Before I set the timer, I looked around my room for things to change. Nothing excited me too much. The feeling I got was something like “none of this moves the needle.” The optimistic devil’s advocate in me responded with “well maybe it’s the accumulation of these little things that moves the needle, just try it anyway”.*
So I set the timer for 5 minutes and wrote down a few things. While writing, I realized the most important space for me is digital—specifically the software I use to make music. There are many up-front costs I haven’t paid—namely organizing samples, creating templates for faster workflows, naming certain channel strips by default, etc. This got me much more excited because I could already see the impact this will have. It’ll take a lot longer than 5 minutes though, so I decided to do it later today after 2nd part of the challenge.
2nd timer:
I put a command hook on my desk for my headphones. Now I have more room on my desk. Satisfying.
I ordered a dock and another monitor for my laptop from Amazon—more desk space, more screen real estate, and less plugging in cords. Felt like I splurged a bit—I expected that feeling. I’m trying to be more okay with spending money on things that help me.
I feel like I could benefit from doing today’s challenge a few more times but I’ll wait until the other design days before repeating this one.
* I’ve noticed that this voice in my head (the “simulator”) has a jaded, even pseudo-omniscient, personality. Phrases like “oh don’t worry, that won’t work” or “no no no, you wouldn’t like that” come up. Maybe it’s the voice of status quo bias.
Before I set the timer, I looked around my room for things to change. Nothing excited me too much. The feeling I got was something like “none of this moves the needle.” The optimistic devil’s advocate in me responded with “well maybe it’s the accumulation of these little things that moves the needle, just try it anyway”.*
So I set the timer for 5 minutes and wrote down a few things. While writing, I realized the most important space for me is digital—specifically the software I use to make music. There are many up-front costs I haven’t paid—namely organizing samples, creating templates for faster workflows, naming certain channel strips by default, etc. This got me much more excited because I could already see the impact this will have. It’ll take a lot longer than 5 minutes though, so I decided to do it later today after 2nd part of the challenge.
2nd timer:
I put a command hook on my desk for my headphones. Now I have more room on my desk. Satisfying.
I ordered a dock and another monitor for my laptop from Amazon—more desk space, more screen real estate, and less plugging in cords. Felt like I splurged a bit—I expected that feeling. I’m trying to be more okay with spending money on things that help me.
I feel like I could benefit from doing today’s challenge a few more times but I’ll wait until the other design days before repeating this one.
* I’ve noticed that this voice in my head (the “simulator”) has a jaded, even pseudo-omniscient, personality. Phrases like “oh don’t worry, that won’t work” or “no no no, you wouldn’t like that” come up. Maybe it’s the voice of status quo bias.