Reversion, Defaults and Organization

If you’ve been here before you know my blog theme has changed dramatically, and repeatedly. I really want to design and build my own, but I haven’t given it enough time or effort. In the meantime, I think I’ll just keep it like this.

As has been the case with many other areas of my life, I tend to change and change, and change some more before going back to the default. I recently read a book that talked about how important it is to establish a default that works for most people. The book is called Nudge and was written by two economics professors, Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein. It’s an excellent read and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in delving deeper into the human psyche. It made me feel stupid as I begun to realize how easily influenced I am by defaults, advertising and the media.

I’ve done an about-face type reversion in the past with other blogs. I have also done this repeatedly with operating systems, desktop backgrounds and layouts, my iPhone (before that my Blackberry Curve 8900) and other devices. As I’m writing this I wish I had a default I could revert to in my personal life. For instance, I wish my house was by default, very clean. If I got tired of how it looked, I could simply push a button and it would default back to being immaculate and spotless. Unfortunately that’s not how life works.

Every weekend I am reminded of the challenges of maintaining “stuff”. I work Monday through Friday, like clockwork, and know I won’t have to work on the weekends. I’m always thinking and wondering about what to do with the time I have outside of the office. We don’t live in a pigsty, but our house gets used and worn out like any other. This weekend I took the trash to the dump, cleaned our rats cage, relined the trashcans with bags, unloaded and re-loaded the dishwasher, and kind of helped my wife start the laundry. It’s a never-ending battle, at least in this life, between clean and dirty – organized and, well…not. One day I will master the art of organization and time management such that every moment of every day will be productive, proactive and I will no longer be a slave to my emotions and carnal desires for instant gratification, ala. avoiding doing what needs to be done for the things I want. One day.