What is Project Patrick?
Project Patrick is a live experiment in using simple, accessible technology for reflective practice.
It is not a productivity system, a personal brand, or a teaching platform. It's a public inquiry into how we can gain clarity in modern life by capturing experience, noticing patterns, and closing mental loops.
I recently came across Daniel Barada's YouTube channel and realised that creating informative content really could be as simple as talking through some notes on your computer with a split screen. It inspired me to start something of my own, but with a twist based on my personal practices.
The name comes from one of my favourite musical artists, Project Pablo—whose real name is also Patrick. I liked the container it creates: something that holds experimentation without turning into an identity. It's quite convenient that Patrick is also my actual name.
The Process
Throughout the week, I capture thoughts via voice dictation. These notes go straight into Bear—one thought per line where possible. They're raw, immediate, and honest. No polish, no performance.
At the end of each week, I export everything as a single text file and upload it to ChatGPT for analysis. The AI generates a summary, identifies recurring themes, and surfaces 3–5 insights or lessons. I can take it further by using NotebookLM to turn the synthesis into a podcast I can listen to and reflect on.
Then I share the process. I record a short video (5–10 minutes) where I walk through the week's patterns and insights—split screen, with notes on one side and live commentary on the other. It's conversational, reflective, unscripted. I also publish a blog post based on the analysis.
The content isn't decided in advance. It emerges naturally from living, capturing, and reviewing.
Why Share It?
This isn't about sharing my personal insights as much as it is about modelling the process itself. I want to show that reflective practice doesn't require expensive software, complex systems, or special skills. It just requires consistency, honesty, and a willingness to notice what's actually happening.
My hope is that by watching this process unfold publicly, others might feel encouraged to build something similar—adapted to their own life, tools, and rhythms.
At its core, this project is about helping people gain clarity in their own lives. By sharing my process openly, I hope to demonstrate how simple reflection can reveal patterns that would otherwise remain invisible—patterns in how we think, what we avoid, what energises us, and where we get stuck.
The goal isn't for others to adopt my insights, but to see how the practice itself can be adapted to their own context. Everyone's patterns are different. Everyone's clarity looks different. But the fundamental process—capture, review, notice—is universally accessible.
If watching this unfold helps even one person start their own reflective practice, that's meaningful.
The Technology Philosophy
The tools are intentionally simple: voice dictation built into phones, Bear or any note-taking app (free or paid), ChatGPT for synthesis (free), NotebookLM for additional perspective (free), and basic video recording (free). Nothing is hidden. Nothing is proprietary. The technology is there to reduce friction, not add complexity.
What This Isn't
- A content calendar driven by topics
- Advice or coaching
- A productivity performance
- A spiritual curriculum
Authority here comes from lived experience, not expertise. The tone is exploratory, not prescriptive.
The Long-Term Vision
Over time, I might create pattern libraries, thematic compilations, or deeper written essays. I might build a community of people engaging in similar practices. But none of that is required for the project to work.
The guiding question is always:
"Does this process create more clarity and space, or more pressure?"
If pressure increases, the system gets simplified, not expanded.
Project Patrick is a container for sustained, public reflection. It's an experiment in whether we can use everyday technology to think more clearly, close more loops, and live with a bit more intention—without making it complicated.
If that sounds interesting, I'd love to have you follow along.