Tag: show your work

13 Minutes Week 2

June 1, 2025 / vienna / 0 Comments

May 31, 2025

Week 2 – Pass or Fail?

I logged in 4 times this week, including today. 4 of 7 is 57% – hmm, while I logged in more days than I didn’t, 57% is not a pass on any scale.

And I didn’t do any meaningful work on those 4 days. BUT, doing something meaningful wasn’t the commitment; showing up and doing something is. And I did that.

When I can’t think of anything interesting to write about (most of the time), I add a quote or a vocabulary question. I added several quotes and vocabulary questions this week.

Eventually, the questions will become vocabulary quizzes tied to the books I post about — a small way to make reading more active and interactive.

Last Week

So, last week I told you all about what I did instead of what I said I was going to do – this is most commonly known as an EXCUSE regardless of how cool, important or engaging the replacement project was. I will forgo the reasons why not posts going forward.

But I will note that I am always amazed at the number rabbit holes that appear (big important rabbit holes mind you) the minute I make a firm commitment to, well, almost anything.

Next Week

What I could do is finish any one of the 40-odd book posts I’ve added or the Zettlekasten article I started – hmm, 18 months ago or so. Or I could start building out my Reading Lab idea, or …

But, all kidding aside. Had I not made the commitment, I likely would have done nothing – this practice is about showing up and I showed up more times than I didn’t this week.

If you’re doing something similar — carving out time for a project you care about — then maybe this is your reminder that showing up, even sporadically, is better than giving up.

13 Minutes – Revisited – Again

May 17, 2025 / vienna / 0 Comments

May 16th, 2025

The last time I wrote about this was March 24th, 2024 – almost 14 months ago. That’s 418 opportunities to meet this commitment. I’ve managed 100, not including today.

I know this because I track these things in a spreadsheet called Word Count and give myself points for doing it – but that’s another discussion for another day.

So, that’s less than 25% of the time. Why is it so hard to show up for the work we say matters most?

After yet another discussion with ChatGPT (Yes, I’m a fan of ChatGPT), I’ve got a new plan for the next 137 days, that’s 19.57 weeks. I usually measure everything in 12-week increments – but I don’t want to wait until June to begin.

So, here I am trying again. This time, I’ve named it. I’m calling it a Practice. Why does that work? I’m calling it 13-Minutes (I know, brilliant right?) —a daily commitment to do something, anything here on Vienna’s Views for 13 minutes every day.

The idea isn’t new. It echoes the Japanese concept of Kaizen—small, continuous improvement—and was reinforced for me by Brainstorm Road, a now-retired community built around making daily progress on side projects. The site’s no longer active, but the spirit of showing up in small ways stuck with me. I wish I had joined them when I had the chance!

This isn’t a challenge. It’s not a program. It’s a line in the sand. If you’re trying to make consistent progress on something that matters to you—writing, reading, thinking – You can follow along or, even better, come along, post a comment, and tell me about your project.

I’ll post weekly for the next 20 weeks about how it’s going. What are you working on? Can you find 13 minutes a day to spend on it?

Show Your Work

May 8, 2025 / vienna / 0 Comments

A Book about helping people find your work by Austin Kleon

May 8, 2025

May 8 When I’m struggling with posting my work, I always remind myself that no one is reading it anyway – so I can write anything I want. Spend any amount of time reading online advice and you come away with “post something every day”.

The message in this book is “Share” something every day. Uh oh, that’s a little harder.

But that’s the book, 10 Ways to share your creativity and get discovered. I’m not sure I want to “get discovered”. My anonymity is comforting – knowing no one is reading allows me to write. To wander and wonder –

I’m not sure I’m particularly creative either – it took me months to choose a paint color for my living room – and 3 years to find a picture to hang. My gardens are never up to snuff and I don’t have anything brilliant to say about the books I read.

And yet, without them …

That’s my project – documenting my reading journey – backward and forward. It’s the books that that brought me through my darkest days (well, the books and my therapist).

All kidding aside – for those of us without the amazing mentor, or therapist, whose parents and friends give bad advice, the books are always there.

Read them, use them, it helps.

On This Day in History

In 1945, World War II ended in Europe.