Maxim Dorofeev - The Jedi Way. Finding your productivity technique

dorofeev-maksim-the-path-of-the-jedi

Chapter 1

You will have to delve deep into action to achieve the necessary result, but even this does not guarantee its attainment. We cannot always achieve what we desire, even if we long for it greatly. We suffer from insomnia, although we desperately want to fall asleep.

Chapter 2

Thoughts on Jedi techniques need to be taken into account.

The Monkey and the Rational Type.

The image of the monkey in the head was borrowed from TED talks by Tim Urban. Every procrastinator has a control panel in their head. By our nature, we are procrastinators. There are two characters near the panel: the rational type and the monkey of instant pleasure. The monkey desires instant pleasures, it is alien to everything rational, it cannot learn from the past. The panic monster appears when something begins to threaten us or our career, and the monkey is afraid of it. The monkey is not a negative character, as its intentions are good.

Lack of Time and Lack of Reason.

Daniel Kahneman's model offers two systems of thinking:

  • System 1 operates automatically and quickly, with minimal effort or none at all, without the feeling of volitional control;
  • System 2 focuses attention on mental activity that requires mental effort, including complex calculations.

The functioning of System 2 is often associated with subjective feelings of activity, choice, and concentration. System 2 uses thinking as fuel. It's unfortunate when we try to save time at the expense of losing mental fuel.

Chapter 3

Knowledge is not the same as its usage. The drawback of most self-help and business books is that they are too reliant on the reader's ability to follow what's written.

Just as a coach tells a young boxer not to blink during a punch, years of training pass before he can implement this advice.

It's not enough to just tell a child, "Don't get distracted when doing homework." We need to instill this habit in them through several practical repetitions.

One of Nicholas Taleb's favorite quotes: "Knowing is not enough."

Nicholas Taleb wrote about the Lindy principle, which suggests giving preference to what has been around for a long time and has been confirmed by many people.

In Buddhism, there are many techniques for assimilating information, where the process is divided into three parts:

  • Acquisition
  • Assimilation, for which it is enough to discuss or contemplate the information
  • Application

In Buddhism, there is also the term "Information Poisoning," when a person hears information several times but cannot apply it after the next receipt.

The cult of information, mastery of the source of information equals mastery of information.

Conceptual layering is the process of layering our existing experiences at the time of assessment.

The brain's primary task is to reduce the probability of a fatal threat.

Cognitive ease — how simple a task, seemingly, after assessing the task is transmitted either to the monkey or the rational type. If we feel stressed or have little mental fuel, then all tasks are performed by the monkey.

It is not worth trying to teach someone who is not ready to learn. When we work on ourselves, we need not only to assimilate new knowledge but also to carefully select and develop existing ones.

Chapter 4

There are no typical failures or typical successes. Knowledge very rarely helps by itself. "We are led to disaster not by our ignorance but by our mistaken belief in our knowledge." — Mark Twain.

In our world, not everything is black or white; there are countless shades. Only poems reduce everything to absolutes. We are all accustomed to expecting bad things from uncertainty, but in itself, it is neutral.

Most psychological studies do not provide ready answers; they indicate a correlation between the tested and the subject of the study. Correlation does not contain information about a causal connection. Moreover, the results of most studies cannot be reproduced.

Ergodicity is a property of dynamic systems that indicates the possibility of reproducing a state, with each new system or in the same system. The results of the experiment have a probabilistic nature.

Non-linearity — increasing the cause does not lead to the same increase in the effect.

Reading the same text twice is more effective than reading two different texts.

Chapter 5

Theory is easier to memorize than to develop a skill. Comparing experience with conclusions is risky and dishonest with respect to experience.

Buddhist monks keep a journal of commitments and record data 6 times a day. We can keep a journal of useful skills and fill it out several times a day.

A good idea for a journal is to write thanks to yesterday's self.

Be prepared for the long game and do not expect instant results. Skills need to be developed gradually to achieve a result. To get a result, it is not worth expecting it instantly.

Chapter 6

Blue light blocks the production of melatonin. It's worth trying to sleep with a mask.

Try turning off notifications. The placement of the smartphone affects productivity.

A valuable skill is to take short breaks from all tasks and thoughts.

To understand how poorly our memory works, it is necessary to keep a list of what needs to be done and what is shared in memory. In no case can we do without records.

Thought is context-dependent. If we have a thought about home at work, recalling the thought at home will be more difficult.

Vaccine: Set a delay for websites.

Chapter 7

Thinking about how to execute a task is also work. Spend time assessing and setting tasks. The nail technique before sleep.

Tasks, ideas, projects should not be combined. Tasks can be done by the monkey. The rational type can handle projects. Ideas - it's worth considering burning, whether it's worth doing anything at all. Here, a symbiosis of the monkey and the rational type is needed.

When a new task comes in, add it to the list. At higher levels, the two-minute rule should be used.

Tasks should be described so that they are understandable to the monkey:

  1. Should contain the answer to what needs to be done.
  2. The task should contain the verb of what needs to be done.
  3. The task should contain a complete description for the monkey to quickly understand what to do.
  4. The task should contain information about what specifically needs to be done, the correct formulation, and an explanation of why it needs to be done. If you depend on someone else and are not sure if they will do everything on time, it's worth asking for both a deadline and a start line.

Management should set tasks as for the monkey, and subordinates as for the rational type. This will allow management to save mental fuel.

The project plan is not a list of tasks. The project plan is kept separately from the list of tasks. Most of the time, we always have time to complete subtasks to achieve our plan. Often between important and urgent tasks, we choose the understandable.

Tasks should be divided into three categories for each day:

  • Must be done today.
  • Must be done this week.
  • Can be done later.

At the same time, we will review the list daily and maybe get something done. What I see is what it is, or the absence is evidence. The absence of signs of failure does not mean it won't happen. If you distract yourself, you will think that distracting someone else is normal. Sometimes it's better to throw something out of your head than to learn something. Not all work that doesn't involve physical force is mental. Sometimes it's worth having a task breakdown session, and several short sessions are better than one long one. People who are doing well in their personal lives are more likely to be successful at work.

Chapter 8

The inbox is where we receive incoming tasks and projects from. It should be kept empty, but it shouldn't be checked too often.

Anxiety negatively affects performance. Train attention, like muscle training: observe your breathing or listen carefully to music, focus on one instrument or voice.

People are bad at predicting the future. It's difficult to assess tasks because you don't know in what state you will perform them. But it's possible to assess the project, here it's like in thermodynamics: it's impossible to predict the movement of gas particles, but you can predict its temperature and volume.

Do a difficult task early in the morning. One of the most valuable skills is to deal with non-urgent tasks before they become urgent.

You need to learn to keep a list of debtors, i.e., those to whom tasks have been assigned. It needs to be constantly reviewed and decisions made:

  • cross out
  • remind the person about it
  • postpone and review again

Clear the table, browser, computer, and phone of unnecessary things to stay focused.

Relaxation is also a skill that needs to be trained. Sometimes, to do something, it's worth relaxing a bit first. If you relax your body, your mind will start to relax too.

Chapter 9

For most people, processes do not precisely match the described methods, and they talk about it, feeling ashamed.

Taleb wrote that what works cannot be wrong.

There are two types of tasks:

  • red ones - we will have problems if we don't do them
  • green ones - those that would be good to do

Sometimes it's intentionally worth not doing the red task and doing the green one instead. Artificial desires - they are imposed on us by marketers, parents. It's worth identifying and getting rid of them. To understand if you really want it and if it's not an imposed goal, try testing it.

Red tasks are not always worth doing perfectly.

The Cinderella Effect - no matter how much you mop the floor, you won't meet the prince. The floor should be cleaned not to the perfect condition, but to cleanliness. Try to do the red task to the minimum sufficient level and switch to the green one, or even better: start your day with a green task. Having two tasks completed at a minimum level will make you feel better than having a perfect completion of a red one.

Internet Sabbath - refrain from the internet for a few days. Prepare to work without the internet in advance. Plan your day.

Tasks should be divided into parallel processes, such as:

  • tasks that need to be done now, so there's something to live on and not be fired
  • tasks that will allow you to live in the future, preferably better than now
  • tasks that will allow you to live better in the future
  • reflecting on whether everything has been done correctly at the previous levels

Keep a list of ideas, review ideas from time to time, some will be transferred to tasks, some will just be deleted.

Chapter 10

Rational is what allows survival.

Laziness is a signal.

It's practically impossible to stop a launched task or project.

You need to reject tasks and projects and record your losses.

Doing nothing - not starting anything that we won't be able to stop and throw away later.

Are you missing the gorilla? Always look around for opportunities.

Sometimes it's worth trying to live a day without a list of tasks.