Noisy Deadlines

“I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” – Douglas Adams

I was all about fiction this month! I explored a gorgeous graphic novel, read a book with not enough octopuses, and continued reading a bunch of series.

  1. The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler, 420p: It’s full of thoughtful and conceptual ideas exploring our unknowability towards others but with octopuses. I liked the fictional book quotes at the beginning of each chapter, leaving me with some ideas about the nature of consciousness, intelligence and being human. I wish the first contact situation were more deeply explored, meaning, I wanted more octopuses! 🐙 The characters and the plot didn’t work too well for me. Sometimes it felt the dialogues were out of place with the characters doing an academic exposition on a subject to each other. The ending seemed too easy given all the complexities of the matter presented since the beginning of the story.

  2. A Lady by Midnight (Spindle Cove #3) by Tessa Dare, 384p: I liked the grumpy/sunshine trope in this one. Corporal Thorne is broken and sad, but he has a soft heart. Katie grew up an orphan and she is a talented music teacher and strong willed. There is an adorable puppy, hilarious incidents (like the one with the melon) and an emotional slow burn romance. There is family drama with things being unburied from the past, a ball and even a duel! I had lots of fun reading this one.

  3. When a Scot Ties the Knot (Castles Ever After #3) by Tessa Dare, 376p: I loved the set up, and the introduction with Maddie's letters was really well done! It's funny and it's sweet. Maddie was super interesting:  she worked as an illustrator of insects and there were some funny bits involving lobsters. The male protagonist is a grumpy Scottish dude, but then we learn he has a soft heart. I loved how supportive of each other they were, even though the whole premise of the story starts with the blackmail trope and fake marriage. It was just excellent.

  4. Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening (Monstress #01-06) by Marjorie Liu, 208p: This is a graphic novel series that was recommended to me. Such a gorgeous artwork, it's beautiful! The tone was darker than I expected, there is lots of gore that I wasn't prepared for. I loved the cats with their wisdom, they are my favorite characters. It was very engaging from the beginning, and I am curious to dive more into this world.

  5. Turn Coat (The Dresden Files #11) by Jim Butcher, 576p: I loved the mysterious “whodunit” plot. There are some high stakes here, super powerful magical entities, great battle scenes and a clever plan to expose the murderer. I thought this one had excellent pacing, well balanced with action scenes and dialogue. Full of cool plot twists (well it starts with a huge plot twist: who'd think Morgan would go to Harry for help?). We can see Harry growing inside the White Council. We get to know the wizards HQ in Edinburg and it was nice to see Harry challenging the Senior Council. It cleverly brings previous plotlines together. One of my favorites of the series now.

  6. Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe (Scott Pilgrim #5) by Bryan Lee O'Malley, 184p: In this one we get to see the twins Kyle and Ken Katayanagi. There was less stuff happening in this one. It was fun to see Scott and Ramona living together and then having disagreements. It sets up the stage for the next ex-boyfriend: Gideon. Again, just unpretentious fun!

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

  • 📅 This week I went back to using Cal Newport’s Time Block Planner at work. I felt like I needed an hour-by-hour grid, with enough space to redraw the plan as I go through my day. So, I’m using the Rocketbook for high level planning (month and week plans), my notes and meeting notes. But for the daily plan detail I prefer a dedicate time blocker.
  • 👟 I finally got proper new running shoes! I went to a specialized store to get some advice, and I showed them my old pair and. After they observed me walking around, the conclusion was that I have a more neutral stride, not much overpronation going on. Good to know!
  • 🏃‍♀️ Running: 4 runs in total, one of them was by the river with a nice breeze. It was hot in the last few days (around 30C) so my pace was slower because of the heat:
    • July 23, 2024 => 7.11km – 49 minutes – pace 6:53 min/km
    • July 26, 2024 => 7.22km – 49minutes – pace 6:48 min/km
    • July 27, 2024 => 4.61km – 33minutes – pace 7:08 min/km
    • July 28, 2024 => 7.3km – 53minutes – pace 7:15 min/km
  • 🧩 We started the Tiamat Dragon puzzle. The border is almost complete, it’s only missing 2 pieces that must be mixed with all the others. We’ll find them eventually!
  • 🛌 We were searching for a new mattress, and we found a firm one that we like this weekend. We’ve both been waking up with a sore back and we can feel our current mattress doesn’t hold the same firmness anymore (we both don’t like soft mattresses). So, we are switching from memory foam to a good firm pocketed-coil mattress. It will be delivered later this week, and I can’t wait!
  • 🎧 I listened to two Metallica albums non-stop, something that I rarely do these days (listening to a full music album from start to finish, I mean). Nostalgia feelings everywhere!
  • 📖 I finished reading Turn Coat (The Dresden Files #11) by Jim Butcher. It is a series that is always there for me with a great protagonist, a dog, a cat, good humour and magic shenanigans with vampires and werewolves. Always a fun ride!

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

This weekend marked the 40th anniversary of Metallica’s album “Ride the Lightning”! I decided to listen to it again from start to finish and was pleasantly surprised to rediscover that “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “Fade to Black” are both on this album. These two songs are among my all-time favorites and laid the groundwork for what would later come in the “Black Album” (which is wildly successful). For the record, “Ride the Lightning” is the band’s second album, released in 1984.

This weekend my local rock radio station, CHEZ 106, did a Metallica weekend special, and they played “Ride the Lightning” and the “Black Album” in full, which I loved!

I was trying to remember how old I was when I first heard about Metallica. It must have been in the early '90s. I remember copying Metallica songs onto cassette tapes to listen to them. It just struck me that when “Ride the Lightning” was released, I was only 5 years old! So, when I listened to this album for the first time it was more than a decade after its release. Yet, it felt quite recent and new at the time! When the album came out, Brazil was still under a military dictatorship and many things (including international music and some movies) weren’t accessible till later.

Anyway, I later got all their CD’s and I had posters of the band on my teenager bedroom walls. Metallica is still one of my favorite bands of all time. I particularly enjoy their phase up until the Black Album, so I’m not 100% caught with their newer stuff.

I found pictures of my old CD I got in Brazil. I sold it (along with the other albums I had) to collectors before I moved to Canada.

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

  • 🏖️ We went on a day-road-trip this weekend to Kingston. We walked around the waterfront, which is lovely in the summer! It was a sunny, gorgeous day. We packed some waffle sandwiches and had lunch by the waterfront in Kingston. It was breezy and nice by the lake. We also visited the Pump House Museum and saw some real-life steampunk water pumps from 1851. Cool! Later in the day I got into a small rabbit hole to know more about steam engines and how a centrifugal governor works:

Steampunk images from the Pump House Museum – Kingston

Kingston waterfront

  • 🚗 And on the way back from Kingston we drove through the 1000 Islands Parkway and then the Long Sault Parkway Scenic Routes. It was more than 400km total. Perfect day for a road trip.
  • 👟 We went for a 7Km scenic run around Dow’s Lake on Sunday. Again, such nice weather and beautiful scenery. We didn’t run the whole perimeter because we weren’t sure about the distance, so we walked a bit. But we could have run all around, I think it’s less than 10Km so it’s doable! We will come back another day.
  • 📚 I’m glad to be back reading The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. I read the first book in 2019, and now I’m reading book #11. The writing just gets better with each book. But it is urban fantasy and some of the books were quite formulaic and sometimes it felt repetitive to read them one after the other. I usually take a breather and then come back to the series. And I come back because of the characters, they are great!
  • ✅ I’ve been experimenting a GTD setup, just out of curiosity. I thought it would be more impactful, but I think I still prefer my old setup with Nirvana.

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

Inspired by these thoughts, I’ve been testing a Todoist setup in which the main principle is not linking next actions to projects. I’ve used Todoist before using a lot of filters, having lots of projects, priority flags, etc. It became too complicated to manage for me.

You see, linking next actions to projects is not required to have a good system. The basic components of the GTD list organization are:

  • Inbox
  • Next Action List
  • Projects List
  • Waiting-for List
  • Someday Maybe List
  • Calendar

They can be simple lists which makes the system easy enough to implement on paper. Thinking about these building blocks, I wanted to try a simpler setup in Todoist. At least, simpler than what I have tried before. I’m an accomplished overcomplicator 😎.

This is what I came up with.

Lists

I have my typical GTD Dashboard list with links to other parts of my system, like Areas of Focus, Goals and Objectives, Dashboard, Purpose and Principles, etc.

I left a Read/Review list mostly for articles I want to read online. It could be a context (using a label) but I just wanted to test it out as separate list.

I have 2 major action-oriented lists: WORK and PERSONAL. I like to have these two major areas separate, as always. And inside each of these areas I have the same set of folders:

  • Agendas: this one could be a context, but I put it as a separate list to be more visible and easily accessible.
  • Recurring: for all routines, repeating actions.
  • Projects List: using one task per project, separated in a Kanban board style for status.
  • Next Actions: all actions go here, labeled with a context.
  • On Hold: actions that are blocked for the moment.
  • Waiting/Follow-Up: delegated actions, things I’m waiting on.
  • Someday: all someday/maybe items.

Contexts

I’m using labels to indicate contexts.

Filters

I’m trying to use the minimal number of filters, so I have filters for Work and Personal Next Actions and some Focus this Week filters.

The “Focus – This Week” filters only show actions that are overdue, due today and with priority flag P1.

The “All Next Actions” filters show all next actions, grouped by label using the “View/Sort By” option in Todoist :

My Thoughts

I’ve been using this setup for about a week now. I’m taking full advantage of Todoist’s quick add keyboard shortcut. It’s very pleasant to use and easy to capture and process things. The inbox is great!

Some of the features I thought I was needing the most like file attachments and reminders don’t seem that important now, I don’t think I’ve used them that much.

I love the option to have a Kanban style view for the projects list:

There are a few things that still bothers me:

  • I can’t manually rearrange the order in which the tasks show in the next actions list. The only way is to use priority flags and set it to sort by priority. It’s just because in Nirvana I was used to manually reordering my actions, especially in the Focus lists.
  • Not linking next actions to projects: It gives a degree of freedom and simplicity, I understand that. Right now, I don’t have too many projects going on at once. But I envision that particularly at work, when things pick up rhythm again, I’m not sure I will NOT like it. I’ve seen it happen before: busy season with lots of projects: I run to Nirvana to help me manage the chaos. So that’s probably a lesson learned. I understand the advantages of not linking actions to projects, but I really prefer them linked. It kinda feels unstructured to me if they are not. It’s all about preference.
  • No start dates: all dates in Todoist are due dates. I could use some “due dates” to indicate a future date when I want to look at certain item, but it will create confusion in my brain. Again, I’m used to Nirvana’s “Scheduled” actions feature.
  • Because Todoist is so focused on scheduling tasks and due dates everywhere, I feel like it blurs the edges between Calendar and Next Actions. I know I could just ignore this feature, but it’s so tempting to add due dates for everything!

Anyway, I will test it for a couple more days and see how I feel about it.

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

  • 🌞 I’m enjoying Summer this year! Having lived most of my life in Brazil, summer was my least favorite season because summers there are brutal! I think this here in my corner of Canada summer has been manageable. Of course, having a house with central AC helps a lot. We don’t try to get our house too cold; we keep it at 23-24C just so that we have AC running a few times to get rid of humidity and keep the house at a comfortable temperature. We use AC in conjunction with ceiling fans and it works well to keep our house cool and lower energy consumption.
  • 🧩 Our Ancient Map puzzle is framed! We couldn’t find the right frame size at IKEA, so we got a frame at Michaels, and it was the perfect size. Now I know that Michaels has a huge variety of frames. The framed puzzle is at my reading corner. I loved it!
  • 🛌 Me and my partner had a few errands to do this week. One of them included searching for a new mattress for our bed. We are still searching. We went to one store, and we want to go to at least one more to compare.
  • 👟 My left toe blister disappeared this week. I went for walks during the week and on Sunday I ventured going out for a run and it was okay. I ran 7km with a slower pace of 7.26min/km (partly because I didn’t want to exert myself and because it was so hot! 🥵). I ran with my old pair of shoes. I didn’t have time to go to the specialized running store to get a new pair of running shoes yet. It’s next on my list!
  • 🛋️ We finally got a ceiling fan for our living room to replace an old badly installed ceiling lamp assembly that was left by the previous house owner. Looking better now! This was the last room we wanted to install a ceiling fan in the house.
  • ✅ I got frustrated (and bored) with Nirvana as my to-do app. I had some ideas on how to make my tasks system simpler and easier to use with less limitations. So, yeah, I looked at Todoist again and I got a new setup I’m testing. I’ll write a post describing it later this week.

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

I’ve encountered the minimalism movement back in 2013 and since then I’ve been rethinking my lifestyle, my possessions, my habits, the tools I use, etc. I’ve come a long way. I started a huge life declutter in the year before moving to Canada (2016) and that completely changed my relationship with stuff and my life.

Today I have a clearer idea of what I want to bring into my life, be it objects or responsibilities. I’m happy and content with what I have. My home has just the right number of things, I plan and rethink my purchases to make sure they are truly needed. I carefully consider new projects and responsibilities, and I’ve learned to say “no” more often. Saying no to new purchases, saying no to people, saying no to social invites. Minimalism has been a great tool for me.

So why I’m talking about minimalism?

I’m thinking about minimalism in my productivity tools/system. I tend to overcomplicate things, and right now I feel like I’m trapped in my own GTD system. I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, but I could never pinpoint the issue.

These are my thoughts right now:

  • I want it to be stupid simple and easy to add any type of item to my Inbox, both on mobile and on desktop. I want zero friction.
  • I want to be able to easily capture digital items into my Inbox in its entirety. More apps integrations (I’m mostly thinking about mobile and web browser here).
  • I wish my to-do app could handle more information, so that I wouldn’t need to manually add a link to an external drive, for example. I have lots of external stuff I use with my tasks.
  • I wish I had more flexibility in creating folders and buckets. I never bothered about that too much in the past, but now I want some degree of freedom.
  • I wish I could have more notes options for my projects/tasks, so that I didn’t need a separate file to track these notes (and consequently having to manually add links).
  • I want to be reminded of things and I want them to be synchronised both in mobile and desktop.
  • I want to be able to send a Rocketbook scan image to my to-do Inbox.
  • I want the option to organize Projects in Kanban style.

Considering all those points above, it was clear to me that the app Todoist is a suitable candidate, because:

  • It has excellent Inbox features, capture is easy and accessible in any device, including the universal keyboard shortcut in the desktop. I love it!
  • Has email to Inbox option.
  • Has space for notes in markdown, with the possibility to attach files and images.
  • Has excellent reminders and recurring tasks options.
  • Has integration with the Rocketbook (which I’m using a lot!)
  • It is visually pleasing and easy to use.

Simplifying my Todoist setup

So, I’ve tried Todoist before and it didn’t work out that well. But now I realize why it didn't went well: I was overcomplicating the setup.

I’m going back to basics, thinking about the building blocks of GTD and I’ve changed my mind about one crucial thing: I will stop linking next actions to projects. That alone is a huge simplification! And that was creating most of my issues with Todoist: I never liked the way that projects are nested and shown. Also, having too many filters creates a lot of complexity! But what if I simplify this whole thing? That’s what I’m on this week.

I’m letting go of over-organization in favor of ease of use. Sometimes simplicity comes from how stupid easy it is to use something and still being enjoyable.

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

  • 🎳 I went bowling! It was a team building event at work and it was fun. It was the Five-pin bowling which seems to be a Canadian thing only. The ball is smaller and there are no fingerholes in it. Now I know!
  • 🚶‍♂️ I didn't run much because of a nasty blister on my left foot. But I did do some walking! One of those times we went by the river near the Sailing Club for a light walk on a sunny day.
  • 📺 I finished watching the Documentary “The Ascent of Woman”. Although it's from 2015 it is still totally relevant today. It covers different eras and cultures, showcasing some women who defied the status quo of their time. Looking at the whole timescale, it's sad to notice that for most of our history women were excluded and oppressed. I like the idea that the status of women is a barometer of a society’s tolerance, fairness, and openness.
  • 🧩Me and my partner were browsing a board/card games store, and we found a Dungeons and Dragons 1,000-piece puzzle with Tiamat (the 5-headed dragon) and we also got a Munchkin Deluxe set. We used to have the base set when we lived in Brazil, and it disappeared when we moved to Canada 7 years ago. So, we played Munchkin together this weekend! It's such a well-designed game and it is so much fun!

📌Interesting Online Reads

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

I got a nasty blister on the underside of my left pinky toe. I don't know exactly how it developed but I think it was during my long walk/run downtown last week. I was wearing a thicker pair of socks (that I don’t usually wear for running) and I’m assuming those socks, and the heat/sweat got something to do with it. The blister was painful for a couple of days, and I couldn’t walk normally on my left side. It’s amazing how a pinky toe problem can disrupt our whole walking ability!

Anyway, I decided I needed to replace my running shoes because they were beaten up anyway. I went to the store to get a new one, and I wrongly thought that half a size smaller would be best. The size of my previous shoes felt too big at the store.

But then I went for a run with my new shoes and… yes, big mistake, they are too small for running. I had to stop midway because other parts of my feet started to hurt (toes rubbing against the front end of the shoes), and my recovering blister was not enjoying it. I was also too enthusiastic to go running again and I didn’t give enough time for the blister to heal 😕.

So, I took some rest from running and went for some light walks with my new running shoes. I don’t know why I thought the smaller size would be better. All my 2 previous running shoes were half a size bigger. I totally forgot the rule of leaving some space between my toes and the front of the shoe, because our feet expand while running. I can’t return the new ones now, so I will just use them for walks/day to day errands.

I’ve never had this type of blister problem with my running shoes, and I always stick with the same brand because they’ve been working for me for years. But now I’m thinking I will go to a more specialized store and get some advice on which type of running shoes to get. By looking at the wear on my old shoes, my pronation type should be “underpronation” (there is always a wear pattern on the outer soles of my shoes). I’ll go talk to someone to help me decide which shoes to get next.

Left: new running shoes – Right: my old beaten-up pair

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

  • 💤 With Summer here the days are super long, and that always affects my sleep patterns. I had some days that I was feeling the effects of sleep deprivation, because I had a tough time sleeping by 9:30pm (which is my usual bedtime). There is sunlight up until 9pm or more! I made a stronger effort to get ready for bed starting at 9pm: closing the blackouts (even though it feels like the day never ends) and ignoring the sunshine outside.
  • 🎬 I watched 2 movies:
    • Renfield (2023): I went in with low expectations, and I ended up enjoying it! It's funny, with absurd action scenes. It was entertaining, even though the themes are dark: a Dracula's servant suffering from an abusive relationship.
    • Oppenheimer (2023): It's beautifully shot, and I liked how the nonlinear timelines were presented and then merged. We can see it was a well-researched production with impeccable art. Gorgeous, dramatic, and emotional.
  • 👟 Me and my partner went on an adventure for a run/walk downtown this long weekend. We parked by the river rapides and ran around 5Km to get downtown. Then we walked, saw the preparations for the Canada Day under way, crossed the Alexandra bridge to the Quebec side, walked some more and crossed back near the Canadian War Museum and ran back to the car. It was a total of 10Km! I was exhausted (and hungry) at the end. It was a lovely, perfect day! I felt totally energized after this adventure.
  • 🧩We finished the Ancient Map Puzzle!! 👏🤗 I want to frame it now!
  • 📚 I read a ton of romance this month and I had so much fun! I’m discovering these authors who write lighthearted and funny stories with strong main characters. I consider them a type of fantasy reading, giving me the similar fascination with imaginary worlds but with much more emotions involved.

Happy Canada Day!

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.