Personal Habits Flashcards
Preparing to go balls-to-the-walls
-you must be FULL (if you have not eaten or have not eaten enough you’re going to end up compulsively checking the kitchen for food)
-you must have post-nut clarity (need to cum so youre not absent mindedly running off to porn sites)
-you need to be well rested (otherwise you’re just going to go take a nap)
Catching yourself pacing
Understanding why you pace:
- you are hungry
- you are frustrated with a friend
- you are ruminating over the past
The moment you realize you are pacing, that’s your sign to sit down and get to work. NEED to use this as your own personal feedback system
The best way to do this is to just repeat the word ‘no’ to yourself (out loud), until you are doing a high productivity task (note taking is a good one that will get you into a state of flow)
Importance of having time-bound breaks
-If you are working hard, you may not have an opportunity to have a break in the future. Use the opportunities to break when you have them (The future is ALWAYS busier and more demanding than you think)
-Make sure your breaks end when they are supposed to. If you don’t have SCHEDULED breaks, you risk taking more break time than you should (days or weeks) and actually losing productivity
Making the most of your unproductive days
There’s a reason that your best ideas come to you when you are doing something mundane (not being productive)
-Ideation stems from new experiences. Get out of your comfort zone and try something that gives you a new perspective.
•Do something that scares you
•Do something you don’t typically have an interest in (sports?)
•Travel!
-All of that still counts as productivity, because you are planting the seeds of ideation and inspiration
What to do about missed deadlines
- unless someone know immediately. Always ask for an extension (don’t just assume you won’t get it)
- Just because you missed the deadline for something doesn’t mean the deadline did not get pushed back. If the deadline DID get pushed back, you want to know ASAP. It really sucks when the deadline was pushed back and you don’t find out until the day that it’s actually due because then you’re rushing to get it done. You could have made the most of the days leading up to the new deadline.
Importance of making notes as you learn a subject or topic
When learning something new, create the flashcards AS YOU LEARN IT. Don’t take notes… make flashcards (they’re easier to edit/delete/reorder)… THEN take actual notes once you’ve reviewed the cards and fully understand the content.
- Trying to create the flashcards after being exposed to the information is a suprisingly HUGE time sink, just make them as you go
- In the past you’ve wasted a lot of time taking notes on something that you did not understand and then having to remove or revise them
- You’ve also wasted a lot of time taking notes on things you had to “re-learn” (stuff you were taught, but didn’t write down)
Importance of doing the boring tasks a little bit each day
Some tasks (no matter how trivial they may seem) are inevitable/mandatory… like cleaning up around the house. If you don’t do a little bit each day, one of three things will happen:
1. You will be caught unaware and be embarrassed when it is discovered you are not doing the task
2. You will be forced to waste an entire day of potential productivity to catch up of the work you should have been doing (on a day where you’d really rather be doing something else)
3. The worst one: You NEED R&R and instead you’re forced to catch up of the work you should have been doing
Importance of planning ahead for times of year you know will be extremely busy
There are certain points of the year that are always very busy:
- the week before Thanksgiving (this is crunch time in both industry and school. At work, you will not be able to contact people the following week so any questions that you have or collaboration that needs to be done must happen that week. In school, projects are often due the week before Thanksgiving)
*If you’re working on something technical, you need to make sure that it is very well documented so that after your extended break you can get back to it and hit the ground running without a lot of downtime spent getting back up to speed
Snapping out of an unproductive state
When you recognize that you need to stop what you’re doing and be productive, just repeat (out loud) the word ‘no’ until you reaume a productive activity (note-taking activities: structured ChatGPT prompts, making flashcards, outlining a book)
General rules about the future
1) The future is ALWAYS busier and more demanding than you think
2) it’s really kind of a coin to as to whether or not you will have IT/power/connectivity problems tomorrow
