Personal Protocols

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Protocol for making (un)plans

This is a "protocol" that may or may not contain directions on how to make (un)plans, which in return may or may not give the self and expierence of living in the now

caution: making (un)plans may result in procrastination, waste of time, and/or contentment.

1. Assess the atmospherical circumstances and how they are experienced. There are multiple ways of approaching this task, some questions one could ask oneself are "does it feel warm or cold?" "is it dry or wet?" "are there any winds?"
2. Equip and dress yourself according to the atmospherical circumstances. The goal is to be able to maintain a comfortable temperature, and shield yourself from potential discomforts such rain or wind, beware that different people may have different preferanses, some may enjoy rain in the underwear whilst others would prefer a survival suit. Other types of equipment could be a water bottle or some food
3. leave all worries and responsibilities inside, and wander outside. This is the crucial part of making (un)plans, wander outside, with or without a goal. The most important thing is that you go somewhere you that suits your preferences, this be the forest or a buzzy highway intersection. This may seem difficult initially, a good piece of advice would be to just wander a direction until you change your mind.
4. Breath, explore your surroundings or embark on an introspective journey. Carrying out an (un)plan is always an ambiguous task, if the weather is nice it is always good to seek out of the city, any moment spent not on contributing to the late-capitalistic consumeristic condition, is a moment "well spent"

Protocol for non-immediate content

This protocol describes a protocol for content consumption on YouTube. Crucially, it dictates to move any video one wants to watch (immediately, or later) to the playlist 'Watch later' before watching. This way, the moments of deciding to watch a video and the consumption of the video are separated. This protocol can be generalized to other types of content consumption.

While the protocol's contents are strict, one may decide for themselves the frequency of application and set personal exceptions. Ultimately, this protocol aims for a better experience consuming content, by introducing explicit space for a feeling of agency. However, if one feels like their content consumption would be better with rare useage, modifications, or without the protocol entirely, please feel encouraged to act upon that agency.

The Protocol

  1. Open YouTube.
  2. Consider: do I want to watch a video right now? If yes: go to (3). Otherwise: go to (6)
  3. Perform Transitioning subprotocol:
    1. Open the playlist 'Watch later'.
    2. Perform a pruning pass:
      1. For each video in the playlist, consider the following:
        • Do I remember why I added this video?
        • Would I still add this video?
      2. If the answer to any of these questions is 'no', remove the video from the playlist.
      3. Optional: consider the total number of videos in the playlist. If this number exceeds a predetermined maximum, go to (3.2)
    3. Perform a watch-now pass:
      1. For each video in the playlist, from the oldest to the newest (by addition date), consider the following:
        • Do I want to watch this right now? If yes: go to (5). Otherwise: move the next video.
      2. Otherwise video passed the watch-now pass, consider:
        • Do I want to watch a video right now? If yes: go to (4). Otherwise: go to (6).
  4. Perform the Deciding subprotocol:
    1. Decide on a place to browse: the YouTube homepage, another playlist, search results or a specific channel.
    2. Consider the videos you are presented until one of the following occurs:
      • You find a video you are interested in watching, in which case: press 'add to playlist' and choose playlist 'Watch later'.
      • You don't feel like browsing anymore.
    3. Consider: do I want to browse some more? If yes: go to (4.1).
    4. Consider: do I want to watch a video right now? If yes: go to (3). Otherwise: go to (6).
  5. Perform the Consuming subprotocol:
    1. Open the video you want to watch.
    2. Watch the video until one of the following occurs, then go to (5.3):
      • You notice the video does not resonate with the reason you decided to watch the video; or
      • You notice the video lost your attention; or
      • The video finishes.
    3. Do I want to watch another video? If yes: go to (3). Otherwise: go to (6).
  6. Quit YouTube.

Generalization

There are two steps* in consuming content:

  1. Deciding to consume the content.
  2. Actually consuming the content.

(*although often the user has no autonomy over what content is presented to them -- this is particularly true for short form video content -- for which these steps (and this protocol) do not apply.)

At its core, the Protocol for non-immediate content is a method of separating the moments of decision and consumption. This can have several benefits:

  • introducing space to re-evaluate the moment of decision. Upon re-evaluation, you might realize you do not want to consume this particular piece of content.
  • You can focus completely on either deciding or consuming, and as the transition between the two modes of operation has been made explicit,

Also, accumulating decided-upon content in a 'playlist' can have a benefits:

  • The suggested time pressure in consuming the content -- 'How will I ever find this content again?', FOMO -- is removed: you can allow yourself to consume the content at the time you want to consume it. The moment of decision might now be wholly different from the moment of consumption.

This core idea of seperation, and its associated benefits, may be generalized to a wide range of content. YouTube is a well suited example, but consider another: you are in the exploration phase of a research project. You go to a digital source of written articles. You compile a playlist with links to to-read articles (moment of decision). At a later point in time, you choose an article from this list to read (moment of consumption). You now no longer have to worry about missing out on articles specific to you current search results, you don't have to worry about hectic zigzagging between reading and searching in response, et cetera.

Extension

It can happen that consuming one piece of content might spark you to go out and find another (e.g. an article mentioning another article, or a new term, etc.). In this case, a playlist of sparks may be compiled, again separating moments of decision and consumption. In this case, its main goal is to allow your concentration to stay with the current task.

In many ways, this is exactly what notetaking can be: a thought expressed as to no longer have to retain it in your head, or to act upon it immediately.

Protocol for making friends (lunchbox edition)

Making new friends can be stressful, especially in a new environment. The following steps are intended to give you some ideas, without warranty but guaranteed to be fun.

  1. There are no special experiences or skills required.
  2. You need a lunchbox, this does not necessarily need to be a super fancy one, it can be anything. You could even build your own but keep in mind, if you want to put it in your back, make sure it is secured, otherwise your bag could turn into a lunchbox itself (if that is intended go to step 4). The lunchbox itself can be a nice topic to talk about, maybe you both like to have Disney Stars on your box ;)
  3. A plastic bag is probably the easiest way to secure your lunchbox, but there are other ways. Have you ever tried this super strong tape that repairs any hardcore leaking water tank? If not, this is worth a watch and definitely a good conversation to laugh about.
  4. If you have finished the setup of your lunchbox, you are ready to fill it. You don't even like to cook and prefer to buy your food at a  restaurant or (super)market? No problem, return to step 1.
  5. Do not feel pressured to be a skilled cook, even the biggest catastrophe can make people relate to similar experiences and is also a nice way to get to know each other. Maybe you can inspire each other and next time meet up to prepare your lunchboxes together.
  6. Not all the steps need to be done in order to find a new lunchbox companion.


A different protocol for your lunchbox

<!DOCTYPE html>

<head>

   <meta charset="UTF-8">

   <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">

   <title>lunchbox</title>

</head>

<body>

<div class="box">

       <div class="lunch"></div>

</div>

</body>