Day 19, 3 April 2020

Correlation and causation

William the plush hippo with an Orval Trappist Ale bottle cap on his head, in front of a line of Chinese books
Activating William’s powers with a Belgian beer bottle cap!

I wonder if I have figured out how to activate the hidden powers of William… While I was tidying up my (home) office yesterday, I thought the bottle cap from the Wednesday night’s Zoombeer would make a nice little tam for our unofficial departmental mascot. We had been already joking he needs a little cap and gown for graduation, so we may as well get him an entire wardrobe, a bit like Manneke Pis in Brussels.

I placed the little Orval bottle cap carefully between his ears and it hasn’t budged yet. I have also since then had two days of peaceful predictable productivity. (Check out Meggin’s work. She’s nothing short of amazing.) It could be because I carefully planned those days in my Petit Prince planner. But it also coincides with William donning a little Orval tam…. I need as many of these days as I can get, so I’m not taking any chances on figuring out the difference between correlations and causation here.

What productivity hacks and rituals have you been applying in the past three weeks of working from home?

Blue planner with yellow and white picture of the Little Prince (Petit Prince) on cover, History Department Muhlenberg branded pencil under yellow elastic band; top left corner William the turquoise plush hippo
Moleskine Petit Prince planner (large), with History Department pencil and William (for scale)

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