What I like about Entish
Entish is an iOS app that projects ideas as stamps and maps them across time
Simple journal format
The simplest journal assigns each new day its own page with the date at the top.
To upgrade the journal, adopt the time-blocking system (as referenced in brrgrl.com/projects) and have two pages assigned to each day: one for notes and the other for a timesheet.
Patterns and habits
Using Entish, I can keep track of daily tasks and visually see what I intended on doing and what I ended up doing. I can track how long I need to rest after a strenuous activity, or how impactful being interrupted can be.
I recognized the importance of choosing the “best” word to start an idea. Entish captures the first four letters of a note’s heading and creates a stamp. Thus a heading like “Went to the grocery store” turns into “Grocery store” so the stamp can say “GROC”. It becomes a routine practice of naming and identifying the core of an idea.
The best pattern I found so far is accurately blocking out the time I need to commute.
Visualize the day as a whole composed of ideas
Taking the commute example, if I know I have to be somewhere at some later time today, I create stamps for both: the commute and the event. That becomes my anchor that I then build out towards.
Chores that need to be done, getting ready, reviewing notes, etc. are all brought to the forefront when planning my day. I create notes for each one, meaning I can stamp what I plan to do and see my day as a whole made up of composite parts.
Hone task estimation
As my day progresses, I may take longer to do a task or I might finish a task early. I can show both cases. Because no stamp can be removed from the timesheet, I can see how well I can execute a set of tasks.
Rabbit holes and interruptions
Rabbit holes are intriguing but time consuming. With Entish, I can keep track of different rabbit holes and I can schedule visiting them later. Likewise, if I get interrupted and I have to reshuffle my next three hours, I can schedule what I was working on and proceed to organize my thoughts so that I can pick up where I left off.
Capture ideas and intent
At the root of procrastination is often emotional friction: the gap between the intent to do something and actually do it. When I review previous days, I can see what I procrastinate and I often leave myself a note highlighting a pain point that prevented me from getting the task done.