This is a linkpost for https://markxu.com/if-you-weren't
My friend Buck once told me that he often had interactions with me that felt like I was saying “If you weren’t such a fucking idiot, you would obviously do…” Here’s a list of such advice in that spirit.
Note that if you do/don’t do these things, I’m technically calling you an idiot, but I do/don’t do a bunch of them too. We can be idiots together.
If you weren’t such a fucking idiot…
- You would have multiple copies of any object that would make you sad if you didn’t have it
- Examples: ear plugs, melatonin, eye masks, hats, sun glasses, various foods, possibly computers, etc.
- You would spend money on goods and services.
- Examples of goods: faster computer, monitor, keyboard, various tasty foods, higher quality clothing, standing desk, decorations for your room, mattress, pillow, sheets, etc.
- Examples of services: uber, doordash, cleaners, personal assistants, editors, house managers, laundry, etc.
- You would have tried many things at least one time.
- Examples of things to do: climbing, singing, listening to music, playing instruments, dancing, eating various types of food, writing, parties.
- You wouldn’t do anything absurdly dangerous, like take unknown drugs or ride a bike without a helmet.
- You wouldn’t take irreversible actions if you didn’t know what the fuck you were doing.
- You would exercise frequently.
- Types of exercise to try: climbing, walking, running, soccer, football, yoga, hiking, fencing, swimming, wrestling, beat saber, etc.
- You would reliably sleep 6-9 hours a night.
- Obvious things to try:
- melatonin
- blackout curtains
- putting black tape over LEDs on electronics
- experimenting with mattress, pillow, blankets, sheets, etc.
- blue light blocking glasses
- You would routinely look up key numbers and do numerical consistency checks during thinking.
- You would have a password manager.
- You would invest money in yourself.
- Recall: money can be used to buy goods and services.
- You would use a email’s subject line to succinctly describe what you want from the person.
- For example, if I want to meet with my advisor, I’ll send an email with the subject “Request for Advisory Meeting” or something similar. If I want someone to read a draft of something I wrote, the subject would be “Request for Feedback on <Title>”.
- You would have a good mentor.
- One way to do this is to email people that you want to be your mentor with the subject “Request for Mentorship”.
- You would drink lots of water.
- You would take notes in a searchable database.
- You would summarize things that you read.
- You would have tried making your room as bright as the outdoors.
- You would carry batteries to recharge your phone.
- You would have tried using pens with multiple colors.
- You would read textbooks instead of popular introductions.
- You would put a relatively consistent dollar value on your time.
I’m sure there are more things that I tell people that can be prefaced with “if you weren’t such an idiot…”, but that’s all I got for now.
A post I like by @Mark Xu (who agreed to my crossposting in full).
Some more from me:
- You would make it easier to capture your thoughts.
- Examples: a pocket notebook, taking more voice notes
- You wouldn't keep all your money in your current account.
- You would get help when you were stuck.
As an idiot, I found this useful. However, what did you mean by “… routinely look up key numbers and do numerical consistency checks during thinking”?
To build on your point about sleep : if you’re taking melatonin and getting enough sleep but still feel groggy, it’s worth considering the dosage. The average adult naturally produces about 0.3mg of melatonin, yet over-the-counter supplements are commonly available in dosages of 1 - 10mg.
My interpretation of that was whenever you're having an opinion or discussion in which facts are relevant, make sure you actually know the statistics. An example is an argument (discussion?) my whole family had mid covid. The claim of some people was that generally, covid was only as bad as the flu. Relevant statistics were readily available for things like mortality rate and total deaths that some people making said claim were ignorant of (off by OOMs). With covid it seems obvious but for other things maybe not. Things people frequently have strong opinio... (read more)