arbo comments on Habitual Productivity - Less Wrong

42 Post author: So8res 09 January 2014 06:44AM

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Comment author: arbo 24 December 2014 04:50:03AM *  0 points [-]

Fantastic write-up. I am very impressed by your recent productivity, and I'd like to replicate it for myself.

I strongly recommend finding a different and preferably healthier route to habitual productivity.

I don't share your distaste for unproductive activities, so I'm going to pursue two alternative routes to habitual productivity. Both entail adding incentives for productive work rather than mindhacking a distaste for "traditional" fun:

  1. Gamification: Closely related to mindhacking. This strategy could range from something as simple as a daily success chain (see Chains.cc, which I am currently using with some success) to a fully customized system where productive tasks are assigned points redeemable for prizes.

  2. Working with friends: Social reinforcement is a really strong motivator for me (I'm not sure how well this generalizes). In this scenario, you can work together on the same problem or work on unrelated productive tasks side-by-side. You celebrate each others' successes and provide pep talk when required. The bonus effect here is that you may fulfill some of your social needs. The downside is that you may find yourself distracted by conversation / general fun / antics / etc.