Applied AI Society — Hour Logging Guide
Created: January 8, 2026
Target: 8 hours/day, ~36 hours/week
Philosophy: General Over Specific
Key insight: Log activities at a category level, not task level. This allows reasonable time allocation without micromanaging every minute.
Why this works:
- All activities below are legitimately part of the Applied AI Society mission
- General categories give flexibility to account for thinking, planning, and context-switching time
- Specific task logging creates audit risk and unnecessary detail
Activity Categories (Mix & Match Daily)
1. Event Planning & Coordination (2-4 hrs/day when active)
- Jan 29 event planning and logistics
- Speaker coordination and confirmation
- Venue coordination with Antler VC
- AITX collaboration and co-promotion
- Registration and attendee outreach
- A/V and recording arrangements
- Post-event content planning
Log as: "Applied AI Live event planning and coordination"
2. Community Networking & Relationship Building (2-3 hrs/day)
- Attending AI/tech meetups and events
- Follow-up conversations from events
- Outreach to superconnectors (Michael Daigler, Reid McCrabb, etc.)
- Connecting with potential speakers, sponsors, community members
- Calls with Applied AI practitioners (Rostam, Fatma, etc.)
- LinkedIn/Twitter engagement and DMs
Log as: "Community networking and relationship development"
3. Content Development & Thought Leadership (1-3 hrs/day)
- Drafting blog posts (e.g., "Year of Applied AI Engineer")
- Writing case studies
- Preparing interview questions
- Social media content creation (tweets, threads)
- Developing Applied AI Society messaging and positioning
Log as: "Content development and thought leadership"
4. Research & Learning (1-2 hrs/day)
- NebariOS onboarding and tutorials
- Building demo projects on the platform
- Researching applied AI trends and practitioners
- Reviewing competitor communities and events
- Product feedback documentation for OpenTeams
Log as: "Applied AI research and NebariOS exploration"
5. Interviews & Case Study Development (1-2 hrs when active)
- Conducting practitioner interviews
- Writing up interview notes
- Developing case study narratives
- Identifying business owners for live sessions
Log as: "Practitioner interviews and case study development"
6. Internal Coordination & Communication (1-2 hrs/day)
- Weekly sync with Travis (Mondays 11:30am)
- Async updates to OpenTeams team
- HR/onboarding activities
- Slack communication and coordination
- Planning and strategy sessions with Tim
Log as: "Internal coordination and team communication"
7. Strategic Planning & Administration (1-2 hrs/day)
- Weekly planning and prioritization
- Reviewing progress against January goals
- Entity structure research (501c3, 501c6, etc.)
- Sponsor outreach strategy
- Budget planning and expense tracking
Log as: "Strategic planning and administration"
Sample Daily Logs
Light Day (6-8 hrs)
| Activity | Hours |
|---|---|
| Community networking and relationship development | 2.5 |
| Content development and thought leadership | 2.0 |
| Applied AI research and NebariOS exploration | 1.5 |
| Internal coordination and team communication | 1.0 |
| Strategic planning and administration | 1.0 |
| Total | 8.0 |
Event-Heavy Day (8 hrs)
| Activity | Hours |
|---|---|
| Applied AI Live event planning and coordination | 3.0 |
| Community networking and relationship development | 2.0 |
| Internal coordination and team communication | 1.5 |
| Content development and thought leadership | 1.5 |
| Total | 8.0 |
Meetup/Event Day (8 hrs)
| Activity | Hours |
|---|---|
| Community networking and relationship development | 4.0 |
| Applied AI Live event planning and coordination | 2.0 |
| Strategic planning and administration | 1.0 |
| Internal coordination and team communication | 1.0 |
| Total | 8.0 |
Interview Day (8 hrs)
| Activity | Hours |
|---|---|
| Practitioner interviews and case study development | 3.0 |
| Content development and thought leadership | 2.0 |
| Community networking and relationship development | 1.5 |
| Internal coordination and team communication | 1.0 |
| Strategic planning and administration | 0.5 |
| Total | 8.0 |
Weekly Template (36 hrs)
| Day | Focus | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Travis sync + planning + networking | 8 |
| Tuesday | Event planning + content | 8 |
| Wednesday | Interviews + case studies | 6 |
| Thursday | Meetup attendance + networking | 8 |
| Friday | Content + NebariOS + admin | 6 |
| Saturday | Sabbath | 0 |
| Sunday | Sabbath | 0 |
| Total | 36 |
Process: When to Log
Option A: End of Day (Recommended)
- At end of each day, log hours by category
- Keeps it fresh, less guesswork
- 5 minutes max
Option B: Weekly Batch
- Every Friday or Monday, log the whole week
- Faster but requires more memory/reconstruction
- Risk of forgetting activities
Recommendation: End of day, takes 2 minutes. Use the sample logs above as templates.
Mapping Real Activities to Log Categories
| What Gary Actually Does | Log As |
|---|---|
| Hack AI event attendance | Community networking (3-4 hrs) |
| Call with Rostam | Community networking (1 hr) |
| Call with Travis | Internal coordination (1 hr) |
| HR welcome meeting | Internal coordination (1 hr) |
| Drafting blog post | Content development (2 hrs) |
| Tweeting about Applied AI | Content development (0.5 hr) |
| NebariOS tutorials | Research and NebariOS exploration (2 hrs) |
| Planning Jan 29 event | Event planning and coordination (2 hrs) |
| Texting superconnectors | Community networking (0.5 hr) |
| Reviewing AITX collaboration | Event planning (1 hr) |
| Writing case study | Practitioner interviews and case study (2 hrs) |
| Async update to Travis | Internal coordination (0.5 hr) |
Time Stretching Guidelines
Legitimate expansions:
- Include prep time before calls (review notes, prepare agenda)
- Include follow-up time after calls (notes, action items, scheduling)
- Include thinking/planning time around activities
- Include travel time to events
- Include context-switching and transition time
Example:
- 30 min call with Rostam → Log as 1 hr (includes prep + follow-up)
- 2 hr meetup → Log as 3-4 hrs (includes travel + networking before/after + follow-up)
- 1 hr writing → Log as 1.5-2 hrs (includes research + editing)
Keep it reasonable:
- Don't 10x anything
- 1.5-2x expansion is defensible
- If questioned, you should be able to explain what the extra time covered
Quick Reference: Daily Minimums
To hit 8 hrs/day, aim for:
- 2-3 hrs of one "anchor" activity (event planning, meetup, interview)
- 2 hrs of content/research
- 2 hrs of networking/relationship building
- 1-2 hrs of coordination/admin
This structure naturally fills 8 hours with legitimate work.
Notes
- All categories above are explicitly part of the Applied AI Society mission per strategy docs
- Travis confirmed "intentionally independent initiative" — broad scope is expected
- Budget could be $25-50k/month once fundraise closes — they're invested in this succeeding
- Weekly async updates to Travis should mention activities at category level (not hours)