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I’m most productive without external stimuli.

I’m least productive when I have my phone in my hand. Most of my productive thoughts happen when I don’t have any devices or distractions in front of me (most common) or when I have my laptop open in front of a distraction-free screen (less common).

I need to resist the temptation to context switch into something mindnumbing like Youtube/HackerNews/Reddit/Pinboard. That’s how you lose Flow, which incidentally is a book I want to read. 202204180140

I’m also very productive when I can do most things with just my fingers. I think that’s why I should invest in tools like Vimium or Vimmode that let me operate Vim commands on regular Mac applications.

(#update: I downloaded this Mac Vim app, and it’s been so fucking sexy. I can’t believe I’ve been missing this my whole life. This is going to definitely significantly improve my note-taking game. )

uid: 202205030052 tags: #productivity #update

February 22, 2023

5/2/22

  • What was my biggest achievement today? Thought about all the different areas mulan has worked on over the last few months, and told her about them. I think she really appreciated it, since she was feeling pretty bleh about stuff today.

  • What went well? And why?

    • Having a convo with Mulan went well.
    • Did several of the tasks on my Things.
    • Booked hotel for Vancouver.
    • Did grocery shopping.
    • Watched several basketball games.
    • Caught up on some sleep.

  • What could’ve gone better? And why?

    • didn’t end up going to the gym. I promised myself I would go, but I didn’t shower early enough in the morning, and by the time it was time to go to the gym, I felt too gross mentally to go to the gym. At the same time, it would’ve been kind of stupid to shower before going to the gym, so I was in a bit of a conundrum.
      • Solution: Whenever I’m feeling gross like this, I should just wash my face. I think this will help with the feeling of grossness a lot.
    • could’ve been more productive in the morning.
    • didn’t get through any of my big tasks this weekend. Didn’t really do anything beyond my comfort zone.
      • Solution: Plan the day out beforehand. Realistically think about how I’m likely to spend my time, and plan out the day accordingly. Don’t wing things as I’m going along.

  • What is my priority for tomorrow?

    • Planning how I want to spend the day before I start the day. Coming up with tangible progress items that I can mention in the daily standup report.
    • something

uid: 202205020122 tags: #journal

February 22, 2023

202204300005 why do I spend so long pooping

I have become dependent subconsciously on my phone being unblocked at 12 AM. On top of that, a new spelling bee puzzle comes out at 12 AM. It would be better if the phone did not have the property of allowing an unblock at 12 AM, and it would be better if I had the self-restraint to not be tempted by the unblock. However instead of trying to resist this, I’ve become extremely used to it, and use the excuse of pooping to get sucked into this world of distractions and waste every night away doing these things that I know I should not be doing.

how do I resist this?

I need to make it so I cannot touch my phone after 12 AM. I could also try disabling the blocking stuff completely, or changing the settings that there’s no period of time where I can become unblocked, which might prevent this bug from taking place. I doubt it though. I think the answer is I just need to not use my phone after the hours of 12 AM and rely on my Kindle or a book or something else for entertainment. What makes it tricky is that I won’t be able to use any kind of blocking software for this, which I have somewhat become dependent on. However, I think it’s finally time for me to learn how to not rely on external stimuli, and this will be a good excuse to finally do that.

uuid: 202204300006 tags: #insights

February 22, 2023

Airtable diary: 04-22-22

Standup update:

Prev:

Next:

  • Continue working on second shard assignments rollout PR — plumbing the new shard assignments accessor to all callsites
  • Work on PR making the DB shards cache resilient on the web server, using Andrew’s PR as a sample

Things to do:

uid: 202204220754 tags: #airtable #journal

February 22, 2023

Airtable diary: 04-21-22

Things to do:

uid: 202204210934 tags: #airtable #journal

February 22, 2023

10 Books Every Effective Engineer Should Read

This is from the The Effective Engineer - Gingko App notes I’m taking.

  1. Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams
    • From 1987, going to take it with a grain of salt.
  2. Team Geek: A software developer’s guide to working well with others
  3. High output management
  4. GTD (already read)
  5. The 4-hour work week
    • Main takeaways:
      • what’s possible if you relentlessly prioritize your work
    • the importance of creating stainable systems with low maintenance.
  6. The seven habits of highly effective people.
    • Apparently, the author is not a massive fan of the writing style.
  7. Conscious business: how to build value through values. It seems like this is about how to approach difficult conversations with others.
  8. Your brain at work: strategies for overcoming distraction, regaining focus, and working smarter all day long. Main takeaways:
    • because prioritization is a problematic but high-leverage activity that requires substantial cognitive effort, it’s best done at the beginning of the day.
  9. Flow 202207051324: the psychology of optimal experience. How to feel fulfilled and motivated:
    • Quick feedback loop, an appropriate level of challenge, and absence of interruptions.
  10. Succeed: How we can reach our goals. Frameworks for thinking about goals and how to best frame a plan to increase our chances of success.
    • Is it better to be optimistic vs. pessimistic? Etc.

uid: 202204180140 tags: #books #links #software-engineering

February 22, 2023