For a long time I didn't use reminders, or lists, or a calendar. I figured I could just keep it all in my head, and if something fell out it just wasn't that important. At some point I decided to try keeping track of things outside my head, and (surprise) it made my life easier.
Now I have a bunch of lists:
- to-do
- to-read (books and articles)
- to-play (games)
- to-buy (gifts)
- this list
Any time I come across something I don't want to forget, I add it to one of my lists.
But my favorite list is my to-build list.
It's partly a list of projects that will solve some problem I have (for example: a "feed the dog" reminder on a Raspberry Pi in the kitchen). But it's also a to-learn list, a reminder of how much I don't know yet. There's a lot to learn out there!
If I read about something new, or if I'm in a conversation where I wish I had more context, I add it to my to-build list. Whether it's module federation or CSRF protection, I can read a lot about something, but it's abstract until I work with it hands-on. It hasn't been fully incorporated into my mental model.
An example from this past year is Kubernetes. I wanted to understand the problem it solves and how to use it, but couldn't find a good entrypoint. The docs include a lot of kubernetes-specific terms that I didn't have context for. I tried katacoda, but felt like I was just typing commands and not getting the big picture.
So I gave myself a project. In fact, I started from a Python project from when that was on my to-build list (another benefit of to-build lists is that you end up with a bunch of projects you can use as playgrounds). I found an excellent tutorial and over a few weeks got a solid mental model of Kubernetes, and expanded my understanding of Docker. I learned it on a whim, but it's since become incredibly valuable in my day-to-day.
As you check things off your to-build list, you build up another list: Skills you have now, which you didn't before.
We forget our accomplishments if we don't write them down. Sure, we remember the big things, but the smaller things just end up as "things I can do." We forget there was a time when we couldn't do them. My to-build list gives me proof of progress.
