I took a week off from writing

It’s unusual for me, but I think my last post was last Saturday. On Monday, I decided to take a week off from writing.

Not because I was lazy or had nothing to write about. I just felt it would be healthier to take a step back, get a few things sorted out, and kickstart November with a fresh head and some new ideas.

I think it was the right decision.

Finishing the Mac app

My main focus during this little sabbatical was finishing the BETA version of TWO's native Mac app.

And I fucking did it.

I’ll go into more detail about this milestone in a separate blog post, because I want to close out the Mac app series properly. There’s quite a bit to unpack, and I don’t want to squeeze everything into a post that was supposed to be about taking a week off.

Read also: Friday rundown: Mac app progress, slower on the rest

For now, I’m happy to have reached this point. I’ve spent a considerable amount of time working on this native Mac app build, and getting the BETA version across the finish line feels good.

But that wasn’t the only thing I got done this week.

Getting my shit together

I had a few administrative things to deal with, and I was also struggling to get my shit together when it came to email management.

The number of inboxes I have, how I should approach triage, and whether I should centralize some of my email accounts had been bothering me for a while.

I knew something needed to change, but I hadn’t properly sat down to figure out what.

So I had a lengthy conversation with ChatGPT about it, which was funny in itself. It made me realize again how much I’m starting to depend on asking an AI agent for simple but powerful advice.

Sometimes, I don’t need AI to build anything. I just need to talk through a problem, look at the different options, and get my thoughts in order.

Once I got out of that email-management fuckery and made a few firm decisions, at least for now, I had a much clearer picture of how I wanted to handle my inboxes.

It’s not some revolutionary new system. I just needed to stop going around in circles and make a decision.

And that’s one less thing taking up space in my head.

The real winner was content planning

While finishing the Mac app was the biggest milestone, I think the real winner this week was getting ahead with content for my English-learning podcast channels.

I’ve been spending a lot of time recording and organizing content for Story Brew, Story Valley, and Study Brew. My primary focus right now is building a substantial buffer so I don’t have to scramble every time something unexpected happens.

And things do happen. Moving house, personal matters, a typhoon messing with the garden, or simply having a week where my brain refuses to cooperate.

I’ve already experienced what happens when I fall behind, and I’d rather not repeat that cycle if I can avoid it.

So I want to drag my ass over the finish line and get all the episodes recorded, scheduled, completed, and published far enough ahead to cover the rest of the year.

Looking at where things stand, I’m on track. Kind of.

The number of episodes I still need to finish is shrinking every day, and that’s a good feeling. There’s still work to do, but at least I can see the backlog getting smaller instead of watching it grow.

I want to get to a point where the content is ready, the publishing schedule is taken care of, and I can focus on other things without constantly wondering whether I have another episode to record.

Still settling into the new home

Another reason I wanted to take a break from writing was that I’m still settling into my new home.

Moving takes longer than I expected. Even when the boxes are unpacked and the obvious shit is done, there are always little things that need attention.

And then the typhoon came along and blew away my garden gate.

Well, that was another thing to deal with.

I needed a few days to clean up the yard and sort out the mess, which wasn’t exactly how I had planned to spend my time.

But that’s life, I guess. You can plan your week down to the last detail, and then the weather decides otherwise.

Between the house, the garden, the Mac app, and the podcast recordings, I had enough on my plate without adding my usual writing schedule on top of everything else.

For once, I decided not to force it.

A week off feels good

I do feel refreshed, honestly.

Taking a week off from writing felt a little like going on holiday. Not because I spent the week doing nothing, but because I wasn’t constantly thinking about the next blog post I needed to write or publish.

The words didn’t disappear. I was still working through ideas, planning content, making decisions, and building things. I just wasn’t turning all of that into blog posts every day.

And now that I’m sitting here again, I can feel the inspiration coming back.

There’s plenty I want to write about, including the Mac app milestone, the podcast workflows, and everything else I’ve been working on behind the scenes.

I have no shortage of material. If anything, the problem is deciding what deserves its own post and what can wait.

That’s a much better position to be in than staring at a blank page and wondering what the fuck I’m supposed to write about.

Back to writing tomorrow

Tomorrow is Monday, and I’m going back to my regular writing schedule with a new Monday preparation post.

Tonight, though, I’m keeping things simple.

I want to tidy up my Apple Notes, get my thoughts in order, and prepare a checklist for tomorrow so I can start the week without having to figure everything out from scratch.

There’s still plenty to do in November, and I want to start the month with a clear head rather than immediately throwing myself into another sprint.

For now, I’m going to enjoy my Sunday evening.

I’ve finished the Mac app BETA, made progress on the podcast backlog, sorted out some administrative mess, and given myself a little breathing room.

I think that’s enough for one week.

Tomorrow, the writing starts again.