. Pretty idyllic!

I’ve naturally done the gambit of paper organizers in my history as well, and usually the only ones with enough space for me to create my own system are too large or unwieldy.

Once I discovered the Hipster PDA from a post on 43Folders, I knew I’d finally found a way. Not necessarily “The Way”, but at least “My Way”.

Mine has undergone a handful of reiterations, redesigns.. I’ve tried adding colored tabs for different lists, alternate ways to secure it, and a plethora of other tweaks.. One direction that has definitely been consistent is the reduction in size.

The current construction has it down to the size of a business card. While it ends up being slightly on the smaller side than I prefer, the construction values afforded by its dimensions keep it from getting skewed, and keeps it organized. I call it the Hipster Nano to capitalize on the nomenclature hype that’s so popular with similarly sized technology, and because, well, hipster slang is hilarious.

Mine is constructed from re-sizing standard 8×5 cards down to the 3.5×2 that metric users are used to seeing as the size of a standard business card. I organize / stack it thus:

• The top 12-16 cards are the cut/re-sized index cards, one for each type of list. I pretty much used stock cards that are lined on the front and blank on the rear. This gives me the flexibility to have text or images. See template below for how to measure and cut. A paper guillotine works best and makes short work of a package of index cards
• Next up is 3-4 cards from each of my businesses. This keeps them always with me, and lets me carry a few from each venture. They help to provide some rigidity to the stack
• At the back, I’ve created a small pocket from two taped together cards. This affords me the ability to fold up a receipt or note someone has given me, or to tuck in an emergency $20 bill

I secure the top left corner with the one of the smallest of the binder clips, the 3/4″, aka 19mm variety.

One of the “hacks” of my own invention was more of a solution for an ongoing issue.. the bottom edge of the stack would get caught on things, and would keep separating, folding up, essentially fanning out and quickly getting dog-eared.

What I did to solve this was to wrap a velcro cable tie around the bottom. This lets me un-clip the stack at the bottom and flip through the cards, reordering them on weekends when I move my work tasks to the rear and cycle my personal tasks to the front. I tighten it enough so make the fit snug, and I can re-cinch it if I add or remove a few cards. Note the puck I linked for you

Here’s a few photos of the parts, setup, and operation

 

 

Above photos show the assembled and disassembled PDA, below is a template to show how to cut an 8×5 card down into 4 identical business card ones

 

Let me know in the comments if this is at all useful for you..I’ve wanted to give back to the GTD community for a few months now, hopefully this post fulfills this desire. I know there’s no pen attached to this stack design, but I have plenty of places to tuck a pen in my EDC.

Namaste, and perhaps next week I’ll finish something more meditation oriented and everything will slowly veer back to center.

Connect with Others by Connecting with yourself

As the warm sun greets me every morning as I step out of my door, I’m grateful that summer is finally peeking past the cold winter months that have gripped Ottawa for way, way too long.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been continually conscious, and therefore mindful, of the small things. I’m not second guessing any of the dreams or aspirations that have floated into my head, plus I’ve been quick to quash any fears or doubts that would normally surround such thoughts.

I guess I’ve taken a vivid interest in being genuine, and what that means. Honestly, it really stems from humility, and not beating myself up mentally. As I recently shared, I have had a history of sabotaging myself so prematurely that dreams are shattered before I’ve barely finished having them. No more.

This desire to be genuine has been birthed by something that I’ve recently identified as a major hurdle to me: legitimate interests versus interests that carry greater perceived value from others. I’m no zen master, and sometimes I feel like my blog belies otherwise. I struggle to keep up with daily practice as I’m constantly battling with my own demons. I rarely share when I’m feeling down, often because I’m afraid of being judged by my humanity, my frailty.. There’s so much stigma that surrounds admitting mental fragility, and while I volunteer on networks that promote eradicating this very stigma, I am very aware of how I avoid sharing it here.. But why? I’ve said plenty of times that I write this primarily as a way to explore my own life and journey.. yet I often doubt that.. Why should I care about how I’m viewed by others? Is it because all this content is shared and easily accessible on the internet for all to see? Confidently embracing this humanity, my uniqueness, without fear of repercussion or judgement is the primary key to attaining personal definition of a legitimate genuine “self”

Thanks to Amanda Gore for her post on Connections, which only further strengthens my convictions

I started this post to share that by connecting with myself,openly and honestly, have only affirmed that others feel the same way. By focusing inwardly, I’ve manifested a change and connection with others. By maintaining this open perspective, we can all grow as individuals.. and as a unified species.

How to Sit

Ok, let’s work together on this one.

Go ahead, open a browser, and Google “How to Sit”

Not only will you not find anything about meditation (which, maybe, should be expected) but you’ll be inundated with articles and links that detail how to sit at a desk while looking at a computer screen..

Try to tally up the amount of time you spend in front of a screen. If you think it’s not that many hours, tack on the hours you spend with you television.

If you have come up with a number that’s under an hour or two, you’re probably in the minority. And that’s bad news.

When I recently flew to the UK for Christmas, all the seat-backs had small screens built into them. The people all sat like mindless drones, watching movie after movie after television show after music video.

As the we flew above the clouds, and I knew the sun to be rising, I attempted to open the window next to me to watch this glorious spectacle.

Yet I was met with the groans and complaints of all those around me that were touched by the sunlight as it spilled into the plane. Now, I’m not one to be nostalgic, but maybe there’s a reason we all yearn to return to living in a “simpler time”. Sure, no doubt we were equally stressed, but at least we were less connected to each other, and perhaps more connected to ourselves? It seems that in a gambit to become closer, we’ve retreated further into ourselves. The experience on the airplane grimly reminded me of how lazy the human race had become in “Wall-E”, everything automated to the point of a complete lack of effort in any fashion.

Now I don’t want to stray off topic, so I’ll bring this back around.. It feels like humanity is striving to remove effort from our lives.. but results feel less satisfying without it:

The less we work for something, the less we feel proud, accountable, and rewarded by the final product.

Learning to sit takes patience, takes effort, and takes perseverance.. But in today’s society, we are fighting an additional “enemy”: progress. Now I might catch a bit of flak for this statement, but I stand by it. While there’s plenty of new and exciting innovations that serve to assist our journey into the future of the human race, there’s always a higher percentage of those that are marketed at facilitating our procrastination: and let me tell you, as humans who have the power of choice, we don’t need help in shirking our responsibilities.

So, in closing.. Invest in yourself. Invest 5 minutes a day, make it a habit, and sit. Not in front of a computer, or a tv. Sit, in silence, in the moment, and get back in touch with someone you might have been taking for granted: yourself.

Personal Accountability

I was unsure where to post this. Do I get out paper and pencil? Do I save it to my desktop? To the cloud? Where does it make the most sense, and where does it have the most meaning? The answer I’ve given myself is “Anywhere, just write”

Life has taken over my life. It’s a funny image, but it’s true. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with tasks we give ourselves so that we have some “meaning” to attach our existence to. For me, recently, I have been working too much. Giving myself too many projects because I am keen to get on the fast track to a life that I feel I’ll be happy in.

But it’s a state of mind that I should be trying to foster. I’ll never get where I’m going, because once I do, that’s it. Final destination. The journey is all we have.

I’m trying my best not to depress anyone. As I’ve said many many times before, this blog isn’t about you. It’s about me. And I’m ok with that. Readers be damned, the world is what you make of it. The decisions you make ultimately only affect your own existence.

I was driving to see a client with a coworker yesterday, and he was telling me about a documentary on Steve Jobs he’d just watched. One of the things that had been quoted resonated with me. Jobs had apparently said that he had expereinced an epiphany at a young age: he’d looked outside at a work that was built by humans, for humans, and was dictated by humans. There was nothing written that said that he had to follow the rules of those that had come before him. He realized that he had just as much entitlement as anyone else to change the world he lived in.

This was eye opening to me. Not only did it speak to the power that Job’s had over his own existence: it speaks to the power we all have in our own lives.

We only get one kick at this can. It’s easy to feel like we have nothing but all the time in the world.. yet that’s hauntingly somewhat true. We only have our time in the world. And that clock is limited. The only thing we have control over is how we spend it. Every second that goes by is an opportunity to affect our existence here. Deciding how it’s spent only matters to us. Whether we use it lying on the couch watching tv, climbing mountains, writing inspirational blogs.. it’s really only our perception of these activities that carries any personal weight.

This is important. Our perception of our activities is integral to our existence. As long as we are “happy” with what we do at any given time, that’s all we can hope for. If we sit on the couch watching TV, continually unhappy that we feel we are wasting out time… then that’s what we are doing. However, the person who is able to lie back and enjoy themselves shouldn’t be judged by anyone else who is not happy doing this themselves.

As I’ve mentioned before, our journey is our own. If other people see something in us that they want to learn about, then they’ll reach out and we can then talk about how we got to where we are.. but if they are not interested, it’s not for us to try and convince them that our path has more value than theirs. It’s a behaviour that I frequently repeat: that of identifying my own hurdles, then spending all my time pointing those same ones out to other people, instead of investing my time figuring out how to overcome them.

Trying to motivate myself to do anything is a struggle at the best of times. It’s almost effortless for me to create excuses and new obstacles as reasons why I don’t change. And it makes sense. Effort requires energy, dedication, and most importantly, creates the possibility of failure. I’ve gotten it into my head that I’m destined to fail, so I don’t even bother trying anymore.

I’ll admit that this isn’t the first time I’ve had this realization. It also isn’t the second or third time. I’ve come to this conclusion a handful of times, and even as I write this, that very behaviour almost led me to write that I’d be back here again before I knew it. But I’m not here to remind myself that I should set myself up for failure.

I’m here to succeed in my own life, and to be confident in whatever that goal might materialize in. And I can do it.

But here’s the thing: So can you.

 

 

Habits, or that Old Comfy Sweater

I have a reddish brown wool sweater that I can’t seem to shake. I’ve owned it for awhile, at least 4 or 5 years, and I love pulling it on. It’s not too scratchy, just the right amount of baggy, and totally natural. No man made fibers.

I’ve tried looking for a replacement because it’s got a small hole in the sleeve, and I figured it was an excellent excuse to replace it. I’m one of those vintage store junkies: I adore pre-worn clothing with a classic level of craftsmanship and quality. I also like saving money.

But I digress (as you’ve probably come to expect from those who have been reading me for the last couple years). Every few weeks I’d dig through a couple vintage stores, and never find what I was looking for. And then last week, the holy grail, a new (to me) Eaton’s sweater from the 70s. it fit like a glove, even better than the old one, so I snatched it up, got it home… and upon looking it over in greater detail, it’s got not one, but two holes in the back section.

Yet this parable contains a lesson. It’s a bit of a simplistic koan, at least as far as I’m concerned. It allowed me to let go, and find valuable realizations concerning  my path.

My routines that are in turn comprised of habits, don’t have to be perfect in order to provide structure, familiarity, and overall value to my life. In fact, the holes also remind me of wabi-sabi, a Japanese design ethic which embraces imperfection, and the acceptance of transience. They also allow me to stop being so hard on myself, something I’m all to familiar with. I crave to live a white existence: any black, or darkness, is to be avoided; it reminds me of the stirred turbulent waters of my past. Yet the grey is an inevitability: you can’t have the balance without it. The holes also represent determination: wool often wears out where it is most used. Where there is friction, a hole appears.

I need to remember that Ying and Yang are both part of life, that suffering is integral to the pursuit of the cessation of suffering. I also need to remember that struggling with dukkha doesn’t mean that I need to compare anything difficult with any addiction issues I’ve experienced in the past. I need to build on those strengths, not lump them all together as an absolute failure.

I sometimes really enjoy where a post takes me. This sat as a draft, with only the first line written, for a few months before I wrote the rest. I’m emphatic to share where this has ended up, and to see the importance of self acceptance, how failure is part of my success: the best personal triumphs are those rooted in humility.

The Five Minute Miracle

I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve been slacking a bit recently. Ok, not the first to admit it. It’s difficult to share when we’re not walking the path we aspire to. Yet as I put my routine back into place one block at a time, it’s the smaller habits that I find form the foundation for larger ones.

I live in a new apartment with 2 other roommates. While one barely ever eats in, and is often out of the house, the other is always here. This leads to dishes in the sink that I wasn’t responsible for. (Yes, I know what you’re thinking: How is this news? Get to the point!)

The point is that I’ll always do them, regardless of whose they are. While I initially got into doing my own dishes right after using them as an exercise in mindfulness, I’ve come to the conclusion that pretty much anything can be an excuse to be mindful.

Yet when things start to fall by the wayside, be begin to procrastinate more and more. And the big things we’re putting off, just like a foundation of building blocks can be good, can also be the root of our lackadaisical behavior. By putting off the small things, they end up becoming big things as time passes. One dish becomes a mountain, a pair of socks becomes a huge hamper overflowing with underwear. These tiny tasks have created huge obstacles in our lives, and block us from seeing the true mountains: the really daunting tasks that we want to chip away at until we’ve mastered them.

So as you go about your daily activities, and you see something that can be resolved, cleaned, put away, etc, and it takes five minutes or less?

DO IT.

It’s not rocket science. But it’ll make you feel good, accomplished, and keep your life (and ergo your mind) uncluttered. It’ll also reset your perspective, give you a spurt of motivation, and keep you sane. In order to make this a habit you repeat, reward yourself for this small task. I find that this system can be as easy as writing the chore down and immediately crossing it off the list. I don’t want to overwhelm myself by adding all these jobs to the list beforehand, but by doing them as the come up, recording and ticking them right away, I have a tally of everything I’ve done.

This is a great way to get yourself out of a funk as well. It’s easy to feel the winter blahs in the depth of February, when it’s just as cold as it was in December. All these small 5 minute tasks can create a chain of activities, and these then become part of a daily routine (as I’ve mentioned before, routines are a great way to say on the right path – Look out for a post focusing on this soon!)

Once you start, you’ll be amazed how well these 5-minute chunks add up to a general sense of well-being, and they’ll soon lend their structure to all parts of your life.

Here’s a little secret: This is how I started sitting. Five minutes a day is effortless, but once the habit is in place, and you see the benefits, you’ll want to sit longer.

Try it, and you’ll see…

External vs Internal Reliance

I recently moved to a new apartment even further downtown than my previous two places. These new digs place me almost squarely on top of my favorite pho restaurant, in the heart of Chinatown.

Whilst moving, I was overcome by the people who showed up to help. Only one of the invitees I asked did so (unwaveringly, even showing up first at 9am after a night of drinking), and the other primary “lifter” was an old friend who, get this, volunteered to help.

While I feel truly blessed these two gents are in my life, I was a little perturbed at the number of people I had to enlist to help with my belongings. Considering myself a minimalist, I was horrified at the seemingly endless parade of boxes that left my small 10 x 10 room. Granted, much of it was clothing, but a large portion was stuff that I even never wore anymore (due to it being too big or too small), yet they were all reminders of someone I used to be: I’ve often kept things as a physical manifestation of another part of my life, but never 100% sure why.

I realize now that it’s because they were memories of myself in what I thought were “happier” times.

This isn’t the case, or not for the most part. Instead, they were times when I was definitely not happier at all.. in fact, I was probably miserable, given the amount of drugs I was into at the time – it’s that I was oblivious to even wanting to improve myself.. they were memories of when I was a 20-something year old, feeling impervious to time, invincible, and striving to strike out on my own as a young, independent adult.

And now, some 15 years later, these mementoes are littered in the bottom of a shoebox, or worse: a huge pile of clothing I can’t seem to rid myself of. All this time has passed, and I’m still somewhat reliant on the family I felt strangled by growing up, still attached to their lives as much as they are to mine. I’ll admit that after moving boxes of this “stuff” into my new space, I was easily able to get rid of a number of things that had been impossible only hours before in my old apartment. While the old adage states that “no matter where you go, there you are”, I’m always amazed at how much of a fresh perspective, how renewed in spirit I am when inhabiting new spaces, as I make them my own

I’m not sure what makes me compare my own path to that of my father’s, but nevertheless, it’s a pretty constant measure. As I consider it, how he moved to Canada with his wife and young child some 30+ years ago, I’ve always been amazed at how strong and confident he must have been in his convictions that the Great White North might furnish his new family with all their hopes and dreams. Over the last few years, as he’s retired and softened somewhat (much less the stone-hearted Brit of a man he once was), I’m chagrined to learn that he often feels as lost as I do, that he’s not sure if he made the right choice all those years ago.

While it’s somewhat comforting to know that he’s humbling as he grows old, it also causes a shift in the foundations that I have built beneath my feet. This man, whom I hold the highest regard as my life long hero, suddenly as vulnerable as a small child. The duality of my feelings towards this fragility is perhaps even more so destabilizing due to the confliction of it’s nature. One part is pleased to know that he’s human, that he questions his existence and purpose as much as I, and the other part, well.. The other part of me is scared to know the exact same things.

As I continue on this journey into myself, I find my closest companion is my own identity. It’s comforting to start becoming best friends with yourself.

Zen and the Pursuit of Happiness

Why are we always trying to make happiness out to be more complicated than it has to be? This isn’t a diatribe into classic dead ends that extol that “the less you have, the more you have”, and that “materialism is an endless journey with a fruitless, unreachable goal”: these are tired arguments and easily met with a familiar eye roll.

Let’s move past all this and focus on something more positive. Happiness isn’t found in the future. It’s found in the now. And it’s always now.

I was watching the winner for best short in the Banff Film Festival this week.. A Norwegian vehicle about two young lads that build a cabin out of flotsam so they can live the winter on a remote northern beach, hoping to surf as much as possible, just to see if they can do it.  Near the end of the short film, it features them standing on the beach, seeing the sun for the first time in almost 3 months (the beach is so far north that during the winter, the sun doesn’t ever reach the sandy shores) As they stand motionless in the sun, arms outstretched, and eyes closed, one says to the other “What shall we do today?” to which the other replies, simply, “Just stand here.”

As you’d expect (or, for me, perhaps hope), a number of these films contained heavy inspirational themes anchored in timelessness, a meditative inner reflection that is based in a feeling of immense calm and an immediate, automatic humbleness.

I had a flash of inspiration, a breakthrough, as I watched these two Norwegians standing on that beach. This is the same sun that warms us all, fills our faces with light and our hearts with joy. And with my eyes closed, that beach can exist anywhere: their joy and happiness of living in that moment can be replicated by anyone, anywhere, anytime. You just have to fully surrender yourself to that moment.

And that’s the amazing thing. It’s *always* that moment.

You can always experience that giddiness, that inner calm, that happiness. Even right now. No matter what is troubling you, occupying your mind, distracting you from feeling at peace, none of it matters. For right now, just take a deep breath, close your eyes, and stand in the sun.

On the Brink..

It’s really easy to live on the edge of waiting for something to happen. It’s in human nature to hope, or to sort of “expect” that something great will happen to us almost effortlessly, that we’ll fall into some amazing situation of what we perceive to be an ideal state of happiness: Something where we are barely working, or where we get paid for something that’s as easy and enjoyable as sleeping or lazing in a hammock all day, where we enjoy the simple luxury of living worry free.

It’s easy to exist like we’ll live forever. We all think we’re the one human who’ll cheat death. Living from paycheck to paycheck, reaping the short straw rewards of short term gratification. Whether we procrastinate publicly or privately, it’s such an easy task to justify “kicking back and doing nothing”. Unwinding after a long day with the guilty pleasures of a beer or wine in hand, and a few hours of our favorite show on the DVR, everyone does it, so no excuses are required

Then one day, you wake up. You realize that the only higher power you really have to answer to is yourself, and you’re unhappy with the result. You’re an adult, in the prime of your life, and you have nothing to show for it. You go on a diet, you join a gym, you make resolutions.. you try to change everything, at once… and inevitably start failing almost right away. It starts slipping away in one area.. maybe you have a couple chocolate bars, maybe you skip a workout because you’re tired and want to catch up on Breaking Bad.. Before you know it, you’re right back where you started, and wallowing in all the behaviours that drove you to want to change in the first place.

Well I have news for you. It’s all about baby steps. Take one bad habit, and replace it with a healthy one. Just one. Do this for 30 days, without fail, every day, and it’ll become your new norm. Think of this as a brick in the foundation of your new life. Then spread a bit of concrete on this brick and add another one. Just one.

There’s a light inside everyone. Warm yourself by it, and you’ll share that warmth with everyone around you

Rinse and repeat, and you’ll be on your way. Sure, it sounds easy doesn’t it? That’s because it is. But don’t beat yourself up. If you slip up, thats ok. Don’t immediately feel guilty and give up. You’re a beautiful person, in and out. Remind yourself of this every day. Extol in all the good you’ve accomplished in your life. Remember the First Noble Truth: Life is suffering.. You’ve survived up until now, that’s an amazing accomplishment! Being human, being able to make choices.. this is hard stuff! But also don’t make excuses. Once you catch yourself not happy with how you’re spending your time, don’t wallow. Roll over, get up, and change. Every passing moment you’re different to the last. Embrace that potential, because it’s all you have: improving yourself to be the person you want to be is your responsibility alone. Don’t pass the buck: you can do this.

Just get started. Right now.

Change yourself, and be content

Sticking to a new path, or to the direction we want to go can be a difficult task, especially when it comes to involving others in our lives. Humans are, (for the most part) social animals, and we thrive in the company of others.  Sure, this is a bit generalistic.. We don’t necessarily grow when paired with any other random human being (though anyone can teach you a lesson about something:  you just need to open your mind)

What this post deals with is the acceptance and feeling of contentedness that we need to stay mindful of when we are changing ourselves for the better. As we begin to feel happier, more spiritually connected, and more in touch with ourselves, that internal resonance can start to alienate us from the lives of others in close proximity that are not on the same journey. I hesitated at the end of that last sentence: it’s very easy to see others who are not being accountable as needing guidance or feedback/help to start to evolve.

But they are not in the same place as any other human on the planet. They should not feel any less about themselves, nor feel the burning desire to join our path, unless they specifically resonate at a similar frequency: only then should one open up and share similar experiences that help both parties grow.

 

As I’ve begun to tread down the current path I am on, I have found myself becoming easily frustrated with the lives of those around me who have no desire to open their eyes, to fill themselves with a similar spiritual energy. This especially applies to my closest friends and family: I suppose I am eager to have them reap the same rewards and quite inner peace that meditation provides..Yet as we get caught up in bringing others along with us, our own path is sullied.. the smooth water’s surface disturbed, as this becomes all encompassing. It’s easy to judge and think less of people who we think are stuck, who we think are in a rut, who we think want and need help.

They might, they might not.. but it’s not for us to treat them with any less respect as we would at be treated ourselves.. If they want help, they’ll ask for it. If they choose to enlist the support of someone else, that’s also ok. Their path is not our path. We cannot ever know what is going on in anyone else’s head.

Ultimately, if they see the need to change, (which they might not: it’s perfectly ok for anyone to be content with their lives as they are!) they need to manifest their own energy and effort in the process for it to have any effect.

So as you get out there from day to day, share your enthusiasm, and your happiness, but do not preach to those you have pigeon-holed into needing a push in a similar direction to your own. Just observe every fellow human being as on their own path, nod to them with human kinship, and press on. By being yourself, and changing who you are for the better as you see it, you’ll in turn provide positive energy into the world, making it better for everyone sharing it with you