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Productivity

blog.samaltman.com

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Re: Productivity

#211

Post by mundo »

gits1225 wrote: post #142

Off-topic: > The most impressive people I know have strong beliefs about the world, which is rare in the general population. Is this true? The average person is irrationally immovable on religion, politics and sports. On-topic: My philosophy on productivity: There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all ― Peter Drucker

I think it's pretty likely that by strong, he meant strong enough to be acted upon, not strong enough to resist persuasion. "All the programming Q&A sites suck, there should be a good one" is a belief many people had, but the Stack Overflow founders believed it strongly enough to put time and work into it; the suggestion from this article, as well as Joel's write-up from a few days ago, was that SO was much better as a result of that (as opposed to being born from "I'd like to make a website that people would pay for, what hasn't been done yet?").

https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2018/04/06/the-stack-overflow...

Re: Productivity

#212

Post by SolaceQuantum »

demircancelebi wrote: post #152
internetman55 wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really makes you wonder why people don't value themselves. Does society systematically strip the underclass of their self-esteem? Every single job I've had I knew that the purpose was either 1) to make me money 2) to help me develop skills or career experience. Idgaf about my employer making money (except as it relates to my goals); that's his problem to care about. I'm contracted to provide labor, not make his busin…

I think as a professional your job description should include using your skills to improve a critical metric or a process of the business, and this should include using your abilities to contribute in a meaningful way. IMHO, this attitude may be harmful to one's career. In the end, you can always find another job, but would not it be nice to actually care about the business? If you are in a place where you feel like…

The fact of the matter is, they may not actually care about you. Especially if the money is tight, employers are rare yo actually reward investment into the company.

Re: Productivity

#213

Post by fao_ »

jjallen wrote: post #193
badpun wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if you have an IQ of say 90 and want to be really good at theoretical physics? I don't see caring a lot and working continously as enough to overcome IQ here.

Doubtful you would care about theoretical physics in the first place if your IQ was 90.

This is a deep misunderstanding of IQ. As the product of two MENSA-ns, I can say with good faith: While high-IQ people do seem to have more varied interests than average people, IQ doesn't so much as govern interest as govern processing speed. One of the original purposes of IQ was selecting for fighter pilots -- fighter pilots with higher IQs means that you have fewer deaths, because they are able to process and react to stimulus faster than others, and they are better able to process the spacial information given to them.

The best analogy I know of for people in tech, is that you should think of it like having a slightly faster processor with slightly bigger caches. You're more able to manipulate things in your head (thanks to having a bigger stack), react to stimulus faster, change focus easier, and so on.

Someone with a lower IQ is capable of the same tasks, but they are likely to need to expend more effort and time at achieving the same result. From observation I can say the difference is mostly marginal.

As a personal, anecdotal example: One of my parents is in the top 1% of the population, the other is in the top 2% of the population. I have observed many times that my parent in the top 1% will come to a revelation, and voice it -- and as they begin voicing the first syllable or so, the same revelation occurs to the other parent. It's quite amusing. [I feel I should add -- there are cases where the roles are swapped, but that usually only happens when their attentions are focused on separate things].

EDIT: Also note that having a high-IQ doesn't magically make you less-susceptible to bad teaching or incorrect explanations. There exists a sub-society of MENSAns who were told by their tutors that they were slow and stupid, and that they would never amount to anything, and who have low self-esteem and other problems from being told such things.

EDIT 2: An example of someone in science with a low-IQ (of 98), is Julia Robertson, known for her work on Hilbert's tenth question, and her work in decision theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Robinson

Re: Productivity

#214

Post by wsy »

bachmeier wrote: post #37
pascalxus wrote: post #4

Your productivity is only as good as what you decide to work on. This is an excellent point! "Finally, to repeat one more time: productivity in the wrong direction isn’t worth anything at all. Think more about what to work on."

Unfortunately, very few people have the option to only work on things they enjoy. Even professors get stuck doing things they don't want to do, and that aren't valuable, but there is no choice unless you have at least a few million in the bank.

Usually it's a mix. Then you try to spend as little effort as possible on the chores, and focus you energy on the part you enjoy.

If you literally don't enjoy what you are doing at all, no productivity optimization can help you.

Re: Productivity

#216

Post by fogzen »

I hope Sam realizes that living this lifestyle is not possible for anyone in a traditional 9-5. Most people I know don’t have the luxury of thinking about what to work on, they have to get up, go to work, come home, and do it again in order to even have a place to sleep. Every restaurant Sam eats at is staffed with people working 80 hours a week just to stay above water.

Re: Productivity

#217

Post by ThrustVectoring »

theli0nheart wrote: post #41
whalesalad wrote: post #22

> I very rarely eat breakfast, so I get about 15 hours of fasting most days (except an espresso when I wake up). I know this is contrary to most advice, and I suspect it’s not optimal for most people, but it definitely works well for me. Coffee isn't going to interrupt your fast, assuming it's black. I too skip breakfast and try to fast as long as possible. Fasting is tremendously helpful to productivity. Nothing wil…

> Fasting is tremendously helpful to productivity. Nothing will hinder your performance like a huge meal in the morning (especially one high in carbohydrates) This seems to be really getting popular. What's the science behind it? I'm curious if this is mainly anecdotal or if you did some research before jumping in. My 2 cents: as an endurance athlete and student of nutrition, skipping breakfast seems like a bad idea.…

The super brief science is that your nervous system is divided into two opposing parts - the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. These systems inhibit the other when the one is activated. Programming in particular activates and works better with the sympathetic "flight-or-flight" nervous system, while eating food (particularly heavy meals) will activate the parasympathetic "rest-and-digest" nervous system.

Plus, removing unnecessary breaks and decisions in your day can help too.

Re: Productivity

#218

Post by naveen99 »

fogzen wrote: post #216

I hope Sam realizes that living this lifestyle is not possible for anyone in a traditional 9-5. Most people I know don’t have the luxury of thinking about what to work on, they have to get up, go to work, come home, and do it again in order to even have a place to sleep. Every restaurant Sam eats at is staffed with people working 80 hours a week just to stay above water.

the advice isn't for everyone. Its for the people who might have otherwise asked Sam for advice on productivity.

Re: Productivity

#219

Post by sincerely »

projectramo wrote: post #172
SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you partake in any sort of sports? As someone who is avidly into strength training, I can't imagine the damage that does to gaining and maintaining muscle mass, and sabotaging your ability to push hard and perform well in the gym.

As with so many things in health and nutrition, there is a lot of contradictory advice out there. I can't tell you which one is right, but I have heard many people say never skip protein, because you need it every 2 hours, and others say: https://www.bodybuilding.com/content/intermittent-fasting-ev...

Intermittent fasting is certainly a whole different ballgame than the multiple-day water fasts described in the comment above

Re: Productivity

#220

Post by [deleted] »

naveen99 wrote: post #218
fogzen wrote: post #216

I hope Sam realizes that living this lifestyle is not possible for anyone in a traditional 9-5. Most people I know don’t have the luxury of thinking about what to work on, they have to get up, go to work, come home, and do it again in order to even have a place to sleep. Every restaurant Sam eats at is staffed with people working 80 hours a week just to stay above water.

the advice isn't for everyone. Its for the people who might have otherwise asked Sam for advice on productivity.

[deleted]
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