There is something special about being disconnected from a laptop.

I’m writing this note from my iPhone using an external keyboard.

It feels freeing because I can focus on the words and forget about all the other things I might want to research.

I think that’s because there is some extra friction to getting any of that done. But I’m still in the iOS ecosystem so it’s easy to share my work when I’m done.

I’m curt off yet enough to make me focus, but no so much that this note will go somewhere to die.

In some respect using the iPhone is more freeing than even an iPad because the device is so small I’m not tempted to pull up other apps. The iPad also lives somewhere in the middle between a laptop and a phone, in the sense that it’s easier to multitask, which is really not what I want when I’m trying to focus on writing.

Freeing my mind

When I’m writing I’m always also organizing at the same time. I’ve got these intrusive thoughts about whether my notes/writing are in the right place. I am worried I won’t come back to them, won’t build on top of them, won’t link them together. But they rarely go anywhere.

My wife, Lucy, makes a funny point that men are so over the top with how they organized their todo lists and that extends to writing setups in my case as well.

When I’m writing from my phone I somehow let that all go because my hands are not touching my phone, and I have no way of switching apps or see what changed.

No more hoarding notes

I want to stop hoarding notes that don’t go anywhere.

I’m going to start publishing these on a website when they are done in the rawest form.

Probably no one will read most of them but at least they are not going somewhere to die in one of my notes taking apps.

You might ask how is this better than letting them sit on my computer. If no one will read them anyway why bother?

I think it’s to get in a habit of writing something top to bottom and not just ending with a trailing thought.

I value clear thinking. I admire people who have strong opinions lightly held. I like to see when people publish their ideas online, and publically reflect when they are right/wrong about something, or when they have changed their mind on a topic.

It’s too easy to go through life letting your mind drift from one opinion to another without realizing it.

I think it’s great that our state of minds are so malleable, it makes life interesting and enjoyable.

I also think it’s interesting and useful to recognize when your mindset or opinions have changed, and try to understand why.

In some cases it might be hard to know for sure. We are so good at making up stories to fit reality. That is, of course, why so many people don’t even recognize they have changed their mind on a subject.

Concluding remarks

So here is to a new chapter where I don’t let notes go to die on my computer. Where I have an opinion about things, and publish them online, and where I reflect on when those opinions have changed and when I’ve been right or wrong about something.