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Understanding ego depletion and willpower are incredibly important skills for any knowledge worker. A book like http://www.amazon.com/The-Willpower-Instinct-Sel

Understanding ego depletion and willpower are incredibly important skills for any knowledge worker. A book like http://www.amazon.com/The-Willpower-Instinct-Self-Control-Matters/dp/1583334386 http://www.amazon.com/The-Willpower-Instinct-Self-Control-Ma... will help a programmer perform better work than a book on compilers.

lpolovets 14y ago
I read the book a few months ago and thought it was excellent. If anyone is interested, I took extensive notes (warning, they kind of spoil reading the book, which I think is very much worth reading): http://leopolovets.com/blog/2011/10/23/book-notes-on-willpower/ http://leopolovets.com/blog/2011/10/23/book-notes-on-willpow...
- rrmm 14y ago
  good set of notes, thanks.
- emini_guy 14y ago
  Useful notes, thanks.
- andyjsong 14y ago
  > Zeigarnik effect: uncompleted tasks and unmet goals tend to pop into one’s mind. Once the task is completed and the goal is reached, however, this stream of reminders comes to a stop. For example, if you listen to a song, your mind moves on; if you listen to a song that’s abruptly cut off in the middle, your mind will continue inserting bits and pieces of the song into your stream of thoughts, reminding you that you’re not “done” listening. Interesting, I wonder if this is the same as when you have a song stuck (looping) in your head. I've been told that listening to the whole song will make it unstuck.
  - StavrosK 14y ago
    My observations confirm both of these assertions. Leaving a song (I was semi-actively listening to) unfinished will make it stuck in my head, finishing it will remove it.
  - emini_guy 14y ago
    Did not know that it was named after someone. A very familiar effect that most have probably encountered in one way or another.
- taroth 14y ago
  >The best way to reduce stress is to stop screwing up and setting up your life to increase your chances of success. Successful people don’t use willpower as a last-ditch defense, they use it to set up good habits and avoid problem situations. To idiomize this great point: Willpower is a hammer, not a shield.
  - lpolovets 14y ago
    That's a very good analogy.
bhrgunatha 14y ago
That book and The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle[1] have both left a tremendous impact on me. I think partly because both eschew the mumbo-jumbo, hand wavy, pseudo-science approach, they're both easy to read for the layman and most importantly include lots of high-level summary and explanation about the research that supports the books. [1] http://thetalentcode.com/ http://thetalentcode.com/
- emini_guy 14y ago
  I agree, that's a good book.

lpolovets 14y ago

I read the book a few months ago and thought it was excellent. If anyone is interested, I took extensive notes (warning, they kind of spoil reading the book, which I think is very much worth reading): http://leopolovets.com/blog/2011/10/23/book-notes-on-willpower/ http://leopolovets.com/blog/2011/10/23/book-notes-on-willpow...

rrmm 14y ago
good set of notes, thanks.
emini_guy 14y ago
Useful notes, thanks.
andyjsong 14y ago
> Zeigarnik effect: uncompleted tasks and unmet goals tend to pop into one’s mind. Once the task is completed and the goal is reached, however, this stream of reminders comes to a stop. For example, if you listen to a song, your mind moves on; if you listen to a song that’s abruptly cut off in the middle, your mind will continue inserting bits and pieces of the song into your stream of thoughts, reminding you that you’re not “done” listening. Interesting, I wonder if this is the same as when you have a song stuck (looping) in your head. I've been told that listening to the whole song will make it unstuck.
- StavrosK 14y ago
  My observations confirm both of these assertions. Leaving a song (I was semi-actively listening to) unfinished will make it stuck in my head, finishing it will remove it.
- emini_guy 14y ago
  Did not know that it was named after someone. A very familiar effect that most have probably encountered in one way or another.
taroth 14y ago
>The best way to reduce stress is to stop screwing up and setting up your life to increase your chances of success. Successful people don’t use willpower as a last-ditch defense, they use it to set up good habits and avoid problem situations. To idiomize this great point: Willpower is a hammer, not a shield.
- lpolovets 14y ago
  That's a very good analogy.

bhrgunatha 14y ago

That book and The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle[1] have both left a tremendous impact on me. I think partly because both eschew the mumbo-jumbo, hand wavy, pseudo-science approach, they're both easy to read for the layman and most importantly include lots of high-level summary and explanation about the research that supports the books. [1] http://thetalentcode.com/ http://thetalentcode.com/

emini_guy 14y ago
I agree, that's a good book.