Still going analog

Last week I wrote about using my phone much less and trying to give myself more and longer blocks of no-screen time. I'm still at it: I'm still turning off my phone during work hours. My messages and phone calls all come to my computer, so I'm not missing anything urgent. I'm just not using computers during coffee breaks and the like. Guiding long-running LLM activities, including in the mornings and evenings, is part of programming now. This limits how long my analog blocks can be. Even bounding my screen time this way (going analog before and after my first and last work sessions) is a big change.1 Tracking daily to-do lists on paper, where I can revise them and integrate them with notes, is remarkably effective. Of course, any number of digital tools let you integrate tasks with notes and edit them freely (Obsidian is great!). Even so, I'm finding it surprisingly useful and pleasant to plan my days by hand. I at least feel myself prioritizing and planning more effectively in…