001 - 🐜 What ants can teach you about organisation

"But, Julia, I don't live in an anthill. I'm not an ant. I'm also not millions, I'm 1."

All valid concerns. Ants organise laterally, not down a chain of command like our society. How could you invent a "lateral organisation" for yourself that is easy and pleasant to keep?

Let me throw this randomly here: you have technology on your literal fingertips.

And, as a bonus, the most powerful brain a living thing has ever had.

But you insist that you don't have this or that resource. You have tons of apps for free, paper, agendas, notebooks, pens, methods out there to try and test freely at any time. That you don't have time to learn a new thing, build a system, much less sit down and take 5m to write tasks down. Write?! You?!

Thus, you remain in what I like to call a chaosloop. You can't bring yourself to fix the small things around you (or make a call that would fix the thing), such as clean the breadcrumbs from your desk, or take the coffee mug away, or fix the fridge, or buy a coffee machine for the office. And thus everything else seems chaotic around you. Undone. Unfinished. Unpolished. Uncleaned.

Small chaoses compound in an unsurmounted amount of little annoyances there were once an easy fix and now stress you out to the point of exploding your temples. You have better things to do after all.

Everything seems to become chaotic around you. You have more important things to do than wipe your own desk! A task that could have taken you max 5m if you have really let it go. Give or take 10 seconds.

For some people, writing down tasks on a piece of paper suffices. That's like level 1. That's ingraining the habit of capturing what needs to be done and setting priorities. +10 points.

For others, duty is a heavier than a mountain and thus they need even more structure. Agendas, notebooks, the notes app and a calendar. +50 points.

And then there are others that have a superpower of memory and self initiative and never let a plate drop (it's probably a woman). +100 points.

The truth is, everything that supplies a constant need — sleeping, eating, drinking, wearing clothes, grooming — will require constant effort.

You know you have to eat and drink. Your body would die if you didn't. You get hangry when you don't eat and a terrible headache too, also when you don't drink. Your body collapses.

Surfaces in your house get dirty by the sheer fact that there is a human living there. Or more. Dust is mostly skin shed, outside particles and other smaller beings that went from this to a better one.

But here's what you haven't yet done: gotten your brain used to controlling your external environment. This also requires constant effort and directly impacts your mental, and then also, your physical health.

Small actions. Going to the toilet? Take the mug and leave it on the kitchen on the way, or make a small detour. Took 30 seconds give or take 5s. +5 points.

Went to the toilet? Grab a glass of water. 50s give or take 2s. +20 points. Even better, buy a big water bottle. Fill it once and drink it. +100 points.

2pm and you have to make that call. +100 points.

By the end of the day, with all these compounded actions, big and small, how many points do you think you will have accumulated?

But it accumulates. Small tasks pile up because you don't have a routine — like you might have one for showering or wearing your clothes — that feels seamless and easy to follow.

The key is in this: chain your needs, like going to the toilet and picking or leaving something on the way. Big needs + other smaller tasks around you that don't take a huge effort.

Optimisation is the key. People look at that word and think "obsessed". Well, if it needs to get done and I will have to do it for the rest of my life anyways, I might as well make it last just as long as needed and not more. And make it pleasant, with a happy outlook for things.

Imagine living a life where everything, every single task, annoys and irritates you. Absolutely not, thank you.

The other tasks that require more thinking, learning, and resources — aka effort — you will have to make time for more. Yes, make time.

If it's a task that will compound on the points you will gain by being more productive, then most likely extra mental effort will be needed in order to set a workflow for it.

People give up before they try. People give up because it requires mental effort. Learning a new skill that will allow you to be more productive — or an app or a method — and actually applying for an amount of time will set you ahead of 99% of people.

Like my copywriting mentor says (Icaro de Carvalho): "There's no competition." He usually refers to the quality of work you get from freelancers, collaborators and such.

People put the minimal effort and the least care and want to make a big buck out of it.

You might want to feel good, calm, and focused but are you taking time and putting effort to setting yourself for success for these things?

Life isn't hard or complicated. That's what you've led yourself to believe. Switch it up with "how can I optimise or solve this as fast as possible" and you will suddenly see life get a lot easier, calmer, and enjoyable full of beautiful moments to be enjoyed and remembered.

And I didn't even mention Notion this time.