What have you recently tried, and failed at?

Emile

Kaj Sotala said:

[I]f you punish yourself for trying and failing, you stop wanting to try in the first place, as it becomes associated with the negative emotions. Also, accepting and being okay with the occasional failure makes you treat it as a genuine choice where you have agency, not something that you're forced to do against your will.

So maybe we should celebrate failed attempts more often ... I for one can't think of anything I've failed at recently, which is probably a sign that I'm not trying enough new things.

So, what specific things have you failed at recently?

Kaj Sotala said:

[I]f you punish yourself for trying and failing, you stop wanting to try in the first place, as it becomes associated with the negative emotions. Also, accepting and being okay with the occasional failure makes you treat it as a genuine choice where you have agency, not something that you're forced to do against your will.

So maybe we should celebrate failed attempts more often ... I for one can't think of anything I've failed at recently, which is probably a sign that I'm not trying enough new things.

So, what specific things have you failed at recently?

I tried to implement GTD and failed. This wasn't the first attempt. I thought I could do it this time because I had more free-time to do it, but I realize that the main problem isn't that I didn't have enough time, but that I don't have the right software.

I'm also working on a knowledge mapping project where I feel like the main problem is that I can only theorize about knowledge mapping, but I can't really use the software to help me build it and I can't actually see what benefit a particular hypothetical feature would have.

So, I need to learn how to code for two reasons -- to help me write software to help me with GTD and with knowledge mapping.

I started CS101 on udacity and got through it in 2 or 3 days. I'm now stuck on CS253. I can't get google app engine to work. I'm hopelessly stuck on my goal of learning to become a good programmer. My only sure fire option is to wait until University starts up, but then I'll be learning C++ and not Python, so it seems that it will be quite a while before I'm able to learn enough programming to accomplish my goals.

I also started a blogtrying to track my progress learning CS.

Any help appreciated.

I recommended the software Nozbe in the product/service recommendation thread. It's worked wonderfully well for me personally. There are other recommendations in that thread which I haven't looked into simply because Nozbe is working for me, and this is the first time anything has worked for me for more than a couple of days.

3Viliam_Bur14y

If you can't find the right software to implement GTD, why don't you just use pen and paper? Here is how I would do it: a plastic envelope for all papers; one paper for each project, one paper for each context, one or more papers for incoming ideas. Write any new idea on the "incoming" paper and process it later. On a project paper list all tasks that need to be done for this project; you can also use it for other project-related information. Make a circle around the "next task" (and write it on the context paper), then cross it out (on both project and context papers) when it is done. If any paper gets too ugly, replace it with a fresh version at home. You can keep an archive of the old project papers. Maybe you have a good reason for wanting a computer version instead of paper version, but I have noticed that many computer users have a bias for doing everything at computer, whether it's useful or not. For other kinds of information, computers have clear advantages: easier to process, not much space required for many data. However, GTD is different -- most of the papers you just use for a short time and throw them away. (You can always make a digital record of your completed projects later.) Paper gives you high speed and complete freedom to customize, and you can start right now.

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What have you recently tried, and failed at?

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What have you recently tried, and failed at?

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