deepstash
Beta
Why it's so tempting to build walls and shut people out (and what to do instead)
Artificial divisions
We make artificial divisions everywhere.
Being human means there’s a wall-builder in each of us. Our minds naturally divide the world into me and not-me, us and them.
79 SAVES
151 READS
SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
5
Key Ideas
The Planning Fallacy
We all have busy schedules, but we are incorrectly planning our day around the time we have, not around priorities.
Our estimates on how long certain tasks will take are almost always ...
The 4 Kinds of Priorities
The Decision Matrix on how to approach tasks has 4 quadrants:
- Quadrant 1: The Urgent Problems which are important.
- Quadrant 2: Not Urgent but important tasks
- Quadrant 3: Urgent but not really important
- Quadrant 4: Distractions and time-wasting tasks.
Prioritize the important (Quadrant 2) to attain maximum benefit from your work.
8
Key Ideas
Switching between tasks
Most of us spend our days jumping between tasks and tools.
In fact, most people average only 3 minutes on any given task before switching to something else (and only 2 minutes on a di...
Task switching and focus
Taking on additional tasks simultaneously can destroy up to 80% of your productive time:
- Focusing on one task at a time = 100% of your productive time available.
- Juggling two tasks at a time = 40% of your productive time for each and 20% lost to context switching.
- Juggling three tasks at a time = 20% of your productive time for each and 40% lost to context switching.
A schedule for sustained attention
- Large chunks of focused “flow” time for more demanding projects.
- “Themed” days to reduce the need to recalibrate between different tasks.
- Advanced planning so you can prioritize meaningful work.
- Realistic time set aside for admin, communication, and meetings.
- Clear expectations for your teammates so they know when not to interrupt you.
4
Key Ideas
Eating Distract from Emotions
We often associate eating with relief or even excitement, and it’s only natural that we’d reach for those same feelings when we’re worried or sad.
Why we choose comfort food
Comfort foods don’t tend to be healthy. We want cake or pasta or chips when we’re emotionally eating. We have emotional memories around certain foods, which are more likely to involve your grandma’s lasagna than a salad.
But after we eat for emotional reasons, we’re replacing our original feelings with the emotions that arise out of eating.
Comfort food
We associate comfort food with positive memories.
Think about all the happy and comforting memories you have involving food. Maybe your family used to celebrate occasions with a trip to the ice cream shop, or maybe your mom or dad used to soften the blow of a bad day with macaroni and cheese. When you’re feeling rejected or anxious today, eating one of those foods is an instant connection to that soothing time.