The desire to do things better didn't awaken in me until I was 29 years old. Age 29 is when I first began questioning how to better manage my tasks. It started one morning at work when I was sitting at my desk and staring at an unorganized inbox and ticketing system (I work in IT). That's the moment when the question flashed across my brain: What is really the best way to organize and plan these tasks? Up until this point, I had never wondered how to best manage all the things I had to do. Why not? Did I not care about being mediocre? Was the desire still subconsciously within me, just something I had never thought about until now? Why had I never wanted to better myself in this area?

As I look back on the different stages of my life, there were always other things I was more concerned with. When I was a kid, I mainly thought about the things that kids like to do: playing sports, listening to music, playing video games, etc. After school, I was most concerned with establishing myself as a young adult and spending time with other young people. I was into writing music, mountain biking, and going out to upscale bars. A major desire at this point in my life was finding a serious romantic relationship as I wanted to get married. Then, after getting married to my wife, my focus was on navigating married life and learning how to manage a household as I had not lived away from my parents until now. During those newly married years, I moved from one apartment to another, adopted a dog, bought a house, and retreated into that house during the global COVID-19 pandemic. While my wife and I social distanced from others, I became domesticated. I got preoccupied with lawn care and taking long walks with my dog in the local park. My wife and I were also continually working on little things around our house and yard. Over these years, I matured in my marriage, in my secular job, and as a homeowner.

Now, after having done all these things and accomplishing several life goals, I found myself sitting at my desk wondering how to do something better. I didn't know it then, but I was about to enter another stage of my life: the stage of personal productivity, personal knowledge management, and learning. This is the moment that would set off a chain reaction of wanting to do everything better. This first question would spark another question which would eventually lead to more questions: What is the best way to organize all the information I come across? What is the best way to read? What is the best way to learn? The name of my game now is the continual search to do everything better. I've been on this journey for two years now, and as I see the good results from applying what I've learned, I wish the desire to do things better would have hit me earlier in life. Oh, well. Better late than never, right? I invite you to join me on this journey, and if you know of a better way to do something than I do, please share it with me.

Subscribe now