Reminds me of the quote (attributed to Abraham Lincoln by the meme culture), “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
A simple habit that saves my evenings
61–70 of 113 posts
Re: A simple habit that saves my evenings
#62For me, my real day starts after work is over. That is when the meaningful part happens. And if I am going to accomplish much that night, I need to arrive home knowing exactly what I need to start with, and do it.
This is similar to Paul Graham’s saying that the people who get things done wake up knowing the one thing they need to do.
Trouble with my evenings, though, is that my commute home and usage of the restroom have a way of draining all of my motivation and energy.
Re: A simple habit that saves my evenings
#63> Writing down the next steps helps to clear your mind after a workday. You write and forget about your work until the next morning.
Another reason, which may be obvious, is that the notes help ramp you back up that next day.
> take this time to write down your thoughts, and a step-by-step action plan of what you think you need to do to finish your task.
I suppose it varies by individual. Jot down helpful notes (maybe in the issue-tracking comments for the task) that are already easily in mind, but maybe don't think through the step-by-step so much that you get your brain further into that space. If your goal is indeed to have your evening free without being a zombie with your head still stuck in your work.
Re: A simple habit that saves my evenings
#64The habit is in the 7th paragraph, after 2 images: > Rather than trying to complete your task in 20 minutes, take this time to write down your thoughts, and a step-by-step action plan of what you think you need to do to finish your task. Then go home. Rest. A feeling of incompleteness will motivate you to come back and finalize your work the next day. Only you will be full of energy, together with a settled plan. No…
when will humanity be free of having to force ourselves to do boring stuff.
Re: A simple habit that saves my evenings
#65Go for a quick walk. I realized this after fighting something for a few hours, then figuring it out on the walk out the door to go home several times.
Re: A simple habit that saves my evenings
#66The habit is in the 7th paragraph, after 2 images: > Rather than trying to complete your task in 20 minutes, take this time to write down your thoughts, and a step-by-step action plan of what you think you need to do to finish your task. Then go home. Rest. A feeling of incompleteness will motivate you to come back and finalize your work the next day. Only you will be full of energy, together with a settled plan. No…
It's weird how thoroughly people have internalized that tl;dr is supposed to be the default way to take in information now. Not only for themselves, but for others.
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Re: A simple habit that saves my evenings
#67> A feeling of incompleteness will motivate you to come bac
Yeah this is exactly it but I cannot relax or sleep or anything when I have a bad case of that "incomplete" feeling. So I try not to get too embedded in code at all these days (I'm old and dont work for crazy startups anymore). But got pretty coded up this week and was all grumpy last night in one of those "just 20 minutes more" situations (which yes kept me coding til about midnight).
Re: A simple habit that saves my evenings
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
I do the same thing as the author does. Moreover, I keep these notes more frequently, to the project's notebook with my other thoughts during the day. When I return to the task, I get up to speed in ~10 minutes, and things way go smoother because a) I'll be rested, b) My brain would have processed the plan and came up with a refined version of it. When I read the plan I wrote, I automatically recall the refined versi…
sounds like you are more of a morning person, as a non-morning person, it usually takes me about 4-6 hours to get up-to-speed. because there would be some unexpected twists and turns that will distract me from the task. meanwhile, exact opposite. if i cannot "solve" an issue, if i just wait till the evening by going for a 100+km bicycle ride, i magically solve the problem in the evening (right about at dusk and after…
I don't get it, what do you do for 4 to 6 hours? I can understand an hour as sometimes I get coffee and relax into the work but 4 to 6 hours? That's like most of the workday already gone.
Re: A simple habit that saves my evenings
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
I do the same thing as the author does. Moreover, I keep these notes more frequently, to the project's notebook with my other thoughts during the day. When I return to the task, I get up to speed in ~10 minutes, and things way go smoother because a) I'll be rested, b) My brain would have processed the plan and came up with a refined version of it. When I read the plan I wrote, I automatically recall the refined versi…
sounds like you are more of a morning person, as a non-morning person, it usually takes me about 4-6 hours to get up-to-speed. because there would be some unexpected twists and turns that will distract me from the task. meanwhile, exact opposite. if i cannot "solve" an issue, if i just wait till the evening by going for a 100+km bicycle ride, i magically solve the problem in the evening (right about at dusk and after…
That doesn't sound like you are a non-morning person, but that you have a very inefficient start of the day. Good news: you might be able to add as much as 20 hours of productivity to your week!
Re: A simple habit that saves my evenings
#70For me, my real day starts after work is over. That is when the meaningful part happens. And if I am going to accomplish much that night, I need to arrive home knowing exactly what I need to start with, and do it. This is similar to Paul Graham’s saying that the people who get things done wake up knowing the one thing they need to do. Trouble with my evenings, though, is that my commute home and usage of the restroom…
Jesus, what goes on in that restroom?