✈️ Building without having to fly it

In data journalism, I've become an expert at building planes while flying them. Each project is a new aircraft being assembled mid-flight: scraping data while racing deadlines, learning new tools as I use them, and somehow managing to land safely with a published story. After years of working this way, my brain seems wired for this constant state of simultaneous building and flying.

While this high-stakes learning has served me well professionally, it's created an uncomfortable reality: my brain now expects every project to come with a deadline and deliverable. But what about learning for learning's sake? What about those side projects that don't need to land anywhere specific?

I recently stumbled upon Tom Stafford's blog post, and it crystallized something I've been feeling: I need a space for aimless tinkering, for building things that might never fly. Between PÚBLICO, teaching, and freelance work, my schedule is packed with "planes in the air" - leaving no room for that statistics course I want to take, or those fascinating tutorials I keep bookmarking for some mythical "later."

That's why Stafford's rule three struck a chord with me:

You don't find time for deep, creative work, you have to make it. If you wait for a moment when you aren't busy you will never do the most important things.

From now on, I'll dedicate 90 minutes to this space. It's my idea lab - a hangar where I can build planes without the pressure of keeping them in the air. A place to explore new ideas, try new projects, and learn new skills at ground level.

Maybe by creating this dedicated space for learning and exploration, I can develop new ways of building. Ways that don't always require the adrenaline rush of a deadline to fuel them.