Originally published in my newsletter on November 1, 2023.

You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. – James Clear, Atomic Habits

I call the "Back to School Feeling" to that extra motivation to take action I usually get after the summer break. I tend to start new projects and adopt new habits during this time of the year.

I usually get into this mood in September, but this year I had to postpone it by a month. I spent September working remotely in Albania and didn't want to push myself to do anything that was not exploring and getting the most out of that unique opportunity.

So, I allowed myself to explore Albania and not having a routine at all.

But now I need to get back to a routine, and it is a opportunity to build new systems/habits based on what I want to get done and experience before the end of the year.

Systems over goals

When this year started, I told myself I wanted to focus on systems instead of just setting goals. This idea has been still in my head for the last ten months.

During October, I focused on debugging my current systems (processes) and decluttering my physical and digital environments.

Over the years, I started to understand that having a tidy and clean digital environment affects my outcomes and productivity as much as my physical environment does.

One of the systems I started adopting this year is a writing practice. I want to improve my writing, so I tried to set up a habit of writing a few times a week.

I started by writing some articles related to my work as a software engineer.

But I don't want to tie myself to work topics, that is why I started this "learning newsletter". I want to write about my process. What I am experimenting with. What I am trying to build. What I am writing or reflecting upon.

I intent to work with the garage door open.

I think the idea of writing a newsletter where I share my learnings and what I am building can be a good start. Let's see if I manage to keep the focus and be consistent.

I am forcing myself to not care about the outcome, and focus on writing and enjoying the journey instead.

Building

In October, I went back to work on a side project I started tinkering with last year.

I do a finance review each month where I look at several areas and metrics, like my saving rate and how well my investments are doing.

To perform the review, I tend to spend around an hour each month logging in and out of each bank to gather the month-end balances.

I am automating this process by building a tool that automatically fetches my account balances and adds them to a Google Spreadsheet. I am building this tool by using the GoCardless Bank Account Data service.

When I start a pet project, I like to set some goals that will motivate me and make me justify the time I am spending on it.

For this one, my goal is to just use my skills to solve a problem I have. People say that is how great app ideas get started. Let's see how it goes ;)

Next month, I intent to finish the minimum-testable product (MTP) for this pet project. I want to test it myself and see if it solves a real problem. A problem I have.

The next feature I am implementing is an integration with Notion. A lot of people, including myself, use Notion to organise their lives and as a personal knowledge base. Imagine being able to have all the balance and transactions data in Notion.

Writing

Last month, I also managed to get back to writing. I took a draft that I parked during the summer and made a proper article out of it.

It took me a while to finish it as I was supporting the article with coding examples on Github.

The result is a quite long article that I am afraid will require a long reader attention span. But I really enjoyed the combination of writing and building. It takes time but I think the readers really appreciate it when you can bring the practical side to the concepts you are explaining.

I am happy with the end result. I managed to get the article published in Medium by a well-known publication like Towards Data Science.

Next month, I want to start the draft of a follow-up article and try to finish it before the end of the month. Let's see how it goes.

Reading

Reading is a habit that I find quite easy to keep. I usually spend 15/30 minutes reading before I start my day and another 15/30 minutes before I go to bed. I try to include some fiction at night. It helps me fall asleep and forget about work.

I tend to read several books at the same time. People say that helps to connect ideas. I do it because it helps me not get bored with a given book.

Most of the time, I am reading three types of books in parallel: fiction, self-improvement, and work. But I also try to review books that I read and really made an impact or resonated with me.

Last month, I started reviewing my notes from Atomic Habits, one of those books. The book introduced me to the idea of building systems instead of just writing goals and identity-based habits.

I leave you a paragraph that really resonated with me:

Outcomes are about what you get. Processes are about what you do. Identity is about what you believe. When it comes to building habits that last—when it comes to building a system of 1 percent improvements—the problem is not that one level is "better" or "worse" than another. All levels of change are useful in their own way. The problem is the direction of change.

Many people begin the process of changing their habits by focusing on what they want to achieve. This leads us to outcome-based habits. The alternative is to build identity-based habits. With this approach, we start by focusing on who we wish to become.

— Atomic Habits

I am also getting a lot of inspiration and motivation from Austin Kleon books. His books are short but full of inspiration and ideas to be creative and make things.

Next month, I will focus on finishing some work-related books I have been reading for months.

I am in the final chapters for some of them and I think my 2023 Goodreads reading goal could really benefit from adding some extra books before the end of the year.

Favourite things of the month

Three things I really liked this month:

• Multi-layered calendars (Article) - The essay explores the limitations of our digital calendars and suggests ways to improve them. It argues that calendars should differentiate between different types of events, including tasks, meetings, and activities. After reading this article, I started blocking weekly time slots in my calendar for specific activities like 1-1s and focus time.
• 100 Foot Wave (Series) - The second season just came out. It is a documentary series that captures the remarkable journey of surfer Garrett McNamara and his team as they pursue the elusive 100-foot wave. The series covers the world of big-wave surfing, exploring both the science and the human spirit behind this extreme sport. It is set in Nazaré, a small coastal town in Portugal. I went there once and I can tell you that you can definitely feel the power of the ocean even when you get hit by small waves.
• The Quantified Scientist (Youtube) - I am looking to get a new smart band and a friend recommended this YouTube channel. The YouTuber does in-depth analyses of some of the latest smart bands and smartwatches assessing how well they do in tracking heart rate, sleep quality, and GPS location.

That's it for now…

I enjoyed this little experiment of grabbing a nice coffee (flat white), sitting in front of the computer, and trying to do a brain dump by writing down what I have been up to last month.

It helps to put in perspective all the things I have going on in parallel and it pushes me to think of ways to try to narrow my focus a bit more.

If you have reached this far, I hope you at least enjoyed reading it and, who knows, maybe you found something new an interesting. Also, feel free to reach out in the comments or by replying to this email.

- Until next time.

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Writing time: ~2h30min

Grammarly score: 86

Coffees consumed: 1 flat white + 1 latte

Listening: Riverside -Agnes Obel

Monthly Recurrent Revenue: 0 euros.