huge87 · HackerTrans

3 lata temudiscuss

At work, I frequently receive a large amount of paper that I choose to reuse. I hole punch each sheet and place it onto a clipboard, creating a refillable legal pad. When I finish a stack of pages for the day, I archive them in a large three-hole binder. This approach enables me to concentrate on the content of my notes and writing, rather than spending time on making them visually appealing or neat.

huge87

3 lata temudiscuss

I've been exploring book summary services as a means to narrow down my reading choices. Once I have decided to read a book, I find it helpful to keep the summary on hand to improve my comprehension and keep track of the book's main ideas.

huge87

3 lata temudiscuss

I was drawn to Draper's charisma at the start of the show, as intended. But as all the infidelities, abuses of power, and general narcissism piled up, I grew to dislike him. By the end of the series I felt a deep ambivalence for the man, but that's a testament to how well written and acted the character was.

huge87

4 lata temudiscuss

(Second place is probably "getting good sleep" which has positive benefits for well, just about any challenge your mind faces)

I implemented a system of 9+ hours of sleep the night before an exam; this means I'll be in bed an hour and a half (maybe 3 hours) before my usual bed time. This provides a noticeable buff to my speed, accuracy, and recall on test day.

huge87

4 lata temudiscuss

I just bought Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Audible. I take book recommendations on HN relatively seriously so I'm looking forward to this read.

huge87

4 lata temudiscuss

This is so funny, I would not have noticed if you hadn't pointed it out.

That's a pretty good sell to me.

For the record, I happen to work for a Berkshire Hathaway company and Geico gives me good rates.

huge87

5 lat temudiscuss

I just picked up How to take Smart Notes. In undergrad a lifetime ago, I remember feeling that my note taking skills were woefully inadequate. My notes became more scattered, less comprehensive, and on the whole less reliable to use as semesters went on.

I think there's something important here to learn, so thanks.

edit: This reading is relevant because I'm going back to school, but I'm part way through and can see this will also be useful for all the books I read about stuff I find interesting. The idea of a slip box to capture, refine, and connect information sounds fun.

huge87

5 lat temudiscuss

I've thought about this for awhile, and I think it's reasonable to read some books in their entirety to better understand certain things (although I will agree that some books are just fluff and can be condensed into a blog post).

Take for instance the Checklist Manifesto, by Atul Gawande. We get it, make checklists because they're good for making sure you don't miss stuff. Got it. But in reading the stories and personal anecdotes, we get a felt sense for why and how we should implement a system of checklists to offload cognitive load so that we can focus on things that require more discursive thinking.

I guess what I'm saying is that you can tell someone to do something, but you may have a better shot at getting them to remember (edit: understand deeply) if you tell them a story. Humans may just be like that.

Not saying these authors aren't trying to hit publisher mandated word counts or whatever, but it may not always be that.

huge87

5 lat temudiscuss

I really like the idea that projects really just consist of "the next step". What do I need to do to advance this project/assignment/thing by one step? Define that and put it away to act on at some point.

It helps me manage feelings of overwhelm.

huge87

5 lat temudiscuss

Same. I had to force myself to continue with the book because I had the same thoughts: goofy, self help.

But I finished it and now implement the system across work and school (back to school in my mid 30s). It was like a level up in terms of how much I can handle at once while simultaneously lowering my levels of stress and increasing the feeling of control.

huge87

5 lat temudiscuss

This is a common thread in many traditions of wisdom. The words change (surrender, accept, be with, open to, observe, witness, feel, welcome, embrace etc.) but the idea is the same: you have to feel difficult emotions fully in order to process them.

Dr. K's Healthy Gamer Twitch stream offered another descriptor I like - digest. Emotions can be digested if you allow yourself to feel them without getting swept away or identified with them.

That which you resist, persists. I could go on, but your comment reminded me that sages and therapists have pointed to the same thing.

huge87

5 lat temudiscuss

I can readily attest to having no taste in music. So much so that criticism of music (in reviews of albums, etc.) is incomprehensible to me; I tried using good reviews as a way to find music I'd want to listen to but discovered that music only serves one of the above functions (looking for a good beat, or whatever).

I can't tell good music from bad; either I like the way it sounds or I don't.

I suspect a fair number of other people are like this. And more power to people who have good taste in music.

huge87

5 lat temudiscuss

Correct. I use YNAB as a system to ensure that every dollar of spending on my credit cards are backed by liquid cash. I'm not going to argue the merits or downsides of something like YNAB; use whatever suits you.

But when that card statement balance comes due every month, it should make no difference because the cash was already deducted from my books when I made the charge.

huge87

5 lat temudiscuss

In general, you can train attention like it's a skill or exercise you practice. Stuff like mindfulness meditation is training of attention.

If we're talking about how social media shortens our attention span then it may be prudent to reduce usage.

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