It is 07:44. Today I have to receive guests for an airbnb that I manage. Guests arrive to the train station at 14:15, the earliest they could get home would be at 15:00, so I would need to be at the apartment for cleaning up at 13:00 the latest. It can get there early and have a work session, or work form a different place and then head to the apartment. I prefer working from a public space, so I'll hit the library first.
What needs to be done today? Though I now have a working stream of thought "published", it is not truly published until you broadcast it. So I would like, at the end of the day, to have this published. Not that much needs to be done, I'll just let the perfectionist in me take charge knowing that the deadline is today.
I consider cleaning and receiving guests to be a work session, so I will have to do the same 5 minute consciousness stream when I arrive. I usually have three work sessions per day, so I need a workplace after I've checked in the guests. I'll be carrying laundry, so I don't want to walk too far. I've been to the library closest to the airbnb apartment, but it is an uninspiring place to work. Let us try the study hall nearby which is unknown to me.
- Work session at Biblioteca Elena Fortín
- Work session at Airbnb
- Work session at Luis Gonzaga study hall
I'd also like to hit the gym today. I'll see if it fits between one of my work sessions, or if I'll do it at the end of the day. Not much else needs to be written, I'll forgo my extra minutes and prepare the day.
Work session 1 (2h, 5m)
I forget that things start off late in Spain. I arrived to the library 10 minutes before opening hours at 09:00, so I'll use these spare minutes while it opens to write down what I want to accomplish in this work session. The intention will be to know what to do when I sit down at my desk. I have the basic layout finished. It would need some colors and very basic styling. I haven 't styled any links. I don't want to get too hung up on styling matters, as long as there is enough whitespace, proper hierarchy, and good readability I'll be satisfied. The goal is quite vague. I suppose the metric is "would I send a link to this to another person?" and if the answer is yes, I'll be done.
I have around two hours for this work session, at the end I will go back home, install the bike rack, pack the clean laundry for the airbnb and then bike over there. Though it feels like I am getting ahead of myself, I won't introduce the second work session until I arrive to the apartment, so I need to make mental note of the things needed to get there. I was low on trash bags, I'll pick some up after the library.
I have a properly written announcement which I wrote a couple of weeks ago, and I'd like to publish this too. How does this fit in with the work journal? It is a different kind of information and it needs it's own space. This indeed is something to be worked out at my last working session.
It is 9:02 and the library doors are open, I shall look for a seat.
It is 11:08 and I had a sold two hours of focused work. The verdict: not terrible. It was a pleasant work session, working among focused students does wonders for concentration.
Work session 2 (1h, 30min)
I arrive to the airbnb apartment with just enough time to clean up for the next guests, so I will be as brief as possible. I will write as I finish catching my breath from the grueling 40 min uphill bike trip from my house. I'm glad I packed an extra shirt, if I have a couple of minutes at the end of the cleaning session I'll jump into the shower, otherwise I'll do it at the gym. It took twice as much time to install the bike rack, I seem to be very clumsy with nuts and bolts, I suppose it's a general lack of experience buying and assembling stuff.
I'll review what needs to be done: open the windows to ventilate, clean "wet" things (toilet, sinks, bathtub), wipe dust from surfaces, change bedding, sweep, replace the bag in bin, check supplies and then I'll be done. Breath is recovered, let's hurry.
Work session 3 (forgone)
I received the guests on time, a nice family from Oregon. Though not in my original plans, I saw there was a gym and an outdoor pool more or less on the way back, and since I didn't find an open gym yesterday I felt compelled to come today, even though the blazing heat and the morning biking drained my battery. This has nothing to do with work, but I just want to note the effect of body exhaustion on mental performance. My body feels tired but my mind is calm and clear. Do I need both to accomplish focused work?
I am sitting at a picnic table in the lunching area. Not the ideal work set up. Yesterday I enjoyed working lying down with my head propped up. I packed a compact camping cushion for this purpose. I'll seek the best spot possible and have a work session here. The mind seems to be wandering a bit, it seems an exhausted body has a negative effect on concentration, though moderate exercise tends to do the opposite. I will not write about experience until I truly attempt to work.
What is it that I can accomplish lying down on concrete? This pool has no green areas. I may be sitting at the best working spot possible. I'll take a look around, and if I don't find an adequate spot for work I'll simply relax and take this pending work session elsewhere.
***
There was no spot to work. I dozed of in a shaded bench, enjoyed the sun, dipped in the pool, and am coming back home at 20:00. If I pulled energy from the reserve I would be able to launch this today, but it wouldn't be a good launch and I would pay the cost tomorrow. Let the deadline move back one day, and gain by being patient. What can I do at this moment? Tend to the garden, the heat was blazing today. Wash the laundry. Have a glass of wine. That will be my third work session of the day.
Debt
- Put templates in linked file
- Launch plackup upon server start
- ✅Pack pillow
- ✅Buy trash bags