This was the first week back from vacation. It had a good balance of writing (2 days), coding (2 days), and consulting (1 day). I wrote a couple of long posts that you'll see over the next few weeks. I fixed some bugs on Quantified Awesome, and I used the Flickr API to remove duplicates and link photos with my blog posts. Fun!

I started a new habit of drawing my thoughts on at least five index cards each day. It's a good way to get my brain going in the morning. After scanning them, I split them by topic into piles on my desk. It's an easy way to see where my thoughts are building up so that I can pull them together into blog posts.

I filed some tax-related paperwork, too: my second T4, and my first T5. I'm looking forward to finding out whether I've figured this all out correctly once the other tax slips come in.

Also, it was J-'s birthday, so we had sushi and cheesecake. Yay!

Blog posts

• Review: Week ending January 2, 2015
• Morning, afternoon, evening, commute: thinking about what to do when (sketched)
• Monthly review: December 2014
• Emacs kaizen: ace-isearch combines ace-jump-mode and helm-swoop
• Predictable advice about productivity
• Thinking about how to make better use of Yasnippet in my Emacs workflow

Sketches

1. 2015.01.03 Making better use of basement – index card
2. 2015.01.03 Making better use of kitchen – index card
3. 2015.01.03 Making better use of phone – index card
4. 2015.01.03 Sketched Book – So Good They Can't Ignore You – Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love – Cal Newport – Blogged
5. 2015.01.03 Social – index card
6. 2015.01.03 Social bookmarking – index card
7. 2015.01.03 Why Emacs – index card
8. 2015.01.04 Automating text – index card
9. 2015.01.04 Rhythm for learning – index card
10. 2015.01.04 Thinking in terms of an exchange of time – index card
11. 2015.01.04 What kind of difference do I want to make, and for whom – index card
12. 2015.01.05 A reflection on diminishing returns versus compounding growth – index card
13. 2015.01.05 Developing my imagination and initiative – index card – Blogged
14. 2015.01.05 Different ideas about mastery – index card
15. 2015.01.05 Figuring out the technical details of this idea or visual archive I want – index card
16. 2015.01.05 How can I get better at summary posts – index card
17. 2015.01.05 Managing my idea pipeline – index card – Blogged
18. 2015.01.05 Quick idea studies – index card – Blogged
19. 2015.01.05 Seeing opportunities for abbreviations and text automation – index card
20. 2015.01.05 Surprise experiment, self-directed life – index card
21. 2015.01.05 Thinking about my archive – index card – Blogged
22. 2015.01.05 What can I learn from artists about learning – index card – Blogged
23. 2015.01.05 Why studies for drawing or writing thoughts – index card – Blogged
24. 2015.01.06 Abbrevations – index card
25. 2015.01.06 Competence and mastery – index card
26. 2015.01.06 Figuring out information flow – index card
27. 2015.01.06 Is this enough for me – index card
28. 2015.01.06 Phrases – index card
29. 2015.01.06 Planning my safety nets – index card
30. 2015.01.06 Safe, a little better, comfortable – index card
31. 2015.01.07 Code insertion – index card
32. 2015.01.07 Mapping the connections in my blog – index card
33. 2015.01.07 Real Work – index card
34. 2015.01.07 Sketched Book – The Progress Principle – Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work – Teresa Amabile, Steven Kramer
35. 2015.01.07 Templates – index card
36. 2015.01.07 Text transformation as part of expansion – index card
37. 2015.01.08 How to use what you read – index card
38. 2015.01.08 Imagining Emacs hangouts – index card
39. 2015.01.08 Imagining coaching or guiding others – index card
40. 2015.01.08 Learning as an event – index card
41. 2015.01.08 Team-building activities – index card
42. 2015.01.09 Cross-pollination of ideas – index card
43. 2015.01.09 Take notes while you read books – index card
44. 2015.01.09 Time is greater than money – index card
45. 2015.01.09 What am I learning more about, and how can people help – index card
46. 2015.01.09 What do I do on my non-consulting days – index card

Link round-up

• My org-protocol setup, part 2.: Neat. I just got org-protocol working on Windows 8.
• Why You Need Mentors (and Why You Don’t Have Them Yet): High action-to-advice ratio
• Emacs as my <Leader>, 1 Year Later: A former Vim user's transition
• Sebastian Wiesner: My Emacs Configuration with use-package: Good write-up for use-package. I should look into using :idle.
• Distinguish Between Uncertainty and Risk to Minimize Decision Anxiety: Useful distinction. High uncertainty but low risk? Don't worry too much about it, just try things out.
• You Need an Inventory of Your Stuff (and It's Easier Than You Think): Good reminder – I should do a comprehensive inventory.
• What Products Should You Sell From Your Blog?: Structure for creating and selling information products, with recommended pricing
• The keymap arms race: How to deal with conflicting keymaps

Focus areas and time review

• Business (36.8h – 21%)
  • ☐ Earn: E1: 1-2 days of consulting
  • ☐ Revise transcript for Magnar Sveen
  • Earn (6.7h – 18% of Business)
    • ☑ Prepare invoice
  • Build (24.4h – 66% of Business)
    • Drawing (10.3h)
      • ☑ Organize my sketches for 2014
      • ☑ Post The Obstacle Is The Way to blog
    • Delegation (0.0h)
    • Packaging (1.8h)
    • Paperwork (5.8h)
      • ☑ File T5 for 2014
      • ☑ File T4 for 2014
    • ☑ Parse XML from Evernote and extract all the journal entries
    • ☑ Remove duplicates from Flickr list
    • ☑ Fix csa_foods
    • ☑ AJAXify clothing log
    • ☑ Fix the menu on small screens
    • ☑ Change error message since I don't get notified about stuff
    • ☑ Clear up Documents/Documents confusion
    • ☑ Re-cross-reference blog posts with Flickr. What's a nice, sustainable way of doing this?
  • Connect (5.7h – 15% of Business)
    • ☑ Talk to journalist about Quantified Self
    • ☑ Find contact information and timezone
• Relationships (7.7h – 4%)
  • ☑ Check protocol and copy dates
• Discretionary – Productive (26.4h – 15%)
  • Emacs (1.3h – 0% of all)
    • ☑ Revise transcript for Thomas Kjeldahl Nilsson
    • ☐ Blog about most recent Emacs Hangout
    • ☑ Developing Emacs micro-habits: Text automation
  • ☑ Get passport pictures
  • ☑ Scan passport
  • ☐ Apply for passport
  • ☐ Pick up my lunch
  • Writing (16.8h)
    • ☑ Smooth out image workflow for writing
• Discretionary – Play (9.7h – 5%)
• Personal routines (20.7h – 12%)
• Unpaid work (8.4h – 5%)
• Sleep (58.2h – 34% – average of 8.3 per day)