Productivity - when it goes too far

I'm a big fan of organizing your life and doing things in a productive way. I'm not saying I'm a perfect example of that, but I'm working on it. One of the reasons why I like it is because, if done right, you actually relieve yourself from stress and get a chance to enjoy everyday life more. Except for my own ideas about it I'm also reading blogs like lifehacer.com and there are often good advices to be found on this sites. But sometimes people just go to far. I've just read a post about a guy who is keeping track of his haircut with some fancy combination of Google Spreadsheet and Calendar. As the post says: "...a good way to make sure he doesn't get too overgrown". I prefer to look my self in the mirror in the morning. :-) And if we look at it from the productivity measure I think that takes less then entering each haircut appointment into a spreadsheet.

Anyway, be productive, but don't automate everything in your life, because then somebody just might write a computer program to replace you :-)

What are dreams made of

Again about the dreams? Yes, but this time about the ones that are created while we are asleep. Since somewhere around the beginning of this year I've been having very vivid and intense dreaming periods. Sometimes I dream so much that I just don't want to wake up and go to work or university. Yes, yes I know that if I would have more regular sleeping patterns I wouldn't have problems with waking up, but this is not what I want to write about now (maybe some other time, because I am working on this too). For some years now I've been interested in dreaming, lucid dreams, their meanings and even possibility of out of body experiences (I don't say I believe they are possible or not - yet). And now I've finally decided to start practicing with the logging all my dreams. I'll put a notebook next to my bed tonight and see what will happen in the morning. I usually don't remember many details of my dreams, but from what I've read, with a little practice one can improve.

Who knows, if I get good enough I might start sharing this dreams too with you :-)

90 years of Esotnia

Few days ago I came back from a trip to small, but very interesting country of Estonia. I was there as a Deputy Speaker (something like a co-chairman) in BEST General Assembly and had a great experience. The whole event was organisied to the finest detail and it exceeded expectations of most if not all participants. There were to many things to mention here and to many emotions to make it clear.

But there is one thing I would like to single out. This year is the 90th anniversary of Estonia as a country. Since BEST is not only about working and.. hm.. drinking.. but it's also in big part about culture, during this event we had a chance to meet Estonian culture rather well. Specially on one evening, they showed us their history, from the prehistoric age, to the present. During this 3 hour show in which they played out most important historic events (while above them there was a movie showing the same, together with the story) emotions of 400 people watching got stronger and stronger, until they finally reached climax during reenacting of the '90 and breaking from Soviet regime. In this moment many people started crying remembering how it felf in their countries, others just felt connected somehow and we all were swaying from one side of the room to another. Four hundred people as one. So powerful. In that point everything ended with a song "Welcome to Estonia" and all 70 organisers jumping in the middle with huge satisfaction on their faces and then.... "Simply The Best" for all of us and catharsis for the end of wonderful show. I, as many others, was left speechless, specially knowing that this was done by my friends, not by some entertainment professionals, but by students of technology.

This evening will stay in my mind and in my hart forever as one of the best and BEST moments in my life.

Once again, thank you BEST Estonia