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The Evolution of My Time/Habit/Life Tracking

"A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work. You have to start over, beginning with a working simple system." -John Gall

I built a pretty good daily tracking template, and I evolved it over time. It's serving me pretty well now. I'd like to show you the evolution.

Version 0 - I realized that tracking my time would be a good thing. I started writing down just one or two things per day.

Here's what my first day of tracking looked like:

26 May - Success

The Samurai Ethic and Modern Japan

I read this book by Yukio Mishima a bit back, it's an analysis of the main themes of "Hagakure," a 1700's book of samurai philosophy.

Lots of thought provoking stuff in there. Not everything I agree with, but here's a few that I found interesting -

Page 22, Love is higher when undeclared:

The art romantic love as practiced in America involves declaring oneself, pressing one's suit, and making the catch. The energy genereated by love is never allowed to build up within but is constantly radiated outward. But paradoxically, the voltage of love is dissipated the instant it is transmitted. Contemporary youth are richly blessed with opportunities for romantic and sexual adventure that former generations never would have dreamed of. But at the same time, what lurks in the hearts of modern youth is the demise of what we know as romantic love.

Page 23, I don't agree this at all but it's a fascinating insight into prewar Japan: