"The core of the engineering mind-set is what I call modular systems thinking. It’s not a singular talent, but a melange of techniques and principles. Systems-level thinking is more than just being systematic; rather, it’s about the understanding that in the ebb and flow of life, nothing is stationary and everything is linked. The relationships among the modules of a system give rise to a whole that cannot be understood by analyzing its constituent parts."

It means to be able to break down a big system into its sections and putting it back together. The target is to identify the strong and weak links: how the sections work, don’t work, or could potentially work and applying this knowledge to engineer useful outcomes.
There is no engineering method, so modular systems thinking varies with contexts.

Thinking in Systems

<ul>
<li>The ability to see a structure where there’s nothing apparent.</li>
<li>Adeptness at designing under constraints.</li>
<li>The capacity to hold alternative ideas in your head and make considered judgments.</li>
</ul>

Fundamental Properties of the Engineering Mind-Set

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Health

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Problem Solving

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Teamwork

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Leadership & Management

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Software Engineering

The Three Essential Properties of the Engineering Mind-Set

The childhood advice of sitting up straight, shoulders back, is incorrect.
Sitting this way takes effort. We end up arching our backs by tensing up our muscles. When we tighten them, we shorten them, and that arches the back, loads the discs in the lower back, and pushes the edges of the vertebrae against each other. Over time, that could alter our anatomy.

How we're sitting

If you tend to slump, you need to learn to lengthen your back. Use the time that you're sitting to stretch yourself against the backrest. 
<ul>
<li>Sit with your bottom well back in your chair while moving your upper body away from the backrest.</li>
<li>Place your fists on the front lower border of your rib cage, then gently push back on your rib cage so as to elongate your lower back.</li>
<li>Then, grab some place of your chair and make yourself taller by gently pushing the top of you away from the bottom. </li>
<li>In that position, put your back against the chair's backrest. Ideally, the chair would have some grippy thing mid-back to hold you.</li>
</ul>

The tendency to slump

For a healthier back, develop the "inner corset" core strength: the group of core muscles that support your spine. Crunches are not the best exercises for this purpose as they also crunch your discs and nerves.
You should engage particular muscles deep in the abdomen and back; then your muscles can take care of your back.

A healthier back

Standing desks can be good, but it depends on how you hold your body. When the average person stands, they lock their knees back, the hips forward and arch their back. 
When you stand, adopt a stance of "readiness," maintaining a little bit of spring in your knees. It takes muscular effort but will spare your joints.

Standing desks

It is important not to lie down on your front when you sleep as this position tends to arch your back, and your neck turns 90 degrees. 
Instead, try sleeping on your back or side. If you suffer from pack pain, sleep with a pillow between your knees to balance your hips.

Sleep affects your back

By making just a few basic corrections, you can ease your back strain and discomfort, says posture expert Esther Gokhale.

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Exercise & Fitness

You’re sitting wrong — and your back knows it. Here’s how to sit instead

<ol>
<li>The Clock-Slave: you are either begging for the clock to speed up or slow down.</li>
<li>The Time Tracker: some find it an excellent way of ensuring they stay on track. But when combined with excessive time pressure, it becomes unhealthy.</li>
<li>The Smart Breaker: you use like the Pomodoro technique or the Ultradian rhythms.</li>
<li>The Free Spirit: you opt for a more spontaneous and free life, and avoid keeping a rigid schedule at all costs. </li>
<li>The Enlightened One: you understand that scarcity of time is an illusion. That enemy does not exist.</li>
</ol>

Evolution of time management in 5 stages

When you are time-pressured, you see time as a precious and scarce resource. This triggers a stress response, which can improve motivation in the short term, but often at the expense of morale in the long term. And an unhappy worker is a less productive worker. With lower productivity, there is even more time pressure to get things done.
And on goes the cycle.

The scarcity spiral

When a time constraint is placed on you, it will play on repeat in your head: “Get to work!”. If a task takes longer than expected, thoughts like “What is taking so long?" might appear. And at the end of a chaotic day, you might find yourself thinking “You have done nothing today!”.
But you can overthrow this tyrant.

The inner tyrant

Without the time pressure, you view time from an hourglass half-full perspective.
This perceived abundance of time improves wellbeing, which in turn increases productivity. When productivity is high, there is less time pressure, and time feels even more abundant.

The abundance spiral

The evolution of time management in 5 stages and 3 epiphanies

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Productivity

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Personal Development

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Time Management

How to Be More Productive by Hacking Your Perception of Time

Living in a culture of non-stop productivity, we refuse to take real breaks. We put off sleeping in or reading by the window. Even if we do manage to take time away, it comes with the feeling that we should be doing things. We feel guilty about any wasted time.
But “wasted” time is highly fulfilling and necessary. Wasting time is about recharging your battery and de-cluttering.

Wasting time and productivity guilt

When we refuse to take real breaks, we tend to turn to the least fulling tendency: We sit in front of our computer and start zoning out. We browse websites and tell ourselves we're "multitasking," but are really spending much longer on the most basic tasks.
This neither contributes to happiness nor productivity.

Taking breaks does not mean we're wasting time

Luminaries such as Charles Dickens, Gabriel García Márquez, and Charles Darwin worked for five hours a day or less. In truth, work expands to fill the time allotted. Most of us could spend fewer hours at the office and do the same amount of work.
Taking the time to be unproductive will make you better at your job.

We don't need to work so hard

Time management tips & strategies to stop wasting time.

How To Stop Wasting Time

A culture of relentless productivity tells us to get to it right away and feel terribly guilty about wasting time. But the truth is “wasted” time is, in fact, highly fulfilling and necessary.

A life spent dutifully responding to emails is a dull one indeed. And “wasted” time is, in fact, highly fulfilling and necessary.

The psychological importance of wasting time

<ul>
<li>Picking the right rope starts with the handles. Most have a mechanism that allows the rope to rotate in the grips.</li>
<li>Consider your height. Some ropes list a height range while others let you choose the rope length in feet based on a sizing guide.</li>
<li>If you're starting, invest in a cable-based rope. The cable should weigh between 3 and 4 ounces.</li>
</ul>

Finding the right rope

Once you have the rope on hand, place the middle of the rope underneath the arch of one foot. 
Stand straight up, pull the cable up vertically while holding the handles parallel to the ground, so their size is excluded from the measurement. The ends of the cables should be even with, or below, the bottom of your sternum.

The proper fit

<ul>
<li>Your hands should be in front of your pelvis - generally the middle of your body - or near where your pockets are. </li>
<li>Your elbows should be slightly bent.</li>
<li>Your hands should not be too far away from your body out to the sides as it makes the rope shorter.</li>
<li>Your hands should be positioned so that your thumbs are towards the outside of your body, with your forearms facing forwards.</li>
<li>Lightly grip each handle between your thumb and index finger.</li>
<li>Once you're jumping, move your hands in "tight circles."</li>
</ul>

The correct hand position

Start with the rope behind you, pulling on your calves, your hands in front of you, and the cable end of the handles pointing frontwards. Then do an initial swing with your arms. 
For a toe catch drill, swing the rope over your head once, then trap it with the front of your feet without jumping it. After that, try to jump over it just once, then catch it. Then do it twice, and catch it, and continue.
Don't forget to bring your hands back to the position near your hips.

Start with a toe catch

<ul>
<li>The rope should have a pleasant "horseshoe" shape.</li>
<li>Your feet should be close together.</li>
<li>The rope should contact the ground about 10 inches in front of you.</li>
<li>Stay on the balls of your feet.</li>
</ul>

Pay attention to your jumping

With the pandemic keeping so many people at home, a good rope will allow you to exercise within whatever space you have available.

Jumping rope is an unbeatable cardio workout—if you do it correctly

During war times, the common man is least prepared for dealing with the drastic change of circumstances, displacement, loss of life of the self and loved ones, along with injury, loss of property and mental trauma.
Social and financial distress, loss of morale, and death of innocents are the byproducts of war, the effects of which are felt on the common man for decades.

Byproducts of Crises

During the peak of World War II, where it was expected that the citizens would go through hell, the opposite happened. People turned out to be more resilient, driven and motivated during the war. 
The looming threat of being dead at any time turned out to be beneficial for the mental conditions and toughness for the individuals. Suicides lessened, and social unity and community bonding increased manifold.

Benefits Of A Crisis

<ul>
<li>We, as human beings are naturally adaptive to a disaster or crisis, and bad times are improving our morale and strengthening our community spirit.</li>
<li>Groups of people collaborating, caring for and working with each other, hand in hand, are the ones who are most likely to live through any crisis.</li>
<li>The necessary conditions that we need to flourish as individuals and as a species, ironically, emerge during bad times.</li>
</ul>

At Home With Adversity

Modern society robs us of togetherness and social bonding at a primal level, with safe and easy lives detaching us from our loved ones, as we don’t feel the need to show our love and care, or make any sacrifices. 
Along with that, having lots of money rarely makes one happy, as is seen with the rise of depression and suicides in the urban, affluent societies all across the world.

Good Times Are Selfish And Isolated

Paradoxically, in the times of disaster, when everything is breaking down, one’s mental health shows an improvement. A connection or bonding is formed due to everyone facing the same disaster. Situations requiring trust, co-dependence and sacrifice keep appearing for us to be able to survive, removing our disconnection with one another.
This happens because the way to relate to one another changes, and self-interest is dissolved while group interest becomes of prime importance.

The Good In The Bad

<ul>
<li>When disaster strikes, assume people are your allies and form a community, instead of staying in isolation, distrusting those around you.</li>
<li>Organize on a community level, and come together, as it exponentially increases the odds of survival of all members.</li>
<li>Do whatever volunteering and caring activities that are possible in the community, coming ahead selflessly and proactively.</li>
<li>Banding together makes everyone develop stronger relationships, with the power of unity in full force.</li>
</ul>

Don’t Be Afraid Of Disaster

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Communication

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Love & Relationships

Why You Feel At Home In A Crisis

The smartphone has partially replaced our memory, helping us recall information like birthdays, deadlines, contact details and to-do lists. These are the things we relied on our memory for, but now instead of training our memory, we are training it to rely on the external tools and apps.
As we rely on our smartphones, we are getting increasingly forgetful, which is not good for any successful business or personal relationship, where you need to show that you value and remember them.

Smartphones: A Memory Replacement

To use your memory, you need to figure out how your mind registers information. It can be in writing or audio/visual format. It’s important to leave technology behind and focus on the individual or group in front of you.
<ul>
<li>When we get introduced to someone or meet them for the first time, repeat their name often in your conversation.</li>
<li>Do not hide behind your laptop taking notes during a meeting.</li>
<li>Make it a game to remember people's names as you walk by the office.</li>
</ul>

How Your Mind Registers Information

The boring, routine work that is often delegated to others is a memory-enhancing goldmine.
Repetitive tasks like organizing information, digitizing an old contact list, inputting information manually on a laptop or PC, which leaders would normally delegate to others, can aid us in recalling information and memory consolidation.

What We Avoid Doing Might Help Us

Though it sounds counterintuitive, prioritizing new information instead of important information helps us recall better. Example: Looking up or googling the people that you meet online helps us retain their names and other details.
Prioritize remembering what is in front of you and in the current context.

New Information

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Science & Nature

How to Build a Stronger Memory

Telemedicine and telehealth involve remote-health-care technologies and services, known as "virtual care."
While virtual care played some role in the health-care industry, 2020 lead people to discover its benefits and shortcomings.

Telemedicine and telehealth

<ul>
<li>Telemedicine can refer to the setup that allows workers in a large hospital to assist in emergency procedures from a distant support structure.</li>
<li>Telehealth uses virtual interactions between individual doctors and patients. You may have a bad sore throat and download the telehealth app, where you will be connected to a physician who can examine you and prescribe medicine.</li>
</ul>
Fifty to seventy percent of visits to the doctor's office could be replaced by remote monitoring and checkups.

Virtual healthcare recognized

Telemedicine has been a hard sell in some areas.
<ul>
<li>Many rural clinics and community hospitals fear that their already inadequate medical staffing and the revenues generated from on-site procedures will be further diminished by remote medicine.</li>
<li>Old and poor patients who may need care the most can't afford smartphones or broadband connectivity.</li>
<li>Until recently, many people were unaware that the service existed, while others didn't trust an anonymous doctor.</li>
<li>Many people want to be in the physical presence of their physicians, believing the quality of virtual care is inferior.</li>
</ul>

Potential disadvantages of virtual health care

Doctor's are not sold on telehealth, either.
<ul>
<li>According to a survey, only one in three specialists thinks virtual care will benefit their practice.</li>
<li>Doctors are concerned about the diagnostic and therapeutic limitations of seeing patients on a screen.</li>
<li>Tele-doctors could spend more time with fewer patients for less money.</li>
</ul>

Doctors are unsure of telehealth

Telehealth doesn't replace the brick-and-mortar visit, but it complements it. 
It's one thing to offer telecare to a patient you know, but another to diagnose during a virtual first visit. A tele-doctor who misdiagnoses a stomach ache that is indeed stomach cancer has the same liability that a traditional doctor does. Therefore, virtual doctors should tell patients whose symptoms suggest a more complicated condition to make an in-person visit to an office.

Telehealth can only complement

The current health-care system is not user-friendly or helpful. The average patient has to wait twenty-nine days to get a physician's appointment, and you may not initially know what it will cost you.
One of the appealing features of telehealth is that you feel comfortable in your home while having an intimate virtual encounter with your doctor. Your doctor can also solve your problem immediately for you.

The doctor-patient relationship

During the coronavirus pandemic, telemedicine looks like the future of health care. Is it a future that we want?

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History

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Technology & The Future

The Promise and the Peril of Virtual Health Care

There are different types of problems that we will face now and in the future.
We need to evaluate the degree of “alarm” with which those problems should be treated.

Outlining types of future problems

Known problems with known solutions include the following:
<ul>
<li>Global warming. It is partly caused by excessive emission of carbon dioxide (CO2). CO2 emissions come from energy generation and can be replaced by nuclear power.</li>
<li>Declining freshwater reserves could be tackled through greater use of desalination and recycling wastewater.</li>
</ul>
Once the gravity of these problems becomes apparent to a critical mass of humanity, solutions would be put in motion.

Known problems with known solutions

Known problems to which solutions are not only imaginable but (probably) within reach include:
<ul>
<li>Malaria: Like smallpox that was fully eradicated in 1980, it is not much of a stretch to think that Malaria will be defeated through a combination of genetic engineering, insecticide-treated mosquito nets, vaccines, and drugs.</li>
<li>Superbugs or deadly viruses: Crispr technology allows for easy alteration of DNA sequences and modifies gene function. Crispr could be used to turn bacterium or viruses machinery against itself.</li>
</ul>
These problems are bound to cause suffering until an appropriate solution is found.

Known problems with solutions within reach

Known problems without readily imaginable or implementable solutions include:
<ul>
<li>Nuclear weapons: Governments in possession of nuclear weapons are unlikely to abandon them. The technology cannot be unlearned. We can only hope that the number of nuclear warheads is reduced.</li>
<li>Artificial intelligence: Futurologists believe that AI will eventually put an end to work itself. How would we react to a world without work?</li>
</ul>
Safety protocols aimed at preventing accidental nuclear conflict and ethical standards in AI development will be useful, although rogue agents can still sow chaos.

Known problems without imaginable solutions

Some known problems cannot be addressed by humans on Earth, and include:
<ul>
<li>The eventual exhaustion of hydrogen in the Sun and the star's transformation.</li>
<li>A sudden appearance of a black hole that could consume our planet.</li>
<li>A burst of gamma rays from a close supernova that destroys our ozone layer and expose us to ultraviolet rays from the Sun.</li>
<li>A surprise asteroid strike that destroys a large part of the planet and blacks out the Sun.</li>
</ul>
We don't have implementable solutions to these problems, but we also cannot worry about everything. We can only address issues as they arise.

Problems without solutions

How to Think About Our Problems

Rocking babies back and forth while making them sleep is common as parents try to stop them from wailing and shouting. Even as adults, we can get lulled into sleep in the rhythmic motion of the train compartment or the hammock.
New studies show that our brains are evolutionarily programmed to respond positively to rocking, and it helps us sleep better.

Rocking Sleep

<ul>
<li>People who rock while sleeping tend to be less disturbed during the night and maintain their deep sleep longer.</li>
<li>The memory function improves by a factor of three, according to a study.</li>
<li>Rocking synchronizes the brainwaves in the ‘thalamocortical’ networks of the brain, helping both sleep and memory consolidation while improving one’s mood.</li>
</ul>

Health Benefits Of Rocking

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Why Rocking to Sleep Is a Matchless Sedative&mdash;and Elixir

Find 100+ Facts about Health - Curated from popular Videos, Podcasts, Books, Guides & Articles - Genuine Insights from like-minded Users like You!

The Three Essential Properties of the Engineering Mind-Set

You’re sitting wrong — and your back knows it. Here’s how to sit instead

How to Be More Productive by Hacking Your Perception of Time

The psychological importance of wasting time

Jumping rope is an unbeatable cardio workout—if you do it correctly

Why You Feel At Home In A Crisis

How to Build a Stronger Memory

The Promise and the Peril of Virtual Health Care

How to Think About Our Problems

Why Rocking to Sleep Is a Matchless Sedative—and Elixir

It's time to
Read like a Pro.

The Three Essential Properties of the Engineering Mind-Set

You’re sitting wrong — and your back knows it. Here’s how to sit instead

How to Be More Productive by Hacking Your Perception of Time

The psychological importance of wasting time

Jumping rope is an unbeatable cardio workout—if you do it correctly

Why You Feel At Home In A Crisis

How to Build a Stronger Memory

The Promise and the Peril of Virtual Health Care

How to Think About Our Problems

Why Rocking to Sleep Is a Matchless Sedative&mdash;and Elixir

It's time to Read like a Pro.

Why Rocking to Sleep Is a Matchless Sedative—and Elixir

It's time to
Read like a Pro.