Mind uncluttered
Over the past ten years, I've become pretty organized when it comes to managing appointments. So I thought I'd share the simple scheduling setup I use.
First things first: I don’t trust my memory.
I don't want to use my brain as storage for things I need to remember.
I'd rather keep it free for whatever I'm working on at the moment.
This applies to everything, from work to hobbies and sports.
All I need to remember falls into one of three categories:
- something that will happen (events);
- something I need to do (tasks);
- something I want to keep (memos and interests).
It’s worthwhile to highlight the difference between an event and a task.
Events happen even if I don’t do anything.
They’re concerts, dinners out, appointments, and parties.
Tasks, on the other hand, are duties that require some type of action.
Examples include paying the rent, making a call, or fixing the bike.
The events are the most important ones.
I write them on Google Calendar because I can access it even if I lose my phone.
I don’t like setting a duration for them.
I usually leave the default 1 hour duration, even if it can last longer,
because I don’t want to add the mental effort to try to estimate the duration.
The less friction there is, the easier it is to stick to the habit.
When I was at university, I had an extra calendar for exams, lessons, etc.
Now I just have a personal one.
Since I keep everything here, I use colors to distinguish between different types of events:
- orange for general events;
- yellow for trips;
- purple for work vacation;
- sparingly, other colors for special events.
I keep my tasks in Google Tasks, since it’s integrated directly into Calendar.
This makes sense because tasks have deadlines.
I use brown for tasks, because I want them to stand out from the myriad of events.
I try to limit myself to 3 scheduled tasks per day.
If I have more than that, I'll try to move it to an earlier or later time.
It’s just a rule that I added because I obviously do other tasks every day that I don’t plan on the Calendar,
and I don’t want to overwhelm myself.
Unlike events and tasks, notes don't require a rigid structure.
I use Simplenote
to keep track of interesting things I stumble upon while I’m out cycling/running or reading/watching videos.
Here I have a pinned "Quick Capture" note where I write keywords, ideas, quotes, and more.
Later, I revisit those and decide whether it's worth keeping as a proper note or whether learning about it once was enough.
Less structured notes usually live forever on Simplenote.
I find it perfect for me because it’s minimal, free, and syncs across all my devices.
For more structured or interconnected notes, I rely on Obsidian,
but I’m still trying to figure out if it’s the right tool for me or not.
This topic probably deserves a dedicated blogpost of its own.
My system isn't perfect, but that's exactly why it works.
It keeps my brain free instead of turning it into a storage device, and it's simple enough that I can actually use consistently.