justing.net

4kw Chapter 4

By Justin G. on 23JUN09FRI

##

Continuing to collect all my random jottings and notes from Four Thousand Weeks here.

Notes

How to decide what NOT to do, but wisely?

Try a three task limit. It’s a hard upper limit on works-in-progress. I typically do a short list, a handful, three, five, maybe seven. I can usually tell when it’s too long, but also have refused to admit I need to do a tradeoff and drop something (for now), but struggle to actually do that last step.

These should be bite sized chucks so they don’t occupy a slot for months. Wait, these slots persist for more than a day? I typically organize it on a daily basis, but maybe I should rethink that.

This is hard, but you have to say NO to things that you want to do. Which ones?

Finitude Acknowledgement Distress = FAD.

Avoiding making something (a task? a project?) concrete and limited, just we ourselves are, is an appeal to the vague mystery. The not understood is always interesting. I think I am mixing up a few thoughts here, but the one quote I do recall is attributed to Tacitus via Doyle through Stoker: Everything unknown seems magnificent. The ill-defined is also safe because we can make it in our minds to be anything.

To Reply: Replies by email are appreciated.