hpr-knowledge-base/hpr_transcripts/hpr0566.txt

Episode: 566
Title: HPR0566: Shotgun
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr0566/hpr0566.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-07 23:12:02

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Hello, this is Lost in Bruns. Just a quick note here. In a previous episode of HPR,
I talked about podcasts and pod fading. But in the midst of it, I mentioned a philosophy
I hold called AIC, which stands for As in Chair. Basically, it's a call for a better work
ethic. As applied to those hobbies and advocations, we all have too many of, for the time we tend
to have available. Everyone has interests, and many of us have something of a scatter shot
brain, and the attention span of, well, someone considerably younger. In fact, if there is
a fountain of youth out there, I suspect it has something to do with extending our childish
foibles and staving off wisdom for as long as we can. Certainly, childishness is as close
as I get these days. Be that as it may. AIC basically is an agreement with myself that
I will, somehow, keep my nose to the grindstone, regardless of the outside circumstances. That's
only within reason I live in the world after all. But I believe that more people want to
pursue their interests and dreams than those who ever actually do, or that more people
would like to do more of the things they enjoy. Now, it's not to be confused with a productivity
system since AIC states nothing about the methods and techniques one might need to employ
in order to achieve the desired state of productivity. For that, I've decided to try a little
experiment. I've come up with a schedule for myself that breaks down all my possible
free time into 30 minute intervals, and I've filled all those time slots with projects
I have either started and not gotten very far with, or ones I intend to start in the near
future. The level of micromanaging involved here is deliberately extreme and takes into
account absolutely no outside interruptions. Obviously, this is an absurd plan, the failed
outcome of which is clear from the start, right? Well, probably, but hear me out. Remember,
this is not a work schedule as in a career, a business, or some kind of paid employment.
Now, this schedule covers only my many projects and interests, all of which I intend to pursue,
and few of which I actually do because of time, attention, or energy constraints. So,
how could hyper scheduling my free time actually help this situation? Well, because it's
not really a schedule, but more like a guide. What I've done here is put each and every
task or project down the schedule multiple times throughout the week, always at staggered
or different times from day to day. I am under no personal obligation to follow the schedule
at all, which frees me up to handle outside interruptions like family time or anything of
the like that is not explicitly on the schedule already. Once my time is my own again, I consult
the schedule and the clock and do whatever it is that's penciled in for that time. Since
the interruptions and distractions I have are unpredictable and chronic, the shotgun effect
of this type of scheduling might, might ensure more or less that I will have worked within
and upon my myriad projects and interests not every day, but at least once or twice a week.
Now that may not sound like much, but it beats the situation I have now hands down. There are
those jobs that I want to do, maybe even need to attack and dedicate myself to, but which
somehow get left by the wayside. It happens to us all to one extent or other, but I'm very
accomplished at it. Mysteriously, the half-starts of my life may well outnumber all the attempts
put together. Okay, that's not very good math, but it's a perception I'm talking about.
In a way, this is more about alleviating stress and minor guilt, rather than actually
accomplishing anything concrete. That'll just be a side benefit. If I can increase the
amount of work I'm doing overall, then I've accomplished my goal. I want to be able to
look back on my week and actually be able to tally up something. Maybe not much, but
something. There are weeks that flash by so fast I have a problem remembering if I was
even a part of them. That kind of crap has to end. Now, there ought to be an easy way
to keep track of this part of it, too, to see which jobs are getting attention and which
are slipping through the cracks. Maybe some sort of time-tracking software? Well, it wouldn't
be about the final goals of the various projects anyway, or at least not at first. Maybe later,
when I start to see some overall progress, but if there was a way to have it all at once,
I certainly would make use of it. Then again, if I was that accomplished, I wouldn't need
this to begin with. When this is done in over with, if there could be one thing I gained
from it, that would be to find out not so much if this system works, or even if something
else might in its place, but rather to learn if an active approach to the issue can be
a solace of its own. That may seem like a lot to ask from a half-baked idea, but why
not? This could be just the thing I'm looking for, or it could be a waste of time. From this
side of the river, I suspect it will have some merit, but not be a panacea. A collection
of things with merit, though, overlapping and complementing each other might well do
what no single half-baked idea ever could. And this might be a piece of that. I'll know
in a few weeks. I'll be flogging about this as I go. That sounds vaguely perverted, but
a flog is just a blog hosted on a gopher server, flog, ph, l, o, g. Anyway, if you have an interest
in productivity schemes, you may want to check it out from time to time over the next
month or so. That's gopher, colon slash slash gopher.info-underground.net slash one, the
number one slash lost and bronx slash lost and blog slash. I'll have a link in the show notes
for your convenience, because I'm that kind of guy, a giver. You can also email me at
lostandbronxatgmail.com. That's L-O-S-T-N-B-R-O-N-X at Gmail. And on Identica, I'm, you guessed it,
lost and bronx. Talk to you soon, because that's on the schedule, too. Take care.