Second Life Log

Two successful days of productivity, so here's a small preview of my productivity schedule. This may seem like a lot, but this is only a summary. I plan on writing more on this later. CAVEAT: This is a work schedule I have worked out for myself through thinking, research, self-help books, and trial and error. I think every person would have a unique way of working optimally, and thus should feel free to make their own schedule in their own way. Quick spoiler: you need to know why you are doing each step of your schedule. It starts with three time slots: one for ongoing project work, one for chores, and one for learning something new. The ongoing project work is a single project where I do a little bit of work towards a larger goal every day. In the past I haven't had time / energy / willpower to finish much of anything. I want a healthy living environment, so doing at least one chore a day is important. Learning something new is something you should do as much as possible. I...

I read in "Finish What You Start" that one technique is to give yourself three complete-able tasks each day. You should decide on the tasks the night before, and they should be complete-able in one day. If you can keep that up, you will get stuff done in no time. I have a variation on this idea. Start with a small task that you WANT to do and can complete in about an hour or less. That will give you some momentum. Then complete a medium task you WANT to do that is about 2-3 h ours. Either during or after the medium task, take a lunch/meal/rest break Next is about an hour of chores that you DON'T want to do. Then you get to do a task that you REALLY WANT to do. For me that's learning something new or research or exploration of new fields. I currently have more time on my hands than most people, but I think some people may get some kind of use out of these ideas.

Today, I had started on a course to learn Kotlin, which is used to develop Android mobile applications. And then I had a familiar thought: if I get into Kotlin, but then, after studying for awhile, I lose interest, then all the time spent will have been for nothing. So, should I go ahead with the course or not? This question is a common catch-22 that the brain gets into. And here is why going ahead with your interest is never wasted time. First, as I have just stated, the fact that you are pursuing a line of interest is already a positive result. I highly encourage people to follow their interests. I will not say something like "follow your passion", as passion can be a fleeting emotion. So, following your interest is a much safer and more satisfying move. Additionally, by pursuing the interest, you avoid the inevitable dread of not follow the interest and wondering what it might have led to. The next positive result of following your interest is that by learning something ne...

"Art lives from constraints and dies from freedom" - Leonardo da Vinci I feel like this lesson is important for me to learn. In particular, with regard to unfinished work, which da Vinci was familiar with. I personally have loads of unfinished projects, as I imagine many other people do. When I heard this quote related to time constraints, I thought about times in recent memory when I had decided to sit down and do a project I had been putting off. I did not necessarily set a time limit. However, in sitting down to work on something, there is an implied time limit. I knew I wasn't going to sit there all day and work on it. An additional constraint then enters the mind: "How far do I want to take this project in this session?" Now we have not only a time constraint, but a work constraint. This combination includes a limited amount of time to complete a task, but as a balance, a smaller share of the work for the project. The benefit is threefold. With a time limit...