Excursions

The best thing about Siri Shortcuts is that it can be triggered via text - swipe-down and search. I am always anxious using voice assitants in pubic - I don’t want to broadcast what I am doing on my phone. Though I still can’t “chat” with Siri, this is a good start.

Sometimes you behave with others, especially your close ones, in a way that you know just isn’t right. And it is times like these that I find are best spent alone. I distract my mind, not letting it wander. I give it what it likes. And then more often than not do I think clear.

I was a guest today in the pretend home of my daughter. She invited me to her pretend kitchen to make a pretend roll from a piece of napkin which I wasn’t prepared enough to do. I told her so to which her only response was “at least try dad before giving up”. Boy, kids are smart.

I was a guest on this week’s episode of @monday - it was a fun experience. Frankly, I was a bit nervous and a lot worried. But then @macgenie is a wonderful host and it was pleasure talking to her. Do give it a listen, and I hope doesn’t bore you down 😬

I‘ve decided to get inspired by my dad and strictly follow a daily routine - doesn’t matter then if I get called a bore. I believe it would be worth it if it lends some time to procrastinate at that odd moment and if am a tad more satisfied. The current lifestyle isn’t healthy.

Google would like us to believe that Chrome is just one of their many services, not a tool  —  it suits their business model. But I think they shouldn’t be allowed to push that idea into mainstream. It is important we voice our opinion.

I had no idea DuckDuckGo had such a vast list of categories for Instant Answers. It has become the default search engine for me, and it seems am not alone. It is extremely rare these days that I try a search on Google and even then it mostly turns up to be an activity in vain.

I am a serial procrastinator, I am not proud of it. Any hint of a distraction and I go crazy running behind that.

I also lack the skill to follow a routine. I lack the drive to not miss the day-to-day “schedule” every day, weekday and weekend alike. I think I have been shaped by the societal dislike for any thing routine. “Routine is boring”, I have been told since childhood. But I am slowly coming to realise that a daily routine may be the best solution to my procrastination problem.

My dad loves his routine. He wakes up at exactly the same time daily, carries out the same morning choir. He goes for his morning walk. Follows that up with his morning tea and a newspaper. He gets ready for his office. He has his lunch and drives to his office. Spends the same amount of time working. Comes back at home at exactly the same time. A serial or two on television, then dinner. Plan and prepare for the next day. Gets his end of day dose of news. Finally, he goes to bed just as he wakes up, at same time daily. And I have seen him following this routine of his at least since I remember. And even being close to sixty, he looks a lot less tired and a lot more fresh than any of us in thirties do.

Procrastination is a blanket idea all problems are swept under. But it’s the lack of routine which causes most of the issues in the first place. A routine may lend that time to procrastinate at that odd moment.

And the current lifestyle of mine is largely at fault. I tend to spend time in office till the work is done, which rarely gets done in time anyway. All that causes is random office hours. I do things which do not fit in the regular schedule - I would watch a live match or binge watch a new series late into the night. Weekends are marked for getaways, that means just lazy around, neither being productive nor relieved. I never go to sleep on time, so I never wake at the same time.

So, on this birthday I decided to stop leading my life so. I am going to follow a routine. I have been sleeping on the same time, getting up on the same time. Reaching office and leaving for home at the same time. I next need to plan the rest of the day too, fit my other interests around the routine tasks.

I need to get inspired by my dad. Doesn’t matter then if I get called a bore. I believe it would be worth it if I am at least a tad more satisfied.

Though a bit old, this post from Bron Gondwana is such a fascinating view on emails. I’d never looked at them as a memory, your personal copy of what was said. Bron’s right, the immutability of an email made it an accepted standard for communications of all forms. h/t @fiona

I am surprised to read the pushback against Marzipan and the extremely new Apple apps ported from iOS — especially they being ugly. Didn’t Apple mention it is still new and not yet fully baked? It’s a work in progress and am sure things will significantly change before release.