chasing answers newsletter #22
Is it that easy?, Wilder days
“Now I’m ready to grow young again” - Bruce Springsteen
Welcome back! If you're new, you can check out past issues here or visit my website to see all my content.
In this edition, I'm getting my notetaking system in order and trying to use music to help me lighten the fuck up.
Let's get to it.
Is it that easy?
I've been using digital note apps for years.
Since 2008 to be precise.
For those of you too young to remember, that's when Apple launched the App Store. At the time of launch, there were a mere 500 apps to choose from. The list of apps under each category was so small you could tell what new apps had been added by simply doing a weekly scan.
One of the inaugural 500 was Evernote. It was one of the first apps I ever downloaded. I had been trying to find a better way to organize all of my info, and it seemed like the perfect candidate.
I used it religiously for a short time, but upload limits and my inconsistency eventually led me back to my old systems. A few years later, I tried using OneNote. Same thing. Inconsistency and the feeling that I wasn't achieving the best use case caused me to drift back to old-school pen and paper. For years, I bounced between the two notetaking apps and my old methods, trying all of them multiple times.
Recently, I purchased the book, Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte. Many of you have probably heard of him or his online course that goes by the same name.
When you purchase the book, you also get access to a pre-recorded three-hour workshop by Tiago.
It's twenty of the best dollars I've ever spent.
And for me, most of that value came from one little trick regarding the organization of my notes.
The secret?
Organize your notes by project.
This seems simple and obvious, but most people (including myself) tend to organize our notes by topics.
So, in my case, I would have a folder (or notebook) called investing. Under that would be subcategories breaking investing down further, with possibly more subcategories under them. Then I would finally get to my projects, three, four, or maybe even five levels down.
Dumbass.
Now all my projects are front and center, which has already made a huge difference. Feeling like I needed to have everything in my digital notes perfectly organized and categorized was causing my system to be unsustainable.
As Tiago points out, having everything perfectly organized does not make your notes valuable. Having them organized in a way that makes them the most usable does.
I can't believe that one simple little change could make such a difference.
Tiago does a much better job of explaining the system and has many other useful tips and tricks as well. If you're struggling with getting the most out of your notes, do yourself a favor and check out the book.
Also, I think I have finally settled on Evernote as my notes app of choice. They have added many features over the years, and while it isn't perfect and may be missing a few things other apps offer when it comes to how detailed your organization can get, the ease of use more than makes up for it.
If you sign up for a free account first and then start the upgrade process but don't go through with it, they will start sending you emails with discounted offers for your first year.
You're welcome 😀
Wilder Days
I've been attempting to listen to more music lately.
To clear my mind of all the regular shit on it and reconnect with thoughts and feelings that I haven't felt in a while.
The other day Wilder Days by Morgan Wade came on when I was on my way home from work.
It struck a chord with me.
My wife is almost ten years younger than me, and she didn't meet me until (most of) my wilder days were over. Over the last few years, she and friends and family have commented about my wilder days and how they are now a distant memory.
This isn't one of those situations where someone tries to better themselves, and everyone around them tells them they've changed.
It's just them observing something I was already aware of and not necessarily happy with - I've taken adulting way too far.
I tend to do this. I always take things to extremes. I'm never somewhere in the middle. It's either all in or all out. The pendulum swings wildly from left to right, never resting comfortably in the middle.
My wilder days were probably too wild.
Likewise, my adulting days are too…….well…….adulted.
In my mind, I'm still that guy from my past. But to anyone who has met me in the last ten years, I'm someone completely different.
It's funny how we can think of ourselves in a certain way long after we aren't that person anymore. Sometimes, that change is a good thing because we no longer want to be that person. But, often, we slowly drift away from a version of us we like because of responsibilities, obligations, or just the general happenings of life.
I'm not saying we should all be reckless, irresponsible delinquents running around acting upon the first bad idea that comes to our minds.
But I do think it's important to keep some of the good parts of the younger us, even the crazy, unheeding, wilder parts.
Here's to reclaiming some of your wilder days. 🍻
That’s all for now.
I hope you all have a great week!
As always, I would love to hear from you.
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randy