Alright folks, today I tried this “testaruda” thing everyone’s whispering about. Honestly thought it was some fancy martial arts move at first! Total confusion. But nah, it’s just a way to organize stuff – sounds simple, but lemme tell you, I messed it up bad before figuring it out. Three times. Almost quit, felt like a clown.
My Initial Face-Plant Attempts
Tried diving straight in last week. Opened up my note app, brain full of hype. Thought I could just wing it. Biggest mistake. Started throwing all my daily tasks into one huge list – work emails, grocery shopping, phone calls, even ‘water the damn plant’. Looked like pure chaos after ten minutes. Zero structure. Felt overwhelmed, closed the app fast. My cat looked disappointed.
Next day, tried again. Figured I needed categories. Made big buckets like “Work” and “Home”. Dumped everything in. But… ‘Reply to boss email’ sat next to ‘Research vacation spots’. Felt wrong. Still messy, still stressed. Got confused where things belonged. ‘Call mom’ – is that ‘Home’ or ‘Personal’? Shut it down again, rubbed my eyes.
Finally Figuring Out the Testaruda Flow
Took a breath. Sat down with a real notebook this time. Pen felt heavier than expected. Decided to dissect what others meant by “testaruda”. Noted their buzzwords: Clarity, Focus, Tiny Steps. Okay. Maybe not one big mess.
Started fresh page. Skipped the app entirely. Just paper and cheap blue pen.
The Step-By-Step Breakdown
Step 1: The Brain Dump Disaster Zone.
- Put notebook on table. Set timer for 5 minutes.
- Scribbled EVERY single thing buzzing in my skull, big or small. Rent due? Check. Fix squeaky door? Yep. Learn guitar? Why not. Buy socks? Added.
- Ended up with 27 messy points. Felt like mental vomit on paper. Took a juice break.
Step 2: Sorting the Mess – The Ugly Buckets.
- Drew circles on next page: Work, Home, Me, Someday Maybe.
- Looked at my 27-point disaster. Started grouping them. “Reply to boss” went under Work. “Buy socks” under Home. “Learn guitar”? Nah, that felt like “Someday Maybe”. Brutal honesty.
- “Call mom” landed under Me. Personal, not home management. Tough call.
Step 3: Chunking It Down – Where the Magic (Pain) Happens.
- Stared at “Organize garage” under Home. Too huge. Broke it down into concrete chunks, like literally writing bullets below it:
- Throw out broken lawn chairs
- Sweep floor section near door
- Move winter tires to corner
- Did this for EVERY bigger item. Wrist started hurting. Took 15 minutes just for this step alone. But man, seeing tasks become tiny felt lighter.
Step 4: The Ruthless Cut
- Looked hard at “Research vacation spots.” Under Someday Maybe. Cool. Moved it there. Ignored it.
- Saw “Fix squeaky door” under Home. But… later this month? Moved it to bottom of Home list.
- Felt powerful crossing stuff off the immediate do-list. Like decluttering my brain’s closet.
Step 5: Daily Dig – Just Three Tiny Wins.
- Looked ONLY at Today’s Priority Bucket (I call it NOW). Only picked THREE tiny chunks to focus on.
- Ignored everything else screaming for attention. Wrote them large at the top of a new page: 1. Reply boss email. 2. Buy socks after work. 3. Sweep garage door section.
- Done those? Win the day. Didn’t tackle 27 things. Just three. Achievable, visible.
How It Feels Now?
Took me a week of flailing to get here. Still not perfect. Messy handwriting. Sometimes I cheat and peek at the Someday Maybe list. But focusing on tiny chunks? Game changer. Less panic before bed. Brain feels quieter. Wrist still hurts though.
