The weight example is perfect because it’s mundane and honest. I’ve wasted way too much time blaming myself instead of noticing I lacked a log, not discipline. This reframes a lot. :)
The change log idea is smart but I think it also reveals something deeper about modern productivity tools. We tend to bias toward future planning (calendars, tasks) but have no symetric infrastructure for reflecting backward. I had a simlar problem tracking symptom patterns before realizing my notes were just chronologic noise. Build a simple tagging system for life events and suddenly correlations became visible. Love the framing around askng what would've helped faster.
I agree that most tools are mostly biased forward. That's why we need mechanisms in place that let us look backwards. I have several of these. For example, I keep a daily journal that captures random thoughts and ideas throughout the day. And I have a shutdown ritual where I list the day's accomplishments (e.g., workouts completed). However, until now, none of these rituals captured "change events" as my new personal change log does. Also, the few changes captured were not centralized in a single place. I like the idea of using tags to get the best of both worlds!
The weight example is perfect because it’s mundane and honest. I’ve wasted way too much time blaming myself instead of noticing I lacked a log, not discipline. This reframes a lot. :)
The change log idea is smart but I think it also reveals something deeper about modern productivity tools. We tend to bias toward future planning (calendars, tasks) but have no symetric infrastructure for reflecting backward. I had a simlar problem tracking symptom patterns before realizing my notes were just chronologic noise. Build a simple tagging system for life events and suddenly correlations became visible. Love the framing around askng what would've helped faster.
I agree that most tools are mostly biased forward. That's why we need mechanisms in place that let us look backwards. I have several of these. For example, I keep a daily journal that captures random thoughts and ideas throughout the day. And I have a shutdown ritual where I list the day's accomplishments (e.g., workouts completed). However, until now, none of these rituals captured "change events" as my new personal change log does. Also, the few changes captured were not centralized in a single place. I like the idea of using tags to get the best of both worlds!