What I Choose To Capture And Why

You'll find my attempt at a post with the aforementioned title, as suggested by Zoe Loukia via our post title trade! Read more about the initiative, or contact me if you'd also like to trade!

I aspire to capture far more than you’ll ever catch me in the act.

Maybe this is a sign. Maybe this is a sign.

Most of what I capture is for practicality’s sake: tasks completed so I know what I got done and when, calendar reminders (both for events and repeating tasks) and the occasional journal entry. Even the photos I take almost have a purely practical purpose: something to show family and friends when I email them.

I also track the books I read (started doing so by month this year) and my favorite songs.

Still...I dream of a more robust, useful system. One where my neurodivergent, often overwhelmed brain may do what it does best, and my personal encyclopedia handles the rest.

For all I talk and write about the virtues of being a generalist, and how it’s not something to deride but celebrate...I’ve never really talked about the downside I struggle with the most. A constant feeling of drift. Of uncertainty, of a lack of progress. Not knowing who I am or what I want.

I don’t discuss it with anyone because the answer is always the same, and one I’ve already tried and failed. Narrow down. Specialize. Focus on one thing.

But I can’t. I swear I’ve given it a go, but I feel my creativity dying a slow death. Dramatic, I know, but when the only way you survive is by making things, any threat to that ability is a sign things are going to get worse.

And given I live in a low-energy, easily overwhelmed body...that’s not helpful.

What I need, then, is nuance. A middle ground. And clarity!

And maybe capturing can help me achieve that. Now I think about it, I’ve already proven that theory, even if only in a small way.

Take calendar reminders. I would forget or put off everything from the most basic of tasks to events I wanted to attend until I started a calendar. Now I don’t have to remember any of these, but I don’t forget to do them. I don’t have to decide when to do them, either. My past self decided for me.

Or, my version of Cal Newport’s working memory text file. I call mine a scratchpad because it sounds more fanciful. Whenever I think of something (which is always) I write it there. I can capture the idea without needing to think about where to put it and avoid getting distracted any more than necessary. Decision fatigue is one of my greatest scourges!

Don’t get me wrong, some limits are great, especially when you’re prone to shiny object syndrome! I tried almost every free knowledge management software before realizing I was wasting my precious time switching back-and-forth! So I forced myself to pay money for Obsidian, and I’m sticking to it! It’s a delightful thing, and I used it to write this post before publishing it. (I used to write in HTML, but it got too confusing. Writing and programming require two separate frames of mind!)

So where does all this leave me? I’ve got a few ideas.

1. Installing the Obsidian Web Clipper browser extension and using that to save bookmarks for later instead of the mess that’s my ‘Other Bookmarks’ folder in Edge! I’ve had it installed on Firefox on my phone for some time, and that makes things easier!
2. Syncing or putting my calendar reminders in Obsidian? That way, I could check my calendar without getting pulled into my inbox.

I’m sure I’ll think of more things!

Writing this made me realize something: enough of being adrift. I can be a generalist without being scattered. It’s just a matter of creating the systems (and sticking to them to get there.)

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