Paul McCafferty
About Archive Reading Photos Also on Micro.blog
  • De-cluttering my Tech Gear

    A few weeks ago I decided to play the Minimalism Game. I chose a pared-down version lasting fourteen rather than thirty days. This was partly due to time constraints and partly a way of dipping my toe in the water.

    I completed the game, getting rid of a whopping 105 items in two weeks. One thing on day one, two things on day two and so on until I got rid of fourteen things on day fourteen. What struck me about the experiment was that many of the items of which I could easily rid myself were tech accessories. From old USB drives to charging cables, from travel adaptors to phone cases.

    Co-incidentally, today I was reviewing my Ten Ideas Every Day note, an occasional habit whereby I try to write down ten new ideas every day. James Altucher recommends this exercise as a way of getting more creative. And I have to agree that it works. Ninety-nine out of one hundred ideas I come up with are terrible but one isn’t. If I did the exercise every day for a year I’d have thirty-six great ideas!

    One of the ideas I’d captured was to limit my collection of tech accessories to what I can carry in one rucksack. I’m not sure what prompted me to come up with this but since doing the Minimalism Game it’s an idea I’d like to take further.

    In the next few weeks I will be going through all of my possessions that can be considered tech accessories and trying to reduce how many I have. It strikes me that if I can’t carry the items in one rucksack when am I ever going to use them. Of course I have to exclude non-portable items, but everything else I own that can be classified as a tech accessory has to be able to fit in my rucksack, or it’s history!

    → 2:15 PM, Nov 20
  • Quite shocked to discover I had 155 third party apps installed on my iPhone. I’ve now reduced it to 140 and I intend to reduce it further. I’m curious how that compares with others…

    → 8:59 PM, Jul 5
  • When the alarm went off at 6.20 this morning I realised how easily I can talk myself out of going to the gym, once I remember my son isn’t there to go with me

    → 7:39 PM, Jun 13
  • I think it might be time for another digital detox

    → 6:34 PM, Jun 12
  • Today I was reminded that progress > perfection

    → 9:01 PM, Jun 3
  • Very few meals would benefit from an additional onion 🧅

    → 4:45 PM, Apr 29
  • Furniture shopping today 🎃
    The pumpkin is there so I get the pin!

    → 9:54 PM, Oct 30
  • With so many smart thinkers and creators on the micro.blog platform it’s tricky to see where I can make a contribution. But I keep looking for my niche!

    → 7:50 PM, Oct 28
  • Resolutions

    More act, less think
    More create, less consume
    More laugh, less worry
    More kind, less right
    More important, less urgent
    More read, less watch
    More progress, less perfection
    More talk, less email
    More do, less plan
    More present, less distraction
    More invest, less spend
    More family, less friend
    More friend, less stranger
    More fit, less fat
    More application, less app

    → 11:00 PM, Oct 18
  • This morning I awakened to the realisation that despite the rhetoric of my internal dialogue, despite my persisting youthful outlook, despite my seasoned procrastination on important life decisions, I am no longer 26. If there’s a book in me I need to start trying to get the damn thing out!

    → 1:46 PM, Nov 7
  • It was one of those long meetings that drew few conclusions.

    → 7:41 PM, Jun 30
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