I write this work log the next day, at the gym between sets, as I did during a couple of days in the past. I find great pleasure and clarity writing during exercise, though it inevitably brings a dose of self-consciousness: only a fool would do things like these. But a fool indeed I am.
Yesterday I received a mother and her daughter at the airbnb apartment. They were coming to Madrid to visit their son/brother who had just had a child, and it was their first time using an airbnb. I was treated like a friend of the family, and I soon found myself completely at ease with them. Instead of a check-in to the apartment it was personal check-in of sorts, peppered with tips about the apartment. It was obviously a pleasant experience for both parts, and we said farewell with two kisses and best wishes for the new member of the family.
I then headed to the Cabify offices to catch up with René of Notebits. As he was busy wrapping up a user research interview I waited in the lobby, and I had the chance to greet former workmates who were coming out for lunch. I also caught up with members of my former team and we promised lunch together. René and myself had an interesting business lunch in which some possible futures were sketched, and also more practical, immediate matters. We bid farewell, and I headed back home, and then to the pool to keep on underlining Eckermann's notes on Goethe.
When I came back home, Isa, my roommate and owner of the airbnb apartment, pointed out the possibility of taking charge of a new airbnb during the month of September, as the apartment that I am managing now has been sold and our last guests will be in August. I thought it would be a good idea, though this changes my plans a bit. My 30 day work log cycle was projected on the fact that I would be free during september, so I would need to finish a project in this time and then head off for some adventures into nature. This change of circumstances extends the cycle by 30 days and pushes my vacations into the beginning of October, which adds time and thus possibilities. I wish to project what I ought to do with these possibilities, and to correct the course of the current cycle as I've found difficulty navigating with these winds.
Let us see then what frontlines are active: Bézier Game, Project Arete, Airbnb apartment, work routes, Goethe and Notebits Flow. Let's dedicate some time to describe each, and then decide what to do about them.
Bézier Game
I have this advanced enough that all the interesting challenges have dried up. From now on, it will be chores. Many of them. As trite as it sounds, my creative sensibilities are hurt by sustained work on chores, and though I could engage in war to finally release this, it will come at great cost and I would need to take vacations afterwards. This was my original plan, but with 30 extra days, instead tackling all the chores in a short period of time, I can spread them out until late September. But, is this procrastination? Ballpark figure is 35 days, and before these news I was planning on completing it in around 8 days. I work around four effective hours per day when I'm in a good state of mind, so that 32 hours. One hour per day during 35 days should be enough. Commitment: Bezier Game chores: 1 hour per day.
Project Arete
Project Arete has accomplished a more or less stable "useful for me" status, though not in any way shareable yet. The sexy picker is part of this project, and I would like integrate it into Arete so that it is more useful. I think that, if I dedicate one hour to project arete too I will see great advances, but I will need to make it public so that I can share the work I'm doing. I have generally disliked the experience of having some work that is private, and the main reason as to make it private was that I wanted to sense if this was the right moment to tackle it. And it has felt this way, it is the right moment to tackle it indeed. Commitment Project Arete: 1 hour per day.
Airbnb apartment
As my savings are not enough to dedicate the 100% if my time to pleasure projects, I am willing to do some work in order to extend my runway. I find that I cannot sit down eight hours a day doing focused work anymore, I'm 38 and my capacity for this has diminished. As in the case with partying, I can do it if necessary, but I must be willing to pay the price later. So I'm more than willing to sell other kind of skills in exchange for extending my runway. In the case of cleaning, I have glimpsed what it is to find pleasure in cleaning, and though I cannot reach this state of time with the regularity I would like, I think has become more or less of a challenge. There are treasures in cleaning. Receiving guests has always been pleasurable, the variety of people is staggering and everybody causes a deep impression on me. These are random samples of middle class people from Spain and abroad, who visit Madrid for the most varied reasons (probably 30% tourists) and they all come in so different patterns and personalities that I wouldn't be able to pinpoint anything in common except that they have been nice and pleasant people. It restores faith in humanity. So doing this activity has a positive impact in my mood, in my finances, and it doesn't compete with my pleasure work. An hour of computer labour takes away from my pleasure labour, but this is not the case with physical/social labour. Commitment: on demand.
Work routes
In the last few days I've been going to the nearest study hall to keep it simple. And I must confess it is also because there is a person there whom I like. I have not crossed even words with her, just a few furtive glances. But this stasis is not satisfactory in the least, I must make a move in order to free myself of this attachment. As if there is mutual interest as if there's not, this allows me to free myself to keep on exploring. So I will do something about it. Commitment: speak out and continue exploring libraries and study halls.
Goethe
Since my early twenties I have not been taken away by an author as Goethe has done it. The breadth of his intellect and sensibility is staggering. When something like this happens to me, I must produce something so that the intellectual nourishing has an outlet. I will write the article which I have in mind, and afterwards, if I feel like it, I will conduct Goethe's experiments on color. Goethe has a peculiar way of doing science: he puts forth a series of simple experiments with light, and annotates his observations. He makes it very clear that you must experience them with your own senses so that you can gain insight into what he is speaking about. I happen to have Phillips Hue lightbulbs which would greatly assist in the task, but I would need to find some lamps to use them effectively. It would seem then, that the first task is to finish reading Eckermann's notes on Goethe and write the article, and then see from there. Commitment: finish reading Eckermann's notes on Goethe during my off-hours.
Notebits Flow
I had no intention of taking up freelance projects, but René's product was very aligned with my vision and the experience of collaboration was throughly positive. The problem with most clients is that they have a schedule, and the schedule brings deliverables, and the deliverables bring a plan, and so forth. Soon the creative person finds himself managing the project rather than creating it, and in this aspect René and myself have understood each other seamlessly. I have no roadmap, just a couple of open-ended tasks without a deadline that I tackle as I see fit. And it has worked out great for our own peculiar styles. We are in a state where we have an MVP already, but since we are in no rush to release it, we are allowing the grapes to age into wine. Commitment: on demand.
It seems nothing that I have on my table is unnecessary. These are enough fronts to keep me entertained for a while, and it seems the last global commitment is to convert these intentions into a Project Arete cycle. The task for today then is planning.