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Fooling myself to work
- sktrdie 16y agoThat was a great read until I realized he was mentioning the To-Do List software way to much... great way to let people buy your software :).
- becomevocal 16y agoI'd much rather read an article that has a couple quick insights, like this one, than the millions out there that are indeed just omg-how-great-is-this-product landing pages. + I give credit to those who code and create (valid) content. One is hard enough. ;)
- HedgeMage 16y agoLinking once to something you use or something you made that you are proud of is awesome. Getting that spammy about it caused me not to finish the post.
- jirinovotny 16y agoThanks for the advice! I've removed the extra links. For some reason, it has never occurred to me.
- gruseom 16y agoFor some reason, it has never occurred to me. Probably your software is so inextricably part of your life that the thought of a world (let alone a blog post) without it never occurs to you. It's a good post. The reason you're getting criticized ("spammy", "self-promoting", etc.) is that it breaks the informal conventions that have evolved for such hybrid (good content plus product promotion) posts. One is to give the reader a clear heads-up that the post falls in both categories. In the absence of that signal, the flow for me went like this: 1. A blog post about improving productivity? Cool. I like productivity. 2. Hmm, this guy isn't an idiot. Guess I'll keep reading. 3. Some of these points seem useful, I wonder how I could apply them? (In the meantime, completely missing the first mention/link to your product). 4. Further down, dimly noticing the product name, but not thinking about it. 5. Recognizing the third mention of the product - what's that? Seems vaguely familiar. 6. Finally: oh, I get it. This is software he's selling and the whole post has (also) been about this. 7. I feel like a bit of a dupe. No like. Bail. The only reason why 7 occurred is that the post didn't set my expectation correctly at the start, so I read it with a wrong expectation, then had the unpleasant experience of reality contradicting it. It's actually the fact that the content was good enough to absorb my attention that led to this; otherwise I would have noticed the other details right away.
- jirinovotny 16y agoThat makes perfect sense. Thank you for the detailed explanation, I see the issue now clearly. I've learned something.
- mrleinad 16y agoCan't fool myself. I'm too smart.
- praptak 16y ago"If our own minds were simple enough for us to understand them, we'd be too dumb to understand them anyway."
- forensic 16y agoI actually like your advice but it's such an obvious sales pitch for your software. Your ulterior motives make me nauseous. P.S. I would probably try your software if it wasn't stuck in windows land. Why not make a WebApp?
- jirinovotny 16y agoThanks. If I didn't use it, I wouldn't mention it. Well, Windows land is our niche. Once we get the online synchronization and a companion web-app (with support for mobile devices) going, we will have kinda unique product combo.
- roel_v 16y agoActually, Toodledo is a free online service (free for the 'light' version) and syncs with many apps - mobile of all sorts, desktop (Win/Linux/Max), has API, ... It's very cool and not to be dissing your product, but if you'd just add Toodledo sync you'd have all bases covered (you can't compete if you will try to develop apps for all these platforms yourself).
- zdw 16y agoHonestly, I think the list is quite good - It's not like any of the suggestions couldn't carry over into OmniFocus or Org-Mode, and most of them are of the "life hack" variety that aren't tech focused.
- albemuth 16y agoReminded me a lot about GTD, for that there's Things (OS X/ iOS) and I also know of http://gtd-free.sourceforge.net/ http://gtd-free.sourceforge.net/
- kaib 16y agoI thought the list was good without having any intention of looking at the software mentioned. Also, if I were to write a similar list I would probably mention a bunch of software in a similar tone as the author does, except I would obviously not be the author of any of the software.
- 16y ago
- bitwize 16y agoPretend you are grinding for gold and experience?
- jirinovotny 16y agoor rather stop pretending you are not (:
- Hisoka 16y agoI know you're being sarcastic, but this is actually a good idea for a gamification app. And people are starting to already do this
- bitwize 16y agoI wasn't being sarcastic.
- gohat 16y agoThis is fairly blatant self promotion. That said, these are really good ideas. Decomposing a task into what needs to be done to do it is really effective.
- lawnchair_larry 16y agoI think there becomes a point at which self-promotion becomes ok, providing that the magnitude of the self-promotion is commensurate with the contribution. I feel that the author met that in this case, and I did not feel spammed. Edit: Judging by the other comments, it appears that the author may have edited the post already to be less spammy. In any case, the current version has a good balance.
- Void_ 16y agoSo what todo list software do you use?
- aniket_ray 16y agoI'm also a big fan of swift to-do list. Really well made and simple to use. The lite version is a free-to-use download.
- navs 16y agoI've always liked Notational Velocity for OS X. It's minimal but functional. The latest version has some impressive todo features as described here: http://scrodlog.notational.net/notational-velocity-204 http://scrodlog.notational.net/notational-velocity-204
- stephth 16y agoI either use a rich text file (that supports strikethrough) or TaskPaper - which is basically a text editor - depending on the context. The added complexity of most existing to-do list software doesn't pay off, for me.
- rryan 16y agoEmacs + org-mode
- rodh257 16y agohttp://teuxdeux.com/ http://teuxdeux.com/ is quite handy for simple short term tasks
- farout 16y agoI can not recall that exact title of the book something about ants and elephants (looked on amazon - did not recognize those books) but these are my takeaways from it: 1. state your goals 2. write down your milestones - must be actual measurable metrics 3. write reasons why you will not reach them - expect the unexpected; yes you can not expect all the unexpected but this is preparing you so that when there are issues, which are guaranteed to happen, this is how you need to respond without your emotions totally taking over. 4. Write down what you will do when you encounter these problems. Again be specific. Think of this a as a recipe book/play book. 5. write down the rewards you will give to yourself for each milestone achieved. You need to put a positive feedback loop as incentive. Worked in kindergarten with goldstars. 6. and from the another book: Influencer: The Power to Change Anything answer the 2 Qs: Do I think I can do it? (meaning skills and resources) Is it worth it to me to do it? Wow, a lot of work? Sure is. Worth it. Yes.
- dreeves 16y agoThat last one is similar to my litmus test for Akrasia [http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Akrasia http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Akrasia]: 1. How certain are you that you *want* to do it? 2. How certain are you that you *can* do it? 3. How certain are you that you *will* do it? If your answers are "absolutely", "definitely", and "given historical evidence, not entirely" then this is classic akrasia. I think the only solution in that case is some form of self-binding. See http://blog.beeminder.com/akrasia http://blog.beeminder.com/akrasia
- farout 16y agoVery interesting. Here is a nice synopsis of a case studied in the Influencer book about the Carter Center helping to rid Guinea worm infections in several African countries: http://www.joshhunt.com/mail215.htm http://www.joshhunt.com/mail215.htm I have problem accepting your conclusion from your blog:To make the long-term consequences of failing at your goal immediate, you need a bright and painful line. I think it more complex than that, which you alluded to earlier. I am constantly trying to be a better me. Losing money would not be an incentive to me if milestones were not met as you recommended. The book, "Change or Die", talks about Dick Cheney needing a yearly heart bypass and then finally getting $6M/invested in chefs/fitness trainers/doctors/retrofitted planes to change himself (basically to exercise 1 hour a day). This is even before his recent massive weight loss. It also talks about, people with fatal diseases that refuse to take their daily meds as required. Why? I mean it is fatal. They will die. Taking the pill every day made them realize they were dying. Forgetting to do so, made them have a happier less depressing day. I guess quality versus quantity. In this case if the pill was somehow better integrated, so they would not notice it much and reflect so much, they might consistently take it. I also liked this synopsis of take aways from this MS project manager about the Influencer. the Power to Change Anything: http://sourcesofinsight.com/2009/06/09/influencer-the-power-to-change-anything/ http://sourcesofinsight.com/2009/06/09/influencer-the-power-... Also, you may have already seen this, Sendhil Mullainathan's, "THE IRONY OF POVERTY" http://www.edge.org/documents/archive/edge263.html http://www.edge.org/documents/archive/edge263.html in which he talks one such problem diarrhea causing infant deaths and how to successfully change the mental model of the parents to save infant lives. I have not yet read PG's essay.The Wikipedia article was a nice read. Thanks! PS There are some interesting books on how train and change behaviors in animals since I think in end we more like animals than we care to admit.
- mrschwabe 16y ago#9 is perhaps the best tip (start thinking about your most important task before you goto sleep). Particularly in combination with #3 (do a specific task first thing when you wake up and start at the computer). I find that 'working momentum' is highest beginning as soon as the computer turns on in the morning. For this reason, each day I will typically schedule 3 hours of focus on one specific task/project/vision; before doing anything else. Trust me, anything you focus on for a solid 3 hours a day will eventually get done... probably sooner than you expect.
- lutorm 16y agoI'm not so sure about that. Thinking about work before going to sleep is also a pretty good way to make it hard to fall asleep, especially if it's something stressful. And lack of sleep is my #1 cause of loss of work efficiency.
- MichaelGG 16y agoExactly. I only fall asleep thinking about a problem if it's something that is "hard". For instance, coming up with an algorithm I haven't been able to get quite right during the day. If I do that, I usually don't sleep very well. My dreams are filled with odd representations of the problem (once, an old man yelling various time complexities at me). When I do wake up, I often have a good fresh new idea to try out. But, it's taxing. Nothing good has come of sleeping on a stressful problem, or common work where I know more or less what to do.
- Ygor 16y agoI personally do the complete opposite - avoid thinking about work stuff before sleep. I believe you should take some time for yourself, doing the thing you like other than working, and thinking about/doing that. Being relaxed and not thinking about problems is the best way for me to get a good night of sleep and be refreshed for the next day. Ofc, there are points where thinking about work before sleep is necessary and/or unavoidable. Thinking about work all the time, especially before going to sleep, makes me feel like I am living to work, instead of working to live. Setting the boundaries actually made me more productive.
- dasil003 16y agoA pretty good list of tips, however I've gotten more mileage over the years by digging deeper into my procrastination to understand its roots. Most often than not there is some fear or dissatisfaction tied to the procrastination that needs to be heard. Checking in with myself and becoming aware of these deeper feelings forms the foundation on which long term productivity is possible.
- russell 16y agoIf it takes 5 minutes or less, do it immediately, because scheduling it takes more time. This is the one piece of advise I follow religiously. The dividends are amazing. Less clutter, a feeling of accomplishment, appearance of responsiveness to others, and a happier girlfriend.
- prawn 16y ago"If it takes 5 minutes or less, do it immediately" followed soon by "and a happier girlfriend." Amusing proximity of comments! I guess if you make fun of yourself, you deny others the opportunity... ;)
- praptak 16y agoSeconded. Forcing or fooling myself to do something is a symptom of an internal split - one part "forces" and the other resists. Going to the roots of both parts (Why do I want to do this task? Why do I resist doing it?) usually helps. There's also a good book about the usual suspects behind the resistance and some weapons against them. "The Now Habit" by Neil Fiore. Fear of not doing the task perfectly, unconscious resistance to authority, etc.
- Hisoka 16y agoI agree. Fooling yourself to work is something you may need to do temporarily, but if you need to do this on a consistent basis, maybe you need to reevaluate your life, and make a change. Life shouldn't be about forcing yourself to do things
- 16y ago
- srgseg 16y agoCounter-experience to 2. Not eating at the computer: I used to take a break to eat food - I'd watch TV or read a magazine while eating. However, this context switch would be costly, and when I got back to the computer, I'd be starting to get tired from digesting the food. By coding while eating slowly, I was able to realise massive productivity gains. This only works if, like me, you don't mind eating luke warm food. Then, instead, I'd take the break/nap after eating, and would not have my productivity affected by the energy spent digesting the food.
- stephth 16y agoYou can also figure out what foods (and quantities) make you less sleepy. I recently found out that rice works better for me than wheat based carbs.
- oscardelben 16y agoOne tip that I'm experimenting right now is to stay at the computer only when I know exactly what I'm going to do. Thinking and breaks have to be done out the computer with old pen and paper.
- dbuizert 16y agoI hope to be working outside the house soon. That will change a lot since I am not distracted by stuff that goes on here. (Live across tram track, hospital and behind all that there is a firehouse)
- gcb 16y agoTried all that. Work for some days, then I completely start to forget to check my notes for whats next and idle on the internets
- cma 16y agoIn a recent radiolab, other tricks creatives use were discussed: http://www.radiolab.org/2011/mar/08/ http://www.radiolab.org/2011/mar/08/
- will_lam 16y agoNice list of productivity lifehacks. I use a combination of Rescuetime Premium, LeechBlock for Firefox to prevent any slacking in case I'm tempted. In the meantime I use FocusBooster (Pomodoro technique) to keep the pressure on :)
- pw 16y agoDid anyone else realize that English must be the author's second language? Not that there's anything wrong with that, I'm just always amazed by the little clues that are behind by otherwise proficient non-native speakers.
- justlearning 16y ago".. always amazed by the little clues that are behind by otherwise proficient non-native speakers." could you elaborate?
- biot 16y agoOne thing I've found particularly for German speakers is the use of phrases like "since 2 years". A native speaker would say "since 2 years ago", fixing the reference to a definite point in time rather than a duration alone.
- ecaradec 16y agoI'd love a service that would fix such mistakes in my blog posts to make them look more native; something like an online mum that would fix the turn of phrase I use. I'm french, and this is typically the kind of mistakes I do all the time as well.
- mmavnn 16y ago"...mistakes I _make_ all..." would be a more 'native' wording. (That isn't a dig, by the way, just given as a piece of information.) My wife is Italian, and it's amazing how many constructs you come across that are correct, but sound odd. Defining rules for many of them in English is almost impossible given the unstructured nature of the language, which drives her mad given her background as a Mathematician. It also annoys her no end that most people don't correct/question her if they understand the intent of what she said. They feel they'd come across as rude pedants, but she wants to know so that she can improve her grasp of the language.
- pw 16y ago
- Terry_B 16y agoI find writing out the instructions to be very helpful as a start as well. If I'm really struggling to get started on something I tend to divide myself into Thinking Me and Robot Me. Thinking Me just starts writing out the dot points on how to do something, because thinking is easy right? Then Robot Me just starts following the instructions, because simply following instructions is also easy. Can even listen to your favourite music while doing it. Then next thing you know, you're under way...
- panacea 16y agoCognitive dissonance hacks?
- csomar 16y agoI tell myself that I will merely write down the steps needed to complete the task. Just a rough draft, at first, and that’s it. Maybe just 3 steps. I then add more steps, breaking the 3 steps into smaller sub-tasks. I then add some details, and thoughts, notes of things that I shouldn’t forget when doing this task. I just think the task through and write everything down. After a little while, I will be a proud author of “The Complete Guide To Finishing Task X for Dummies”. I have exactly the same problem, but I don't think it's laziness. I think it's the fear of failure, or more precisely the fear and uncertainty of being able to do a task. Breaking the task down into smaller steps, make you able to overcome that fear but not procrastination.
- haploid 16y agoCompletely offtopic, but does anyone know why the author's username is green in this story?
- aaronf 16y ago"Although Swift To-Do List is awesome ;-), good old physical paper has an intricate quality that no software can offer: It exists outside of your computer. When I have 1-3 super-important tasks, I often write them down on an actual physical paper, and put the paper in front of me." Do you really think software cannot replace pen & paper completely? Shouldn't that be the goal of any task management software? Why not build this way to focus on the top 1-3 tasks into your product?
- jirinovotny 16y agoI think it just can't. There is nothing like coming to your desk, and seeing the paper before turning your computer on. But Swift To-Do List can help you focus, sure. For example, it has inbuilt time-tracker: You can start time tracking for any task - a small window (always on top by default) will appear, counting the time spent on your task.
- xiaoma 16y agoI've found a couple of those tips really useful in this past year. Since I'm a student in China and working on art projects as well as programming, I'm not quite so focused on the computer. But having a checklist on paper is probably the biggest improvement I've made. When a list is on my desk, I don't even have to think about what I want to work on. It's just right there and it's easy to get to it. Checking things off is also a great feeling. Thus far, I haven't felt the need to subdivide tasks (tip#1) since the biggest obstacle for me isn't confusion. It's just a matter of the inertia of getting started. Once I'm actually sketching something or doing HW, it's very easy to lose track of time and find that I've worked for an hour or two and it's done.
- Stormbringer 16y agoTo do lists are great. Having your subconscious solve the hard puzzles for you is great at the time... but I wonder whether that has a flow on effect to insomnia. You want your brain to be thinking, working, but sleeping is supposed to be rest time... Perhaps there are short term vs long term trade offs. I've been experimenting with caffeine. So far I'm getting some surprising results. Amongst hackers the common view is that it makes you faster or even a little bit smarter or more productive. What I've found though is that it actually makes you more impatient. Being impatient and wired to a high level of alertness may mean that you pump out a lot of code ... but what is the quality of it? Really good code requires really deep thinking, and caffeine driven impatience is counter-productive. Also, it makes it harder to get to sleep...
- jirinovotny 16y agoThe brain is working anyway, when you sleep. This just directs it a bit. When you whip a horse, it runs faster too. Caffeine is like whipping your heart. IMHO the long-term consequences of caffeine consumption do not outweigh the short-term gains. Also, green tea (sencha anyone?) is healthier. I also think that if you lack energy, you should rather "debug" your lifestyle.
- marchdown 16y agoI love me some sencha! >Green tea is helathier. Could you perhaps link to any reasearch backing up that claim? Anecdotal evidence is fine, too.
- Void_ 16y agoIf you don't feel like working, start writing about it. Remember that scene in Social Network when Mark would come to his room angry, and start blogging? I don't know why, by that works for me when I'm lazy to work. Writing is easy, it's just putting your thoughts on the paper. And we like to write. So why not start writing about what you have to do, and why you have to do it. Spend a few minutes doing it, and you will find yourself working. This happened to me this morning. I'm working on a little project of mine, and I can't get myself to open up Xcode and start coding. I recalled I had to write an email to my teacher, explaining this project and why it's so cool. I wrote that email and it really got me going. Now I'm writing this comment and that helps too.
- dreyfiz 16y agoMaybe someone will see this late comment: Do The Work, by Steven Pressfield, is free on Amazon for Kindle (you could read it on your computer or smartphone, too) for now, so grab it! His War of Art changed my life. Understanding the nature of Resistance is incredibly important. http://www.amazon.com/Do-the-Work-ebook/dp/B004PGO25O http://www.amazon.com/Do-the-Work-ebook/dp/B004PGO25O
- becomevocal 16y agoAwesome book man. Thanks for the heads up!
- OhArgh 16y ago"Not eating at the computer" - was eating lunch while reading this :)
- jbverschoor 16y agoVery good tips.
- samic 16y agoyes! work better and more and more so upper ones can sit more comfortable