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My hunch is that this club won’t work because it fundamentally is just another distraction from the goal here: which is to actually do something. Just do it. (

My hunch is that this club won’t work because it fundamentally is just another distraction from the goal here: which is to actually do something. Just do it. (Digression) “One of the realizations has been that I read too much, take too many notes, yet don’t really do anything with this new information.“ I feel the underlying reason for this is due to years of the education system drilling into our heads the value of notes and memorisations for the purpose of exam taking. But once you are out of the system, this technique becomes useless as it excels at one type of thing. However, it’s also ironically the technique that brings success as cause you did well in your exams / interviews, you can do the job . I think once you “do things” though it’s a whole different ball game.

goddessoflists 3y ago
> My hunch is that this club won’t work because it fundamentally is just another distraction from the goal here: which is to actually do something. Just do it. Hi, as I wrote in the comment above: I was in a hurry when I posted this so didn't notice that the obvious point was missing--that we meet to find solutions and implement them. I've added the edit. And, yes, the solution is to actually do it--which I realised only because I had an idea for launching a magazine and then actually did it in less than a month. It was the first time I'd ended up acting on an idea so soon after having it, which is what inspired the line of thinking that ultimately led to the idea of the club. > I feel the underlying reason for this is due to years of the education system drilling into our heads the value of notes and memorisations for the purpose of exam taking. I was educated in India, so I don't blame the education system (for this particular habit). I'd been the topper in school and was fond of note-taking. I still keep a commonplace book because it's my primary hobby. I love collecting beautiful passages from books and the internet and notes help me simplify concepts for others--I've been tutoring kids for years and I like being able to take information and simplify it for others. But the habit has gone out of hand when it comes to online note-taking, as I discussed in a different post: it's very-easy to copy-paste stuff, add a million tags, and feel good about it. I've since switched to taking notes by hand ONLY--and because that takes effort, I only take notes on the things I really want to remember. And they're succinct because then I copy just the gist, which is what's truly needed 90% of the time. > I think once you “do things” though it’s a whole different ball game. I started doing this sometime near the end of August and I couldn't agree more--a lot of good things have happened since. Oliver Burkeman's writing helped me get there: https://www.oliverburkeman.com/justdo https://www.oliverburkeman.com/justdo
rewmie 3y ago
> My hunch is that this club won’t work because it fundamentally is just another distraction from the goal here: which is to actually do something. Just do it. I'm not sure you read the whole article, but the author pointed out that the goal of the group would be to serve as a kind of requirements-gathering stage for doing something. The group would meet when a problem was identified, and the meeting agenda would be to iterate over the problem domain and brainstorm solutions. Does it make sense to jump to the solution space when you barely have an idea of what the problem is?
- bornfreddy 3y ago
  Did you read it? Author laments about not taking action, then as a solution proposes a club to think (or as you said, ”iterate over the problem domain and brainstorm solution"). I mean, how will the same thing they do already help with being more action oriented? > Does it make sense to jump to the solution space when you barely have an idea of what the problem is? Yes! Well actually, it depends - but if you see that your answer is "no" too often (as apparently OP does), then change the default answer to "yes". You will be surprised at what can be achieved. Do try to survive though. :)
  - rewmie 3y ago
    > Did you read it? Author laments about not taking action, then as a solution proposes a club to think (or as you said, ”iterate over the problem domain and brainstorm solution"). I mean, how will the same thing they do already help with being more action oriented? I'm not sure you understand the issue or thought through the problem. Acting without direction or a plan or even a goal is as much of a waste of time as not doing anything. Is your goal just to pay lip service to a "technically doing something" goal, or actually do something about a problem? Because if your goal is to actually do something about a problem, the very least you need to have in place is a plan. > Yes! Well actually, it depends (...) It really does not depend at all. To have a goals the very least you need to have is a basic understanding of the problem you want to tackle. This is not up for discussion. If you have no idea what the problem actually is, you simply cannot do anything about it. Unless your goal is to post vacuous content to social media claiming you do stuff in spite of not doing anything or achieving nothing, you need to know what you're doing. It boggles the mind how anyone can even try to argue about the need to know what you're doing.

goddessoflists 3y ago

> My hunch is that this club won’t work because it fundamentally is just another distraction from the goal here: which is to actually do something. Just do it. Hi, as I wrote in the comment above: I was in a hurry when I posted this so didn't notice that the obvious point was missing--that we meet to find solutions and implement them. I've added the edit. And, yes, the solution is to actually do it--which I realised only because I had an idea for launching a magazine and then actually did it in less than a month. It was the first time I'd ended up acting on an idea so soon after having it, which is what inspired the line of thinking that ultimately led to the idea of the club. > I feel the underlying reason for this is due to years of the education system drilling into our heads the value of notes and memorisations for the purpose of exam taking. I was educated in India, so I don't blame the education system (for this particular habit). I'd been the topper in school and was fond of note-taking. I still keep a commonplace book because it's my primary hobby. I love collecting beautiful passages from books and the internet and notes help me simplify concepts for others--I've been tutoring kids for years and I like being able to take information and simplify it for others. But the habit has gone out of hand when it comes to online note-taking, as I discussed in a different post: it's very-easy to copy-paste stuff, add a million tags, and feel good about it. I've since switched to taking notes by hand ONLY--and because that takes effort, I only take notes on the things I really want to remember. And they're succinct because then I copy just the gist, which is what's truly needed 90% of the time. > I think once you “do things” though it’s a whole different ball game. I started doing this sometime near the end of August and I couldn't agree more--a lot of good things have happened since. Oliver Burkeman's writing helped me get there: https://www.oliverburkeman.com/justdo https://www.oliverburkeman.com/justdo

rewmie 3y ago

> My hunch is that this club won’t work because it fundamentally is just another distraction from the goal here: which is to actually do something. Just do it. I'm not sure you read the whole article, but the author pointed out that the goal of the group would be to serve as a kind of requirements-gathering stage for doing something. The group would meet when a problem was identified, and the meeting agenda would be to iterate over the problem domain and brainstorm solutions. Does it make sense to jump to the solution space when you barely have an idea of what the problem is?

bornfreddy 3y ago
Did you read it? Author laments about not taking action, then as a solution proposes a club to think (or as you said, ”iterate over the problem domain and brainstorm solution"). I mean, how will the same thing they do already help with being more action oriented? > Does it make sense to jump to the solution space when you barely have an idea of what the problem is? Yes! Well actually, it depends - but if you see that your answer is "no" too often (as apparently OP does), then change the default answer to "yes". You will be surprised at what can be achieved. Do try to survive though. :)
- rewmie 3y ago
  > Did you read it? Author laments about not taking action, then as a solution proposes a club to think (or as you said, ”iterate over the problem domain and brainstorm solution"). I mean, how will the same thing they do already help with being more action oriented? I'm not sure you understand the issue or thought through the problem. Acting without direction or a plan or even a goal is as much of a waste of time as not doing anything. Is your goal just to pay lip service to a "technically doing something" goal, or actually do something about a problem? Because if your goal is to actually do something about a problem, the very least you need to have in place is a plan. > Yes! Well actually, it depends (...) It really does not depend at all. To have a goals the very least you need to have is a basic understanding of the problem you want to tackle. This is not up for discussion. If you have no idea what the problem actually is, you simply cannot do anything about it. Unless your goal is to post vacuous content to social media claiming you do stuff in spite of not doing anything or achieving nothing, you need to know what you're doing. It boggles the mind how anyone can even try to argue about the need to know what you're doing.