So, folks have been asking me about this 'hdtody' thing I was tinkering with. Lemme tell ya, it started out as one thing and, well, like most things in life, it morphed a bit. It wasn't some magic formula I cooked up, more like an experiment that went sideways, in a good way, I guess.
My Grand Plan for 'hdtody'
I figured, okay, 'hdtody' – I dunno, maybe it stood for 'How Do Things Operate Day-to-Yay?' Or something catchy like that. The initial idea was pretty straightforward: I was gonna map out every single blasted thing I needed to do. I mean everything. From the second my alarm blared to when I finally passed out. I started by grabbing a notebook, then I moved to a fancy app, trying to schedule it all.
- I'd list out: Wake up. No hitting snooze. (That lasted about two days.)
- Then: Make coffee, exactly 7 grams, brew for 4 minutes. (Sometimes it was instant, let's be real.)
- Followed by: Deep work block, absolutely no distractions. (My cat usually had other plans, involving my keyboard.)
- And then: A perfectly balanced lunch, eaten away from my desk. (More often, it was whatever was quickest, eaten while staring at the screen.)
I was really trying to nail this 'hdtody' system. I thought if I could just control every minute, I’d unlock some next-level productivity. I spent more time planning the planning than actually doing sometimes, if I'm honest.
The Inevitable Collision with Reality
And for a little while, maybe a week, I felt like I was on top of the world. My 'hdtody' lists were getting ticked off. But then, you know, life happens. The real world doesn’t care much for your perfectly curated schedule. A client would call with an urgent, out-of-the-blue demand. The internet would decide to take a nap. Or I'd just wake up feeling like a sack of potatoes, and the whole 'hdtody' ambition would just crumble.
It really took me back to a job I had a few years ago. Man, that place was a textbook example of how grand plans meet messy reality. We were drowning in new methodologies. One month it was 'Extreme Project Execution,' the next it was 'Synergistic Flow Management.' They loved those shiny new names. Management would roll out these incredibly detailed strategies, complete with multi-colored charts and projected growth curves that looked like they were drawn by an optimist on stimulants.
We, the folks actually doing the work, would just nod along in the meetings. I remember this one initiative, they called it 'Project Bedrock.' Supposed to be the foundation for everything new. The launch presentation was epic. They talked about 'paradigm shifts' and 'unprecedented efficiency.' We got new software, new reporting structures, the works. The plan was so detailed, it specified the font type for inter-departmental memos about the plan itself.
First week of 'Project Bedrock'? The new 'ultra-efficient' software was so buggy it actually slowed everyone down. The old system, which everyone knew how to use, was decommissioned too early. And the 'streamlined' reporting? It meant we spent half our day filling out forms to prove we were being efficient, instead of, y'know, actually being efficient. My 'hdtody' attempts back then would have been hilarious. 'Item 1: Try to log into new system. Item 2: Fail. Item 3: Secretly use old system. Item 4: Pretend new system is working in daily report.'
It wasn't that the intention behind 'Project Bedrock' was bad. It's just that they planned it in a vacuum, without really understanding the day-to-day chaos we were navigating. You can't just impose a rigid structure on a fundamentally fluid situation and expect miracles. It's like trying to iron a running river.
So, What's 'hdtody' to Me Now?
So, after all that, what’s my 'hdtody' now? Well, it’s a lot less about militant scheduling and a lot more about just picking a few key things – the absolute must-dos – and focusing on those. I still like to get my thoughts down, maybe a short list. But it's written in pencil, metaphorically speaking. Lots of room for life to barge in and scribble all over it.
It’s more of a 'Hey, Did Today (mostly) Outperform Disaster, Yay?' kind of check-in. A quick review at the end of the day, see what got done, what fires got put out, and what absolutely needs to roll over. It’s about being flexible and not beating myself up if the day went sideways. Some days, just making it through without a major meltdown is a win. And that’s a practice I can actually stick to.
