Goal

Same as yesterday: Same as Hetzner VM up and running using Terraform
Figure a plan for working over the next few months

Note from a friend, when I shared what I want to do with him.

Sounds good, would cover things like persistent volumes, LoadBalancer service etc.

When deploying these services. You can write the manifest YAMLs yourself and also check if those tools provide Helm charts for deployment on Kubernetes.

Sounds like a plan!

2025-01-07 10:15

  • Doing some thinking out loud right now about how to structure my days
  • Have been running full tilt and everything last year and while it gave me big progress at what I wanted to do, everything else has suffered.
  • I need to pickup housework again.
  • I have my consulting to do, which lasts anything between two-four hours a day
  • I want to do my french
  • I want to contribute to the free and open source community in some way
  • I want to be able to travel
  • The most importhing thing is that I need some time to meditate, have some silence in my day
  • And the most important thing is that I need time to focus on reducing my weight and getting fitter, get some exercise and a lot of walking in.
  • And the most important thing1 is, I want to spend some time with family, talking to my wife and mom at home.
  • Went to boil some water for coffee. Back.

2025-01-07 11:00

  • Will continue thinking and not do any Terraform work today, because I need the muddled thoughts is my mind sorted
  • An hour later. Still muddled. Just sat and talked to Mom. Drank soup. Helped out a bit.

2025-01-07 12:00

  • Ok, let’s throw shit against the wall
  • I doubt life allows me eight hours of work. So best is to commit to 6-7 hours of work.
  • Saturday & Sunday are no longer work days.
  • I want to be done by 3p. Bed by 8p. Up by 4a. (or 9p - 5a works just in case)
  • I need to go drop the Better Half to work. That happens around 7a. Back by 8a
  • So work 8a-3p? Sounds good.
  • 2-3 hours to earn bread and butter, daily (consulting).
  • That leaves me 4 hours to do devops pivot learning.
  • Four hours to do Kubernetes / Terraform / Go / OSS?
  • Realise that documenting and writing down progress also has to happen in these four hours
  • Probably do them one after the other. (two at most. one for three days and one for two)
  • 1. Do Fewer Things; 2. Work at a Natural Pace; 3. Obsess over Quality; 4. Know why (you’re doing them)
  • Last thing just after work shutdown is to plan the next day
  • This has given me loads of clarity. Now, let’s see how it goes. (Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth)
  • Note from the future (2025-01-08): Remember to pad your meeting times. By at least 15 minutes. You need to decompress / summarise what you just did / take time to cognitively shift.

2025-01-07 13:45

  • Client Meeting

2025-01-07 15:00

  • Tea time

2025-01-07 18:00

  • Did my first long walk of the year
  • Winding down the day now after making a plan for tomorrow

2025-01-07 18:35

  • Spoke too soon.2 Client meeting.

2025-01-07 19:20

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  1. I picked this up from Howard Marks’, The Most Important Thing:
    “As I meet with clients and prospects, I repeatedly hear myself say, ‘The most important thing is X.’ And then ten minutes later it’s, ‘The most important thing is Y.’ And then Z, and so on.”
    All told, the memo ended up discussing eighteen “most important things.”
    … but the fundamental notion is unchanged: they’re all important. Successful investing requires thoughtful attention to many separate aspects, all at the same time. Omit any one and the result is likely to be less than satisfactory.
    That is why I have built this book around the idea of the most important things—each is a brick in what I hope will be a solid wall, and none is dispensable. ↩︎

  2. the getting punched in the mouth part is real 😂 ↩︎