Mike "Bagel"
- Stop treating knowledge work as manual work. Instead of measuring success by irrelevant or arbitrary metrics, ask yourself, Did I contribute today?
Did you advance the conversation? Did you solve a problem? Did you come up with a good idea? Did you help a colleague or a client?from You’re doing better than you think. Here’s why. - Ozan Varol by Ozan Varol
Far from glamorizing a surreptitious, disciplined busyness, Austen’s story, when told properly, seems to promote the opposite of this approach. Austen was not able to produce creatively during the crowded periods of her life. It was only when, through circumstance and contrivance, her obligations were greatly reduced that Austen was able, finally,
... See morefrom Slow Productivity by Cal Newport
Hidden from the world at Chawton cottage, suddenly, almost miraculously free of most responsibilities both domestic and social, Austen, for the first time in over a decade, had gained real and meaningful space to think and work creatively. It’s here, working at a modest writing desk by a window overlooking the road, that she finally finishes the ma
... See morefrom Slow Productivity by Cal Newport
- “There was, between the front door and the offices, a swing door which creaked when it was opened; but she objected to having this little inconvenience remedied, because it gave her notice when anyone was coming.”
— Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout by Cal Newport - Communication creates community. The way we communicate forms the types of communities we form: communities where the highest good sought is great entertainment and prestige (“he prepares for those podcasts like none other, and asks banger questions!”) or communities oriented toward the truth and encounters with the real.
- I can’t tell whether this is so obvious it doesn’t merit mentioning, or so fundamental it’s hard to see, but I’ve noticed recently that there seem to be two core approaches people take to establishing trust in communication. Call them “truth-seeking” and “community-seeking.” Most people seem to have a dominant social mode in which they operate basi... See more
from Are You a Jerk, or a Liar?
- For me, it became crucial to notice what is in fact "illusory" about the self. It's not an illusion in the sense of being a completely useless, even malignant, deception. It's a complex of narratives, judgments, and strategies that developed to help me maintain some relatively reliable social-emotional standing. It served, and serves, a purpose.
from Waking Up - A New Operating System for Your Mind
This is because the so-called self is a construct of words and memories, of fantasies which have no existence in immediate reality.
from Become What You Are: Expanded Edition by Alan W. Watts
KNOWLEDGE WORK (GENERAL DEFINITION) The economic activity in which knowledge is transformed into an artifact with market value through the application of cognitive effort.
from Slow Productivity by Cal Newport