What can I say? Nothing.
I’m in shock. I never thought this could actually happen. I write this blog to get in the habit of having something say, but I have nothing to say that can make this better. Sometimes I don’t know what to say because I’m white and male: there are times anything I could say would just […]
Should free time be structured?
A few weeks ago I got a lot of comments about one particular thought: “Every week, I make a list of things I want to have gotten done by the end of the week. Then I schedule in the time I think it will take, along with blocks where I let myself do whatever I […]
Why I don’t always buy in bulk
I want my groceries to be as high-quality as possible, but I also want them to be as cheap as possible. Since you usually can’t optimize with respect to two different metrics, you have to pick some kind of compromise: I tend to go for “as cheap as possible given a certain minimum quality,” and […]
Exercise and the Just Do It attitude
As a child I used to swim at the pool—a lot. I can still remember the way my vision would gradually go cloudy and gray from (I assume) the chlorine in the water and my habit of swimming with my eyes open. But I always had a hard time getting into the water. I’d usually […]
Whether to enjoy serving others
Volunteering is like eating vegetables—should you do it even if you hate it, or should you concentrate on the kind you enjoy?
Three ways to do your to-dos
With Clara off at school every day and me home alone, it’s all down to me to decide when and how I’ll get stuff done. I have always struggled with procrastination and lack of willpower, so I’ve been thinking a lot about what sorts of systems I can put in place to make getting work […]
Optimization Metrics
Clara and I have to take a written exam in order to transfer our driver’s licenses to Minnesota, so we’re studying the Minnesota driver’s manual. In the section on crosswalks I found this instruction: The problem is that you can’t leave an intersection both as quickly as possible AND as safely as possible. To leave […]
Turning token actions into keystone habits
Last time, I talked about the idea of encouraging big life changes by making small changes to your environment: become a writer → keep a journal nearby at all times take charge of your health → put the cookies at the back of the cupboard organize your household → dedicate a spot for give-away things to live until you […]
Soak the nut
Growing up in my family, my sister and I took turns with the chore of washing dishes every evening. This was not a job I liked, and there were many ways I tried to get out of it: Before dinner, I would do some other extra chore, so that when the calendar was checked to […]
The quest for a dresser
We are making great strides in moving in. We have a books on our shelves, hooks for our keys, and cookies in the cookie jar. But one of the things that was surprisingly difficult for us was finding a dresser. Most of our furniture came from IKEA, and we were able to check out the […]