Getting things ready in advance

I’ve been musing on how ridiculously useful it is to get things ready in advance. Especially the day before.

Examples:

  • Setting my workout clothes out. (I’m more likely to workout.)
  • Packing my backpack with everything I need for work in the morning. (No hunting around in the morning for stuff when my brain is waking up and wasting 15 minutes or getting frustrated.)
  • Setting everything I need to shower and brush my teeth after late-night roller skating in the guest bathroom. (So I can shower there and not wake up my wife.)

It can sometimes feel silly in the moment, but I’ve found it makes it a lot easier to get the outcomes I want in life (e.g., working out, leaving on time, etc.)

It’s more useful to spend a few minutes doing this than wasting time on YouTube or something similar.

Making workflows simple

The internet is filled with complicated productivity advice. Much of it is bullshit, overcomplicated, and over-engineered. (Ben Brooks agrees.)

The most important thing is to do the things which move the needle regularly. It doesn’t matter how good your systems are if you don’t do The Work (whatever The Work is for your situation).

Here’s an example from my life: recipes

I could use a recipe app to catalog all my favorite recipes. They support automatic import and meal planning and million other features I don’t need. They would just complicate my life and be less portable and cost me more money.

So instead, I do this: keep all my recipes in Bear.

The format is stupid stupid simple:

  • Title
  • Ingredients
  • Steps

That’s it!

Here’s how this looks in practice:

Recipe example

Keeping this simple means it is easy to create new recipes and browse the existing ones. And I don’t have to worry about having One More App to manage or learn or fiddle with.

This just works and is stupid simple.