Tough pill to swallow

With these weeknotes I track and archive whatever it is I spend my time on. They’re public so you can keep me in check.

Recently I’ve been looking for new ideas to complement and supersede my existing planning methods (per project and per week, which these weeknotes are part of as I review the previous week and plan for the next). I wanted something that’d take some of the load off my week planning, which was taking up too much time… and something that’d take my different type of activities, moods and energy levels into account somehow.

I kept coming back to media theorist Douglas Rushkoff, specifically something he said in a Tegenlicht documentary: the idea of the different phases of the moon affecting the neurotransmitters in our brains, thus influencing the optimal kind of work for that period. I looked it up and apparently Rushkoff covers this idea more extensively in his book Present Shock, in which he introduces it as a “tough pill to swallow” as a sort of hocuspocus warning.

So last week I entered the four phases into my calender and starting figuring out how their characteristics could apply to my work and life. (For the record, I don’t really care how ’true’ any of this is, as long as it provides me with a useful framework. A kind of themes to frame my activities and manage my expectations accordingly.) Here’s my interpretation so far:

• The first phase, after the New Moon, is “interpersonal” and “high energy, low focus”. It lends itself to getting together with people, testing out new ideas, and generally just starting things.
• The second phase, after the First Quarter Moon, is “intrapersonal” and “high energy, high focus”. It’s best suited to digging in deep and getting a lot of work done: writing, designing, building.
• The third phase, after the Full Moon, is “extrapersonal” and “low energy, low focus”. This is the easygoing phase, that’s all about regaining strength, connecting with nature, pondering quietly…
• The fourth phase, after the Last Quarter Moon, is “impersonal” and “low energy, high focus”. It’s best for planning, structuring, and taking the lessons from the previous month to bring them to the next.

Last week we went from the third to the fourth phase, and honestly my mood lined up with the scheme almost uncannily. Early on I felt slow and uninspired, but by the end of the week I was enthusiastically setting up my first ‘moon plan’. I’ll be sure to let you know if it keeps serving a purpose!

What else? I…

• Wrote a column for KIJK about Apple TV. I think I cracked it! The editorial team also published one of my older columns on its site.
• Recorded a podcast for the Dutch Games Association with Grendel Games’ Tim Laning, for which I finally visited his office in beautiful downtown Leeuwarden. Now I just have to edit the thing.
• Dove into Antegods for Codeglue, thinking about the story universe, trying to figure out what things are called, and meeting up with gameplay lead Wytze and art lead Tom to talk everything through.
• Worked on the marketing for the upcoming PlayStation 4 version of Toki Tori 2+, including a tagline and press release. And on a bunch of RIVE things as well. I was at Two Tribes on Friday as usual.
• Got accepted as a jury committee member by the Dutch Foundation for Literature, for their Digital Literature program. Yay!
• Learned about the chosen start-ups for the Renew the Book competition (which I applied for with Geometry Girl; it dropped out in the first round). These companies are interesting for sure, though they’re about discovery, crowdfunding, quotes… not about renewing the actual book! I can see why my project wasn’t picked, as I’m just not as far along, but I’m a bit disappointed that none of them try to move the actual literary form forward.
• Tinkered on a new version of this very website. It’s delightfully simple, both in terms of design and technique. I hope I’ll be able to implement it soon.
• #hobbydevved!
• Finished the first season of Mr. Robot, which I found rather disappointed.
• Went to the beach with my family.

Average step count per day: 9.714
Average staircase count per day: 12
Average sleep per night: 6:58
Average weight: 88,7 kg