time management

Only looking at roadblocks is self-defeating. I feel like friends including some here have been gesturing at this to me for years but I got it on a deeper level today in therapy.

I was talking about how unhappy I am about my work lately.

Therapist suggested what would be my ideal work like instead? And so I envisioned it but then immediately started thinking about the roadblocks to getting there.

But only focusing on the roadblocks is focusing only on the negative and where we put our attention only grows. Rather, I could also include more of what’s drawing me and how great it’d be. Ideally some combo of both.

A distinction between want (etymology linked to lacking) vs desire (await what the stars will bring)

If You Can't Make Peace With Your Partner, How Can You Expect to Make Peace in the World? AMA with Annie Lalla

Incorruptible Organizations AMA with Eric Ries. Wednesday 2/4 at 3:00 PM CT

Lean Startup author who now focuses on legal structures to protect mission-driven organizations from corruption. incorruptible.co

Free book giveaway! Register here.

What is something you admire about each candidate? Inspired by Brian's post

If you're not changing it, you're choosing it. This is one of my favorite quotes. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. There are moments when it feels easier to stay where I am, to shrug things off, or just go along with what’s happening. But then I notice that staying still is, in itself, a choice. It makes me pause and ask myself - am I really okay with this? Or do I need to try something different, even if it’s just a small step? It’s not about beating myself up, it’s about quietly noticing where I have power and how I want to use it.

If you're not changing it, you're choosing it. This is one of my favorite quotes. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. There are moments when it feels easier to stay where I am, to shrug things off, or just go along with what’s happening. But then I notice that staying still is, in itself, a choice. It makes me pause and ask myself - am I really okay with this? Or do I need to try something different, even if it’s just a small step? It’s not about beating myself up, it’s about quietly noticing where I have power and how I want to use it.

Productivity Systems vs Meaningful Aligned Work. This might be a false dichotomy.

But, every few months, I come across some new productivity idea and get mini obsessed by it. GTD. Anki cards. AI Assistants.

As far as I can tell, I don't have a cohesive system for work or anything. I keep all my tasks in a txt file. Most of my computer files live in my downloads folder or a dropbox sync folder. I have my own "internal" system that's taken bits and pieces from what I've learned.

Recently, I read this article, A receipt printer cured my procrastination

Basic idea is printing out your tasks with a receipt printer (very fast, very cheap, very small). Having it be physical and visible rather than stuck in a digital todo app.

Also saves the headache of manually writing these out on notecards/post-it notes.

I went ahead and bought a receipt printer off ebay. But I have a sneaky suspicion that I'll love this for a few weeks and then drop it entirely.

(also the concern that thermal receipt printers are toxic in daily frequent exposure but there's more expensive paper that's suppose to be neutral/healthy)

It feels like all these systems are modernist hacks to predict and control human behavior rather than trusting its natural eros towards what is meaningful.

On the other hand, meaningful work tied to my identity that's in direct connection to others/near environment, I don't need any system or task manager to do. It naturally flows and gets done.

Then again, there are just thigns that need to get done like paystubs and taxes that I don't have any eros towards so maybe there's a happy medium of systems for necessary but not interesting tasks and trusting natural interest for everything else?

Quick reflections on vibe-coding:

• kicks up weird addiction cycles in me
• the end product feels more like 20-30% jordan's creation and 70-80% LLM's. The text for example is all a little off, the style, etc, and it drifts because it's so easy to have it do it and so much more "time consuming" to go fix all the little bits (plus you have no guarantee it wont fuck something else up) and keep them coherent, versus just surrendering to the llm
• As a result I feel weirdly not that autonomous... like is the LLM working for me or am I working for it? This feels similar to the addiction cycle too
• There's a vibe that's similar to the "HR Lady" tone and em-dash hell of the LLM writing; like everything is sanitized and optimized for general professional sleeze marketing and you can't quite put your finger on why it sucks. The glassmorphism designs and gradients feel similar
• I continue to feel like I'm learning a lot from it, but I have updated to think that at the current stage its at, its actually an unhealthy practice and so is a little like a blood sacrifice that should be used sparingly. I imagine this will change, but maybe it'll get worse.

🌞 Community Call: March 26 . Hi everyone! 

Jordan won't make today's call, but I'll be there if you want to come hang out!!

The encouragement today is to fill out your profile and then catch up on any Deep Takes posts that you haven't gotten to yet. 🧙‍♀️

For those of you playing along but not on the call- to update your profile:

Top righthand corner > Profile > Bio > Click the green pen icon

Join us 3:00-3:30 CDT
Zoom Link

#foundationalcommunity

It's harder to type and listen than I thought. And I’m usually pretty good at having a lot of chaos in awareness

VP debate. God, it’s so painful to watch these debates. All I hear is vote for my party, we’re the best and they suck! No, vote for MY party, WE’RE the best and THEY suck!

An AI safety introduction that I like. I’m curious what people’s thoughts, reactions and impacts from this link are.

I’m already fairly familiar with this space, and it seems like it needs some solid introductory articles - so I wanted to present this one to you all and see what you thought.

How should I landscape my house? I am working on landscaping the home I bought in October, starting with the front yard due to a couple of issues. First, there is a big dip in the yard that floods every time it rains heavily. Second, the driveway is right in front of my bedroom window, causing headlights to shine into my room when people come and go, and limiting my ability to open the windows due to privacy concerns.

I’ve hired a permaculture landscaper who is currently working on a design. Meanwhile, I need to decide what to do about the driveway and whether to add a carport.

I could really use some opinions on the following:

• How would you deal with the flooding issue?
• What would you suggest for the driveway or adding a carport? I can move the driveway to the other side of the house or leave it as is.

I can post photos if there’s a way to do that. I have many ideas also but curious to hear what folks think with this info.

Monogamy v polyamory. Is monogamy better? Is poly better? Is there an overall norm for people, with exceptions? Is it totally pluralistic? Here are some points for monogamy, with some counter points, to convey some of my uncertainty but nevertheless leaning into what I’ve chosen:

• Point: I don’t know a single polyamorous couple that’s lasted more than a decade, whereas I know a ton of lifelong monogamous couples.
  • Counterpoint: many of the lifelong monogamous couples are not healthy relationships
    • Counter-counter-point: perhaps being in a lifelong commitment, even if the relationship isn’t ideal, is more healthy than being hyper-independent, especially as you get older. This runs right up against boundaries, how to know what to tolerate/love as is, when to leave, etc
• Point: The poly focus of attention tends to be the relationships themselves, often a kind of relational narcissism, rather than the relationship being a foundation for engaging the world in love (ironically). This is my version of the poly is impractical argument. Most of the people I meet practicing polyamory are constantly putting tons and tons and tons of life energy into their relational problems, and it seems like their relationships are often built around addressing these problems rather than enjoying life together. The fact that it takes so much time and energy points to something being a little off. Monogamous relating also takes energy but it usually seems less self-referential; they’re more often helping each other face and engage the world, rather than face and engage each other and their relationship.
  • potential counterpoint: You’re making a developmental point Jordan, not a mono/poly point. Most people practice poly from a Red ego-centric POV; most people practice sex from Red as well. If you practice from a genuine Green+ polyamory, this doesn’t happen.
• Point: Humans are largely monogamous; it’s instinctual
  • Counterpoint: How would we know if its cultural versus biological versus systemic versus psychological per person/family? it only takes a couple of generations of evolution to make massive physical changes, so even if it is biological, how could we know what’s possible for the future?
  • Counterpoint: people wanna fuck, especially dudes
  • Cheating, mistresses, polygamy, Sex at Dawn etc…
• Point: Many poly people avoid endings, boundaries, standards, and facing their own karma by just jumping from relationships to relationship. Sure monogamous people do too, but many of them end up getting married and that crucible forces them to face their stuff. Far fewer poly people get married, and when they do they can still use other relationships to avoid their shit
  • Counterpoint: we can use absolutely everything to avoid our shit.

there’s tons more, just want to get the convo started…

Session 1 "Instructions": Posts, Comments, and Feedback. Suggestions:

• Start 1 or more new threads.
• Comment on 3 or more other people’s threads.
• Up-trust 10 or more posts/ or comments.
• Submit at least 3 pieces of feedback via the website.

Questions:

• How easy is each of these activities? What features on the site are helpful for these tasks, and what could be improved?
• Making a new thread
• Commenting on a thread
• Following a discussion, reading and exploring the comment tree
• What aspects of the platform were great? What could be better?
• Any other thoughts or feedback you would like to share?