Continuing to work on techniques for programming myself.
Most recent realization was that the program needs rhythm. Once I get on the ball and hit it hard, I need to pay attention to where the ball went so I can get back in position. And the program needs to fit in with the natural rhythms of my life, it's not usually helpful to force a program that conflicts with my resources or my circumstances.
What are the techniques I use to implement a program?
Two of the biggest ones I use so far are goals and scheduling. Sometimes it's enough just to know what my goals are for the next few days, sometimes it's enough just to create a schedule on a calendar and try to execute it, and sometimes I use both, I set some goals and then I setup a schedule that works towards those goals.
A tool that supports sticking to a schedule is state management, meaning managing my physical, mental, emotional state. This get's implemented with any number of techniques. First and most important is just practicing good basic morality, staying out of trouble. If I keep my relationships and life situations calm and happy, if I take care of my responsibilities and live without guilt or self-induced stress, then I don't have to worry too much about my state. Sometimes I end up tired or stressed or unmotivated and I need intervention, so I need techniques to alter my state to something more conducive to the program I'm trying to execute. All kinds of interventions can work; breathing, meditating, exercise, visualizing a time in the past when I was motivated and successful, contemplating death, modeling another person who has the state I want, free-writing, writing about a value I hold... there are tons of options, whatever works. It's important that I practice some interventions regularly, so they are there when I need them. I can take 5 minutes to practice Wim Hof breathing on a regular basis even if I don't feel like I need it, and then the technique is in my pocket when I do need it.
Goals, schedule, state management.
I'm sure there are more ways to implement self-programming... drilling habits is one, freewriting to discover what I need to be working on, meditation, choosing my friends, choosing what I consume, committing to appointments with other people, creating accountability, creating a code of behavior, creative ideation, following checklists and protocols...
An important distinction is between structural techniques and content-based techniques.
Creating a schedule is a structural technique - inside the blocks of my schedule I might do anything, that is the content. The point is that pretty much everything I do must be done at some time and some place. So something like drilling habits may be a very good idea, but it's more the output of my program than it is the program itself. The program is "I will practice habit X at such and such time".
Defining goals, a schedule, and a code of behavior are structural techniques.
Defining a protocol to deal with a specific situation is very similar to defining a code of behavior. These things involve content (what I actually do), but they are not the content themselves, they are parameters I can use to run and analyze a program e.g. for a goal, a schedule or a code, I am saying "I will do X", and afterwards I can objectively evaluate how successfully I executed the program.
Practicing state management, habits, etc. is something I do within the definition of the program. So another way of saying "structure vs content" is "definition vs practice". The program is the definition, and then I put the definition into practice.
When I've run through the goals and schedule that I've planned (3-7 days at a time), or when I realize I'm way off track and need to get back on the ball, I can look at the program, evaluate how I did, and see how good of a programmer I was: did I setup a program that worked with the rhythm of my life and produced the results I'm looking for?
What are the rhythms that I need to work with to write a good program?
Cyclical performance and baseline performance.
I can't just go hard every day and every week. I can create a program that says I'm going to do that, but eventually it will not work. I will run out of energy, interest, willpower, conviction and the program will fall apart. When setting up a schedule and goals, I need to consider if it's time to ramp up, time to peak, or time to recover. There's plenty of variation, but those are the three basic performance levels I'm working with. Maybe a recovery period sometimes just means performing a little above baseline, and maybe sometimes it means taking a complete vacation, etc.
While cycling between performance levels, a good program should also raise my baseline performance. What is peak performance today will one day be my baseline.
Life circumstances
If I am traveling, if I have a newborn baby, if a family member has a medical procedure, etc. I can't try to override this with my program, the program needs to take these things into account and adjust to make the most of my circumstances.
If a job has a hard deadline coming up, if I have a goal with a hard deadline, etc. I need to make sure I'm setting myself up for peak performance when it matters, I don't want to find myself burnt out or focused on the wrong thing at critical moments.
Dimensionality and novelty
If I've been focused for a few weeks on my career, it's probably time for a program that gives more priority to family. Sometime it will be time to focus on meditation, or health. Those are the four general areas I care about: family, health, meditation and wealth. If I've only focused on one of these areas for too long, my programming is one-dimensional and I eventually will not be able to execute.
Similar to changing areas of focus, I need novelty. Execution demands energy and enthusiasm from my future self to willingly execute the plans of my past self. Novelty creates energy. A new routine is a lot more interesting than the same old routine. Novelty shouldn't throwaway consistency, I want to consistently work towards my long-term goals, but to do that, my program doesn't always need to be the same. If I've spent a few weeks micro-managing myself with a tight schedule, maybe it's time to loosen up the schedule and focus more on goals. If I've been setting only broad goals, maybe it's time to tighten up and define more small, specific goals for a couple weeks.
Some of my days of peak performance come when I create a tightly scheduled "planning" calendar that outlines my ideal day, and then next to it I have a calendar showing what actually happened all day, tracking all of my time (ate breakfast, walked the dog, worked on <specific work ticket>, etc.). That approach works really well... until it stops working because things are rolling along and I don't need it anymore. Then it's just tiresome and distracting. So then I might only put a "DONE" list on my calendar at the end of the day, and that may be the most effective approach for a week or two.
Sometimes I do well just writing a note to myself saying, "for the next 5 days my plan is to X, Y, Z", while other times it helps to make an outline, and sometimes I work entirely out of a calendar.
SIDENOTE: I'm prone to getting obsessed with the process and the tools, but all that matters is the results. A part of my really wants to always write down my plan in my physical notebook, or always document my plan in my calendar, etc. But that is just a distraction. As much as I want to hoard every little process artifact I've ever used, none of it matters and the only thing that counts at the end of the day is the results that I live with.
Interruptions and failure
Sooner or later I get a bad touch on the ball, or I whiff entirely. Then I need to create a program that gets me back in position.
A good example is sleep. Sometimes my routine before bed gets more and more slack. Instead of getting in bed at 9:00 PM, I'm watching one more chess video, etc. This might be a reaction to stress that I'm not managing effectively, but it could be anything. No matter what the cause, it is a failure on my part that then effects my execution. After a few days I realize that I'm too tired to execute my program and I'm just stuck in an awkward position trying to hit the ball, but I can't get any power on it.
There are all kinds of failures, when they happen I need to setup a program that focuses on recovering from failure and preventing similar kinds of failures in the future.
---
My goal in writing this was to summarize what I've thought through so far, and to start naming more techniques for implementation, to see what I could be using more effectively. I think there's plenty more to write about all of these topics, but this gives me a pretty good overview for the next time that I'm feeling stuck creating my 5-day plan.
Most recent realization was that the program needs rhythm. Once I get on the ball and hit it hard, I need to pay attention to where the ball went so I can get back in position. And the program needs to fit in with the natural rhythms of my life, it's not usually helpful to force a program that conflicts with my resources or my circumstances.
What are the techniques I use to implement a program?
Two of the biggest ones I use so far are goals and scheduling. Sometimes it's enough just to know what my goals are for the next few days, sometimes it's enough just to create a schedule on a calendar and try to execute it, and sometimes I use both, I set some goals and then I setup a schedule that works towards those goals.
A tool that supports sticking to a schedule is state management, meaning managing my physical, mental, emotional state. This get's implemented with any number of techniques. First and most important is just practicing good basic morality, staying out of trouble. If I keep my relationships and life situations calm and happy, if I take care of my responsibilities and live without guilt or self-induced stress, then I don't have to worry too much about my state. Sometimes I end up tired or stressed or unmotivated and I need intervention, so I need techniques to alter my state to something more conducive to the program I'm trying to execute. All kinds of interventions can work; breathing, meditating, exercise, visualizing a time in the past when I was motivated and successful, contemplating death, modeling another person who has the state I want, free-writing, writing about a value I hold... there are tons of options, whatever works. It's important that I practice some interventions regularly, so they are there when I need them. I can take 5 minutes to practice Wim Hof breathing on a regular basis even if I don't feel like I need it, and then the technique is in my pocket when I do need it.
Goals, schedule, state management.
I'm sure there are more ways to implement self-programming... drilling habits is one, freewriting to discover what I need to be working on, meditation, choosing my friends, choosing what I consume, committing to appointments with other people, creating accountability, creating a code of behavior, creative ideation, following checklists and protocols...
An important distinction is between structural techniques and content-based techniques.
Creating a schedule is a structural technique - inside the blocks of my schedule I might do anything, that is the content. The point is that pretty much everything I do must be done at some time and some place. So something like drilling habits may be a very good idea, but it's more the output of my program than it is the program itself. The program is "I will practice habit X at such and such time".
Defining goals, a schedule, and a code of behavior are structural techniques.
Defining a protocol to deal with a specific situation is very similar to defining a code of behavior. These things involve content (what I actually do), but they are not the content themselves, they are parameters I can use to run and analyze a program e.g. for a goal, a schedule or a code, I am saying "I will do X", and afterwards I can objectively evaluate how successfully I executed the program.
Practicing state management, habits, etc. is something I do within the definition of the program. So another way of saying "structure vs content" is "definition vs practice". The program is the definition, and then I put the definition into practice.
When I've run through the goals and schedule that I've planned (3-7 days at a time), or when I realize I'm way off track and need to get back on the ball, I can look at the program, evaluate how I did, and see how good of a programmer I was: did I setup a program that worked with the rhythm of my life and produced the results I'm looking for?
What are the rhythms that I need to work with to write a good program?
Cyclical performance and baseline performance.
I can't just go hard every day and every week. I can create a program that says I'm going to do that, but eventually it will not work. I will run out of energy, interest, willpower, conviction and the program will fall apart. When setting up a schedule and goals, I need to consider if it's time to ramp up, time to peak, or time to recover. There's plenty of variation, but those are the three basic performance levels I'm working with. Maybe a recovery period sometimes just means performing a little above baseline, and maybe sometimes it means taking a complete vacation, etc.
While cycling between performance levels, a good program should also raise my baseline performance. What is peak performance today will one day be my baseline.
Life circumstances
If I am traveling, if I have a newborn baby, if a family member has a medical procedure, etc. I can't try to override this with my program, the program needs to take these things into account and adjust to make the most of my circumstances.
If a job has a hard deadline coming up, if I have a goal with a hard deadline, etc. I need to make sure I'm setting myself up for peak performance when it matters, I don't want to find myself burnt out or focused on the wrong thing at critical moments.
Dimensionality and novelty
If I've been focused for a few weeks on my career, it's probably time for a program that gives more priority to family. Sometime it will be time to focus on meditation, or health. Those are the four general areas I care about: family, health, meditation and wealth. If I've only focused on one of these areas for too long, my programming is one-dimensional and I eventually will not be able to execute.
Similar to changing areas of focus, I need novelty. Execution demands energy and enthusiasm from my future self to willingly execute the plans of my past self. Novelty creates energy. A new routine is a lot more interesting than the same old routine. Novelty shouldn't throwaway consistency, I want to consistently work towards my long-term goals, but to do that, my program doesn't always need to be the same. If I've spent a few weeks micro-managing myself with a tight schedule, maybe it's time to loosen up the schedule and focus more on goals. If I've been setting only broad goals, maybe it's time to tighten up and define more small, specific goals for a couple weeks.
Some of my days of peak performance come when I create a tightly scheduled "planning" calendar that outlines my ideal day, and then next to it I have a calendar showing what actually happened all day, tracking all of my time (ate breakfast, walked the dog, worked on <specific work ticket>, etc.). That approach works really well... until it stops working because things are rolling along and I don't need it anymore. Then it's just tiresome and distracting. So then I might only put a "DONE" list on my calendar at the end of the day, and that may be the most effective approach for a week or two.
Sometimes I do well just writing a note to myself saying, "for the next 5 days my plan is to X, Y, Z", while other times it helps to make an outline, and sometimes I work entirely out of a calendar.
SIDENOTE: I'm prone to getting obsessed with the process and the tools, but all that matters is the results. A part of my really wants to always write down my plan in my physical notebook, or always document my plan in my calendar, etc. But that is just a distraction. As much as I want to hoard every little process artifact I've ever used, none of it matters and the only thing that counts at the end of the day is the results that I live with.
Interruptions and failure
Sooner or later I get a bad touch on the ball, or I whiff entirely. Then I need to create a program that gets me back in position.
A good example is sleep. Sometimes my routine before bed gets more and more slack. Instead of getting in bed at 9:00 PM, I'm watching one more chess video, etc. This might be a reaction to stress that I'm not managing effectively, but it could be anything. No matter what the cause, it is a failure on my part that then effects my execution. After a few days I realize that I'm too tired to execute my program and I'm just stuck in an awkward position trying to hit the ball, but I can't get any power on it.
There are all kinds of failures, when they happen I need to setup a program that focuses on recovering from failure and preventing similar kinds of failures in the future.
---
My goal in writing this was to summarize what I've thought through so far, and to start naming more techniques for implementation, to see what I could be using more effectively. I think there's plenty more to write about all of these topics, but this gives me a pretty good overview for the next time that I'm feeling stuck creating my 5-day plan.
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