8.2 KiB
Discipline
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When your rationality wants one thing
but your emotions do something else.
Elephant Rider
- metaphor describing our internal interactions
- elephant = emotional side
- rider = rational side
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The rider is tiny but intelligent,
holding the reigns and choosing the right path.
The elephant is huge but simple,
with a mind of its own.
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Most of the time, the elephant let’s the rider lead the way.
But at 6 tons it won’t be bossed around!
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If the rider is indecisive or tired,
the elephant will do as it likes.
If the elephant gets scared,
it will not obey the rider.
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Ego depletion
- making decisions (big or small) is tiring
- we have limited operational capacity
- once depleted, the emotional side takes over
- can be replenished when done in advance:
- take breaks,
- do simple manual activities,
- improve your mood
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Emotional aversion
- some activities appear daunting right away:
- demanding lots of effort
- ambiguous; many unknowns
- uncomfortable
- builds an emotional barrier,
causing an emotional aversion - lowering the barrier makes an activity approachable
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Growing the capacity
It is possible to increase our operational capacity
- by building positive habits
- by lowering the emotional aversion
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The rider must plan around the elephant’s needs
to make good progress on their journey
without the rider being thrown off into a ditch.
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My thoughts
- useful mental model
- explains why my rationality doesn’t always win
- enables to account for it and work with it
TOOL: Habit tracker
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Define positive habits
and track them daily.
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Why?
- helps keeping our elephant in line:
- easier on our operational capacity: less need for making decisions; it is already decided
- less forgetting or avoiding the activity
- practice makes perfect, repetition brings efficiency
- incremental changes take time, habits help us make the time
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How?
| Habit | Workout | Alcohol | Coding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Target | > 10 min | < 0,5 l | > 30 min |
| 1. | 🟢 20 | 🟢 0 | 🔴 15 |
| 2. | 🔴 5 | 🔴 1 | 🔴 10 |
| 3. | 🔴 0 | 🟢 0,2 | 🔴 25 |
| 4. | 🟢 13 | 🟢 0,2 | 🟢 35 |
| 5. | 🟢 12 | 🟢 0 | 🟢 45 |
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My Habits
- Get up early
- before 4:45 daily
- no exceptions
- Gym workout
- at least 10 minutes daily
- right after waking up
- Personal Work session
- at least 1 hour daily
- right after the gym
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My Tracking:
Gym sessions
- A4 sheet per week, daily tracking
- table of exercises + time and effort
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Book of workouts
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One page per week
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100 weeks in a row
(1.92 years)
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My Observations
- helped me to build a and keep a habit
- kept me accountable for spending my time
- lowering barriers for entry is key
- predefined plan = less decision making
- having a few sheets in stock = less disruptions
TOOL: ToDo Today
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What is it?
- list of prioritized, time-boxed tasks
- prepared the previous day
- important task first
- something you want or need to complete
- provides consistent daily progress
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Why does it work?
- avoids decision paralysis
- trimmed down daily list is manageable
- big tasks split into small ones
- the elephant doesn’t get scared
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My ToDo tracker
Collection of markdown text files
that are easy to edit (Joplin).
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My ToDo tracker (1)
# 2025-04-16
- 🚧 🚧 WIP 🚧 🚧
- pending task A
- pending task B
# TOMORROW
- some task C
# LATER
- other task D
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My ToDo tracker (1)
# 2025-04-16
- done task A
- 🚧 🚧 WIP 🚧 🚧
- pending task B
# TOMORROW
- some task C
# LATER
- other task D
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My ToDo tracker (1)
# 2025-04-16
- done task A
- done task B
- 🚧 🚧 WIP 🚧 🚧
# TOMORROW
- some task C
# LATER
- other task D
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My ToDo tracker (2)
# 2025-04-16
- done task A
- 🚧 🚧 WIP 🚧 🚧
- pending task B
# TOMORROW
- some task C
# LATER
- other task D
During the day:
🚧 🚧 WIP 🚧 🚧 line moves,
showing what is done
and what comes next.
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My ToDo tracker (3)
# 2025-04-17
- 🚧 🚧 WIP 🚧 🚧
- some task C
- other task D
# TOMORROW
# LATER
- yet another task E
At the end of the day:
- TODAY entries move to an archive
- TOMORROW transforms into TODAY
- Job well done!
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My ToDo tracker feedback
- helps to focus, less jumping around
- “you are working on THIS” reminder
- proper prioritization in a wider context
- new tasks don’t cut in line
- helps with making & tracking progress