Why Doing Research and Collecting Information Can Unstick Your Tasks

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Coffee, Booze, and Sex: Is it the journey or the destination?

A little lighthearted Friday post, let's think about the classic idea of "enjoying the ride" (a favorite TTL [1] topic). Also known as "Stop and smell the roses" and "process vs. product," this one got me thinking of some fun variations. Of course the basic idea is sound: If we fixate on the end of a journey/process/path, we miss out on most of the living along the way. Cheers!

Let's start with coffee. Process or product? Process if you're an aficionado (test: grind it yourself), and product if you're simply after the caffeine high (test: instant). Related: My favorite, chocolate. For me, both process (it tastes, as our Laotian friend says "yum") and product because I feel a nice sense of contentment [2] after taking the stuff. I'd be remiss if I skipped alcohol. I enjoy the stuff, but I can't tolerate it (destabilizes my mood - see below), so for me it's the process because it leads to product (along with social value), but then I regret the process due to cost (being irritable the next day). You?

How about books? For me, one definition of fiction [3] is that it's the process, not the product. However, you'll agree that great fiction involves both. (Or maybe just the latter, but I avoid those.) For me non-fiction is primarily product, though again, well written ones are a treat to read. The same applies to movies, lectures - any information source, I suppose. Question: What about art?

Continuing: Dental work. My personal health crises revolve around this, and I've thought long and hard about the topic. (Personal note: I have a moderate mood disorder that includes obsessing as a component. This is partially why I am so motivated to self experiment.) Clearly this is more about product than process, although I've become creative about enjoying the process. Working with competent and friendly people helps a lot, as does a deep talent for black humor.

Here's a stimulating one: Sex! Hmmm. As a man, I tend to value process over product ;-) Then again, what is the product? A good friend suggests climax, though my initial thought was "babies." You tell me. (Related: A 2x2: Fun to watch vs. Fun to do. Ponder and report back.)

How about work? The best situation is clearly having both. Question: What about when neither are present? What kind of job would that be? Examples?

Finally, having a body. Another TTL thing I say is that having a body is an experiment. We are born with no user's manual, we have to make it up as we go (a good general test of whether you're doing one), it is constantly changing, and we have limits on our control. It is my favorite one so far.


How about yours? What process vs. product examples do you think about?

References

• [1] Our Think, Try, Learn work continues, with exciting results and directions happening. Edison v1.0 is designed and waiting on our brilliant volunteers to free up some valuable time to bring it into being. Perhaps as a sign of the project coming more fully into being, I've created ... wait for it ... t-shirts! In The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America's Leading Design Firm Tom Kelley argues that they're an important part of team-building, so I'm trying it out. Hey - an experiment!
  
• [2] And no, it does not have caffeine in it. It contains theobromine, a relative of caffeine that, for me, doesn't over-stimulate and keep me awake at night.
  
• [3] Another definition of fiction is "Does not require note-taking" :-) A little more at How To Read A Lot Of Books In A Short Time.
  

National (or any) news driving you nuts? Here's one way to talk yourself down.

For a few years I put myself on a media diet [1] (newspapers, magazines, radio, and cable TV) to limit how much I take in. I haven't slashed all screen time, just that which drives me to frustration, primarily national US news. (National Health Insurance and the Wall Street and auto industry bailouts are excellent examples.) My personal reason for feeling that way is a disconnect between my country's values as exhibited by action (not the proclaimed ones) and my own. I'll avoid boring you with them (Bill Maher's interview of Bill Moyers pretty much says it) and instead tell you a perspective that gives me some relief.

The solution? Cultivate a healthy sense of detachment via curiosity. By treating the national issues as grand experiments, and asking questions, I feel better. How do we go about this? Following are a few early thoughts. Please share what's given you perspective on the unsettling. (As Ricky Gervais mentions in his stand-up, "Always learning.")

1. Classify it as an experiment. Recognizing that it's an experiment is the big shift. The models are extremely complex, the outcome uncertain, and people (way above me) are taking action (poking the opaque box) and working from the results (Think, Try, Learn). Use the comment, "Interesting" [2], and ask "I wonder what will happen next."
   
2. Consider news as data. Yes it's information, with some facts (possibly accurate), but the spin is always data. Ask "What are they saying?" or "What are their models (implicit and explicit)?"
   
3. Analyze how much control you have. Consider how much control you have over the situation [3]. (Related topic: I'm thinking about a secular version of the Serenity Prayer. It's deep, if slightly nauseating. Thoughts?)
   
4. Treat your reaction as data. You may not like what you're hearing (beware moon hoaxers), but asking about the meta conversation helps be more objective. Step outside yourself and ask "Why am I reacting this way?" "What beliefs is it threatening?"
   
5. Relish surprise. We seem to have a kind of "Novelty Detector" built into our brains (see Learning By Surprise), so notice it when it happens, and ponder it. "Why is this surprising?" "What did I expect?" I've found that keeping myself off guard derails habitual responses. Related: One Way To Enjoy The Ride - Celebrate Surprise!
   
6. Attachment leads to suffering. Anxiety = investment in an outcome. This means that you've limited yourself to a binary condition: Things work out the way the way you wanted, or they didn't. The problem is that you've set the stage for constant anxiety during the experiment: Are things going your way or not? If not, you're unhappy. If so, how long will it stay that way, and what threats are around the corner? Ask yourself "What outcome am I attached to?" They try flipping it. Related: Beware saying "I told you so." When you say or hear this, translate it to "I was afraid I'd be wrong."
   
   

References

• [1] In addition to my posts check out HOWTO: Balance Your Media Diet (stimulating graphic) and Merlin's podcast. I also found A Nation of Morons, which I enjoyed immensely.
  
• [2] A favorite of Spock's. I should apparently be more precise with my use, though:

  Fascinating is a word I use for the unexpected. In this case, I should think "interesting" would suffice.

  
  
• [3] For political action, I confess I've done little - just phone calls and emails to my representatives and president, plus small donations to a few advocacy groups. I feel like I should do more. (That itself tells me I should "incubate" the idea for possible future action.)
  

New! Matt's Guides: Where the !@#% did my day go? The ultimate guide to making every day a great workday

"Either you run the day or the day runs you." -- Jim Rohn

I am delighted to announce the second in my series of productivity and living guides, Where the !@#% did my day go? The ultimate guide to making every day a great workday. From the introduction:

This guide teaches you everything you need to know to successfully adopt a daily planning practice. While the idea is a time management classic, I've updated it to go hand-in-hand with modern productivity methods like Getting Things Done (GTD). The premise is that by investing a small percentage of time each day, you can go home feeling you had a deeply satisfying workday, instead of getting home exhausted and asking "Where did the day go?"

I've expanded the idea with worksheets, answers to common questions, example plans, and unique experiments to get insights into how you use your time. It also ties in important topics like prioritizing, procrastinating, handling interruptions, and finishing your entire list - getting a "touchdown." I invite you to take a look. Cheers!

(P.S. If you already do daily planning, you might still get a lot from this guide. Check out this review by long-time reader and avid productivity experimenter Brock Tice. He's paired it with GTD for almost two years, and still found gems, answers to all the pitfalls he encountered, and useful experiments he hadn't thought of. Thanks Brock!)

Where the !@#% did my day go? The ultimate guide to making every day a great workday Downloadable PDF Price $27