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Productivity

blog.samaltman.com

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Re: Productivity

#321

Post by sudosteph »

I don't know if Sam has ADHD, but these tips are very compatible with those that I use to manage my productivity with ADHD.

ex: paper lists - physical stimulation from writing is rewarding, and re-writing things helps reinforce importance and accommodate for bad memory / executive functions (bullet journaling works great for this reason too)

skip breakfast + am espresso - I prefer medication for stimulation (game changer) vs caffeine, but breafast can definitely be a distraction. Removing unnecessary decisions in general helps me not go off track

AM blocked from interruptions - super critical for me to have time without people expecting me to respond immediately. this is prime "hyperfocus" time for deep work

Sleep hygeine - many adhd'rs struggle to sleep since their mind keeps running, indicas are preferred among my friends for helping with that. Personally I fall asleep better than most so its more of a matter of not giving into temptation to stay up late with my night-owl husband.

Needing to be interested to work on something - definitely a hard requirement for me. Those periods of low motivation / brainfog are relatable too. I'm not sure if it's burnout, overstimulation catching up, weed messing up my dopamine (I try to take a month or two off per year to keep that in check) or just that the world is sometimes too boring.

Tempted by "productivity porn" - I'm bad about totally buying into a system (ie, GTD) and using it perfectly for about a week before getting bored. to be fair, it's not bad for a week, but sometimes I use it to avoid doing other things which is a problem.

Exercise - I dont do this enough but I probably should. There's a semi prominent ADHDer (Peter Shankman) who swears that it makes a huge difference. But I dont lean towards the hyperactive type anyhow so it's not as appealing to me.

The only thing I might add would be that making time for mindful meditation, 15 min a day, has been tremendously helpful in maintaining a healthy emotional state. Practicing non-reactivity and learning the value of not dwelling excessively on negative thoughts and experiences really gives your mind more time to think of better stuff. Self forgiveness is a big one too.

Anyhow, if anyone is able to use Sam's advice to reduce stress or reclaim time for themselves, it will have been worth the writeup. Always love reading this kind of stuff.

Re: Productivity

#322

Post by musage »

bigjimslade wrote: post #61
systemshock999 wrote: post #40

Instead of being wowed by Sam Altman's title (president of Y-Combinator), you should look through his previous posts to gauge whether his advices are worthy. some gems from before: On China: "The other stark contrast is how much harder people in China seem to work than people here, and how working hard is considered a good thing, not a bad thing." http://blog.samaltman.com/china On Speech "Earlier this year, I notice…

Isn't it possible to be proficient or even prophetic at a thing while being not so good at another? I agree those comparisons to China border on wacky while I feel he is right on target about the fundamental, critical, beating-heart importance of free speech in all things. Maybe he also has valuable thoughts to share on productivity. Or maybe not!

> the fundamental, critical, beating-heart importance of free speech in all things

In China?

You know, I recently met this very nice and intelligent man. They invited me to dinner, and it was an absolutely fantastic evening full of brilliant conversation. We discussed history, politics, business, psychology, sociology, hopes and dreams, and generally felt very comfortable exploring ideas that many people would frown upon.

Of course, his wife didn't say a lot and had two black eyes, and I heard sobbing from the kid's room upstairs, but since I felt no need to ask about that, I didn't feel stifled in what I could talk about, at all. We both agreed we should do this more often, and the wife didn't protest, so I'm sure she's looking forward to more of that, too.

Re: Productivity

#324

Post by icc97 »

philwelch wrote: post #247
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.

I dunno. I already acknowledged that there are some counterexamples. In most of those counterexamples, natural talent is necessary but not sufficient. There are probably hundreds or thousands of people with the same level of natural talent as Michael Jordan who are not in the Basketball Hall of Fame, and there are definitely hundreds or thousands of people with the same natural talent as Michio Kaku who never applied…

One of Altman's points was doing work you enjoy because then you're productive in it. So there's no point in becoming a Theoretical Physicist if you aren't enjoying the maths homework.

Re: Productivity

#325

Post by eric24234 »

fao_ wrote: post #213
jjallen wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 rea…

Just out of curiosity could you tell what's your IQ is ? Also is there a correlation between children's IQ and parent's IQ ?

Re: Productivity

#326

Post by eric24234 »

fao_ wrote: post #213
jjallen wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 rea…

Also could you please tell if it is possible to maintain friendship with high IQ people by a normal IQ people (say 120). Do the high IQ people find boring to maintain the thought process and conversation with low IQ people and hence can not enjoy company? What's your observation from your high IQ parents friendship circle ? Please provide honest feedback.

Re: Productivity

#327

Post by baxtr »

bastijn wrote: post #210

I once read a HN comment that I cannot find anymore but said: “my default loop is "First, cycle through all my developers and make sure that I have equipped them to be happy and productive in their jobs. Second, find something to do. If possible, delegate it; if not, do it. Repeat."” My biggest productivity gain was when I realized I should measure my productivity through the productivity of my developers. By the sam…

One core element how I measure the performance of my managers is how they maximize the output of their teams. That’s obviously good for two reasons. First, we will reach our goal faster and second everybody is more happy, because everyone is dreadful when they’re unproductive

Re: Productivity

#328

Post by dwaltrip »

grosjona wrote: post #265

>> Also, don’t fall into the trap of productivity porn >> ... >> Some sort of sleep tracker to figure out how to sleep best is helpful >> ... >> I take a low dose of sleeping pills (like a third of a normal dose) or a very low dose of cannabis >> ... I use a full spectrum LED light most mornings >> ... so I get about 15 hours of fasting most days The whole article is productivity porn.

Eh, I think you are missing the forest for the trees here.

Re: Productivity

#329

Post by dwaltrip »

alexandercrohde wrote: post #300
montrose wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why this pressing need for productivity? Ambition. If you have ambitious things you want to achieve, they're probably going to take more than just ambling along. An athlete who wants to win races is going to run at a faster pace than he'd find comfortable if he were just going for a run. This pattern holds true when your only opponent is the difficulty of the problem.

Okay, but what happens when you take a look at the bigger picture? What is ambition really? It's almost always some arbitrary personal or social goal (have $x in bank account, make startup with $y, get title z) that rarely has any bearing on personal happiness nor making the world better for others. My happiest memories are waking up next to someone I love, or a barbecue with friends, or an outstanding meditation, or…

I like being productive because I believe it helps me make a small, beneficial impact on the future. This is meaningful to me.

However, I do understand your perspective. I think it's important to strike a balance, and that this balance won't look the same for everyone.

Re: Productivity

#330

Post by mantas »

toasterlovin wrote: post #273
newfoundglory wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There have been massive improvements in average nutrition over the last few decades though.

Your parent is right: IQ has been increasing. Even in countries where you wouldn't expect the cause to be improved nutrition. But nobody really knows why, nor has anybody discovered an intervention that can, on its own, reliably increase IQ.

Not only nutrition, but overall childhood experience is getting better worldwide. Even in countries that had no malnutrition, there was a lot of space to improve in childrenparents relationships etc.

Meanwhile some countries that were really good in all areas a while ago are now reporting minor IQ decrease..

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