4 ms·

Re: having multiple projects in the air > the reality of it is that you don't make much progress on any of them because as soon as one of them gets difficult,

by SCUSKU 5y ago

Re: having multiple projects in the air > the reality of it is that you don't make much progress on any of them because as soon as one of them gets difficult, you just bounce over to another one that feels easier. This really rang true to me. I have so many projects, and once I hit a significant technical wall, I usually start looking at other projects where I can get things done more easily and get gratification quicker. It really sucks, and Burkeman's recommendation of focusing on only one project at a time until you're done makes a lot of sense. That said, it also requires a lot of determination to see something through. I think for me that is one of the most difficult things: having sufficient motivation to accomplish a task despite the difficulties. There has to be a great reward on the other side in order to push through the tough stuff. Only a few times in my life have I felt that sort of motivation for projects, and I'm not really sure what the throughline was between them, but I hope to capture that energy again someday.

ubac 5y ago
Really agree with this. The whole "trying to do 8 projects at once is actually a coping mechanism because it lets you lie to yourself more easily about how little you can really finish" was a light bulb moment for me
hardwaregeek 5y ago
This is especially true with books for me. I’ve discovered that I need to be exceedingly single threaded for books. Reading multiple books just leads to finishing none of them or dropping all of them except for one
- leobg 5y ago
  I once read a book halfway through only to realize that I had already read it years before. And when I happen to stumble upon my notes from some book that I‘ve read, I‘m sometimes surprised and have zero recollection of ever having read it. I‘m probably somewhere around the thousand to two thousand book mark. Sometimes I think that, even if I don‘t remember the contents consciously, the books might still be influencing my thinking and my judgement in some positive way. But sometimes I think that, perhaps, it‘s really just a chasing after wind. That „next book“ is always as shiny as those new headphones from Amazon, or that new productivity tool. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.
  - euroderf 5y ago
    There's gonna be a technical solution for this, that you could print a QR code (or something) and tuck it away in the book, and it would take you to your notes.
    - beaconstudios 5y ago
      Or you could organise your digital book notes by title, and just search for it.
AussieWog93 5y ago
>This really rang true to me. I have so many projects, and once I hit a significant technical wall, I usually start looking at other projects where I can get things done more easily and get gratification quicker. It really sucks, and Burkeman's recommendation of focusing on only one project at a time until you're done makes a lot of sense. My experience has been the opposite. I like to have multiple projects on the go, and when I hit a wall with one I'll just put it down for a few days and do something else. When I come back, the problem that was stumping me less than a week ago seems magically solved! Having one project and forcing yourself to do it, on the other hand, is gruelling and makes you miserable for no gain. It might just be the way I'm wired, but I think for some things it's necessary to walk away occasionally and come back later with a fresh perspective and days of "background" thinking.
- euroderf 5y ago
  Agreed. It's operationally equivalent to "sleep on it". Let your subconscious work with it in the background, and when you come back the obstacle has dissolved.
jkhdigital 5y ago
I think this is a closely related and equally important quote (emphasis added): > “okay, there are, four home improvement projects that all feel essential to making my living space acceptable. I'm going to deliberately give up all hope of making progress on three of them until I have seen one of them through to completion, or consciously abandoned it because it turned out to be a bad idea, that's okay too.” My biggest sources of anxiety have always been those projects that I should have pulled the plug on looooooong before I actually pulled the plug. Having a bunch of projects going all at once not only allows you to switch focus as a coping mechanism, but also allows you to avoid facing the (possibly somewhat traumatic) reality that the project needs to be killed.
- euroderf 5y ago
  Then you can "ghost" on a dodgy project - in a good way - rather than forcing yourself to make a binary choice.
mbrodersen 5y ago
Think about it this way: if you are making a lot of progress then you are not learning anything new. It’s when you are stuck, when you have hit a wall, that’s when you are doing something new. Something where you have to push hard and think hard to make progress. But that is also where you learn and make personal progress. So seek out problems that are hard not easy.

by SCUSKU 5y ago

ubac 5y ago

Really agree with this. The whole "trying to do 8 projects at once is actually a coping mechanism because it lets you lie to yourself more easily about how little you can really finish" was a light bulb moment for me

hardwaregeek 5y ago

This is especially true with books for me. I’ve discovered that I need to be exceedingly single threaded for books. Reading multiple books just leads to finishing none of them or dropping all of them except for one

leobg 5y ago
I once read a book halfway through only to realize that I had already read it years before. And when I happen to stumble upon my notes from some book that I‘ve read, I‘m sometimes surprised and have zero recollection of ever having read it. I‘m probably somewhere around the thousand to two thousand book mark. Sometimes I think that, even if I don‘t remember the contents consciously, the books might still be influencing my thinking and my judgement in some positive way. But sometimes I think that, perhaps, it‘s really just a chasing after wind. That „next book“ is always as shiny as those new headphones from Amazon, or that new productivity tool. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.
- euroderf 5y ago
  There's gonna be a technical solution for this, that you could print a QR code (or something) and tuck it away in the book, and it would take you to your notes.
  - beaconstudios 5y ago
    Or you could organise your digital book notes by title, and just search for it.

AussieWog93 5y ago

>This really rang true to me. I have so many projects, and once I hit a significant technical wall, I usually start looking at other projects where I can get things done more easily and get gratification quicker. It really sucks, and Burkeman's recommendation of focusing on only one project at a time until you're done makes a lot of sense. My experience has been the opposite. I like to have multiple projects on the go, and when I hit a wall with one I'll just put it down for a few days and do something else. When I come back, the problem that was stumping me less than a week ago seems magically solved! Having one project and forcing yourself to do it, on the other hand, is gruelling and makes you miserable for no gain. It might just be the way I'm wired, but I think for some things it's necessary to walk away occasionally and come back later with a fresh perspective and days of "background" thinking.

euroderf 5y ago
Agreed. It's operationally equivalent to "sleep on it". Let your subconscious work with it in the background, and when you come back the obstacle has dissolved.

jkhdigital 5y ago

I think this is a closely related and equally important quote (emphasis added): > “okay, there are, four home improvement projects that all feel essential to making my living space acceptable. I'm going to deliberately give up all hope of making progress on three of them until I have seen one of them through to completion, or consciously abandoned it because it turned out to be a bad idea, that's okay too.” My biggest sources of anxiety have always been those projects that I should have pulled the plug on looooooong before I actually pulled the plug. Having a bunch of projects going all at once not only allows you to switch focus as a coping mechanism, but also allows you to avoid facing the (possibly somewhat traumatic) reality that the project needs to be killed.

euroderf 5y ago
Then you can "ghost" on a dodgy project - in a good way - rather than forcing yourself to make a binary choice.

mbrodersen 5y ago

Think about it this way: if you are making a lot of progress then you are not learning anything new. It’s when you are stuck, when you have hit a wall, that’s when you are doing something new. Something where you have to push hard and think hard to make progress. But that is also where you learn and make personal progress. So seek out problems that are hard not easy.