Calendars & Scheduling the Bookstooge Way

 

I have talked about scheduling before, and mention it randomly in posts and comments. I touched upon it in my Blogshido series of posts and randomly sneak attack you by suggesting maybe you should try scheduling. Many people are intimidated by Schedule-Fu, while others just don't want anything to do with it. If you don't have any interest, this post is not for you. This is a post to help Masters of this discipline increase their mastery and to help those who have not started yet down the path but who are wondering about it. But I would like to say that ANYONE can master Schedule-Fu and make it their own.

The single most important tool that a master of Schedule-Fu has available to him or her is a calendar. I use three calendars myself, because of the amount of things I keep track of and it would be wicked messy to put it all one one calendar. I use the calendar above to keep track of real life things, like doctors appointments, car things, social engagements, etc. It's on the wall next to our door, so I see it every morning and evening as I come and go. As long as I write stuff down (and so does Mrs B), we never forget things happening in real life. That's important, because you know, Real Life.

The next calendar I use is the Protonmail calendar. I use this calendar as a widget on my phone. The reason I've put it on my phone is so that when I go to look at it, I don't get distracted from my purpose and end up not reading my Bible. This is a chart for what I'm to read each day. I used to use little paper charts, but the print was so small on them (because they were trying to fit a whole years worth of stuff on one 8.5x11) that I had to abandon them. This has one purpose alone and it's not cluttered up. Now, it was a lot of work setting it up, as I had to enter each day individually and click the "repeat annually" for every day. But once it was done, it was set for the years to come.

Finally, and the most used and most relevant for blogging. is my google calendar. This is where I plan out everything blog related. The blue posts are the ones I've written and scheduled. The red ones are unwritten ones but are there to show me when I want a post. As you can see, when I took the screen capture, I hadn't yet written this post. By the time this goes live, most of June should be a sea of blue. The nice thing about using red and blue is that I can rearrange the red posts however I want should something come up. It gives me the comfort of still using the schedule but also the freedom to rearrange things should that one iota of "artistic" me strike :-D

I realize scheduling like this just isn't for everyone. It can bring more stress to others and become a weight that drags them down. But if you want to become a disciple of Scheduling, these tools, or ones like them, can help you tremendously. I know of people who keep a planner journal and use that.

There you go. Now you too can become a Scheduling Guru! 

Blogshido: Likejitsu

Likejitsu, silent but deadly. The Art of Likejitsu is wildly divisive art because it can be used in so many ways. From a non-verbal “I acknowledge your presence” to a full blown “I LOVE YOU AND EVERYTHING YOU DO IS PURE AWESOMESAUCE” (I know most of you use it that way, and no worries, no offerings or worship needed), Likejitsu is one of the most versatile weapons in the arsenal of all Blogshido practitioners.

I use Likejitsu as an all purpose weapon. Sometimes I use it to acknowledge that someone wrote the post, or comment. Sometimes I just don’t have the words for what you wrote. While I might be a very wordy person, even I sometimes either run out or simply don’t have things to say. When you write a post about the accidental romance book you read, what am I supposed to say? I hate romance. But you read it and blogged about it. I think that deserves an acknowledgement.

Some people will take that to the extreme. You all know the type. The blogger who goes through and “likes” about 30 of your posts in 30 seconds. Most of those aren’t real people anyway. They’re just scumbags or bots. Either of those deserve to be chopped in half with a big fat ninja sword.

Other bloggers eschew likejitsu entirely because they feel it is too easy, entirely misused. I don’t blame them at all. I understand their viewpoint entirely. Of course, if they don’t ever comment, I don’t even know that they show up because they are invisible. So if that’s you, leave a flipping comment once a year or so, okay? Thanks.

However you use Likejitsu, just make sure you’re not expecting everyone else to use it in the exact same way as you do. Down that road lies madness 😉

Blogshido: I Know Post-fu!

While Blogshido is as varied as the people who practice this ancient art, the core of the discipline has always been the same. You can remove the Monthly Kata and still practice Blogshido. You can even ignore the venerable, honorable and most inspiring Taekommentdo and still practice Blogshido. But if you do not practice Post-fu, then you are not practicing Blogshido.

Some Masters of Blogshido, when practicing Post-fu, will pour out their very life essence into it, an artistic outpouring. You can almost feel the blood, the sweat, the tears, the absolute agony that went into the creation of their mastepiece of Post-fu. You know you are watching something special, something never to be repeated even while longing to perform it so well yourself. The downfall of this kind of practice in Post-fu is that the artist themselves know they will never reach such artistic heights again. It can easily turn into a self-defeating spiral of doom instead of a celebration of something wonderful.

Other Masters of Post-fu take a much more workmanlike attitude towards it. They make posts like they make a bologna sandwich. Bread, mayo, bologna, cheese, bam, put it all together, wham, done. Eat and enjoy. And they can do this day after day, week after week, month after month and even sometimes, year after year. The audience isn’t wowed, they are not moved to tears, nor are their hearts shattered. But they get a nutritious and filling bologna sandwich every day (well, as nutritious as a bologna sandwich can be anyway!)

A grounded Master of Blogshido will know which style suits them best for writing. But they will also know the proper balance in the choices they make of which blogs to follow. If I follow 100 Workmanlike Masters of Post-fu, while my Taekommentdo might become second to none through practice, when will I have time to practice my own Post-fu? And if I follow 100 Artistic Masters, who only post once a year, that sets an impossibly high bar for myself when I do go to practice Post-fu.

Personally, I only follow people who practice Post-fu at least once a month. Now there are always special circumstances and that is fine, but if someone isn’t practicing once a month on a consistent basis, I don’t consider them a follower of Blogshido anymore. How can I call you a Sandwich Maker if you never make sandwiches? And don’t even try to pull that “There is no sandwich” crap on me, Neo tried it with the spoon and look what happened to him, he got Matrix Resurrections. I trust that is warning enough for you all.

Blogshido: Taekommentdo

Previously on “Blogshido: The Way of the Blogger” I discussed my reasoning for doing my monthly roundup & ramblings posts. Today, I would like to discuss another aspect of blogshido, namely, commenting.

Taekwondo is a martial art form where, according to wikipedia, “punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques.” are the way to victory. That tells me that taekwondo isn’t fooling around. It is short, it is sharp, it is trying to get it’s job done in the fastest and deadliest way possible. In martial arts, you’re trying to destroy your opponent and taekwondo excels at that.

I rigorously practice taekommentdo every day. I might go so far as to say that besides the main art of blogshido, that taekommentdo is the particular art of blogging that I love the most. But just like all other aspects of Blogshido, it is highly personalized. I have gone so far down the path of taekommentdo that my mastery of this form might look completely different from another master’s form. My foundational belief is that no comment is wasted. Just like a punch, it doesn’t matter if it breaks your opponents ribcage or not, they are forced to react and thus you can control the battle. The same principle applies to taekommentdo. When I leave a comment on someone’s post, I have taken control of the blogging narrative. A good opponent will know how to roll with that and thus can begin a long and enjoyable battle. But sometimes a quick kick to the nads is all that is needed and the battle is done.

Whatever form you choose to master in taekommentdo, the most essential part is practice, practice, practice. Your words are your weapons. Only you can use them. Do not let them rust and tarnish from disuse. Keep them sharp and shiny by constant use. Thus you will grow the will of a warrior deep inside yourself. Plus, it’s easier to kick someone’s head off if you practice doing that everyday. Otherwise you’re liable to pull a hamstring. Do not let Master Fnog’s prophecy be true about you!

Sensei Bookstooge will now dismiss you all to practice.

~bows~

Blogshido: The Way of the Blogger

Blogshido. The Art of Blogging. The Way of the Words Warrior. Keyboard Ninjitsu. This ancient art is as many faceted as there are people who practice it. I will not even attempt to cover everything associated with this wondrous art today, but instead I will focus on the specific kata known as The Monthly Review.

I have made this aspect of Blogshido fully my own. To the point where I have a kata all my own, which I call the Roundup & Ramblings. Now, it might surprise you (but hopefully not) to learn that I began to practice R&R not because everyone else was doing it and I wanted to be popular and fit in. Someone who is reading this may even think to themselves “Then what is the point?”. I forgive you and to show that I really have, I have a cookie, a nice glass of milk and your binky blanket just waiting for your nap-nap.

POINT ONE to Bookstooge-san for discombobulating his opponent

Other practitioners of the Monthly Review have their own reasons and methods. My goal is not to judge them. A true master of Blogshido knows what works for him may not work for others and accepts that knowledge, thus making him even more Masterly.

POINT TWO to Bookstooge-san for being so masterly

No, my goal in starting my Roundup & Ramblings were very simple. A very small force may redirect a larger force away from itself and thus Blogshido teaches us that small efforts not only can be effective but that they use less effort and thus prolong your stamina in a battle.

POINT THREE to Bookstooge-san for prolonging his stamina and thus being able to blog for years and years and years.

My blog is mainly a review blog of books with a smattering of non-review posts thrown in. Soon after being married it became evident to both Mrs B and me that she had zero interest in the books I was reading and reviewing but was very interested in the random thoughts that popped out of my head. This laid the foundation of me linking up all of my non-review posts in one easy to access place.

POINT FOUR to Bookstooge-san for thinking of his wife

Once I began doing that, I realized that it didn’t need to stay there and I could include lots and lots of ads, errr, data. Thus the power of Blogshido came full circle. My kata of Roundup & Ramblings ended where it had begun. I was using my own energy to power others which in turn empowered me to overcome them all. Thus my mastery was complete.

POINT SET, MATCH AND WIN for Bookstooge-san winning at Blogshido

I bow humbly before you all, as a true master.