'Projects' vs. 'events'

21/31 daily posts as part of WeblogPoMo2024. Expect (and forgive) more words and less editing.

Here's another way to think about the granularity of IDs.

Let's arbitrarily divide all of life in to two buckets.

Projects

Projects can be small. I'm engaged in battle with our local shopping centre over a dangerous car park exit. That's a project because it's this well-defined thing.

It started when I got angry at almost being killed, and it'll end when they install a barrier at the car park exit.

They can be whole-of-life things. House insurance isn't a project as such, but it is a defined thing that started (you got old enough to move in to your own place) and it'll end (you'll move in to a nursing home or die).

It's made up of a bunch of events like renew insurance or seek better quote.

In Johnny.Decimal, IDs should line up with your life's projects.

This is why we renamed project to system.

Events

Whereas an event is part of some broader project.

Going to get a scan for that achy knee isn't a project: it's just one event in the life project of being healthy or not aching or whatever.

And so Lucy didn't create an ID for the event which was going to get a scan for the achy knee.

She created a project, 12.20 Doctors and tests, and put it in there. Future events will fill out this project over time.

You can promote things

Let's say that achy knee turns in to some sort of knee replacement surgery and life-long rehabilitation. It might feel like it's outgrown 12.20 Doctors and tests.

Totally cool. Just promote it to its own thing later.

Err on the side of less granular

If in doubt, try to roll things together. Less things is less decisions is less ambiguity.