Kev QuirkModify

2025-07-30 17:25:00

I need a better way of organising my notes, to-dos and tasks. I have crap all over the place at the moment, so if you have a system, I'd love to know what it is.

I find it difficult to organise my life, generally. Especially when it comes to work and keeping track of all the to-dos, notes from meetings, updates, follow up items etc. I have multiple ways of doing it all, and none of them are great.

I have OneNote, which is what I use the most. I tend to track my notes in there, but can easily lose things as it had a horrible, clunky UI. I've recently started making use of their tagging system to find to-do items, but that's pretty clunky too.

When I'm not at my desk, I have a Supernote Nomad for taking notes digitally. Problem is, those notes are then not in my OneNote. So I now have 2 places to check.

Finally, there's the times when I'm travelling, or need quick access to my notes from my work phone. I don't have OneNote on there (and can't install it) and invariably don't have my Supernote with me either. Also, when I need to go hunting for previous notes, it's frustrating and slow.

I need a system that works at my desk, in meeting rooms, and on the go. But nothing I've found works. The on the go part is the lowest priority of the bunch, as I don't need that often and can usually make do. The problem really is me having a single place for my notes that's available most of the time, whether at my desk, or in a meeting room, and easy to find what I need.

After all, what's the point in having a note taking system if you can't find what you need after the fact?

Any of you lot have any ideas?

I'm after recommendations for a note taking system, not a note taking app. I can't install apps on my work devices.

2025-07-28 00:45:00

I haven’t run regularly in over 10 years. I’ve tried multiple times to get back into it, but it’s always fizzled out.

This time feels different.

When I was in the Army, I loved running. I was in my early 20s and very fit. I'd do my 2.4km (1.5 mile) fitness test in 8 minutes. I could run a 5km in 18 minutes and a 10km in well under 40.

If I had any spare time, I’d go for a run. There were plenty of times I couldn’t sleep, so I’d get up in the early hours and head out. So when I say I loved it, I really mean it.

But about 18 months after leaving the Army, I started working shifts: 4 days on, 4 off, 4 nights, 4 off. All 12-hour shifts (7 to 7). During that time, I got lazy and piled on the weight. I think there was other stuff going on from my time in the Army that I hadn’t really dealt with. Still haven’t, if I’m honest. But that’s a story for another day.

In two years, I ballooned from 85kg (187lbs) to around 133kg (295lbs).

That’s a lot of weight, right? I was massive. Way too big to run.

(For context, I’m 1.88m or 6'2" tall.)

Since then, I’ve dropped some of the weight. Last time I checked, I was around 106kg (233lbs). So I’m at a reasonable weight to try running again. The problem is, I’ve been hovering around this weight for years now, and every attempt to get back into running has followed the same frustrating pattern:

1. I go for a short run to ease back in — maybe a couple of kilometres.
2. It goes okay, and I keep it up for a couple of weeks.
3. I start to feel better, and my monkey brain convinces me I’m super fit again, so I push for a 5km.
4. I get injured and end up back at square one.

Trying Something Different

This time, I decided to learn from my past mistakes and force myself to keep the runs short. I started with a 2.5km (1.5 mile) distance. I picked it because it’s the same as the old Army fitness test, so it felt like a good benchmark.

First time out? Just under 18 minutes. Eighteen minutes!

But I stuck with it. Last week, I increased the distance to 3.25km (2 miles). I was nervous about upping the distance since I didn’t want to injure myself again, but I’m glad to say I haven’t.

I’ve now run that 3.25km route three times. My latest time (yesterday) was 19:01. Still not where I want to be, but it's progress, so I'll take it.

My Goals

I’ve deliberately not set lofty goals.

If I can get to the point where I’m running three 5km (3 mile) runs per week in under 30 minutes, I’ll be happy. As a stretch goal, I’d love to occasionally do 10km (6 miles) runs, but that’s further down the road.

I think that level of running, combined with the various walks I take the dogs on (usually around 5km/3 miles), is enough to keep me at least relatively fit.

As for weight: unlike the time I did Fat Boy at 40 (which I failed, by the way), I’m not setting any weight goals. Back then, I’d try hard all week, only to be deflated when the scales didn’t show what I wanted. That’s why I think I failed; I ended up falling off the wagon completely.

This time, I’m just going by how I feel, not what the scales say.

And right now I feel like I’m getting fitter, and I think I’m losing weight too. Someone at work even asked last week if I’d lost weight. That felt good, I have to admit.

Diet is a huge part of weight loss, of course. Mine’s not terrible. I eat crap sometimes (don’t we all), but overall it’s fine. My wife’s vegetarian and does all the cooking at home, so I eat meat maybe once every couple of weeks. Our meals are generally healthy and balanced. It’s evening snacking that gets me. That’s what I’m really trying to get under control.

Final Thoughts

So yeah, I’m a month into this running thing. I’ve got a decent pair of trainers, a new wrist phone (that’s a post for another day too), and I’m feeling genuinely optimistic that this might stick.

The plan is to stay at 3.25km (2 miles) for a few more weeks, then increase it to 4km (2.5 miles). I’ll stick with that for another 3 or 4 weeks, then finally bump it up to 5km (3 miles). Hopefully by then I’ll have dropped enough weight for my knees to handle it a bit better.

I am getting a few minor aches in my knees and Achilles, but they’re low-level (maybe a 1 out of 10 in terms of pain). So I’m just listening to my body and resting when I need to.

Wish me luck! 🏃🏻‍♂️💨

2025-07-26 05:05:00

It's not just me, this potato looks like Admiral Ackbar, right?

🏷️ #StarWars

2025-07-25 05:25:00

Fedi #hivemind, I need you.

I use OneNote in work. It's shit, but it's all I have. I need a better way of managing my notes and particularly my to do list. The latter is really the most important. Ideally it has an option to set "next action" so I know what's due on any given day.

I can't install anything on my work laptop, so I intend to run it on my personal Ubuntu machine, for both work and home.

Any recommendations?

2025-07-23 03:45:00

RIP Ozzy. 🦇

2025-07-22 14:55:00

Lots of butthurt people responding to my wrist phone post (lots of good dialogue too BTW).

Remember folks, opinions are like arseholes. Everyone has one. 🙃