I’m trying to do more personal projects this year, both to scratch some itches and to learn new skills and improve old ones.
In the past, I’ve been put off by a lack of knowledge combined with perceived effort required. But thanks to time spent last year focussing on my mental health and well-being, I now realize that both of those excuses are bogus. At worst, I’m a little rusty in a few areas. And I’m making more time by removing all the avenues for procrastination and ‘busy-work’.
This morning, I cleared one roadblock by installing Python 3 onto my Mac using Homebrew, and started the process of re-acquainting myself with zsh and command-line activity in general. I’ve not used the command-line full time since my university days, about thirty years ago, so as I said earlier, I’m a little rusty.
I’m also making more effort to read books rather than flit around online. So, every hour or so I have a ten-minute break from the computer (thanks to Time Out) when I can get up and do some stretches, then sit away from the computer and read a book. Right now, I have a paperback copy of Getting Things Done by David Allen next to me at the desk.
Making little changes like these has worked wonders for my health, so I’m hoping that I can now do the same for my mind.
Learning by doing was always the last item on my (now defunct) /now page and I still have “I learn by doing” on my /about page. I like to read and study but it doesn’t really sink in unless I am actually doing whatever it is I’m learning. I think that’s why I like mucking about with code so much, thinking of something I want to achieve and, not even knowing if it’s possible, set out to discover how to do it. That’s when things come to life.