I’ve been sleeping in since kindergarten. If there was somewhere to be in the morning, I was either slightly late or really late. Getting to school on time was a rarity and I was the worst paperboy my neighborhood had ever seen. As a grad student, my text history with my advisor was a long […]
My Kindle highlights from Deep Work by Cal Newport Deep Work: Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate. A 2012 McKinsey study found that the average knowledge worker now spends more than […]
Two years ago I left a PhD in physics, joined a startup, and taught myself to be a software developer. I had to radically alter the way I learned and approached problems. An education in physics is very much a bottom-up approach. Before you can grasp the intricacies of electromagnetism, quantum mechanics, and general relativity, […]
‘”Quit while you’re ahead” is an effective strategy for forming new habits when it is applied locally rather than globally. I don’t mean quit a habit once you’re good at it, but quit practicing in specific instances while your enjoyment or satisfaction is high, e.g. stop writing while you still have momentum. There are psychological […]
My Kindle highlights from How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carenegie RULE 1 : Become genuinely interested in other people.RULE 2 : Smile.RULE 3 : Remember that a man’s name is to him the sweetest and most important sound in the English language.RULE 4 : Be a good listener. Encourage others to […]
A framework for building habits from the ground up Joining an early-stage startup was a turning point in my life. I joined SharpestMinds two years ago as a relatively ignorant PhD dropout. But, since then, I’ve gotten a crash course in startup culture and best practices and, in an effort to keep up with the […]
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