-
Don’t Front
There are a lot of different stories I could tell about SETT. To certain audiences of people outside the tech world, I could really make it seem like a big thing. I could say that I’m the CEO of a tech startup that’s growing 10% per week and has developed all sorts of innovative technology…
-
The Importance of Environment on Productivity
I’ve got two weeks in China. The first was spent between Shanghai and Beijing with Leo, mostly drinking prodigious amounts of good tea in tucked away teahouses. The second week I figured I’d catch up on work. With nothing much besides work on the agenda, I picked a cheap hotel in a good location. The…
-
Bet Your Friends to Be More Right
A while back I had a friend named Andrew. The tie that bound us was our love for gambling, not as a thrill-seeking diversion, but as a practical application of statistics. We made money gambling together, exploiting any edge we could find, but we also gambled between the two of us. I forget how it…
-
How To Be Productive While Traveling
If you have a nine to five job, then maybe your challenge is to not work while you travel. The hard part might be escaping the calls and emails. But when you’re independent, sometimes it’s difficult to harmoniously mix business with your traveling. I offer advice on this not as a seasoned expert, but as…
-
My Mini Sideproject – Cruise Sheet
I went on my first cruise ten years ago. All I really knew about them at the time was that they were the most interesting things pictured on the back of cornflakes boxes, and that a girl I had a crush on found one for $199. Sold. Since then I’ve been on ten cruises or…
-
Thinking About How You’ll Feel to Survive Impulses
I just finished up a 12 hour workday. I got a lot of stuff done, took only the bare minimum in breaks, etc. All I wanted to do afterwards was watch Elementary, a modern Sherlock Holmes show. Somehow my “no new shows” rule gets bypassed for new shows about Sherlock Holmes, and I’ve been enjoying…
-
Our Heroes are Normal People, Too
It’s comfortable to believe that our heroes are cut from a different cloth. They can appear to be like humanoid aliens from another planet– similar in a lot of ways, but totally different in a few fundamental ones. Consciously we all know that this isn’t true, but feeling like it is true allows us to…
-
You Have to Create Your Own Challenges
Last night I was reading Ender’s Game, which means that I’m way behind the times, since everyone else seemed to read it in high school. In the book, at least as far as I’ve gotten, the military leaders set up an increasing ladder of challenges for Ender. Each one is designed to be the exact…
-
Four Modern Competitive Advantages You Can Build Now
If you perform at an average rate, you’ll probably have an average life. Yes, there are exceptions, but counting on an exception is a weak plan. If you want an above-average life, you’re going to have to perform above at an above average rate. You don’t need to be above average in every single respect.…
-
Moving from Net-Negative to Net-Positive
When you live in a world with a million different things you could be doing at any time, the decision on how to spend your time is difficult. Ignoring the infinite suboptions in each category, you could be connecting with people, working, organizing, or planning. At any given time there are things you could do…
