Okay, so let’s talk about this ‘martina struff’ thing I tried out a while back. I bumped into the name on some really old message board, someone raving about how it changed their whole game for managing personal project notes. Sounded kinda cool, you know? Like maybe it was some hidden gem.
So, first thing I did was try to actually find out what it was. Man, that was step one into frustration city. Hardly anything online. Just a few whispers here and there, nothing solid. Found one blog post from maybe ten years ago? Looked like it was run through a translator three times. Didn’t make a whole lot of sense, but it mentioned something about color-coding and cross-linking ideas in a weird physical way, not just digital.
Giving it a Shot
Alright, I figured, how hard could it be? I decided to give it my best guess based on the scraps I found. I got myself a new notebook, a bunch of colored sticky notes, and different colored pens. Spent a Saturday afternoon trying to implement what I thought the ‘martina struff’ method was.
- I started jotting down ideas for a little side project I was tinkering with.
- Then I tried assigning colors based on… well, I wasn’t sure. Maybe topic? Urgency? I just picked something.
- Then came the ‘struff’ part, which I guessed meant ‘structure’ or ‘stuff’? I tried linking related notes with drawn lines across pages, using specific pen colors.
- I even stuck sticky notes on top of other sticky notes. It got messy fast.
Honestly, it felt really forced. I was spending more time figuring out how to apply the system than actually thinking about my project. Which color was for ‘urgent’? Which pen meant ‘connects to finance’? I kept forgetting my own rules because there were no real rules to follow!
The Aftermath
After about three days of trying to stick with it, I just looked at this notebook full of colored scribbles and sticky note towers. It wasn’t helpful. It was just… chaotic. Trying to find a specific piece of information was harder than before. It didn’t spark joy, let’s put it that way.
So, I ditched it. Went back to my simple digital text file and a straightforward task list. Maybe the original ‘martina struff’ was something brilliant, but the lack of clear info made it impossible to use. Or maybe it was just someone’s weird personal system that only worked for them.
It kinda reminded me of this one time years ago, trying to learn a specific database optimization trick I read about. Spent two weeks, pulled late nights, trying to make it work on our system. Turned out the article missed one crucial detail about the specific database version needed, which we didn’t have. Total waste of time. Sometimes these obscure ‘miracle’ methods you dig up are obscure for a reason. Sticking to proven, understandable stuff usually saves you a headache in the long run. This ‘martina struff’ thing? Yeah, filed under ‘interesting idea, terrible execution’ in my head.
