Random Thoughts V January 08, 2021 I've added a sed script to the "Downloads" section of my website. The script attempts to turn Wikipedia's XML files into text files. Feel free to check it out if that sounds interesting to you. I had two writing-related goals for 2020: write at least 500 new words per day (I included letters, journal entries, and blog posts as "writing"), and to make two submissions a week for each week of the year. I succeeded at both, I'm pleased to say. Writing stats for 2020: o Words written: 180,000+ o Submissions: 105 o Publications: 3, plus runner-up for an Artist-in-Residency program o Hours of writing-related activity/goal: 996/1040 Compared to 2019's numbers (the first year I kept such records), I improved. We'll have to see how things work out in 2021. Alan Jacobs' latest newsletter[1] (which is well worth subscribing to) had a link to an interesting essay by Alexa Hazel on "The Pomodoro Technique and existential dread.[2]" I was particularly struck by these lines: For the quantified, self-Taylorized self, there is no one to blame when something goes wrong, when productivity and perfectibility grind to a halt — no one, that is, except oneself. For the man who is his own manager is blamed twice-over for a weak growth rate: first, for mismanaging, and second, for being unmanageable. I'll admit the contradiction of posting my writing statistics, then quoting someone who says doing something like that is actually bad for us. But Hazel also says humans often need help staying on track and that these helps can be a good thing: What keeps these commitments intact are things like ritual, habit, and low-order rules, like telling yourself to spend just 30 minutes on a difficult problem, or to practice piano every night after dinner. Far from depriving us of life, these simple rules and rituals can serve as scaffolding for life-affirming activity. My take away from her article (be it correct or incorrect) is to establish good habits, but don't let yourself become a slave to them. Excellent advice both in writing and in life. [1] https://buttondown.email/ayjay/archive/the-three-salernitan-doctors/ [2] https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/time-management-on-the-pomodoro-technique-and-martin-hagglunds-this-life (c) 2021 by Andrew Gudgel email: contact [at] andrewgudgel.com