Chapter 1: Understanding Chaotic Days

On certain days, my mind feels overwhelmingly chaotic, making it difficult to focus on a single task. This sensation is especially pronounced when I haven't had a good night's sleep.

I keep telling myself I should update my financial records, but it's not an urgent matter. I plan to set a reminder for next week, though I wonder if it will just join the pile of overlooked alerts.

I also need a haircut—almost forgot about that! I can’t delay it any longer; I want to make sure the sides look neat, particularly since my hair is getting thinner.

[Before cutting his hair, AJ gets his son to search online for a picture of Mindy’s dad from Mork and Mindy, to show the look he’s desperate to avoid. Not that AJ has lost that much hair yet!]

Lately, I've spent a lot of time identifying people and places in old family photos. This has sparked my curiosity about my father's relatives who passed away before I was born.

A thought strikes me: why not try a free trial on ancestry.co.uk?

After spending two hours entering my family tree and searching for records, I still can't locate my Aunt Sally! It's perplexing that there are no records for her, while her five siblings are documented.

Moreover, why does the website keep suggesting individuals from far-off places even when I specify my desired town?

Wait a moment! Jane, my late wife, started a family tree project 15 years ago. Perhaps that contains the info I need. I just hope the software she used isn't outdated. Let's see if I can install it.

After 30 minutes of installing Family Historian and recovering Jane’s files from a backup, I find that most records pertain to her side of the family, while I'm focused on my dad’s lineage.

I might need to return to that ancestry site for further exploration.

This feels futile! Jumping from one ancestry record to another is making my head spin.

I'm feeling exhausted, barely able to keep my eyes open. A hot drink might help.

Over the weekend, I didn't accomplish much on Medium, and I'm eager to catch up on my reading. Perhaps I should draft a story first.

How about revisiting one of my old computer tales?

After 45 minutes of reworking a story from my previous blog, I realize it still needs a lot of refinement. Maybe I should explore a different one!

I've been considering breaking down my long childhood stories for a while now. It's high time I start that project!

After spending 20 minutes reviewing them, I see it's a massive undertaking. And look at all the feedback from readers who engaged with those stories 3–4 years ago. It feels wrong to republish them and delete the originals. I'm conflicted!

Oh no, look at the time! I need to head to the supermarket tonight or else breakfast cereal will be off the menu in the morning.

Perhaps I can be more productive later this evening.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Alan

P.S. I'm relieved that I don’t experience this kind of chaos every day! It typically occurs when I have a large chunk of free time and an overload of ideas. Fatigue certainly doesn't help!