I always assumed the fastest way to work is to go hard until I think I need a break, because I should know when I’m tired better than a fixed schedule, until recently I tried a break reminder. When I talk about my student life back in Beijing with anyone who hasn’t experienced it, nobody believes that the kids can actually focus the whole time. But subjectively, I think my focus back then was sharper than when I studied in New Zealand.

I think long-term solo projects take more than motivation and persistence. Your willpower is like a muscle. Even if you are strong, it can still run out if you rely on it for everything. In this post, I’d like to talk about how to achieve and maintain great productivity for long-term projects. The Background I’ve not a naturally organised person. I like to avoid putting my things and thoughts into boxes.

For a long time, I thought I had no time to read books. But somehow I got inspired to start reading last year. It was a great idea. I started a Trello board for my book notes in March 2019. As part of my end-of year retrospective, I counted the number of titles on this board. I was surprised to find 67 of them! I’ve never developed impressive reading speed, even though I was fascinated by the idea of photoreading in my teenage years.

I heard that humans have evolved to worry a lot. The ones who don’t worry about anything died more easily. I don’t know how true that is, but I find limiting useless worries to be a rare skill. How can we break the habit and only worry when it actually helps us? I came across this great book, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie. I found it to be full of inspiring stories and practical advice.