From 2b7fe8373834b5ba09e2846e4126aa70bf9555dd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: David Gasquez Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2023 15:42:46 +0200 Subject: [PATCH] =?UTF-8?q?docs:=20=F0=9F=93=9D=20update=20some=20docs?= MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit --- Antifragility.md | 6 ++-- Asking Questions.md | 8 ++--- Asynchronous Communications.md | 18 +++++----- Automation.md | 12 +++---- Blogging.md | 30 ++++++++--------- Coordination.md | 1 + Culture.md | 4 +-- Data/Experimentation.md | 18 +++++----- Focus.md | 6 ++-- Gardening.md | 2 +- House Buying.md => House.md | 16 +++++---- Learning.md | 60 ++++++++++++++++++---------------- Life Advice.md | 3 +- Making Decisions.md | 30 ++++++++--------- Mindfulness.md | 1 + News.md | 2 +- Nutrition.md | 6 ++-- Openness.md | 9 ++--- Planning.md | 2 +- Problem Solving.md | 27 +++++++-------- Programming.md | 1 + Time.md | 20 ++++++------ 22 files changed, 147 insertions(+), 135 deletions(-) rename House Buying.md => House.md (84%) diff --git a/Antifragility.md b/Antifragility.md index 274c299..9893597 100644 --- a/Antifragility.md +++ b/Antifragility.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ Antifragility is a property of [[systems]] that increase in capability, resilien - Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. **The resilient resists shocks and stays the same. The antifragile gets better**. - [[Evolution]] is antifragile. - - In a stable system, animals won't evolve. In a volatile system, they will. - - [Just that a little bit of disorder is good](https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/book-review-antifragile). [[Evolution]] is a system that allows volatility rather than unwisely trying to buffer against it. - - Being exposed to [[evolution]] sucks - animals very often die. Perhaps it would be much kinder if somebody gave unfit animals some food to prevent them from starving. But such kindness would prevent natural selection, and gradually weaken the species (or, more technically, the species' suitability to its niche) until eventual cataclysm. + - In a stable system, animals won't evolve. In a volatile system, they will. + - [A little bit of disorder is good](https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/book-review-antifragile). [[Evolution]] is a system that allows volatility rather than unwisely trying to buffer against it. + - Being exposed to [[evolution]] sucks - animals very often die. Perhaps it would be much kinder if somebody gave unfit animals some food to prevent them from starving. But such kindness would prevent natural selection, and gradually weaken the species (or, more technically, the species' suitability to its niche) until eventual cataclysm. - [On areas with frequent catastrophes, where the catastrophes have externalities on people who didn't choose them, you want to lower variance, so that nothing ever gets bad enough to produce the catastrophe. In an area where people can choose whatever they want, and are smart enough to choose good things rather than bad ones, you want to raise variance, so that the best thing will be very good indeed, and then everybody can choose that and bask in its goodness](https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/more-antifragile-diversity-libertarianism). diff --git a/Asking Questions.md b/Asking Questions.md index 38ddfc6..a160e51 100644 --- a/Asking Questions.md +++ b/Asking Questions.md @@ -3,10 +3,10 @@ ![[Quotes#^c63c02]] - [Ask smart questions](http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html): - 1. Do your own research first. - 2. Provide useful context up-front. Include things you have tried and thought of before asking the question. - 3. Be explicit about what you want to achieve in the end and provide as much up-front information as possible to help. - 4. Respect other people's [[time]]. Follow up after you get an answer. + 1. Do your own research first. + 2. Provide useful context up-front. Include things you have tried and thought of before asking the question. + 3. Be explicit about what you want to achieve in the end and provide as much up-front information as possible to help. + 4. Respect other people's [[time]]. Follow up after you get an answer. - [When asking for help, let the people know what the problem you are trying to solve actually is instead of simply saying your solution and the reader guessing what it is you are actually trying to do](http://xyproblem.info/). - [Think about the question like a child](https://www.aaronkharris.com/asking-questions). - The most simple, seemingly silly questions are almost always profound. diff --git a/Asynchronous Communications.md b/Asynchronous Communications.md index 421db11..28c4a76 100644 --- a/Asynchronous Communications.md +++ b/Asynchronous Communications.md @@ -3,18 +3,18 @@ - Having [asynchronous communication channels and making heavy use of them can have great effects on productivity](https://www.martinklepsch.org/posts/asynchronous-communication.html). - Every question asked in an internal Slack is a policy failure. - [Asynchronous environments allows for self discovery without interruptions](https://snir.dev/blog/remote-async-communication/): - - You can keep on your flow without waiting for someone to give you details. - - You can get into "Deep [[Focus]]" session without context switching that allows for better [[productivity]]. - - You can work whenever, since you are not dependent on anyone immediately. - - You'll have written records of everything. + - You can keep on your flow without waiting for someone to give you details. + - You can get into "Deep [[Focus]]" session without context switching that allows for better [[productivity]]. + - You can work whenever, since you are not dependent on anyone immediately. + - You'll have written records of everything. - [Async communication](https://protocol.almanac.io/docs/async-work-ezPny9x7Q50QISL4UIUhB3PoURV0lgxP) takes more time but it enable better thinking. Learn to [[Asking Questions |ask better questions]] and [[Writing |write requests]]. - The 4 components of a [great asynchronous message](https://protocol-labs.gitbook.io/launchpad-curriculum/launchpad-learning-resources/protocol-labs-network/os-stewardship#sync-comms): - 1. Enough information to cover all follow-up questions. - 2. A deadline. When do you need a response by? How urgent is it? Which task is being blocked right now? - 3. Links, images, and as much supporting material as possible that will help illustrate your thoughts. - 4. A concrete need. What do you want to get out of the communication? Approval on a task? An asset of some kind? Be clear. + 1. Enough information to cover all follow-up questions. + 2. A deadline. When do you need a response by? How urgent is it? Which task is being blocked right now? + 3. Links, images, and as much supporting material as possible that will help illustrate your thoughts. + 4. A concrete need. What do you want to get out of the communication? Approval on a task? An asset of some kind? Be clear. - Beware of the (cultural) Power Distance Index. The lower the PDI, the more direct communications are preferred; the higher, the more diplomatic the communications are preferred. ## Resources -- [Manifesto for Async Software Development](http://asyncmanifesto.org/) +- [Manifesto for Async Software Development](http://asyncmanifesto.org/). diff --git a/Automation.md b/Automation.md index 22d8425..010827b 100644 --- a/Automation.md +++ b/Automation.md @@ -1,12 +1,12 @@ # Automation - Aim for automating all your job. [A good way is to start writing a script that only prints out the steps required to do a task](https://blog.danslimmon.com/2019/07/15/do-nothing-scripting-the-key-to-gradual-automation/). You can replace these steps one by one and do the rest manually until they're all automated. - - [Not everything should be automated right away](https://xkcd.com/974/). - - [Fake it, until you automate it!](https://understandlegacycode.com/blog/fake-it-until-you-automate-it/) + - [Not everything should be automated right away](https://xkcd.com/974/). + - [Fake it, until you automate it!](https://understandlegacycode.com/blog/fake-it-until-you-automate-it/) - Automation is used for Precision, Stability and Speed. It reduce or eliminate human error and brings stability to a system. [Automation is great when it replaces a stable, well-working manual process](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30230367). -- [Automation is putting process into code](https://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=3197520). - 1. Document the steps. Following a step-by-step guide is automation: you are the CPU. A great starting point is adding a [[checklist]] to PRs. - 2. Create automation equivalents. Add command-line snippets to replace steps. - 3. Create automation. Create a script that runs everything. +- [Automation is putting process into code](https://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=3197520): + 1. Document the steps. Following a step-by-step guide is automation: you are the CPU. A great starting point is adding a [[checklist]] to PRs. + 2. Create automation equivalents. Add command-line snippets to replace steps. + 3. Create automation. Create a script that runs everything. - Drive standards through automation and building internal tools/scripts rather than through extensive [[documentation]]. - Makefiles are a great way to document and consolidate different projects of a team. Each project should have a `make` that runs it, and perhaps a `make deploy` to deploy it. Language and tool independent! diff --git a/Blogging.md b/Blogging.md index 4e43868..b98431a 100644 --- a/Blogging.md +++ b/Blogging.md @@ -10,21 +10,21 @@ - Start with Why. Start with a question. Write the first flawed answer that comes to mind. Write the first question or objection that comes to mind from that answer. Write the first response that comes to mind from that, ... - [Writing creates a cache](https://twitter.com/eugeneyan/status/1256828203840073728). The cache (i.e., documents) scales data availability. people can access the cache instead of going to you. - [Expand your definition of completing a project (any project, no matter how small) to include writing a blog post that explains that project](https://twitter.com/simonw/status/1578018383127187461f). -- For long-form content, the [diamond model](https://dropbox.design/article/mental-models-for-designers) works great for putting a structure around your main idea. - 1. Attention: Start with a story, statistic, or something similar - 2. Main topic: Briefly introduce the main topic you'll cover - 3. Previews: Give quick previews of your subtopics - 4. Subtopics: Go into depth with your subtopics - 5. Summaries: Recap your subtopics - 6. Conclusion: Paint an ideal vision of the future - 7. Call to action: Invite your audience to act or make a decision +- For long-form content, the [diamond model](https://dropbox.design/article/mental-models-for-designers) works great for putting a structure around your main idea: + 1. Attention: Start with a story, statistic, or something similar + 2. Main topic: Briefly introduce the main topic you'll cover + 3. Previews: Give quick previews of your subtopics + 4. Subtopics: Go into depth with your subtopics + 5. Summaries: Recap your subtopics + 6. Conclusion: Paint an ideal vision of the future + 7. Call to action: Invite your audience to act or make a decision - For [short-form content](https://sivers.org/7): - 1. Write all your thoughts on a subject. - 2. Argue against those ideas. - 3. Explore different angles. - 4. Leave it for a few days or years, then repeat those steps. - 5. Hate how messy these thoughts have become. - 6. Reduce them to a tiny outline of the key points. - 7. Post the outline. Trash the rest. + 1. Write all your thoughts on a subject. + 2. Argue against those ideas. + 3. Explore different angles. + 4. Leave it for a few days or years, then repeat those steps. + 5. Hate how messy these thoughts have become. + 6. Reduce them to a tiny outline of the key points. + 7. Post the outline. Trash the rest. - Reading is the inhale, writing is the exhale. Breathe. - The more you create, the more ideas come yo you to continue creating. That's the creativity [[Feedback Loops |feedback loop]]. diff --git a/Coordination.md b/Coordination.md index 00a87c5..22f65b6 100644 --- a/Coordination.md +++ b/Coordination.md @@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ - If we imagine human society as it's own organism. We need processes and other coordination tools to make it remove the hand from the fire when it starts to burn. - The hand doesn't know what to do, but relies information to the brain, that makes the appropriate changes. - Something similar could be achieved at a society level, where pain triggers processes that make it stop. +- Only a few bits of information are possible to reliably convey to a large number of people. [The larger the group, the smaller the message needs to be](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/4ZvJab25tDebB8FGE/you-get-about-five-words). - The requirements to govern a commons without tragedy: - Clear boundaries. - Managed by locals. diff --git a/Culture.md b/Culture.md index a73c19c..47d237f 100644 --- a/Culture.md +++ b/Culture.md @@ -4,6 +4,6 @@ - It is _very_ difficult to undo bad culture — far more than it is to shape good culture. So it's best to avoid it altogether. You have to constantly be on the lookout for nascent bad behavior, in order to nip it in the bud before it becomes too bad. - A bad thing to do to the culture is introduce too much tension: - - There are better battles to fight than with each other. - - It's hard to say objectively that one culture is "better" than another, but having the culture pulled in multiple directions clearly burns people out, so focus on cultural alignment in decisions and hiring. + - There are better battles to fight than with each other. + - It's hard to say objectively that one culture is "better" than another, but having the culture pulled in multiple directions clearly burns people out, so focus on cultural alignment in decisions and hiring. - Times change, trends change, cultures change. diff --git a/Data/Experimentation.md b/Data/Experimentation.md index 5f77ded..565b797 100644 --- a/Data/Experimentation.md +++ b/Data/Experimentation.md @@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ We do not live in an ideal world, so we need to be very deliberate and thoughtfu - Do not simply copy what other companies are doing (do not assume that other companies tested and validated something). - Choose one primary metric in advance to determine "winner" while keeping a few guardrail metrics. - [You're probably **not measuring what you thought you were measuring**](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/9kNxhKWvixtKW5anS/you-are-not-measuring-what-you-think-you-are-measuring). But if you measure enough different stuff, you might figure out what you’re actually measuring. - - Log generously. + - Log generously. - Stack rank all ideas based on level of effort and potential impact -- also required sample size/run time to get results. - Continuously validate tracking implementation. - Think carefully when choosing your randomization unit. @@ -32,20 +32,20 @@ You can use [online calculators](http://experimentcalculator.com/) to estimate t ### Experiment Template - Experiment summary: - - We believe that... {describe your hypothesis in one sentence}. - - To verify that, we will... {describe your test in one sentence}. - - And we’ll measure the impact on... {metrics}. + - We believe that... {describe your hypothesis in one sentence}. + - To verify that, we will... {describe your test in one sentence}. + - And we’ll measure the impact on... {metrics}. - Hypothesis. What are we expecting to happen? What can we monitor to detect problems with this? - Business problem - Supporting data - Required tracking - [Expected outcome](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/business-technology/data-team/experimentation-best-practices/): - - Define the primary metric that we want the experimentation to move. This is the metric we use to define the rollout scenario. - - Define the secondary metric(s): There are metrics that help us validate and understand in detail why and how the primary metric was impacted- - - Define Guardrail metrics: This helps us ensure we are not harming the business in the long run for short-term gains. + - Define the primary metric that we want the experimentation to move. This is the metric we use to define the rollout scenario. + - Define the secondary metric(s): There are metrics that help us validate and understand in detail why and how the primary metric was impacted- + - Define Guardrail metrics: This helps us ensure we are not harming the business in the long run for short-term gains. - Experiment design & implementation - - Rollout plan - - Implementation Checklist (docs are present, tested on staging, marketing coordination, ...) + - Rollout plan + - Implementation [[Checklist]] (docs are present, tested on staging, marketing coordination, ...) - Known Assumptions ## Experimentation Mindset diff --git a/Focus.md b/Focus.md index 159f427..b210f6f 100644 --- a/Focus.md +++ b/Focus.md @@ -2,11 +2,11 @@ [Focus (absorption, concentration) is the ability to narrow the attention so as to apply it in a more detailed and penetrating way for sustained periods of time on some chosen part of your present experience](https://www.lesswrong.com/s/xqgwpmwDYsn8osoje/p/35eEHAXis3jMqETod). -- Whatever your primary motivations are in life, you won't get anywhere by waiting for something to happen. Plan! - - Humans do not think [[Thinking |strategically]] by default. +- Whatever your primary motivations are in life, you won't get anywhere by waiting for something to happen. Plan! It'll never be the right time. + - Humans do not think [[Thinking|strategically]] by default. - Environmental changes can make it easier to attend effectively to the right things. - Removing clutter and other distractions can make attention less difficult, for which the virtues of orderliness and simplicity can help. - Disable notifications and badges so that you don't mindlessly open distracting apps. -- [[Mental Health#Meditation |Mindfulness meditation]], e.g. breath-counting, seems to be a go-to technique for developing focus. +- [[Meditation|Mindfulness meditation]], e.g. breath-counting, seems to be a go-to technique for developing focus. - Periodic exposure to nature and out-of-doors in an relaxing, undemanding way can restore attention capability. - [Attention is a scarce resource](https://youtu.be/ZWI4_Oe-Qbs). Everything in the world is fighting to get yours. diff --git a/Gardening.md b/Gardening.md index b0f4f6b..0f6f3f3 100644 --- a/Gardening.md +++ b/Gardening.md @@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ - Know your soil. Understanding the type of soil in your garden is crucial to determining which plants will thrive, and which won't. - Use a watering can or a soaker hose to deliver water directly to the roots, and avoid getting the leaves wet. -- Soak weeds in a container to extract nutrient. Water your plants with that every now and then. +- Soak weeds in a container to extract nutrient. Water your plants with that every now and then. If it looks sad, it needs water (a good rule for houseplants and humans). ## Resources diff --git a/House Buying.md b/House.md similarity index 84% rename from House Buying.md rename to House.md index c08257e..8f77c1f 100644 --- a/House Buying.md +++ b/House.md @@ -1,21 +1,25 @@ -# House Buying +# House -- Be clear about why you're buying a home. Every large [[Making Decisions |decision]] you have to make about home ownership should somewhat tie in to this. -- Look at houses based on the life style you have not the life style you aspire to have. - [Living in the same place as the people you love matters](https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/12/the-tail-end.html). +- As with many other things, there are [patterns that will help you structure it](http://www.architectureweek.com/topics/patterns.html). + +## Buying + +- Be clear about why you're buying a home. Every large [[Making Decisions|decision]] you have to make about home ownership should somewhat tie in to this. +- Look at houses based on the life style you have not the life style you aspire to have. - Balance commuting against other goods and costs (Commuting Paradox). - The availability heuristic says that people over count scenarios that are easy and vivid to imagine, and under count scenarios that don't involve any readily available examples or mental images. The real estate version of this fallacy involves exciting opportunities that you will rarely or never use. For example, a house with a pool may bring to mind the opportunity to hold pool parties. But most such plans will probably fall victim to akrasia, and even if they don't, how often can one person throw pool parties without exhausting their friends' interest? Pool parties may be fun to imagine, but they'll probably only affect a few hours every couple of months. Other factors, like the commuting distance and whether your children end up in a nice school, may affect several hours every day. - Good illumination (daylight has a strong effect on mood) and a view of natural beauty (nature increases mental functioning and concentration) aren't just pleasant luxuries, but can make important practical differences in your [[Health]]. Light and plants make a difference. - Aim for a small sunny place in the winter! - Research nearby future facilities. Schools, shopping malls, coffee shops, transportation, ... - Check the electrical and water installations of the building. -- Treat it as a [[Finances |finance]] asset. Think for how much it'll sell. +- Treat it as a [[Finances|finance]] asset. Think for how much it'll sell. -## Mortgage +### Mortgage - Aim for the minimum links with the bank. -## Resources +### Resources - [Mi Casa Modular](https://micasamodular.com/) - [Related tweet with some extra resources](https://twitter.com/dsaltaren/status/1346173582959927296). diff --git a/Learning.md b/Learning.md index f9264c8..70e9499 100644 --- a/Learning.md +++ b/Learning.md @@ -5,37 +5,37 @@ - Read about topics you care, observe the world around you and keep a beginner's mind (*shoshin*). - Don't be afraid to [[Asking Questions |ask a question]] that may sound stupid because 99% of the time everyone else is thinking of the same question and is too embarrassed to ask it. - You can apply [The Feynman Technique](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2012/04/learn-anything-faster-with-the-feynman-technique/): - 1. Identify the subject. - 2. Teach it to a child. Use simple vocabulary and make it short. Keep questions and answers simple. - 3. Identify your knowledge gaps. What are you missing? - 4. Organize and Simplify. Tell a story to teach. Analogies help here! -- Follow the guidelines stated in Coursera's [_Learning How to Learn_ summary](https://www.reddit.com/r/GetMotivated/comments/5950tm/text_i_just_finished_the_online_coursera_course/). + 1. Identify the subject. + 2. Teach it to a child. Use simple vocabulary and make it short. Keep questions and answers simple. + 3. Identify your knowledge gaps. What are you missing? + 4. Organize and Simplify. Tell a story to teach. Analogies help here! +- Follow the guidelines stated in Coursera's [*Learning How to Learn* summary](https://www.reddit.com/r/GetMotivated/comments/5950tm/text_i_just_finished_the_online_coursera_course/). - Write down the process that better worked for you. Keep improving the process with the learning of failed experiences. [Learn iterating over the process](https://twitter.com/naval/status/1052856864965152769). - There are two categories of learning. [Mix them both to learn faster](https://www.joshwcomeau.com/blog/how-to-learn-stuff-quickly/). - 1. **Guided:** Reading a tutorial, taking a course, watching a YouTube video. Anything where you're following a guide. - 2. **Unguided:** Creating your own projects from scratch, extending a tutorial, looking things up in the docs. Anything where you aren't following a guide. + 1. **Guided:** Reading a tutorial, taking a course, watching a YouTube video. Anything where you're following a guide. + 2. **Unguided:** Creating your own projects from scratch, extending a tutorial, looking things up in the docs. Anything where you aren't following a guide. - Learn to [[Asking Questions |ask better questions]]. Distill what you know to figure out what part you're missing or which link is missing. - Learn by [[Writing]]: - 1. Pick a topic. - 2. Read and/or discuss with others (a bit). - 3. Explain and defend your current, incredibly premature hypothesis, in writing (or conversation). - 4. Find and list weaknesses in your case. - 5. Pick a subquestion and do more reading/discussing. - 6. Revise your claim / switch sides. - 7. Repeat steps 3-6 a bunch. + 1. Pick a topic. + 2. Read and/or discuss with others (a bit). + 3. Explain and defend your current, incredibly premature hypothesis, in writing (or conversation). + 4. Find and list weaknesses in your case. + 5. Pick a subquestion and do more reading/discussing. + 6. Revise your claim / switch sides. + 7. Repeat steps 3-6 a bunch. - People learn when they're surprised. - There are two modes of thinking: - - Focused: When you're actively trying to learn something. One task at a time. - - Diffuse: Relaxed thinking style that connects your learning while you're doing other tasks (playing, sleeping, doing exercise, ...). + - Focused: When you're actively trying to learn something. One task at a time. + - Diffuse: Relaxed thinking style that connects your learning while you're doing other tasks (playing, sleeping, doing exercise, ...). - Reading is a meta-skill. Learn to read and understand so you can trade time reading for some skills. -- Experience ideas directly. Use the [ADEPT](https://betterexplained.com/articles/adept-method/) method as a checklist for what helps a concept click: - - Have an Analogy about it. - - Visualize it in a Diagram. - - Gather Examples. Examples are an amazing way to learn things! - - Examples are an excellent way to resolve lossy information transfer - they’re a completely different channel of communication than normal. If nothing else, they serve as an error check. - - Examples are a great way to transfer tacit knowledge, without necessarily making it legible - this is what it means to build intuition. - - Come with a Plain-English description of the concept. - - Then, dive into the Technical side. +- Experience ideas directly. Use the [ADEPT](https://betterexplained.com/articles/adept-method/) method as a [[Checklist]] for what helps a concept click: + - Have an Analogy about it. + - Visualize it in a Diagram. + - Gather Examples. Examples are an amazing way to learn things! + - Examples are an excellent way to resolve lossy information transfer - they’re a completely different channel of communication than normal. If nothing else, they serve as an error check. + - Examples are a great way to transfer tacit knowledge, without necessarily making it legible - this is what it means to build intuition. + - Come with a Plain-English description of the concept. + - Then, dive into the Technical side. - When discovering a pattern, try to abstract it as much as you can instead of applying it only to a certain area. Once you made this abstraction you will have a new [[Mental Models |mental model]]. - Learning to program shapes the mind the same way learning a new language does. Each new word, concept or expression helps you model the world. - Use [[Spaced Repetition]] and get some [[Sleep]]. @@ -44,16 +44,18 @@ - One of the most important things to encourage in the early stages of a new skill is the development of good form. Once you have it, trying harder works, whereas if you don't have it, trying harder just leads to a lot of frustration and discouragement. And of course, if you have bad [[Habits]] right from the start, they're only going to get harder and harder to fix as you ingrain them through practice. - Most knowledge worth having comes from **practice**. It comes from **doing**. [It comes from **creating**](https://blog.tjcx.me/p/consume-less-create-more). - [To get real expertise, you need these criteria](https://youtu.be/5eW6Eagr9XA): - 1. Many repeated attempts with feedback. - 2. Valid environment (few random events, controlled, ...). - 3. Timely feedback. - 4. Deliberate practice. + 1. Many repeated attempts with feedback. + 2. Valid environment (few random events, controlled, ...). + 3. Timely feedback. + 4. Deliberate practice. - Knowledge is built up through layers. You need more basic knowledge before you can access more advanced knowledge. You can’t learn things that are too far removed from your knowledge tree. - Lasting and solid foundations are made by experiencing. - For some subjects, [there's no speed limit](https://sive.rs/kimo). If you're more driven than most people, you can do way more than anyone expects. - A great way to spot what is probably true in any field is to find multiple people with different worldviews on a topic and see which parts do they agree upon. - [Practice, practice, practice](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/YABJKJ3v97k9sbxwg/what-money-cannot-buy). Spend [[time]] in the field, practicing the relevant skills first-hand; see both what works and what makes sense. Collect data; run trials. See what other people suggest and test those things yourself. Directly study which things actually produce good results. -> Even if Louis XV had offered a large monetary bounty for ways to immunize himself against the pox, he would have had no way to distinguish Benjamin Jesty from the endless crowd of snake-oil sellers and faith healers and humoral balancers. Indeed, top medical “experts” of the time would likely have warned him _away_ from Jesty. — [What Money Cannot Buy](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/YABJKJ3v97k9sbxwg/what-money-cannot-buy) + +> Even if Louis XV had offered a large monetary bounty for ways to immunize himself against the pox, he would have had no way to distinguish Benjamin Jesty from the endless crowd of snake-oil sellers and faith healers and humoral balancers. Indeed, top medical “experts” of the time would likely have warned him *away* from Jesty. — [What Money Cannot Buy](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/YABJKJ3v97k9sbxwg/what-money-cannot-buy) + - We all have a web of concepts in our minds, our **knowledge graph**. The collection of all the concepts we understand, all of our existing knowledge and intuitions, connected together. And you have learned something when you can convert it to concepts and **connect it to your existing understanding**. This means not just understanding the concept itself, but understanding where it fits into the bigger picture, where to use it, etc. ## Learning Soft Skills diff --git a/Life Advice.md b/Life Advice.md index d26ae7d..a1e7744 100644 --- a/Life Advice.md +++ b/Life Advice.md @@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ If you listen to successful people talk about their approaches, remember that al 2. It is actionable 3. It is based on some true insight -### Generic Advice +## Generic Advice - Experiment and iterate. - Keep it simple. @@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ If you listen to successful people talk about their approaches, remember that al - [Life Hacks](https://guzey.com/lifehacks/). - [Quick n Dirty Guide: How to get your life together](https://www.reddit.com/r/selfimprovement/comments/j9i0bx/quick_n_dirty_guide_how_to_get_your_life/). - [35 life lessons I wish I learned years earlier](https://www.reddit.com/r/selfimprovement/comments/l5fuxd/35_life_lessons_i_wish_i_learned_years_earlier/). +- [40 Lessons from 30 Years](https://blog.nateliason.com/p/40-lessons-from-30-years). - [Some things Nat Friedman believe](https://nat.org/). - [Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26528011). - [68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice](https://kk.org/thetechnium/68-bits-of-unsolicited-advice/), [99 Additional Bits of Unsolicited Advice](https://kk.org/thetechnium/99-additional-bits-of-unsolicited-advice/), and, [103 Bits of Advice I Wish I had Known](https://kk.org/thetechnium/103-bits-of-advice-i-wish-i-had-known/). diff --git a/Making Decisions.md b/Making Decisions.md index 2d6bd62..5fdccfd 100644 --- a/Making Decisions.md +++ b/Making Decisions.md @@ -5,21 +5,21 @@ Decision making is the process we use to identify and choose alternatives, produ - Living a good life depends on our ability to make good decisions constantly. - Not perceiving the world accurately makes us worse at making decisions. - The decisions you make fall into two categories: - - [[Focus |Prioritizing]] — Which path should you take first? - - Allocating — How much [[Focus|Attention]], [[Time]], and capital should you spend on this? + - [[Focus |Prioritizing]] — Which path should you take first? + - Allocating — How much [[Focus|Attention]], [[Time]], and capital should you spend on this? - [Separate decisions into four possibilities based on the type of decision](https://fs.blog/2018/09/decision-matrix/): - 1. Irreversible and inconsequential. - 2. Irreversible and consequential. These are the ones that you really need to focus on. Irreversible decisions tend to have a long lag time from decision to feedback, and are often more consequential. They must be dealt by [becoming **more creative, having more slack, being more equanimous, and pruning more efficiently**.](https://brianlui.dog/2020/05/10/beware-of-tight-feedback-loops/) - 3. Reversible and inconsequential - 4. Reversible and consequential. Perfect decisions to run experiments and gather information. Reversible actions can be stopped if they turn out to be bad, and tend to work well with tight [[Feedback Loops]]. + 1. Irreversible and inconsequential. + 2. Irreversible and consequential. These are the ones that you really need to focus on. Irreversible decisions tend to have a long lag time from decision to feedback, and are often more consequential. They must be dealt by [becoming **more creative, having more slack, being more equanimous, and pruning more efficiently**.](https://brianlui.dog/2020/05/10/beware-of-tight-feedback-loops/) + 3. Reversible and inconsequential + 4. Reversible and consequential. Perfect decisions to run experiments and gather information. Reversible actions can be stopped if they turn out to be bad, and tend to work well with tight [[Feedback Loops]]. - Set a default decision and work from there. - Realize that the possibility space is much bigger than you initially think. Take some distance and see the decision through different lenses. The bottleneck to doing something is often knowing that it's even an option. - How un-doable is a decision? If an idea is fully un-doable, make it as quickly as you can. When a decision is something that you can't take back, then it's worth really, really understanding. **Aim for preserving optionality**. - To maximize your long-term happiness, prioritize the projects you'd most regret not having pursued by the time you're old and looking back at your life. - Gather all the information you can. Then, schedule [[time]] to think deeply about it. Brain-dump your thoughts on the problem - what's going wrong, why is it inefficient? Try to understand it in as much detail as possible. - - Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself. - - Remember that too much information increases confidence not accuracy. Share all the information with other stakeholders. [[Openness |Transparency]] is key for group decisions. - - Most decisions should probably be made with somewhere around 70% of the information you wish you had. If you wait for 90%, in most cases, you're probably being slow. + - Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself. + - Remember that too much information increases confidence not accuracy. Share all the information with other stakeholders. [[Openness |Transparency]] is key for group decisions. + - Most decisions should probably be made with somewhere around 70% of the information you wish you had. If you wait for 90%, in most cases, you're probably being slow. - [The fog of the future hides vital information](https://youtu.be/SVmEXdGqO-s). - If all options are similar take the harder one in the short term (_Hard decisions easy life, easy decisions, hard life_). - If the cost of a wrong decision is tolerable, choose a single decision maker to capture the speed bonus. If a wrong decision would be irreversible or too costly, add more decision makers. @@ -28,16 +28,16 @@ Decision making is the process we use to identify and choose alternatives, produ - Flip your goal state with your current state, and ask if you would like to go back there. This helps you switch around any biases that might be influencing your decision-making. - Ask what information would cause you to change your mind. If you don't have that information, find it. If you do, track is religiously. **Collect [[Feedback]] and be open to change outcomes**. - We are all susceptible to bias, almost all the time. A way to detect bias and minimize the decision impact is to [run it by a bias checklist](https://www.businessinsider.com/read-this-checklist-before-you-make-any-decisions-2011-6?IR=T). - - Noticing biases in others is easy, noticing biases in yourself is hard. + - Noticing biases in others is easy, noticing biases in yourself is hard. - [There are many reasons why smart people may make a poor decision](https://nesslabs.com/decision-making); Overconfidence, Analysis paralysis, Information overload, Lack of emotional or physical resources, ... - Decision making styles: - - Intuitive vs. Rational. System 1 vs System 2. - - Maximizing vs. Satisficing. Go for the optimal decision or simply try to find a solution that is good enough. - - Well defined goal vs. blurred objective. [[Planning]] all the details or trying to be as flexible as possible. + - Intuitive vs. Rational. System 1 vs System 2. + - Maximizing vs. Satisficing. Go for the optimal decision or simply try to find a solution that is good enough. + - Well defined goal vs. blurred objective. [[Planning]] all the details or trying to be as flexible as possible. - **Anecdotes are not data**. Good data is carefully measured and collected information based on a range of subject-dependent factors, including, but not limited to, controlled variables, meta-analysis, and randomization. - Most experts aren't communicators and most communicators aren't experts. This often results in research on issues being spun with a narrative by the time it reaches the public. - Beware of cases where the decision lies in the hands of people who would gain little personally, or lose out personally, if they did what was necessary to help someone else. They have no skin in the game and no incentives. - - [The decision makers shouldn't have competing incentives with the decision outcome](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwxkqno1PTc). + - [The decision makers shouldn't have competing incentives with the decision outcome](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwxkqno1PTc). - You have a plan. A time-traveler from the future appears and tells you your plan failed. Which part of your plan do you think is the one that fails? Fix that part. - When consensus doesn't occur it's because there isn't a clear answer or because there is a conflict between groups. In these situations it's up to management to make a decision so the organization can move forward. - If you're in between two decisions, don't half-ass both of them! Do one 100%, then do the other 100%. @@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ Decision making is the process we use to identify and choose alternatives, produ - [Understand your personal stance on the trade-off of compromise versus purity](https://vitalik.ca/general/2020/11/08/concave.html). Given a choice between two alternatives, often both expressed as deep principled philosophies, do you naturally gravitate toward the idea that one of the two paths should be correct and we should stick to it, or do you prefer to find a way in the middle between the two extremes? - [It's often not _how much force_ you can bring to bear, so much as whether you can apply that force _effectively_](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/rQKstXH8ZMAdN5iqD/concentration-of-force). -![](https://miro.medium.com/max/700/1*9H9letDTBO0IvuGbYN4x6A.png) +![schema](https://miro.medium.com/max/700/1*9H9letDTBO0IvuGbYN4x6A.png) ## Framework diff --git a/Mindfulness.md b/Mindfulness.md index 96982f2..7098e17 100644 --- a/Mindfulness.md +++ b/Mindfulness.md @@ -42,3 +42,4 @@ - Tools and ideas are not neutral. They have baked some principles and values. - E.g: [[Social Media Issues]], [[Blockchain]] protocols that use PoW wasting energy. - A person holding a hammer interacts with the world in a different way and could be considered a different entity. Same with ideas. +- Most of the world is held together with duct tape so don't be surprised when it breaks. diff --git a/News.md b/News.md index 857aa1a..c5248d7 100644 --- a/News.md +++ b/News.md @@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ - [Progress happens too slowly to notice](https://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/lots-of-overnight-tragedies-no-overnight-miracles/), setbacks happen too fast to ignore. Bad things can happen fast, but almost all good things happen slowly. Even if the trendlines are improving, the feeling the news give is the opposite. - Online & mainstream media and social networking have become increasingly misleading as to the state of the world by focusing on ‘stories’ and ‘events’ rather than trends and averages. This is because as the global population increases and the scope of media increases, media’s urge for narrative focuses on the most extreme outlier datapoints—but such datapoints are, at a global scale, deeply misleading as they are driven by unusual processes such as the mentally ill or hoaxers. - [Sturgeon's law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturgeon%27s_law): 90% of everything is crap. News are often "correct" on a basic level, but really more like "yes, but it's complicated" on a deeper level. If you've ever seen a surface-level description of something you know about at a deep level, and you realize how wrong it is, or at least how much nuance it's missing. Realize that it's like that with everything. - - [On certain topics, it's good to remember that you're often being informed by the most delusional people](https://twitter.com/waitbutwhy/status/1436006304892559365). + - [On certain topics, it's good to remember that you're often being informed by the most delusional people](https://twitter.com/waitbutwhy/status/1436006304892559365). - When we're talking about very unpopular beliefs, polls can only give a weak signal. Any possible source of noise ([Lizardman's Constant](https://slatestarcodex.com/2013/04/12/noisy-poll-results-and-reptilian-muslim-climatologists-from-mars/)) can easily overwhelm the signal. Beware of [bad designed polls](https://slatestarcodex.com/2020/05/28/bush-did-north-dakota/). - Uncertainty doesn't sell. Nuance doesn't sell. Long, complex lectures don't sell. A video of someone saying "it's complicated" will never perform the way one would of someone using confident, flippant, polarizing rhetoric, and that's a huge problem. - Main rule of fast-moving situation: No one knows anything. diff --git a/Nutrition.md b/Nutrition.md index 1d20417..2811d57 100644 --- a/Nutrition.md +++ b/Nutrition.md @@ -1,12 +1,12 @@ # Nutrition - Your *ideal* diet (and weight) is unique. Everyone's body, nutritional needs are surprisingly different. What works for one person won't work for another. -- What [[Cooking |you eat]] is one of the most important things to understand, given how much it affects the rest of your life. Diet is probably the most important single factor in your [[health]], body composition and overall appearance. +- What [[Cooking|you eat]] is one of the most important things to understand given how much it affects the rest of your life. Diet is probably the most important single factor in your [[health]], body composition and overall appearance. - Drink more water. Water regulates virtually every bodily process in some way. Drinking more water is a simple, virtually cost-free thing you can do to improve your overall [[health]]. - [Fasting can be useful in some situations](https://www.reddit.com/r/productivity/comments/6demoi/why_you_should_try_intermittent_fasting_mood/). - - Studies suggest a strong link between calorie restriction and longevity. Caloric restriction stimulates many beneficial cellular processes and is also beneficial as a weight-loss strategy. + - Studies suggest a strong link between calorie restriction and longevity. Caloric restriction stimulates many beneficial cellular processes and is also beneficial as a weight-loss strategy. - [Eat like an adult](https://thefitness.wiki/improving-your-diet/). Generally avoid processed foods, favor nuts and berries for snacks. **Eliminate sugars.** - - [Beware of the ways the body deals with glucose](https://www.sumapositiva.com/p/curva-glucosa). + - [Beware of the ways the body deals with glucose](https://www.sumapositiva.com/p/curva-glucosa). - [It's been shown that the timing of your meals and more specifically your protein intake, doesn't make any difference to the growth of your muscles. Just get adequate protein and calories throughout the day, though you might want to eat something post workout anyway for energy](https://www.reddit.com/r/leangains/comments/9fxkof/if_you_eat_a_big_preworkout_meal_do_you_need_to/). - Do a 15 minute walk after meals. diff --git a/Openness.md b/Openness.md index 8a443b1..a8e221e 100644 --- a/Openness.md +++ b/Openness.md @@ -5,15 +5,16 @@ - Share your decisions, state, and ideas early so flaws arise earlier in the process. - Keep your [[Identity]] small. - Your job isn't to enforce your vision of the world upon everyone. Live your own life the way you want to live it and let other people live their own lives the way they want to live them. - - [Don't yell at people who are trying to go off and do their own thing quietly with a group of voluntarily consenting friends](https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/06/07/archipelago-and-atomic-communitarianism). If people want to go do their own thing in a way that harms no one else, you _let_ them. - - Don't criticize some [group of people doing their own thing without harming anyone](https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/more-antifragile-diversity-libertarianism) or try to browbeat them into doing the same thing as everyone else. That group might be just a tiny bit of [[slack]] away from creating something amazing! - - Pick a belief you hold strongly and attempt an ideological Turing Test (defend the opposite as someone that really believes it so good no one can distinguish you from them). + - [Don't yell at people who are trying to go off and do their own thing quietly with a group of voluntarily consenting friends](https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/06/07/archipelago-and-atomic-communitarianism). If people want to go do their own thing in a way that harms no one else, you _let_ them. + - Don't criticize some [group of people doing their own thing without harming anyone](https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/more-antifragile-diversity-libertarianism) or try to browbeat them into doing the same thing as everyone else. That group might be just a tiny bit of [[slack]] away from creating something amazing! + - Pick a belief you hold strongly and attempt an ideological Turing Test (defend the opposite as someone that really believes it so good no one can distinguish you from them). - Communicate any uncertainty you may feel about the relevance of your own opinions. - One of the hardest exercises is to receive [[feedback]]. Ask for it and be ready to change. Aim to improve once you've gathered feedback and reflected on it. - Criticizing your in-group takes courage but is possible. - Experience things again (books, movies, ...). They might be the same, but you change and are a different person now. The world changes, too. No one steps in the same river twice. - Look for new experiences. It is the most important factor for [memorable experiences](https://travelopment.com/how-to-create-memorable-experiences/). When all days follow the same routine, [there is no way to differentiate the memories](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHL9GP_B30E). - - Keep high experimental velocity. Try more things quickly! + - Keep high experimental velocity. Try more things quickly! - [When you learn an interesting idea, or read an article, it takes 0 effort to think through friends who might enjoy it, and pass it on](https://www.neelnanda.io/blog/mini-blog-post-10-seek-positive-externalities). This applies all the more so to bigger things - jobs worth applying to, other people they should talk to, etc. Receiving opportunities has (essentially) 0 downsides on their end. - Do stuff in public. Think in public. Write in public. Ship in public. [Doing things publicly attracts like-minded people and opportunities that you wouldn't be able to easily otherwise find](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/dEAmXSyXnpFFc9wgd/21-on-21). +- You find what you like by trying it, not by thinking about it. - Digital things don't have to be skeuomorphic. diff --git a/Planning.md b/Planning.md index f496e47..04d0b12 100644 --- a/Planning.md +++ b/Planning.md @@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ ![[Quotes#^07c32d]] -Whether it comes naturally or is the result of a concerted effort and process, every [[Systems |system]] plans to achieve the same benefits: +Whether it comes naturally or is the result of a concerted effort and process, every [[Systems|system]] plans to achieve the same benefits: - [[Focus]] on the right priorities. - Clear Ownership. diff --git a/Problem Solving.md b/Problem Solving.md index deabb7e..1c989ae 100644 --- a/Problem Solving.md +++ b/Problem Solving.md @@ -3,26 +3,27 @@ ![[Quotes#^1f0d5b]] - Problems have multiple solutions at multiple levels. - - [It’s easier to solve a series of simple subproblems than it is to solve one big complex problem directly](https://www.erichgrunewald.com/posts/decomposition-and-problem-solving/). + - [It's easier to solve a series of simple subproblems than it is to solve one big complex problem directly](https://www.erichgrunewald.com/posts/decomposition-and-problem-solving/). + - Someone else might have already solved your problem or part of it! - [The best thing that can be done to a problem is not to solve it but to dissolve it](https://thesystemsthinker.com/a-lifetime-of-systems-thinking/). - - A problem well stated is a problem half solved. - - Insight is best thought of as a change in problem representation. The way we frame problems makes them more or less difficult. - - [All we do, all we ever do, is trade one set of problems for another](https://seths.blog/2021/07/progress-is-a-trade/). + - A problem well stated is a problem half solved. + - Insight is best thought of as a change in problem representation. The way we frame problems makes them more or less difficult. + - [All we do, all we ever do, is trade one set of problems for another](https://seths.blog/2021/07/progress-is-a-trade/). - Don't [[focus]] on a particular solution to a problem, instead, describe the problem itself. Always provide the full context of what you're trying to do when requesting help. - Humans get obsessed with solutions rather than first building an obsession with a problem. Obsess around problems, not solutions. - [Most of the time problems already have solutions](http://gordonbrander.com/pattern/culture-is-a-shared-mechanism-for-problem-solving/): - - The first group of people that encounter a problem don't know how to solve it. - - They figure out a way of doing it, and when they get to a solution that's good enough (not perfect, just good enough), that's what they settle on. - - The next time they encounter the problem, they use the same solution. - - That keeps happening until later people don't even think about how to do it. [It's just how things are done](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstellung_effect). + - The first group of people that encounter a problem don't know how to solve it. + - They figure out a way of doing it, and when they get to a solution that's good enough (not perfect, just good enough), that's what they settle on. + - The next time they encounter the problem, they use the same solution. + - That keeps happening until later people don't even think about how to do it. [It's just how things are done](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstellung_effect). - There are usually a number of possibilities for solving a problem. The first would be any solution that quickly gets the job done yet not actually permanent while the second would be a proper solution – which unfortunately takes longer and costs more. Know when to choose each option. [Nothing is more permanent than a temporary solution](https://thelightersideofwork.com/2021/04/nothing-is-more-permanent-than-a-temporary-solution/). - - Solve problems by fixing the environment that allowed them to occur. + - Solve problems by fixing the environment that allowed them to occur. - [Problem solving can be understood as a search problem](https://rs.io/the-science-of-problem-solving/). You start in some state, there's a set of neighbor states you can move to, and a final state that you would like to end up in. - - Experiment more. Solve problems in different ways. - - Focus on the changes you have to do between your state and the desired ones. + - Experiment more. Solve problems in different ways. + - Focus on the changes you have to do between your state and the desired ones. - Taking breaks during working on a problem solving is called incubation. Incubation enhances problem solving ability. - Problems are not disciplinary in nature but are holistic. - - Is there something you could do about that problem in the next five minutes? + - Is there something you could do about that problem in the next five minutes? - To improve problem solving, one should study solved problems, attack the problem while in different moods, and try explaining the problem to others. Explaining problems is good. Often in the process of laying out a problem, a solution will present itself. - What's standard practice in one field, is novel in another - all of the low hanging fruit in ideas is in connections. - [Value functional decomposition. Functions are a powerful abstraction, not just for writing less code, but for thinking about problems.](https://praeclarum.org/2022/02/19/hard-problems.html) @@ -34,7 +35,7 @@ - [There's a kind of thinking you do without trying to](http://www.paulgraham.com/top.html). This type of thinking is not merely helpful in solving hard problems, but necessary. The tricky part is, you can only control it indirectly. Try to get yourself into situations where the most urgent problems are ones you want to think about. - If a problem has no solution, it may not be a problem, but a fact - not to be solved, but to be coped with over time. - Sometimes you can find the solution easier if you think about how not to solve the problem ([Inversion Principle](https://www.mymentalmodels.info/mms-inversion/)). -- Keep the end goal in mind. [Don’t Shave That Yak](https://seths.blog/2005/03/dont_shave_that/)! +- Keep the end goal in mind. [Don't Shave That Yak](https://seths.blog/2005/03/dont_shave_that/)! - [The Copenhagen Interpretation of Ethics](https://blog.jaibot.com/the-copenhagen-interpretation-of-ethics/) says that when you observe or interact with a problem in any way, you can be blamed for it. At the very least, you are to blame for not doing _more_. ^ec616e ## Five Whys diff --git a/Programming.md b/Programming.md index 19e677d..f88e2be 100644 --- a/Programming.md +++ b/Programming.md @@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ A programmer should know [lots](http://programmer.97things.oreilly.com/wiki/inde - Design is an iterative process. The necessary number of iterations is one more than the number you have currently done. This is true at any point in time. - Complexity is the single major difficulty in the successful development of large-scale software systems. - Write code that's easy to delete. + - Reuse [patterns](https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/gangs-of-four-gof-design-patterns). - **Do one thing and do it well**. - By focusing on a single task, a program or function can eliminate much extraneous code that often results in excess overhead, unnecessary complexity, and a lack of flexibility. [Good software makes hard things easy](https://medium.com/s/story/notes-to-myself-on-software-engineering-c890f16f4e4d). - Design composable primitives. diff --git a/Time.md b/Time.md index fb23c49..52f0baa 100644 --- a/Time.md +++ b/Time.md @@ -5,11 +5,11 @@ Time is the most valuable and least replaceable resource. Just like money, [time - Remember that you are dying. We have limited time and we must choose how to spend it. Unfortunately, we rarely take the time to consciously do this. - [One of the most costly mistakes you can make is not valuing your time. One of the most selfish mistakes you can make is not valuing other people's time.](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/dEAmXSyXnpFFc9wgd/21-on-21) - Learn to prioritize, and value your time. "I don't have time" is another way of saying "it's not a priority". Busyness is a lack of priorities. - - Doing one thing requires giving up another. Whenever you explicitly choose to do one thing, you implicitly choose not to do another thing. - - Your work will be endless, but your time is finite. You cannot limit the work so you must limit your time. Hours are the only thing you can manage. - - Learn to say no. Be ruthlessly deliberate with your time and attention. We guard our money carefully yet we often treat our time as if it’s a limitless resource. + - Doing one thing requires giving up another. Whenever you explicitly choose to do one thing, you implicitly choose not to do another thing. Embrace the many things you'll never do. + - Your work will be endless, but your time is finite. You cannot limit the work so you must limit your time. Hours are the only thing you can manage. + - Learn to say no. Be ruthlessly deliberate with your time and attention. We guard our money carefully yet we often treat our time as if it’s a limitless resource. - Lists help you to summarize your next steps and to not lose focus. If you place them in a very visible place it makes easier to accomplish [[Goals]]. - - Decompose lists items into smaller steps. + - Decompose lists items into smaller steps. - Doing the same thing over and over again without getting tired is what computers are good at, humans have other skills. - Time is not fungible. The value of saving some time on a certain thing would depend on the time of the day, day of the week, how much stamina you have, and how bored you are, among other things. - If a task takes less than [two minutes](https://jamesclear.com/how-to-stop-procrastinating), do it. It'll make you more productive and also unclutter your mind task's backlog. @@ -17,16 +17,16 @@ Time is the most valuable and least replaceable resource. Just like money, [time - Time-boxing is [[Planning]] how you spend your days in advance and it's so effective because it allows you to iterate. If you didn't complete everything you outlined, you know exactly why -- because you've documented how you planned to spend your time. - You'll never have any more time. You have, and have always had, all the time there is. [How you spend your time is a choice](https://leebyron.com/4000/). - Success can be measured in the percentage of time you have under your control. [To achieve success](https://blog.samaltman.com/how-to-be-successful): - - Compound yourself. Compounding is magic. Keep long-term thinking with a broad view of how different systems in the world are going to come together. - - Learn to think independently. - - Make it easy to take risks. Most people overestimate risk and underestimate reward. It's often easier to take risks early in your career; you don't have much to lose, and you potentially have a lot to gain. - - Build a network. Help people as much as you can. + - Compound yourself. Compounding is magic. Keep long-term thinking with a broad view of how different systems in the world are going to come together. + - Learn to think independently. + - Make it easy to take risks. Most people overestimate risk and underestimate reward. It's often easier to take risks early in your career; you don't have much to lose, and you potentially have a lot to gain. + - Build a network. Help people as much as you can. - Work expands to fill the time available. If you have six months to complete a task, it will take six months to complete. That's [Parkinson's law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson%27s_law). - When you get an invitation to do something in the future, ask yourself: would you accept this if it was scheduled for tomorrow? Not too many promises will pass that immediacy filter. - [Life is lived in 16 hours mini-episodes that we can affect](https://youtu.be/-dYgnvrvQ3M). - [Protect attention](https://youtu.be/VpHyLG-sc4g). Attention is a ridiculously valuable resource and should be treated as such. Reduce cognitive load, reduce distractions, reduce mental clutter, etc. - - Some activities will make you experience time quicker but won't provide any new and significant memories. Rapid stimulating streams of experience (news, twitter feed, mindless browsing, ...) will provide a fullness that will make time fly away. Retrospectively, they won't provide any fulfillment and make it seem like nothing happened. - - Routines speed up your life. Time will blow by quicker if you are covered in meaningless routines. What is worse, your days will become blurred - each day - too similar to the next - for you brain to hold on to distinct memories. On the other hand, routines also help to reduce decision fatigue so that you have room for more important decisions. Make sure the routines you have are the ones you need. + - Some activities will make you experience time quicker but won't provide any new and significant memories. Rapid stimulating streams of experience (news, twitter feed, mindless browsing, ...) will provide a fullness that will make time fly away. Retrospectively, they won't provide any fulfillment and make it seem like nothing happened. + - Routines speed up your life. Time will blow by quicker if you are covered in meaningless routines. What is worse, your days will become blurred - each day - too similar to the next - for you brain to hold on to distinct memories. On the other hand, routines also help to reduce decision fatigue so that you have room for more important decisions. Make sure the routines you have are the ones you need. - Things you use for a significant fraction of your life are worth investing in. - The window of time we can expect things to remain the same is decreasing. Things change faster and faster. To save time we do "technology". [Technology gives us extra time and deeply affect how we live](https://youtu.be/zHL9GP_B30E). - Mortality is the main source of scarcity. If we had infinite time, we would be less concerned with whether something was faster. The reason speed has value is because time has value; the reason time has value is because human life has value, and lifespans are finite. [If you made lifespans much longer, you'd reduce the effective cost of everything](https://balajis.com/the-purpose-of-technology/). The ultimate purpose of technology is to eliminate mortality.