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Introducing Alchemy

When I was a kid, my mom ran a newsletter out of our house called "The Get Organized! News." She started with it being printed as 4-page newsletters that she would get from a local printer (like a printer company, not just printed at home), and then we would work as a family to fold, label, and stamp them, to then be shipped off at the local post office. This is where I first learned the word: collation.

In the early 2000s, she moved to doing it through email, but unfortunately it petered out, and she eventually closed it. But for the better part of a decade she diligently ran this newsletter with monthly releases.

I did not get her organization gene. Or so I thought.

Several years ago, I got formally diagnosed with ADHD, and so much of my life and my organization struggles suddenly made sense. The meds have definitely helped. Between meds and finding modern tools, my organization has gotten better. Along with the medication, I've really begun finding tools and ways of supporting me and my needs.

And this post is about introducing Alchemy, which is my homebrew organization system. But, before I show it off: let's talk about how I got to it.

For several years, my primary organization tool at work was a half-inch 3-ring binder which I populated with a custom printed template that was based around using what I have always called an 'Eisenhower matrix' or a Priority Matrix. The system is straightforward and easy: You have four boxes in a 2x2 grid. One axis is 'Urgent,' and the other axis is 'Important'. Importance here generally means 'Do I need to be the one to do it?'

So in the upper left you have both Urgent & Important, and that box of tasks is things I need to do today (ostensibly.)

The upper right is Important but not Urgent; these are backlog things I can get to later.

The lower left is Urgent but not Important, and these generally tend to be things I can delegate.

And the lower right is Not Urgent and Not Important; more often than not, this turns into questions to be researched, or low-priority asks I can delegate. For years I just called this box 'Notes'.

As I go into later, this is a good system and one I still use, but it is not a complete organization system. There is a lot of context that gets lost, and it doesn't cleanly carry things day to day, etc.

Here, we arrive to take a look at my new tool that I call 'Alchemy '-that is my organizational hub for work.

(None of the information in these pictures is real; it's all placeholder designed to show off features of Alchemy.)

Alchemy has been one of my various projects for the last few weeks. I've been working with coding agents (primarily Claude, but also some Qwen) to develop exactly the tool I want to use. And wouldn't you know it, it's become a crucial tool in my everyday.

Between the 3-ring binder and today, there have been numerous versions and implementations, usually relying on Notion or Google Docs. Over the years, as my work shifted to more strategy and meetings, one of the shortcomings of the matrix became evident: It was not good for notes; it was good at tasks. I have not found a good system to facilitate both. Sure, I could do it in a notebook, but I work with my hands on the keyboard and using pen and paper usually meant I never went back and looked except in rare circumstances.

So that was where I started: I need a system which facilitates note-taking and a priority matrix. Everything else grew out of that.

Alchemy is a combination of several organizational tools:

1. The priority matrix
2. Meeting notes
3. Kanban tracking of tasks which extend outside of a single day
4. Delegation tracking for when I hand things off to others, whether my team or coworkers

Alchemy started as a simple tool with an open text area for each day's notes, and a matrix for tasks, with the kanban added on top for the tasks that couldn't be accomplished in the single day.

Over the past weeks I've added to the app's complexity: task delegation tracking, status updating, tagging for tasks relating to projects, supporting tracking meetings as discrete objects and thus linking them in series (so previous notes are easily available), and also tracking meetings in relation to people for 1-on-1s, etc.

I feel like I'm reaching the end of natural functionality for myself. Going further would turn it into a product, and the additions would all be about supporting larger organization functions, etc.

Because it's a standalone app, it doesn't integrate with my calendar, etc. But I actually find that more of a feature than a bug, as it means I spend every morning engaging with my calendar and tasks, reviewing my day's meetings, capturing any notes or things I want to bring up. It's a good bit of mindfulness to help anchor the day.

During meetings, when I click on their note section, it expands to take up the screen and give more room for writing. In addition, I recently added the functionality to maintain access to the priority matrix (though it ended up as a priority stack) for the layout so I can easily drop tasks that come out of the meeting, or enter delegate tasks, etc. Also on the left, you can see how it handles notes from the series, so I can hop back to previous meetings and check what I wrote, etc.

Search is a more recent addition; it was just something I knew I wanted but didn't have a big need for until I got several weeks into it and couldn't find a note I had taken. So search hits everything the system has: people, tasks, notes, etc.

There are a few more spurious features I am testing. I added a thumbs up / thumbs down as a simple signal of whether a meeting was a good use of my time. Not judging anything or anyone, but my meeting calendar is awful, and if I can identify meeting series which are reliably ones I felt were not worth my time, I can either work to fix the problem or step away from the meeting.

I also added a timer for meetings, again, trying to identify time usage on my calendar and look for outsized representation. That was literally added last night, so I have no idea how useful it will be.

Phone update: Still no Z Fold 8, but I have a case and a portable keyboard with stand for it.

Just no phone yet. Samsung says I'll have it next week. Sigh.

The Rip (2026)

I overall enjoyed it, the tenseness and plot kept me into it. But I think it's unlikely I come back to it again.

The Mountain is just so magical

The wife and I made our way down to Tacoma this morning and this view is just so magical. It's almost better that the mountain isn't as obvious as she can be.

No Country for Old Men (2007)

I know, I know, I should have watched it earlier. Jesus Christ, what a masterpiece.

Hilariously, after the movie ended, Paramount recommended our next viewing should be: The Hangover, Part III. .🤪

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024)

Killing Nazis is always a good time

The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026)

Sadly disappointing given the pedigree and talent. A sequel which proves it didn't need to exist.