Yodeller

With more habits to train it's essential to track them somehow. It's easier to see the progress and accomplishments when I can check my logs.

For these yodels tracking is easy. I just check here. For the 7 minute workout the app I'm using keeps track. But there are other things I'm doing and would like to track.

There are apps for this kind of things. Many apps, too many. Some of them free, some paid and anything in between. But the price isn't the only cost. The biggest investment is to choose one. The right one for me.

I would also need something to jot down my notes and ideas. Same with the tracking: there are apps for that. But maybe I should have a proper notepad, a paper journal with nice leather covers and a fancy pen.

What about physical activities? I have this basic activity bracelet, but it hardly tracks my overall activity, not that much detail on different activities. There are nice sport watches...

And all those apps. I could do better. Maybe I should start developing my own.

And thats just the start. This could get expensive fast.

I need something simple. Something that covers most of the things. Something that is easy to carry with me wherever I go. Something that is flexible and can keep track of everything. Something cheap.

Somehow I didn't have a clear idea of what to write today. Or maybe I had too many topics in my mind and didn't know which one to choose. I found myself just staring at the screen unable to start. A blank stare at the blank screen.

It can be petrifying. The blank screen. Thinking that you should be filling it with words but you don't have any.

Seems that with practice and dedication it's still not the end of the world. You just start. The rest will follow.

This is probably not one of my best writings, but it has given me a couple of new insights:
- Getting started is really important. Even if you are not going to give your best it shows that you are able to do it.
- Breaking a streak is really hard once you are committed to it.
- Everything doesn't have to be planned beforehand.
- I don't fear failure so much anymore, I can just write without thinking will it be good.
- I Have learned to slow down my thoughts enough so that I can almost keep up writing them up.

When it's easy it's easy. When it's hard it's still easy if you know what you are doing, only the results may vary.

So I got myself a notebook. Not the fancy one, just some cheap basic one. It's faux leather cover is already tearing and I had to glue the strap back as it came off after just a few uses. Anyway it does it job.

Writing all my ideas and todos to a paper feels good. Gives some space in my head as I don't have to remember everything. It's also nice concrete way of seeing how many there are.

Next step is to learn to organize them. I need to have a system. As with the apps the web is full of systems to organize your notes. I skimmed through many of them. Before I got overwhelmed by the information and analysis paralysis I just decided to try and make my own. Picking ideas from some of those systems. Adding some of my own to the mix. Unlike the apps with these system it's possible to pick just those features I like and combine them the way that feels best suited for my preferenses.

I don't know how is it going to work out, but at least I'm free to adjust it as I go. I'm not sure if there will ever be a final version, but as soon as I get it somewhat working I'll write about it in detail.

I'm once again returning to the topic of words being insufficient to describe our thoughts. I just started to put my ideas into paper as words. What about if I can't load them back to my mind as the same ideas? They are not even long descriptive stories, just a few words per idea.

Writing my ideas out doesn't actually remove those ideas from my head. They are just safely stored away. Waiting for a better moment and giving more room for more urgent matters or new ideas. I still remember them. They are just the trigger words to fetch those memories. Passwords to access them.

Another thing is that they are my words. I have the same extended meanings for them now and when I'm reading them back. I'm not likely to misinterpret my own words.

It's easy to see how this could give a false sensation of clear communication. You could think that couple of bullet points can clearly describe complex ideas. After all it's clear to you and makes sense. How could others misundersand it?

Biggest thread for me is the fact that I might not be able to read what I have written. I should really start paying attention to my handwriting. Make it more readable. Someday I might not remember what I have written. Then I'll have all those ideas, locked in my head.

I wrote about my next habit some time ago. The exercising habit I should pick up. Well I started trying out that 7 minute workout after that.

It's been a little over two weeks since. I have skipped it only once during that time. For a start I did it around different times, but soon it found it's place as a part of my evening routines.

As someone who hasn't been working out regularly that 7 minutes feels like a perfect start. No need to go anywhere. You can easily do it at home. You also don't need any fancy equipments, a chair and a wall are the only ones needed.

Sure it takes more than 7 minutes in total. Warmup and cooldown is recommended. You might need to change clothes. Go to shower afterwards. But still you need to do all that anyway.

And depending on the app you might soon notice you are doing more. The app I use has this smart workout feature and before I noticed it had me doing two sets in a row!

I tried out few apps as the one I originally picked had some issues and didn't offer much of a chance for customization or tracking, but in the end it still turned out to be the best one for me. It is simple, focused on the essentials without any distractions. And it has clear instructions for the excersises.