It turned out to be course selection time for Grade 11 and 12, so we spent the week discussing options. Intense stuff. J- does well in science, tech, and math courses, so we’re leaning towards those types of courses. I’m setting up various (paid!) work tasks to give her a flavour of the kinds of skills people are looking for, too. If she can pick up computer programming skills through robotics and web development, she’ll probably be well-suited for co-op and university programs.

That took just about all of our brainspace for the past week. I have to catch up on planning, writing, and creating. It was time well spent, though.

Blog posts

• Weekly review: Week ending February 21, 2014
• Thinking about the design of my blog
• Audio comparison: Blue Yeti vs headset, webcam microphone, video
• WordPress: Make a sequence of posts easier to navigate with Organize Series
• Delegation: “How can I trust people?”
• Reflections on infopreneurship
• What you’re really there to learn in computer science

Sketches

1. 2014.02.24 Aha, a plan for the things I want to write #experiment
2. 2014.02.24 Emacs tips – use Dired to manage files #dired #emacs
3. 2014.02.24 Reminding myself of freedom #freedom #experiment
4. 2014.02.24 Yes, but how do you make money #experiment #business
5. 2014.02.26 Thinking about delegation and projects #delegation
6. 2014.02.27 Art #goals #drawing
7. 2014.02.27 Automation #goals #automation
8. 2014.02.27 Delegation #goals #delegation
9. 2014.02.27 Design #goals #design
10. 2014.02.27 Development #goals #coding
11. 2014.02.27 How can I make it easy to print collections of my sketches #packaging #sharing
12. 2014.02.27 Learning from people #goals #my-learning
13. 2014.02.27 Map for getting the hang of Emacs movement #emacs #map #guide
14. 2014.02.27 Thinking of tasks I can assign to J- to help her build her skills #delegation
15. 2014.02.27 Writing #goals #writing
16. 2014.02.28 Are there ways for organizations to help me scale #experiment
17. 2014.02.28 What outcomes do I care about #experiment

Link round-up

• Talk to Yourself Using “You” or Your Name for Better Introspection: Something I often do. Turns out there’s research about it.
• The Cactus and the Weasel: Degenerate variants of foxes and hedgehogs
• Writing your book with orgmode and publishing it on Leanpub: Yay writing! The repository looks like an interesting bodel.
• Awkward Business Conversations: How To Say No To A Potential Client: Useful template, and a good series of blog posts.
• Do Your Own Taxes for More Control Over Your Financial Future: It’s tax season, and the slips are coming in. I’m weird–I actually enjoy crunching the numbers. It’s great to be able to run different scenarios. I used last year’s numbers to estimate how much I should pay myself in salary in order to minimize taxes, and it looks like the numbers worked out just about right. Maybe next year I’ll even figure out how to pay myself dividends…
• How Leila Janah Is Redirecting A $200B+ Industry: Anatomy Of Success: I like this idea of giving back through outsourcing. I think of my delegation as transferring cash and skills – great way to help out.

Focus areas and time review

• Business (55.5h – 33%)
  • Earn (18.4h – 33% of Business)
    • [X] Deposit cheque
    • [X] E1: Apply wall
    • [X] E2: Re-record and re-animate new segments
    • [X] Earn: E1: 2.5-3.5 days of consulting
    • [ ] Earn: E1: 2.5-3.5 days of consulting
    • [ ] Figure out why MOVs stopped having audio
  • Build (22.5h – 40% of Business)
    • Drawing (7.2h)
    • Delegation (5.3h)
    • Packaging (7.7h)
    • Paperwork (1.2h)
    • [X] Create PDF for Sketchnotes 2013
    • [X] Delegation: Interview more tech applicants
    • [X] File federal annual return
    • [X] Invest time into technical delegation
    • [X] Make darker grid and release SVG
    • [X] Package Sketchnotes 2013 – http://sach.ac/sketchnotes2013
    • [X] Reflect on what difference I want to make in the world
    • [ ] Build – Emacs: Make a guide to Dired
    • [ ] Build – Emacs: Prettify baby steps guide to Org Mode
    • [ ] Delegation: Add more web research and other basic tasks
    • [ ] Delegation: Document process for setting up a public conversation
  • Connect (14.7h – 26% of Business)
    • [X] Connect: Chat with Evan about visual thinking
    • [X] Connect: Check what’s going on with the Quantified Sandbox
    • [X] Connect: Hang out with Matthew and learn more about d3js at HackLab
    • [X] Have general hangout about learning
    • [ ] Connect: Talk to Brian Sharwood about Free Geek
    • [ ] Connect: Work on slides for blogging excuses – Denise
    • [ ] Connect: Talk to Mel about delegation
• Relationships (3.8h – 2%)
• Discretionary – Productive (6.3h – 3%)
  • [X] Go for eye exam
  • [X] Reflect on two-year mark for experiment
  • [X] Test org-clock-jump-to-current-clock
  • Writing (4.9h)
• Discretionary – Play (7.7h – 4%)
• Personal routines (23.7h – 14%)
• Unpaid work (12.9h – 7%)
• Sleep (58.7h – 34% – average of 8.4 per day)

This week, I focused on delegation and design. Lots of updates to my blog design, yay! =) Next week, I want to dig deeper into making useful technical resources, and to making sure my technical assistant has good stuff to work on.

Blog posts

• Weekly review: Week ending February 14, 2014
• Monthly review: January 2014
• Test-driven learning
• What the LEGO Movie and programming are helping me learn about delegation
• Reflection: Two years into my 5-year experiment
• Free/pay-what-you-want resources for sketchnoting with Autodesk Sketchbook Pro
• Don’t be afraid of mistakes when delegating

Sketches

1. 2014.02.19 Actually, I enjoy web design and development #geek #web-design
2. 2014.02.19 Imagining wild success for this experiment #experiment
3. 2014.02.19 Teaching people to fish, selling fish, fishing for yourself #experiment #sharing #my-learning #teaching #confederates #community
4. 2014.02.19 Website goals – #blogging #wordpress #web-design
5. 2014.02.19 What am I looking for in terms of editing blog posts #editing #writing

Huh. That’s weird. Really? Five sketches? And yet 9.6 hours tracked under “Drawing,” and a generally relaxed week. I wonder what happened there. I think part of it was that I spent more time doing web design this week, and conceptualization got filed under drawing too. 

Link round-up

• Incomplete list of hobbies that could earn money: I like picking interests that are either cost-neutral or productive: coding, cooking, writing, reading… I haven’t figured out how to make gardening work for me yet, but there’s always next year. =)
• Back to Basics?: One of the benefits of keeping paper notes is that you run into the footprints of your past self. I’ve gotta figure out how to do this sort of thing with my digital notes too…
• Selling Bubble Gum For A Living: Behind-the-scenes look at cultivating connection through autoresponders. I’m still iffy about it, though.
• Finding and solving problems | Azimuth: Tactics for posing clear, crisp research problems: learn a lot, keep synthesizing, look in the gaps, talk to lots of people. Lists! I totally resonate with the part about keeping lists around. And breaking down problems.
• Levels of Excellence | Azimuth: From the same blog. Interesting pointer to a paper by Daniel Chambliss (“The mundanity of excellence”).
• Daily Writing — Track Your Progress!: Yay tracking. =) Also, interesting stats: “The majority of authors make less than $1000 a year, and the vast majority (even including only those authors who have been traditionally published) make less than $30K/year.” Mmm. Actually, that’s not too bad.
• Progressquest your career: I’m an explorer as well, and maaaybe a bit of a munchkin. ;)
• Spend 10 Minutes Doing This Every Day and You Could Transform Your Blogging: Look at other people’s blogs and pick up ideas. Has a good list of questions to guide your review.
• Lifehacker: The Index: Another example of an index for a really large blog.

Focus areas and time review

• Business (54.4h – 32%)
  • Earn (15.0h – 27% of Business)
    • [X] Deposit cheque
    • [X] Earn: E1: 2.5-3.5 days of consulting
    • [ ] E1: Apply wall
    • [ ] E2: Re-record and re-animate new segments
    • [ ] Earn: E1: 2.5-3.5 days of consulting
  • Build (33.6h – 61% of Business)
    • Drawing (9.5h)
      • [X] Draw the next step for Emacs-related sketches
      • [ ] Make darker grid and release SVG
    • Delegation (7.4h)
      • [X] Delegation: Delegate some writing-related tasks
      • [X] Delegation: Interview tech applicants
      • [X] Delegation: Interview more tech applicants
      • [ ] Delegation: Document process for setting up a public conversation
      • [ ] Invest time into technical delegation
    • Packaging (0.5h)
    • Paperwork (1.9h)
      • [X] File federal annual return
    • Coding (12.0h)
      • [X] Choose a responsive framework
      • [X] Build – Coding: Add trails to my website
      • [X] Build – Coding: Make sachachua.com more responsive myself
      • [X] Build – Coding: Set up my local dev environment again
    • [X] Experiment with better microphone – clearer-ish audio, more convenient?
    • [X] Make baby-steps guide for Org Mode and TODOs
    • [X] Outline “Baby Steps Guide to Managing Your Tasks with Org Mode”
    • [X] Flesh out “Baby Steps Guide to Managing Your Tasks with Org Mode” a little
    • [X] Move to larger drive – AOMEI restore worked fine
    • [X] Set up a system for backing up my backup drive to the computer downstairs
    • [ ] Build – Emacs: Make a guide to Dired
    • [ ] Build – Emacs: Prettify baby steps guide to Org Mode
  • Connect (5.8h – 10% of Business)
    • [X] Connect: Chat with Evan about visual thinking
    • [X] Connect: Chat with Greg about Emacs
    • [X] Connect: Check what’s going on with the Quantified Sandbox
    • [X] Connect: Hang out with Matthew and learn more about d3js at HackLab
    • [X] Follow up on conversations
    • [ ] Have general hangout about learning
• Relationships (0.2h – 0%)
  • [X] Work on project with W-
• Discretionary – Productive (14.7h – 8%)
  • [X] Go for eye exam
  • [X] Reflect on two-year mark for experiment
  • [ ] Deposit USD
  • Writing (7.5h)
• Discretionary – Play (6.9h – 4%)
• Personal routines (23.1h – 13%)
• Unpaid work (6.1h – 3%)
• Sleep (63.5h – 37% – average of 9.1 per day)

“Monotony collapses time; novelty expands it,” writes Joshua Foer in Moonwalking with Einstein. It feels like more than two years since the start of my 5-year experiment with semi-retirement, which is what I jokingly called this adventure into a self-directed life. So far, amazing. This year, I focused less on consulting and event sketchnoting, and I focused more on creating my own content. More than 500 sketches and three mini-eBooks later, I feel happy about this decision, and I’m curious about where else it can lead.

I’ve also been ramping up my delegation and systematization. Since I’m still doing a bit of consulting here and there, I think that these processes will help me get even better at making and sharing things even if my attention is divided–and that can come in handy later on. Let’s see how it goes.

2014-02-16 Two years into my 5-year experiment #experiment #review

I’d done a pre-mortem of possibilities for failure back in 2012, but I don’t think I wrote about the success criteria or vision. (That’s odd!) Somewhat belated, but here it is. This experiment is shaping up to be about whether I’ve got what’s needed for a good self-directed life. I think success for this experiment would be:

• exploring uncommon questions and ideas
• having a happy life at home
• helping lots of people grow
• having sold plans and a great foundation for next steps

2014-02-16 Goals and success criteria for my 5-year experiment #experiment #success

So, how was this year different from last year? What might next year be like? What would wild success at the end be like?

2014-02-16 More detailed evaluation of 5-year experiment so far #experiment #review #evaluation

The first year was about getting the hang of paperwork and consulting. This second year was about coming into my own. Next year will be a good year for growth and resilience, I think. If I can continue on that path, I think it’ll be interesting.

January – back in Canada after December’s trip. Lots of reflection on how I want the next few years to go. I’m writing this halfway through February, which is shaping up to be a month of packaging and delegation. Learning lots. =)

• Tech
  • How to read blogs efficiently with a feed reader
  • Some tips for learning Org Mode for Emacs
  • Planning a time-tracking workshop for Quantified Self Toronto
  • Thinking about routines after an extended trip
• Living
  • Simplifying with Stoicism: examining negative feelings
  • Canadian winter tips
  • Caring for things without caring about things
• Sharing
  • A conversation about writing, and reflections on taskmasters
  • Dealing with feeling scattered as a writer
  • Share while you learn
  • Drawing in action
  • Exploring colours
  • Building a habit of drawing with colours
  • Other-work and self-work
• Learning
  • Learning from people
  • Getting better at learning on my own
  • Thinking about my reading
  • Adapt to your learning style
  • Planning my learning; It’s okay to learn in a spiral
• Business and delegation
  • Ramping up delegation
  • Improving and delegating more of my podcasting process
  • Becoming my own client; also, delegation
• Reviews
  • Weekly review: Week ending January 3, 2014
  • Weekly review: Week ending January 10, 2014
  • Weekly review: Week ending January 17, 2014
  • Weekly review: Week ending January 24, 2014
  • Monthly review: December 2013
  • Year in review: 2013

Sketches

1. 2014.01.01 2013 in review
2. 2014.01.01 Cats
3. 2014.01.01 How can I simplify life further
4. 2014.01.01 More thoughts on delegation
5. 2014.01.01 Routines I put away for the trip and which ones I want to put back
6. 2014.01.01 Shoes
7. 2014.01.02 Google Helpouts – 15 minutes or longer
8. 2014.01.02 Google Helpouts – Imagining an ideal session
9. 2014.01.02 Making things happen
10. 2014.01.02 What would it take to make colour part of my workflow
11. 2014.01.03 Easy ways to track time
12. 2014.01.03 Exploring colours
13. 2014.01.03 Learning in spirals
14. 2014.01.03 Staying on the time-tracking wagon
15. 2014.01.03 What are my current learning areas
16. 2014.01.05 Asking myself better questions
17. 2014.01.05 How can I keep better track of experiments to try
18. 2014.01.05 How can I learn to bring people together
19. 2014.01.05 How can we improve our cooking
20. 2014.01.05 How do I use my time
21. 2014.01.06 Building a reputation as a speaker
22. 2014.01.06 Canadian winter tips
23. 2014.01.06 Extrapolating my futures
24. 2014.01.06 Learn how you learn
25. 2014.01.06 Learning how to think in sentences
26. 2014.01.06 Time-tracking and multi-tasking
27. 2014.01.06 Tracking time with Org mode
28. 2014.01.06 Transforming timestamps and dates
29. 2014.01.06 Why am I happier with selling my time at $5 for 15min vs 200+ per hour
30. 2014.01.07 Map for learning Org Mode for Emacs
31. 2014.01.08 Dealing with impostor syndrome
32. 2014.01.08 Sharing what you’re learning
33. 2014.01.09 Ambition
34. 2014.01.09 Blog ideas
35. 2014.01.09 Building a review habit
36. 2014.01.09 Organizing my sketches into collections
37. 2014.01.09 Tips for organizing your Org-mode files
38. 2014.01.09 What do I find challenging with podcasting
39. 2014.01.10 Helpers Help Out 05 – Make Your Listing Better
40. 2014.01.10 Post-production notes – HHO5 Make Your Listing Better
41. 2014.01.12 Being my own client – part 1 of 4
42. 2014.01.12 Being my own client part 2 – Projects
43. 2014.01.12 Being my own client part 3 – Emacs, blog
44. 2014.01.12 Being my own client part 4 – buying back time
45. 2014.01.13 Stuff I’ve tracked
46. 2014.01.13 What kind of a good life do I want
47. 2014.01.14 Increasing my delta – part 2
48. 2014.01.14 Reflecting on semi-retirement
49. 2014.01.14 Ways to increase my delegation-fu
50. 2014.01.15 General questions for coaches, role models, and mentors
51. 2014.01.15 Getting started with professional sketchnoting
52. 2014.01.15 Google Helpouts – Would I consider setting aside more time
53. 2014.01.15 How I free up time
54. 2014.01.15 How do I feel about interactive sketchnotes
55. 2014.01.15 My current strategies for personal and professional growth
56. 2014.01.15 My why, goals, and vision
57. 2014.01.15 Paying myself first with time
58. 2014.01.15 The balance that works for me
59. 2014.01.15 Thoughts on getting paid vs giving things away
60. 2014.01.15 What’s my 20 percent – Where are my moments of truth
61. 2014.01.15 Where I am and where I want to be
62. 2014.01.17 How can I assign 30 hours of work a week
63. 2014.01.17 How can I hack podcasting
64. 2014.01.17 Mapping a strategy for outsourcing podcast work
65. 2014.01.17 Planning my post-podcast process
66. 2014.01.17 Thinking about delegation goals
67. 2014.01.18 Reflecting on the Helpouts experiment so far
68. 2014.01.20 How could I get more out of my sharing v2
69. 2014.01.20 If I were a master of delegation
70. 2014.01.20 What do I want to be more intentional about learning
71. 2014.01.21 Breadth and depth in reading
72. 2014.01.21 Understanding more about how I learn and share
73. 2014.01.22 Mapping what I’m learning – update
74. 2014.01.22 Quantified Self Toronto – Sugar, Black Box, Photo Metadata, QS Sandbox, Data Theatre
75. 2014.01.22 Recognizing potential fears
76. 2014.01.22 Taking a closer look at the impostor syndrome
77. 2014.01.22 Then what is blogging’s place in my life
78. 2014.01.22 What do I look for when I read – What are my goals
79. 2014.01.22 What kinds of books suit me well
80. 2014.01.22 Work and its place in my life
81. 2014.01.23 Exploring negative feelings
82. 2014.01.23 Mapping a path to understanding Stoicism
83. 2014.01.23 What’s challenging or different about self-directed learning
84. 2014.01.24 A conversation about writing
85. 2014.01.24 A path toward improving my writing and sharing
86. 2014.01.24 A path toward learning from people
87. 2014.01.24 Being my own editor
88. 2014.01.24 How can I do work that’s more useful to myself and others
89. 2014.01.24 Not about swapping one master for another
90. 2014.01.24 What do I look for in blog posts
91. 2014.01.24 Which parts of my writing process have I thought a lot about
92. 2014.01.24 Why are we so attached to deadlines
93. 2014.01.27 Current curiosities
94. 2014.01.27 Finding tasks to delegate
95. 2014.01.27 How can I improve my animation workflow
96. 2014.01.27 How can I improve my book-reading workflow
97. 2014.01.27 More thoughts on drawing on paper versus computer
98. 2014.01.27 Self-directed learning flow
99. 2014.01.28 Book – Decode and Conquer – Lewis Lin
100. 2014.01.28 Delegation and helping people build their skills
101. 2014.01.28 Delegation and helping people learn
102. 2014.01.28 Helpers Help Out plans
103. 2014.01.28 Moving past learning
104. 2014.01.28 Reflective learning
105. 2014.01.28 Translating my curiosity into actions and experiments TODO
106. 2014.01.28 Understanding coaching in my life
107. 2014.01.28 What do I get out of delegation
108. 2014.01.29 Building people’s capacities
109. 2014.01.29 Calibrating the right level of reach or obscurity
110. 2014.01.29 Reflecting on visual book notes
111. 2014.01.29 Spice combinations
112. 2014.01.29 Translating what I learn
113. 2014.01.30 Confederates
114. 2014.01.30 Inspiring people to learn Emacs
115. 2014.01.30 On packaging and publishing
116. 2014.01.30 Publishing – what’s in my way, and how do I get past it
117. 2014.01.30 Small steps towards publishing
118. 2014.01.30 Thinking about my path to packaging and publishing
119. 2014.01.30 Time to upgrade our Internet plan
120. 2014.01.31 Getting good ideas out of your head – a path to publishing

I focused on delegation this week. Good results for writing (although I made a mistake by not making sure that one of my assistants clearly understood the task). Not particularly keen on results so far for technical interviews, but maybe we’ll figure something out. I’ve been learning a lot more about grilling people during technical interviews.

Lots of connecting, too! I’ve been encouraging people to set up meetings with me with http://sach.ac/meet . Along the way, I’m figuring out the things I like about conversations. I like helping people with Org Mode, especially if they’ve used it enough to know where they’re getting stuck. I like talking to people who are actively learning about stuff, believe in themselves, and are focused on moving forward. I like it when people’s questions and curiosities happen to mesh with my own. I enjoy talking to motivated beginners about Emacs, writing, and learning, and I’m getting better at harvesting topics for future blog posts. I’m a little surprised by a common characteristic I’ve noticed among conversations that left me feeling a little odd, so I need to think about that some more.

Oh, and quite a few upgrades to test. I usually spread upgrades out over time so that I can make more careful decisions and evaluate the changes, but I ran into several technical limitations that I think I might run into more if my current interests continue. So: larger drive, faster Internet upload speeds (should make those Hangouts better), and a better microphone. I’ll consider it worth it if I end up sharing more. Restoring from my image backup worked fine, I messed up when migrating my document folder to the new drive – photoSync was still running in the background, so it deleted a number of the images I shared. Hooray for backups, though!

Anyway, I think this coming week will be a week of following up on things to reflect on and share. Also, if the Quantified Sandbox unconference is pushing through, I’ll need to put together that time-tracking workshop. Must plan some recovery time. Let’s see how it goes.

Blog posts

• Weekly review: Week ending February 7, 2014
• More tips for self-directed learning: deliberate practice
• Reflections on learning to be an entrepreneur
• Focus and fluency: learning when you’re a fox
• A No Excuses Guide to Blogging (PDF, EPUB, MOBI – free!); also, notes on publishing
• From networking with people to networking around ideas: How I stopped worrying about keeping in touch

Sketches

1. 2014.02.08 A path to delegating more content
2. 2014.02.08 A path toward taming your TODO list
3. 2014.02.08 Artists and entrepreneurs
4. 2014.02.08 Delegation and task efficiency
5. 2014.02.08 Learning and fluency
6. 2014.02.08 The fox and the hedgehog
7. 2014.02.08 Unfair advantages
8. 2014.02.08 What could that fluency look like
9. 2014.02.09 How do I want to manage my learn-share pipeline
10. 2014.02.09 Imagining a course or membership area
11. 2014.02.09 Living your dream
12. 2014.02.10 Delegation as programming
13. 2014.02.10 Thinking about object-oriented programming and delegation
14. 2014.02.11 Delegation excuse – But other people won’t do as good a job as I would
15. 2014.02.11 Reflecting on building a value-filled life
16. 2014.02.11 The LEGO Movie – Reflections on Master Builders
17. 2014.02.11 Thinking about blog improvements
18. 2014.02.12 Test-driven learning
19. 2014.02.13 A No-Excuses Guide to Blogging – Summary of 10 blogging excuses and how to work around them
20. 2014.02.13 How much does it cost to start with virtual assistance

Link round-up

• Creative work while traveling — your survival guide: A lot of people idolize the digital nomad life. The thought of travelling from place to place, getting the hang of one neighbourhood after another… Not my cup of tea. Fortunately, my lifestyle fits me very well. Anyway, if you were curious about alternative approaches to working during trips, this post might be good for you. Routines help a lot.
• My Year in Review: 2013: Nice, thorough year in review. Might be good for me to try this style when reviewing 2014.
• Emacs modes that are worth knowing about?: Interesting recommendations.
• Going Paperless: Automating Repetitive Stuff about Meetings: Yay automation and writing scripts. =)
• Test Driven Learning: setting learning goals for yourself, Software Engineering edition: Yay clear goals
• Emacs Getting started: I want to make more Emacs screencasts. =)
• Avoid Demotivation When Starting a New Venture with the 1,000 Day Rule: It’s good to know that you’ll probably suck for at least 1,000 days.

Focus areas and time review

• Business (57.8h – 34%)
  • Earn (10.4h – 17% of Business)
    • [X] E1: Add image links
    • [X] Earn: E1: 2.5-3.5 days of consulting
    • [ ] Deposit cheque
    • [ ] Earn: E1: 2.5-3.5 days of consulting
  • Build (31.7h – 54% of Business)
    • [X] Experiment with better microphone – clearer-ish audio, more convenient?
    • [X] Move to larger drive – AOMEI restore worked fine
    • [X] Set up a system for backing up my backup drive to the computer downstairs
    • Drawing (11.4h)
      • [X] Draw the next step for Emacs-related sketches
    • Delegation (11.4h)
      • [X] Delegation: Delegate some writing-related tasks
      • [X] Delegation: Interview tech applicants
      • [X] Build: Document post-podcast process
      • [ ] Delegation: Interview more tech applicants
    • Packaging (2.7h)
      • [ ] Make baby-steps guide for Org Mode and TODOs
    • Paperwork (0.0h)
      • [X] File payroll return
      • [ ] File federal annual return
  • Connect (15.7h – 27% of Business)
    • [X] Connect: Chat about Free Geek Toronto
    • [X] Connect: Chat with Greg about Emacs
    • [X] Connect: Chat with Mel about self-directed learning
    • [X] Connect: Chat with Naomi Fein about delegation and sketchnoting
    • [ ] Connect: Chat with Evan about visual thinking
    • [ ] Connect: Check what’s going on with the Quantified Sandbox
    • [ ] Connect: Hang out with Matthew and learn more about d3js at HackLab
    • [ ] Follow up on conversations
  • Relationships (10.7h – 6%)
    • [X] Work on project with W-
  • Discretionary – Productive (8.9h – 5%)
    • [ ] Deposit USD
    • [ ] Go for eye exam
    • [ ] Reflect on two-year mark for experiment
    • Writing (6.8h)
  • Discretionary – Play (4.9h – 2%)
  • Personal routines (16.2h – 9%)
  • Unpaid work (7.5h – 4%)
  • Sleep (64.1h – 38% – average of 9.2 per day)

Hmm. Way fewer sketches this week because I was focusing on packaging and delegation. Good work getting http://sachachua.com/no-excuses-blogging (PDF, EPUB, MOBI) out the door, though. Also, I was concentrating on planning my life. =) Now that the general direction is mostly sorted out, let’s get going!

Blog posts

• Weekly review: Week ending January 31, 2014
• Stepping up to publishing
• A no-excuses guide to blogging
• How to develop your ideas into blog posts
• Thinking about the systems I can put into place to scale up sharing
• Reflecting on wild success
• More tips for self-directed learning: deliberate practice

Sketches

1. 2014.02.02 A path for learning to delegate or outsource
2. 2014.02.02 Imagining a useful member’s area
3. 2014.02.02 Learning on your own
4. 2014.02.03 How to learn from business books
5. 2014.02.04 How to create your own exercises for deliberate practice during self-directed learning
6. 2014.02.04 Improving the way I delegate
7. 2014.02.04 Thinking about idea development and possible blogging flow
8. 2014.02.04 What systems do I need to put into place to do awesome
9. 2014.02.05 Delegation and drawings – where does it make sense
10. 2014.02.05 Notes on publishing
11. 2014.02.06 What other excuses can I collect and work around
12. 2014.02.07 Adjusting the balance
13. 2014.02.07 Low-hanging fruit
14. 2014.02.07 What are my motivations for questions

Link round-up

• Latin LOLCat: Reading: Multum legundum, non multa. You should read much, not many.
• Matt Swanson – Do things, write about it: Share what you’re working on
• Don’t End The Week With Nothing: Related to the one above – make sure what you’re working on builds up your life
• The Gumroad Blog – Is Pay What You Want Pricing for You?: Yay pay-what-you-want pricing! =)
• org in the wild update: Always so nice to see how people use Org Mode.
• How to Train Your Mind to Think Critically and Form Your Own Opinions: I’m getting better at keeping people’s contexts in mind while listening to them.
• How I learned to stop giving advice: Interesting discussion on Hacker News. I’m coming to terms with how I want to approach this entire “advice” thing – I like “Have you thought about…” more than “You should…”.

Focus areas and time review

• Business (55.7h – 33%)
  • Earn (28.6h – 51% of Business)
    • [X] E1: Work on prototype for conversation
    • [X] E1: Add image links
    • [X] E2: Animate script 3
    • [X] E2: Send new script 1 and trailer
    • [X] E2: Slow down script 2
    • [X] Earn: E1: 2.5-3.5 days of consulting
    • [ ] Deposit cheque
    • [ ] Earn: E1: 2.5-3.5 days of consulting
  • Build (20.5h – 36% of Business)
    • Delegation
      • [X] Build: Document post-podcast process
      • [X] Hire writers
      • [X] Delegate making my website more responsive
      • [ ] Document process for setting up a public conversation
    • Content
    • Packaging
      • [X] Compile blog posts related to busting blogging excuses
      • [ ] Plan and record a video for busting blogging excuses
      • [ ] Explore membership plugins / course plugins
    • Other
      • [X] Build: Tweak performance on server
      • [X] Build: File payroll return
  • Connect (6.7h – 11% of Business)
    • [X] Connect: Chat about Free Geek Toronto
    • [X] Connect: Chat with Google regarding Helpouts and Hangouts
    • [X] Connect: Chat with Mel about self-directed learning
    • [ ] Connect: Chat with Naomi Fein about delegation and sketchnoting
• Relationships (6.5h – 3%)
  • [X] Attend party at Beatrice
  • [X] Have Maira over (Sunday)
  • [ ] Work on project with W-
• Discretionary – Productive (1.7h – 0%)
  • Writing (0.6h)
• Discretionary – Play (0.0h – 0%)
• Personal routines (18.8h – 11%)
• Unpaid work (14.1h – 8%)
• Sleep (71.3h – 42% – average of 10.2 per day) (!) Oh right, it was because I was sorting out some stuff in my head.