I have recently started to implement both the Life Admin System and the Small Business System. A lot of stuff is very clearly either for LAS or SBS, anything tax related for example. I am a freelance developer, and “unfortunately” programming is also one of my hobbies.
Thus I am having a bit of a problem of where to put stuff related to small side projects. Stuff that is not intended to be “a product” or “for profit”. Since it ultimately is an engaging way to expand my knowledge and toolsets, I find it hard to decide on where it belongs. It is both a hobby and my work, making the lines extremely blurry for me.
Another example would be: I have been a backend dev for pretty much of my career. I know enough HTML, CSS and JS to make something functional, but nowhere near “Full Stack”. One of the things I have on my Todo-List is to learn modern HTML and CSS (I started in ‘97, things have changed slightly since then ). This is both relevant to my business, but also to programming as a hobby.
Is there an easy heuristic of when something is more personal or business related?
I’ve flipped around a few times. First I thought that all of this learning was intrinsically to do with me. Because I’m the one learning, for me.
I also tend to think that, if in doubt, put something in the personal system. Because you, as a person, necessarily exist before you, as someone who has a job. That’s a very natural hierarchy in my mind.
I might have stuck with this had it not been for the fact that my personal and business systems are split across apps. Personal is in Bear, work is in Obsidian. And the working reality is that I’m far, far more likely to want to reference one of these tech-learning-concepts when I’m ‘at work’.
So I moved it all over to a new area in my business system, 60-69 Johnny's World of Technical Documentation. And it works a lot better there, for me. It’s just more practical.
That does make a lot of sense, thanks! I have both systems in Obsidian (for now), but in separate vaults, so I think this applies in that situation as well.
I am a bit precious with creating new areas because they a finite resource But in this case I can definitely see the use case!
Actually I have me and my freelance business in one area, and Life Admin in a separate one. I think of Life Admin as Household Admin, and it’s a collaboration with my partner, and therefore needs its own system so we can share files. Meanwhile, legally speaking, my business activities are actually not distinct from my private person. ‘Independent without personnel’ is the technical term in my jurisdiction, as opposed to a separate (incorporated) legal entity. (This is really scary to think about sometimes, but that’s a different discussion).
And it also makes sense for my situation: I’m doing things I’m really interested in, and make money with that too. So all learning relates to me, and business admin arround selling my time doing things I’ve learned is another aspect of me.[1]
That’s how I rationalized the same conclusion Johnny came to
Business admin falls into one of two categories: either I have to account for time and money so I don’t get in trouble with the govt, or I want to organise my resources better so I can relate to my clients in a more organised fashion, and help them more. Both are ‘necessary’ extensions of me doing what I want to do, learning and making and helping others. ↩︎
). This is both relevant to my business, but also to programming as a hobby.
But in this case I can definitely see the use case!