Plans matter for me. I like to know what I’m going to eat, what time I’m going to sit at my desk to start work, how my apps will be ordered, the arrangement of my desk, and even what I’m going to order at Taco Bell before I arrive at the drive-thru. Growing up, I struggled with short-term memory, often forgetting something as soon as I walked through a doorway. 

To compensate for this, I began to write everything down. The smartphone has been a huge saver for me in this regard. If I have a thought for something I intend to do, I’ll add it to my to-do list in Things. I just throw it into the list for today. It doesn’t even matter if I do it; the thing has just been captured, and so I’ll be able to decipher what should happen to it as soon as I’m at a place to process the information and decide. 

There’s also something there in how my brain works. If someone asks me to complete a task, I need to write it down, look at it in relation to the rest of my tasks, prioritize, then decide when and if I can do the task. 

The work I do allows me to plan things out, have time to think, and have a routine to my day. 

I love this.

Because I’m in a creative profession, one that requires me to think up new ideas for things, to understand unique problems and find helpful solutions, it’s important to have stability in the areas that I can control. That’s why the apps I use matter; the hardware I use is important to me. Even the placement for where I sit at my desk matters. 

I can make a strong argument for most of the daily carry items I use, each carefully considered for how it fits into my life. Sometimes I surprise friends with how much I know about a very specific topic and why it’s personally important to me. 

Having all these things taken care of, maybe similar to how Steve Jobs famously chose one uniform for his outfit and kept it for years, allows me to focus my energy where I believe it matters. 

But that’s not all there is to my life. If I only had everything planned out, I wouldn’t have as much of a life as I desire. I’d be missing something. 

Outside of work, my wife and I are also planners, also deliberate and, for the most part, organized in how we live our lives. But we also love to spend time with friends and family and try to make that a priority as much as we can. Time with people you love necessarily requires flexibility, planning for unplanned, beautiful chaos. 

I live in a world where I need the time to have things laid out in front of me, organized, and expected. In the same breath, I also desire the uncertainty that necessarily comes before connection. You don’t know if that friendship will grow, you don’t know if you’ll say something awkward that requires an apology. Human connection is messy and unpredictable and more often than not can cause unintentional hurt. But matters, now more than ever. It’s crucial. Connection with others we love and hold dear is one of the things I greatly desire in life. 

I love connection, curiosity, and creativity. Having times where I can metaphorically disappear into a cave and focus on a single task or project for hours on end is me. Also, spending time with loved ones where we talk through meaningful and trite topics, play games, eat together, and live life together is just as important. 

We celebrated Thanksgiving early for uninteresting reasons. It was a lovely time. I ate far too much, we played cards and video games (kind of the default when you come from a family of all brothers). This year, a particular favorite was Factorio, where we got all four initial science packs over the weekend. These things are part of the makeup of life, and as I age, I’m learning to appreciate the times where I can’t control every aspect in front of me and where that’s completely okay. I also enjoy the times where I can sit down in the quiet, do my stretches, and dive into the work in front of me. 

Times of chaos, times of calm. Both make up our lives.