21–30 of 49 posts
But when you're alone and it's your responsibility to keep yourself motivated... Base urges (and laziness) creep in. Takes a while to find your efficiency.
This may be relevant. https://youtu.be/co_DNpTMKXk
> If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride. And it will encourage you to do another task. It bothers me when people present anecdata like this. I don't have a problem with people feeling this way. But it's a huge leap of logic to say that this phenomenon is generalizable, especially since there absolutely are counterexamples. I,…
One of the things that Charles Duhigg writes about in the "Power of Habit" is reducing the barriers to action. One of the examples he gives is starting a running program. The best thing that you can do is to reduce the barriers to action for yourself by putting your running shoes and socks by the door. By preparing yourself for action, all you have to do is act (e.g. lace up and go out the door). If you have to find your socks or shoes in the fog of your morning waking up, that is a barrier to action that might even be enough to make you stay in bed.
Making the bed in the morning is a symbolic action. I believe it mentally separates you from the 'sleep' part of your day to the 'wake' part of your day. By choosing to make the bed, you are choosing to take action on something that, honestly, isn't that important.
Once you start your morning, you can add other habits (reading a good book, meditating, drinking coffee, playing with your kids, walking your dog). Note that I didn't say these or good or bad habits - but something that you would like to do.
In fact, some life coaches argue that perhaps the goal is to extend your morning routine such that it takes up most of your morning and extends into the afternoon.
There is a famous demonstration that involves a glass jar, sand, large rocks (not so large that they wouldn't fit into the jar), smaller rocks, and gravel.
When you pour the sand in first, it is near impossible to smash in the rocks and even some of the gravel.
The counter demonstration is that when you put the rocks in, then the smaller rocks, and then the gravel, you can pour the sand in and it fits between the voids.
This is an analogy for making time for the important actions in your day. The ones that you want to do. The practical theory is that by doing what is good for you right away, you won't procrastinate all day (e.g. reading Hacker News) and do something relatively more useful like physical exercise or meditation or coffee with a good friend.
The "you are all dehydrated and need to drink 37 glasses of water a day" myth really needs to die... I'll let Dr Carroll rant for me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbHp7cu2Ubk
> Research shows that willpower, like energy, is a finite resource. This has recently been called into question as well, as the original study showing "ego depletion" failed replication.
The "you are all dehydrated and need to drink 37 glasses of water a day" myth really needs to die... I'll let Dr Carroll rant for me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbHp7cu2Ubk
> Research shows that willpower, like energy, is a finite resource. This has recently been called into question as well, as the original study showing "ego depletion" failed replication.
Remote work is like catnip to me. Not the actual work thing (I spent 18 months working for a Texan university while five time zones away, so I know a little about it) but the thing for me is the movement Remote work should be everywhere. Almost every office job could be done remotely with far less crappy distraction. I think that there are genuine difficulties with close co-ordination, with productivity etc, but thes…
Or because people are like me - completely unable to work from home. I've been doing it for the past 6 months and it has totally destroyed my productivity. I've tried all the tricks, nothing helps. I'm just not fit to work remotely.
Slightly off-topic: my wife, who also works remotely and has a dedicated office space (a tricked-out bedroom), commented today how she hasn't had a sick day in over two years because she is not exposed to the multitude of germs and viruses she was exposed to in the corporate office. I noticed similar results: I have not called in sick to a client in many years while working remotely. Not getting sick as much is definitely a productivity boost. Not having to shave and dress up (good ol' pj pants and a polo shirt top works great on skype) and make a two-way commute are also productivity/lifestyle boosts.
I also have a camera behind me, overlooking my monitors and the back of my desk chair (the monitors are not readable by the camera, can only make out color blocks but can't read 12pt text). When someone skypes me, I just turn around to face the camera. The viewer can more easily see that I am actually working and if I have to check something on the computer, I just turn around and let them watch me work on it. This has been very effective in eliminating comments/feelings that remote workers are ineffective.
This week I do have to be onsite and the weekly commute will eat 15-20 hours, depending on traffic, for my 26 mile commute (each way). That is 15-20 hours of basically nothing but listening to podcasts or music. That's a productivity hit, as other than the feel good of being in the office, there is nothing that I could not do remotely, but it is a new client so I think it is a fair trade off.
I also stopped using the phrase "work from home" as I truly can work remotely from any location with electricity and optionally, wifi/cell service. I once worked remotely for two weeks from the campgrounds near the Redwood National Park and just drove to Crescent City to send/receive emails and code every evening during my nightly and rightly beer run. I did have regular or extended cell service (no data tho) if someone needed to discuss anything urgent.
> If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride. And it will encourage you to do another task. It bothers me when people present anecdata like this. I don't have a problem with people feeling this way. But it's a huge leap of logic to say that this phenomenon is generalizable, especially since there absolutely are counterexamples. I,…
I work remotely. I see very little of this as relevant to me.
Remote work is like catnip to me. Not the actual work thing (I spent 18 months working for a Texan university while five time zones away, so I know a little about it) but the thing for me is the movement Remote work should be everywhere. Almost every office job could be done remotely with far less crappy distraction. I think that there are genuine difficulties with close co-ordination, with productivity etc, but thes…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
3.2 liters of water a day is much less than 37 glasses of water. The article mentioned 3.2 liters.
"37" was hyperbole. 3.2 liters of water (on top of all the water we already get from prepared foods, coffee, soda, etc) is still a _crazy_ amount of extra water.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"37" was hyperbole. 3.2 liters of water (on top of all the water we already get from prepared foods, coffee, soda, etc) is still a _crazy_ amount of extra water.
Coffee is mostly water believe it or not. If someone tells you it doesn't count they are fail.
I think the concern people have with coffee is that caffeine is a diuretic, so you lose more water than you take in. While it's technically true that coffee does make you urinate more, it's a very tiny effect.