“I’m sure as hell not going to remember this”
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The other day, my home ventilation unit stopped working. I recently moved into an apartment in Amsterdam that was built only two years ago, so it’s got all the fancy tech for energy-efficient living and for ultimate comfort. But sometimes that tech breaks. So this big unit in my storage room suddenly just borked. Here, I’ll show you a picture of the thing: While it’s huge and I could use more storage space, I love this unit because it constantly refreshes the air in the apartment. It uses the hot outgoing air to heat the cold incoming air so not much heat energy is lost. And it filters the air, too. Amsterdam’s air is not as polluted as the air in other major cities, but it’s not amazing either. Anyway, it’s that air filter that broke. Fortunately, I had a fresh set of air filters, so replacing them would be easy. Right? Nope! The company that builds these things is apparently not amazing at writing user manuals. Granted, I did this in the first 30 minutes after waking up, so I was still a tad groggy, but I’m pretty sure the manual could have been clearer… Otherwise, why would there be a whole YouTube video on how to replace the filters—complete with people commenting that the video isn’t complete and that you need to do something else to actually finish the job? You probably can’t read Dutch, but I screenshotted some helpful comments others left: This was the extra information I needed to tell the unit, “hey man, I replaced the filters, you can start ventilating again!” The thing is… this is a job that requires doing about once a year. After a bunch of searching, I managed to find these instructions in the comments on a YouTube video, but would I be able to find these instructions again next year? I’m sure as hell not going to remember the instructions a year from now. Fortunately, I’ve been thinking about, experimenting with, and teaching productivity and organization for years now, so I have a system for this! I saved these screenshots to a new note in Apple Notes… And then I went on with my day. I didn’t give the note a clear title. I didn’t move it to any folder. I just went and brewed my coffee and made my breakfast. But I’m 100% sure that next year, when I have to replace the filters again, I’ll find the instructions I saved in my Apple Notes. Why? Because once a week, I do the most important productivity habit: The weekly review. During my weekly review, I clean up all notes I took during the week. So I saw this note with the YouTube screenshots; I gave it a clear title (“Replacing the Filter on the HRU 300 Ventilation System”); and assigned it the #home tag. That tag bit is probably redundant, honestly. Next year, when I need to replace the filters, I’ll just open Notes, search “HRU 300”, and remember exactly what to do. If you don’t have a system like this set up, build it. It’s going to save you so many headaches in the future. Productivity 101 is a great place to start. Or do a deep-dive into Apple Notes. However you do it, do Future You a favor and set up a system for remembering things. You’re welcome, Future You! |
Peter Akkies
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