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1374 sats \ 4 replies \ @freetx 29 Feb \ on: Cleaning up my online life - tips on reducing doom-scrolling, watching shorts? meta
These are all good remediation strategies, however I think they are primarily defensive in nature, to truly succeed you need an offensive strategy.
Personally I have 2 or 3 long-term hobby projects that help keep myself offline. For me, they have the following properties:
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There are no commercial or entrepreneurial aspects to these projects. I'm not trying to "build a product", I'm simply building something for my own sake.
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They are multi-discipline. They require a blend of embedded programming, 3D model making, etc. This keeps my interest because there is so much to learn.
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They are long-time horizon projects. Realizing that its impossible to complete this task over a weekend, actually prolongs my interest in a rather counter-intuitive way: I can break this project down into smaller 2-3 week "sprints" and occupy myself with that. (ie. this week I'm going to explore programming using this Beagleboard vs that RPI vs that TI chip).
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Apply proven tricks to jump start progress. There is a way procrastination can be hacked -- tell yourself "I'm only going to do this one thing today". For example, you've reached a complicated part of the project....there are lots of complications and variables...so much so that they make your headspin and it becomes easy to lead to procrastination. To solve that, tell yourself "I'm not going to actually try to write any code right now, I'm simply going to open the editor and clean up the code and add needed comments". Before you you know it, you will suddenly jump-start yourself into being productive
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Along with the above, set a time everyday to work on your project. It needs to be the minimally possible time...say 1 hr. So maybe you say every day between 6-7pm you're going to work a little on your project. Again, this is potentially a year+ project...free yourself from the expectation that you are going to complete it anytime soon. A little progress each day consistently builds greater results.
Take some sats. Very good recommendations. Not the first time I heard them, but it's good to have a reminder once in a while. My job in academia has been my passion-project for many years. But the last few months have not been the best in terms of research, that's probably why I am going through these ruminations. I'll think of a side project to work on, to compensate when the research is going through a difficult phase like this.
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I think about my father and his generation a lot. When I grew up (70s) nearly all dads were "handymen". They didn't throw out the blender when it stopped working, they fixed it in their shed / garage.
For example, as I've learned more and more about 3D modelling / printing / CNC millings (I started knowing nothing), the more I utilize these skills around the house. Take the wifes mixer apart because she is complaining it stopped mixing properly and you spot the problem: The gear connecting the motor is worn. You can make this!
When its fixed, you get a better dopamine hit than just spending another hour mindless scrolling youtube...
This view of "fixing things" also fits better into a bitcoiners worldview. Minimize waste. Maximize stacking sats. Low-time preference.
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I do get huge satisfaction solving small problems in the house using my hands. Especially as i am more of a theory and equation guy, by trade. I'll focus more on that. Good tip.
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Love the idea of offensive instead of defensive. I have some other thoughts - mostly defensive - which I'll put into another comment, but this is gold.
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