Try more things.

whales12 Jan 2014 1:25 UTC
85 points
20 comments7 min readLW linkArchive

(Cross-posted from my personal site.)

Several months ago I began a list of “things to try,” which I share at the bottom of this post. It suggests many mundane, trivial-to-medium-cost changes to lifestyle and routine. Now that I’ve spent some time with most of them and pursued at least as many more personal items in the same spirit, I’ll suggest you do something similar. Why?

  • Raise the temperature in your optimization algorithm: avoid the trap of doing too much analysis on too little data and escape local optima.

  • You can think of this as a system for self-improvement; something that operates on a meta level, unlike an object-level goal or technique; something that helps you fail at almost everything but still win big.

  • Variety of experience is an intrinsic pleasure to many, and it may make you feel less that time has flown as you look back on your life.

  • Practice implementing small life changes, practice observing the effects of the changes, practice noticing further opportunities for changes, practice value of information calculations, and reinforce your self-image as an empiricist working to improve your life. Build small skills in the right order and you’ll have better chances at bigger wins in the future.

  • Advice often falls prey to the typical-mind (or typical-body) fallacy. That doesn’t mean you should dismiss it out of hand. Think about not just how likely it is to work for you, but how beneficial it would be if it worked, how much it would cost to try, and how likely it is that trying it would give you enough information to change your behavior. Then just try it anyway if it’s cheap enough, because you forgot to account for uncertainty in your model inputs.

  • Speaking of value of information: don’t ignore tweakable variables just because you don’t yet have a gwern-tier tracking and evaluation apparatus for the perfect self-experiment. Sometimes you can expect consciously noticeable non-placebo effects from a successful trial. You might do better picking the low hanging fruit to gain momentum before you invest in a Zeo and a statistics textbook.

  • You know what, if there’s an effect, it may not even need to be non-placebo. C.f. “Lampshading,” as well as the often-observed “honeymoon” period of success with new productivity systems.

  • It’s very tempting, especially in certain communities, to focus exclusively on shiny, counterintuitive, “rational,” tech-based, hackeresque, or otherwise clever interventions and grand personal development schemes. Some of these are even good, but one suspects that some are optimized for punchiness, not effectiveness. Conversely, mundane ideas may not propagate as well, despite being potentially equally or more likely to succeed.

  • If you were already convinced of all of the above, then great! I hope you have the agency to try stuff like this all the time. If not, you might find it useful, as I did, just to have a list like this available. It’s one less trivial inconvenience between thinking “I should try more things” and actually trying something. I’ve also found that I’m more likely to notice and remember optimization opportunities now that I have a place to capture them. And having spent the time to write them down and occasionally look over them, I’m more likely to notice when I’m in a position to enact something context-dependent on the list.

I removed the terribly personal items from my list, but what remains is still somewhat tailored to my own situation and habits. These are not recommendations; they are just things that struck me as having enough potential value to try for a week or two. The list isn’t not remotely comprehensive, even as far as mundane self-experiments are concerned, but it’s left as an exercise to the reader to find and fill the gaps. Take this list as an example or as a starting point, and brainstorm ideas of your own in the comments. The usual recommendation applies against going overboard in domains where you’re currently impulsive or unreflective.

Related posts: Boring Advice Repository, Break your habits: Be more empirical, On saying the obvious, Value of Information: Four Examples, Spend money on ergonomics, Go try things, Don’t fear failure, Just try it: Quantity trumps quality, No, seriously, just try it, etc.

META

  • Before you read the rest of this list, spend two minutes brainstorming ideas to try!

    • In what domains are you in a rut? What do you do frequently, and what are alternative ways to do it? What do others do differently? What vague dissatisfactions tickle your attention?

  • Incorporate trying things from your list into your routine

  • Incorporate adding things to your list into your routine

  • Do something you’ve tried in the past (this is “try more things,” not “new things”)

  • Attempt some value of information calculations for trying or researching items below

  • Ask friends/​coworkers for recommendations (or bring them in on the adventures herein)

  • Create a system to reliably capture ideas before you forget them and later add them to your list (e.g. take notes on your phone)

  • Learn about and implement some more rigorous self-experimentation

  • Learn to break down desired new behaviors into cue, routine, reward and practice them offline

SLEEP

  • Earplugs, or a change in style or brand if you already use them

  • Melatonin, or vary dose and timing

  • Sleep mask; an extra pillowcase as a blindfold might be sufficient

  • Wear socks or slippers to bed

  • Different pillows, sheets or bedding

  • Side/​back sleeping

  • Windows open/​closed

  • White noise (perhaps a fan or a recording)

  • Humidifier

  • Air filter

  • Blackout curtains (particularly if you find a sleep mask uncomfortable but like the darkness)

  • Napping

  • Morning vitamin D

  • “Sleep-tracking” phone app (can record movement and noise, which is sometimes informative)

  • Antihistamines in the case of allergies disrupting breathing

  • Dream journal

  • Sleep journal (notes on sleep time, quality, etc.)

  • Lucid dreaming

  • BEDTIME ROUTINE

    • Construct a nighttime ritual

    • Keep to a specific bedtime

    • Use bed for sleep only

    • Stop using a computer by T minus X hours

    • Stop working by T minus Y hours

    • Don’t eat after T minus Z hours

    • Alternatively, light snack before bed

    • Don’t drink after T minus V hours

    • Change lighting by T minus W hours (warm/​dim lights)

    • Use flux or alternatives http://​​alternativeto.net/​​software/​​f46lux/​​

    • Stretching/​breathing exercise

    • Intense exercise (most likely to be beneficial well before bedtime ritual starts; I recall reading at least three hours)

    • Further research on sleep habits

  • WAKING ROUTINE

    • Use an alarm, or use a different sound, or place it somewhere new

      • set up difficult tasks to turn off alarm

      • use a light on a timer rather than sound

    • Don’t use an alarm—wake up to daylight or use your natural cycle

    • Practice offline (either with naps, or just getting in bed and then out again)

    • Have a ‘halfway point’ to getting out of bed which makes things take much less than half the effort

    • Count down from 10, intensely focusing on your plan to get out of bed when you get to 0

    • Open windows or go outside after waking (particularly if it’s sunny)

    • Splash cold water on your face

    • Morning stretching , light exercise, or intense exercise routine

WORK ENVIRONMENT

  • Change relative heights of chair, keyboard, monitor (can stack books under desk items)

  • Different desk chairs (ask coworkers if they want to trade for a day)

  • Lighting

    • Really bright daylight bulbs

    • ‘Warm light’ bulbs

  • Different keyboards

  • Other ergonomics

  • Music

  • White/​brown noise

  • Earplugs

  • Establish a policy for interruptions

  • Decorations

WORK ROUTINE

  • Take breaks to stretch, stand, walk, or meditate

  • Try different kinds of work at different times of day

  • Create a routine for entering deep focus

  • Create a ritual or checklist for ending procrastination and starting work

  • Naps

  • Snacks

  • Co-working

  • Collaboration

  • Learn keyboard shortcuts for any application you use frequently

  • Voice recording (e.g. as notetaking while reading)

  • Voice input for computer work (or for your phone)

  • Getting Things Done, or a different system for implementing the key principles of attention saving and strategic review

  • Time-tracking

  • Time-boxing

    • Seriously, spend 15 minutes blocking out hourly plans every day

  • Pomodoros (may also help by forcing you to break down tasks)

  • LW Study Hall

  • Anything on http://​​lesswrong.com/​​lw/​​1sm/​​akrasia_tactics_review/​​

  • Inbox Zero

  • Email filtering

  • Process email or other routine tasks in batches

  • Virtual assistant

  • Remove browser autocomplete suggestions for impulse browsing. It’s <shift><del> with the suggestion highlighted in Chrome.

LEISURE

  • Brainstorm a list of endorsed activities to supplant unenjoyable, unrefreshing procrastination

  • Walk around, go outside, listen to music, listen to a comedy podcast, meditate, read, do recreational math, sing, dance, exercise, etc.

COMMUTE

  • Different routes, weighing stress, safety, scenery, length as you see fit

  • Different times of day

  • Music/​podcasts/​audiobooks

  • Biking: This can be logistically complicated but still worthwhile. Try seriously thinking for two minutes about what is stopping you from trying it, and whether those obstacles can be removed.

EXERCISE

  • Bodyweight workout (various push-ups, sit-ups, pistol squats, etc.)

  • Biking

  • Running

  • Yoga

  • A pullup bar or dumbbells

  • Dance

  • Gym

FOOD

  • Write a weekly meal plan

  • Find some recipe blogs to follow

  • Try a new recipe (bonus points if it’s more difficult than usual/​from an unfamiliar genre/​otherwise stretches your cooking skills)

  • Calculate recipe costs

  • Go somewhere new or just order something new unusual

  • Try snacks/​sugar/​caffeine at different times of the day

  • Reduce/​eliminate something (e.g. sugar/​caffeine/​dairy)

  • Try Soylent

  • I don’t actually know anything about nutrition or dieting; maybe fix that?

MUSIC

  • Check whether your favorite musicians (or even ones you only kind of liked before) have released new music

  • Find a service where you can listen to music for free with minimal inconvenience (YouTube and Spotify are usable for me, but just barely)

  • List artists you’ve “been meaning to get around to listening to” and use the above to actually do that

  • Listen to things outside your usual tastes

  • Listen to (internet) radio stations

    • Your local college radio (or any college radio, since they usually stream online) will have a huge variety of programs, some of which should be good

    • Use Google to find a good one; I really like KBAQ for classical

  • Try different headphones (go to a store, or ask your friends if you can borrow theirs for a bit)

  • Find a “best album of the year” thread from a non-music-related forum; you’ll get some pretty diverse picks

OTHER

whales12 Jan 2014 1:25 UTC
85 points
20 comments7 min readLW linkArchive