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One of the more interesting sayings I have come across lately is: People overestimate how much they can get done in the short term but they underestimate how mu
by reggieband 5y ago
One of the more interesting sayings I have come across lately is: People overestimate how much they can get done in the short term but they underestimate how much they can get done in the long term.
I see this all the time with friends who pick up the guitar as a hobby. Often someone practices intensely for one week or one month and then gets frustrated at their progress. That frustration often causes people to give up. Now I see it as a mismatch between short-term estimation/expectations. The frustration is caused by overestimating how much progress they think they should make in the short-term. The quitting is caused by underestimating the progress they could make in the long term.
- joncrocks 5y agoPeople overestimate how much they can do in a day. They underestimate how much they can do in a year.
- atulatul 5y agoBill Gates: Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/302999-most-people-overestimate-what-they-can-do-in-one-year https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/302999-most-people-overesti...
- tsumnia 5y agoThis is actually one of the reasons I like academia so much. You are effectively paying for a scheduled practice session (ignoring discussions on tuition or the other negatives of college for the moment). Six months isn't enough to master any topic, but it is a organized timeframe in which you focus on X topic for an extended amount of time.
- phamilton 5y agoAlso related is how effective walking away is. 20 minutes + a good night's sleep + 20 minutes is often more effective than an hour of practice in one go. Possibly even 2 hours.
- chii 5y ago20min x 2, and a night's sleep being around 8hrs, means a total of 8hr40mins so, is the above more effective than practising for 8hrs40min straight?
- yCombLinks 5y agoThat is an absurd comparison, the sleep would be happening regardless
- MrFantastic 5y agoYour brains processes stuff in your sleep. After some time off, I play much better the next day after practice than if I were to play immediately after practice.
- Breza 5y agoI've had the same experience with code. I bang my head against my desk trying to do something, go to bed, and do the thing in the first hour of my day. It's like magic.
- curiousllama 5y agoAbsolutely. If you do the 20 min sessions, you’ll be refreshed and on top of your game. If you do the 8hr sessions, you’ll die of sleep deprivation in a week or two.
- ma2rten 5y agoI heard this saying attributed to Larry Page.
- gadjo95 5y agoThe days are long, but the years are short