Learn From My Mistakes

Short story of how I break life chaos into small, solvable problems - 2 min read.

How many times have you spilled coffee on your desk?
Scoreboard: Coffee 0, Tea 4 in the past 12 months.

The first one was dramatic. I lost control of a tumbler with a clip-on lid; it slipped and splashed scalding tea on my shirt. I earned a respectable burn - still have the mark on my belly. I switched to a tumbler with an easy open/close lid.

But because I’m writing this, you know it wasn’t the end.

Sometimes I clip the tumbler and it rolls onto its side, baptizing the table in tea. My favorite excuse: it’s “high center of gravity,” not my clumsy hand.

I ran to the kitchen, grabbed towels, wiped like a raccoon.

Lesson learned. 

No, I didn’t become more graceful. I just parked a box of tissues on my desk. (After I got a 3D printer, I printed an under-desk mount. It’s lived there ever since.)

Concept (what just happened)
Chaos Buffer: tiny, boring safeguards that stop a small mess from becoming a whole identity crisis.

Those tissues earn their keep:

• Wipe berry fingers (snacking is my favorite kind of procrastination).

• Save the day when the nose runs.

• Soak up spilled tea - often.

And guess what? I’m surrounding myself with these in other parts of life, too.

Rule: one buffer per hotspot.

• Front door: keyless lock runs on PINs and batteries. After a few months of battery anxiety, I added an outdoor garage keypad. If the lock dies, I won’t need to break a window.

• Car kit: glasses cloth, wet wipes, extra iPhone cables, and a Swiss Army knife. No idea what for, but legend says I opened a sealed box once.

• Pens in every room so notes happen on the spot.

• Photos of essentials - passports, driver’s licenses, birth certificates - saved to Google Drive and mirrored in Dropbox. My wife insisted on the marriage certificate. Apparently that’s essential now, too.

• “Grab shelf” by the door: sunglasses, chapstick, wallets.

• Receipts: one dedicated folder in Google Drive.

• “Essentials” Notion page: AC filter sizes, weird bulbs, battery types by device. Snap once; stop guessing in the aisle.

• My wife leveled up: an umbrella that lives in the car. But the car is the umbrella IMO.

I brought a few into work, too:

• Pinned Agenda note for each recurring meeting.

• “Waiting For” folder in Outlook - for emails I’m expecting replies on. Check daily, thank me later.

• Hardware pouch in my backpack: chargers, cables, and a travel mouse with a spare battery.

Oh yes, almost forgot. This newsletter runs on a template: prebuilt blocks I fill with my words and unsolicited opinions.

If this felt obvious, you need fewer ideas and more buffers.

Till next time.

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