I really wanted to share this, because it makes a good point of dividing your potential projects into the categories of "experiments" and "commitments". The idea being if you label something as a "commitment", you commit to finishing the project through thick and thin. If you label it an "experiment", then you can push as far as you like, then abandon the experiment if you feel like you can't derive anything more useful from it. And, of course, if you feel the need to re-label something, you can do that. The point is to make a habit of finishing things when you commit to them. https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2015/04/01/finish-what-you-start/
You can easily identify a worthy desire as something that often pops up in your head as something you would like to see done. Other desires come and go and don't come back again, but the desires that repeat and repeat are worth fulfilling. When you have such a desire, you may be dissuaded by the number of steps to fulfill that desire. Here is one thing you can do to reduce that gulf. Next time you think of that desire, think of one step you can take right now to get closer to it, and then take it. That step could be one of a number of things: it could be purchasing materials, removing an obstacle, or other things. Once you have that simple single task, complete it. Preferably you thought of a simple task that only takes a few minutes to do, or is only one trip to the store. Next time you encounter that desire, you can repeat this process: either bring one more piece to the table or remove one obstacle, or whatever is needed. Eventually, you will run out of preliminary steps, and th...
"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...
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