Process as a Proxy for Motivation

senkora•about 3 hours ago

This is a really well-written short article, and I agree with it completely.

I just wanted to add as well that, as someone who has read quite a lot of books on self-help and productivity, there is one that makes a lot of similar points: "Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts--Becoming the Person You Want to Be"

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/22544758-triggers

I recommend it to anyone who agrees with this article and feels like a book-length treatment of similar ideas would be helpful to them.

hartator•about 1 hour ago

I think I would avocate actually against processes. Processes are nice, handy, and sage, but that assumes you have unlimited time. A baby crying and death approaching really make you rethinking useless 1-1s and meetings.

wordpad•6 minutes ago

Your counter is that death is a better motivator as well as being a desperate parent?

Well, main generational challenge is procrastination with too many unlroductive time sinks available.

nlawalker•about 1 hour ago

> Both of these examples demonstrate a process, or a decision made in advance

A decision made in advance is not a process. Unlike all the other real-world examples of committed processes in the article, premade decisions don't require discipline - the actual substitute for motivation - to execute in a meaningful way that ensures actual progress.

LoganDark•24 minutes ago

it takes discipline for me to stick to decisions I made earlier.

academe•17 minutes ago

It hurts my soul to read of "Agile" as a fixed process consisting of arbitrary decisions like two-week sprints and 9:30 stand-ups.

Agile is "responding to change over following a plan". https://agilemanifesto.org

There's surely something to be said for bundling behaviors and triggers, but I do wish the world of software development hadn't missed the whole damn point of agile.

hartator•about 1 hour ago

> The ‘optimal’ approach would be to check traffic, analyze the data, and shave off five minutes from my journey.

Why not letting Google Maps decide?

Process as a Proxy for Motivation

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