How a wall full of post-its is changing my life

I’m 21 years old, I’m a iOS developer, a Computer Engineering student and a guy in love with entrepreneurship. And yes, I have a lot of problems. But a wall full of sticky notes is helping me become a better person.

Since 2013 things been happening that are changing my life, turning it inside out. The most important thing is that I moved away from my family and came to Fortaleza, Ceara - Brazil. And more than two years after that, here I am. There are numerous difficulties in living alone, like having the responsibility to pay water and electricity bills, all in day. You have to be careful to not get sick, because you are all alone and will not have mom’s chicken soup. And as I decided to support myself, so I cannot spend too much money, after all I am responsible for myself.

Last year I had the great fortune to enter the BEPiD, a course to specilize developers in iOS platform. It’s been a dream to work and develop for iOS and WatchOS. I learned in one year what I should have learned in five years in the college and two years in the market.

Living alone, being in a high quality educational program and also needing to learn a lot about entrepreneurship requires a lot of ourselves, we end up losing focus, or the time. Imagine that on the weekend you have to do all the house chores, read some books, make a meeting, study for college and also wash the clothes. If you are not a master of time management, all these duties do not end up fitting in your agenda. And that usually happens to me.

In recent days I have been developing my own techniques and getting techniques from other people to make my life more organized and, above all, productive. And the only tool to detect problems and develop solutions has been the perception of the world around me. Let me give an example:

When I was taking the first classes on WatchOS, I decided I would focus a lot because it was a technology that I really wanted to learn. So I could do all the exercises proposed in half the time required. In the final stretch, a friend came to me talk about the technology and also the developed code, and I realised while he was standing there talking to me that it was more difficult for me to focus and concentrate, then when I was alone and only focused on the problem. Then I introduced the pomodoro technique to my friends. I put a clock on the top bar of my computer during the 25 minutes of work. I asked for them not to open a conversation with me, unless it was absolutely necessary. This has made my job much more productive. I finished in one week what was expected to take two.

Another thing that has made me have more focus in all areas of my life, was setting my goals. I wrote on post-its all the things that I want to achieve within one year and then posted it on my wall. Every day when I wake up, it is one of the first things I see. Today there are more than 40 post-its (they are increasing), and I have read every one of them every day. They speak of goals, some are important phrases and others are definitions of who I am (it helps me to never forget). And this wall has changed my life! I sense that there is a place where I can go to think about my future and what I’m doing with my life right now, right this moment.

Let me give an example of how they are making me a better person. In a post-it it's written “It’s great to meet new people.” It is for when I have to go to some event and meet new people, but I’m too lazy or thinking it will not be productive. Since he was stuck on my wall, I would decide to go, but that day I didn’t go, but that’s Okay! This day didn’t count because it was raining a lot! ha ha ha :D

I would like to give a special thanks to Sheri Klein, who helped me to translate this article to the english. Thank you Sheri ;D

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