Live data from Hacker News

Why you need both rituals and routines to power your workday

blog.rescuetime.com

31–40 of 46 posts

Re: Why you need both rituals and routines to power your workday

#31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not anyone super important but this is how I’ve lived my life. Honestly it feels chaotic. My mind is always running via executive control. In some ways this, I believe, has provided me with a very unique worldview where anything seems possible - any path is within my grasp. I think it has led me to be more (forgive the possible arrogance, it’s not intended as such) intelligent than the average bear. I don’t let m…

I completely understand you. Some people go to school, spend hours studying at home and in school, apply to a company, get a job, have a routine. I get out of bed and somehow snowball into a tornado that I kind of steer towards where I wanna go in life. Anyways, the main difference here is in how I think your (and mine!) brain works - we think in abstractions, get bored with details and implementations. We recognize…

People with this personality type are very reflective and have profound thoughts, but they often lack execution. You'll be most successful in think tanks or if you lead teams where you give high-level directions (you will need a business partner that is convinced by your vision and who implements it).

It's also good to know that the brain constantly creates simulations about different situations. It's very important to realize that these simulations are not always accurate because they use your current beliefs about yourself to infer the emotions you would feel in that situation. You should go into situations instead of just imaging them - it'll lead to a more accurate model of reality in your mind and you'll be pleasantly surprised how inaccurate some simulations were. Social stuff stops being boring then.

Re: Why you need both rituals and routines to power your workday

#32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely understand you. Some people go to school, spend hours studying at home and in school, apply to a company, get a job, have a routine. I get out of bed and somehow snowball into a tornado that I kind of steer towards where I wanna go in life. Anyways, the main difference here is in how I think your (and mine!) brain works - we think in abstractions, get bored with details and implementations. We recognize…

People with this personality type are very reflective and have profound thoughts, but they often lack execution. You'll be most successful in think tanks or if you lead teams where you give high-level directions (you will need a business partner that is convinced by your vision and who implements it). It's also good to know that the brain constantly creates simulations about different situations. It's very important…

That's exactly what I noticed! I always tried to make myself the "implementer" but now that I have friends that are "implementers" it's way easier to do stuff. And luckily this is the same thing that my employers noticed.

> You should go into situations instead of just imaging them - it'll lead to a more accurate model of reality in your mind and you'll be pleasantly surprised how inaccurate some simulations were. Social stuff stops being boring then

Thanks. I know that and I try to do it but sometimes I need to hear it anew.

Are you the same type?

And unrelated question, because I feel like you belong to the same tribe. Do you think that sketching, drawing, painting, coding, writing just offloading thoughts on the paper/digital paper? I noticed that I have a tendency to do all kinds of stuff that includes translating abstractions to a medium (for example, invoking feelings with poetry, explaining with metaphors or sketching out ideas)

Re: Why you need both rituals and routines to power your workday

#33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People with this personality type are very reflective and have profound thoughts, but they often lack execution. You'll be most successful in think tanks or if you lead teams where you give high-level directions (you will need a business partner that is convinced by your vision and who implements it). It's also good to know that the brain constantly creates simulations about different situations. It's very important…

That's exactly what I noticed! I always tried to make myself the "implementer" but now that I have friends that are "implementers" it's way easier to do stuff. And luckily this is the same thing that my employers noticed. > You should go into situations instead of just imaging them - it'll lead to a more accurate model of reality in your mind and you'll be pleasantly surprised how inaccurate some simulations were. So…

> And luckily this is the same thing that my employers noticed.

This is rare. Good leadership in that company.

> Are you the same type?

Yes.

I use voice recordings, sketching and drawing a lot to save mental concepts. Voice recording can be a high-density medium and is one of the most effective ways to preserve ideas and concepts - our consciousness has a specialized part for language understanding, after all.

Re: Why you need both rituals and routines to power your workday

#34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's exactly what I noticed! I always tried to make myself the "implementer" but now that I have friends that are "implementers" it's way easier to do stuff. And luckily this is the same thing that my employers noticed. > You should go into situations instead of just imaging them - it'll lead to a more accurate model of reality in your mind and you'll be pleasantly surprised how inaccurate some simulations were. So…

> And luckily this is the same thing that my employers noticed. This is rare. Good leadership in that company. > Are you the same type? Yes. I use voice recordings, sketching and drawing a lot to save mental concepts. Voice recording can be a high-density medium and is one of the most effective ways to preserve ideas and concepts - our consciousness has a specialized part for language understanding, after all.

I tried to do voice, but don't want to listen to myself, I find sketching has a higher compression rate. Just saw your HN submissions and huh the coincidence - I listened to half of Hooked (making addictive apps by Nir) and got the physical copy sitting across me right now. And I also want to do the "crazy professor" style work, recently met another of our kin and we have 2 "implementers" with us in our little think thank group. We were thinking of starting a consultancy that does exactly that. I'd love to talk to you sometimes, my email is on my profile!

Re: Why you need both rituals and routines to power your workday

#36

An important realisation is that you already have a routine, it might not be the optimal but you do have one. Even if you routine is "going to bed every night a different hour", it is a routine. Not going to gym in the mornings, it is a routine. Just have a look to your repeated behaviours, even if they are variable, if the variability repeats then it is a pattern. In other words it is useful to demystify the routine…

This is basically what i learned in my 1 1/2 years oft psychotherapy. You really have to ask yourself stuff like "what's wrong with my schedule?"

The answer could be something trivial like: "I waste too much time browsing hacker news after work. I need to stop that!". But it's not easy to just stop that. Better ask yourself a second question like: " what could I do instead?" And then just find a tiny little thing you could improve. Every tiny step can be a huge improvement

Re: Why you need both rituals and routines to power your workday

#37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And luckily this is the same thing that my employers noticed. This is rare. Good leadership in that company. > Are you the same type? Yes. I use voice recordings, sketching and drawing a lot to save mental concepts. Voice recording can be a high-density medium and is one of the most effective ways to preserve ideas and concepts - our consciousness has a specialized part for language understanding, after all.

I tried to do voice, but don't want to listen to myself, I find sketching has a higher compression rate. Just saw your HN submissions and huh the coincidence - I listened to half of Hooked (making addictive apps by Nir) and got the physical copy sitting across me right now. And I also want to do the "crazy professor" style work, recently met another of our kin and we have 2 "implementers" with us in our little think…

> I find sketching has a higher compression rate

This depends on the level of abstractness of the given concept. I also prefer sketching for concrete ideas.

> I also want to do the "crazy professor" style work

I can relate. Thanks for putting your mail address into your profile, I'm sure there are some interesting topics to discuss.

Re: Why you need both rituals and routines to power your workday

#38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not anyone super important but this is how I’ve lived my life. Honestly it feels chaotic. My mind is always running via executive control. In some ways this, I believe, has provided me with a very unique worldview where anything seems possible - any path is within my grasp. I think it has led me to be more (forgive the possible arrogance, it’s not intended as such) intelligent than the average bear. I don’t let m…

I completely understand you. Some people go to school, spend hours studying at home and in school, apply to a company, get a job, have a routine. I get out of bed and somehow snowball into a tornado that I kind of steer towards where I wanna go in life. Anyways, the main difference here is in how I think your (and mine!) brain works - we think in abstractions, get bored with details and implementations. We recognize…

Wow that really hit close to home. ESP the bit about abstractions. And you’re right - I know a lot about things I rightfully should know very little. It’s led to people around me assuming I’m making things up when in reality I’m just connecting seemingly obvious dots.

Have you been able to make this successful for yourself?

Re: Why you need both rituals and routines to power your workday

#39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely understand you. Some people go to school, spend hours studying at home and in school, apply to a company, get a job, have a routine. I get out of bed and somehow snowball into a tornado that I kind of steer towards where I wanna go in life. Anyways, the main difference here is in how I think your (and mine!) brain works - we think in abstractions, get bored with details and implementations. We recognize…

People with this personality type are very reflective and have profound thoughts, but they often lack execution. You'll be most successful in think tanks or if you lead teams where you give high-level directions (you will need a business partner that is convinced by your vision and who implements it). It's also good to know that the brain constantly creates simulations about different situations. It's very important…

If I can pick your brain for advice - how on earth does one get into a position of being in a think tank or getting to lead teams if one struggles so much on the levels below? I have a decent-ish work history, still in my twenty’s and a masters in a hard science. I believe I’d do well in these positions but it’s daunting to think of how to get there. Any recommendations?

Re: Why you need both rituals and routines to power your workday

#40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And luckily this is the same thing that my employers noticed. This is rare. Good leadership in that company. > Are you the same type? Yes. I use voice recordings, sketching and drawing a lot to save mental concepts. Voice recording can be a high-density medium and is one of the most effective ways to preserve ideas and concepts - our consciousness has a specialized part for language understanding, after all.

I tried to do voice, but don't want to listen to myself, I find sketching has a higher compression rate. Just saw your HN submissions and huh the coincidence - I listened to half of Hooked (making addictive apps by Nir) and got the physical copy sitting across me right now. And I also want to do the "crazy professor" style work, recently met another of our kin and we have 2 "implementers" with us in our little think…

How did you come across these implementers? I’ve recently been thinking about a concept like this, and how effective I would be to have one, but I’ve never heard the term until you used it.

What does your group do? I’m very into the “crazy professor” work concept. I’d love to talk a little, even if just to see how others like myself are pursuing success in their own way.

Post reply on HN