Why the probability theory of simulation is a wrong argument

The Spark

Simulation theory has become mainstream mainly due to Elon Musk and other high profile proponents of the idea. Recently, on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Rogan brought Nick Bostrom as a guest. Bostrom is a philosopher from Oxford University who has been working on the topics of superintelligence and other technologically caused existential risks. I advise you to go and listen to their conversation (episode 1350) as this writing is a direct response to the last 30 minutes of the conversation.

The overall conversation was relatively smooth sailing, touching various topics such as AI and its impacts on the future generation. Then the conversation moved to simulation theory, this halted the flow of the conversation like a door stopper. The main problem is Rogan’s understanding of the probability theory. 

We assume that humanity will continue to exist with the advancement of technology which can solve existential threats. Further, we assume that humanity’s interest to create simulations is durable, and we will continue to create simulations for a greater understanding of humanity or for pure entertainment. Given the former assumptions are true, humanity will create millions of simulations. Therefore, there will be trillions of simulated beings created. As the number of non-simulated beings or “Architects” is relatively much smaller than the number of simulated beings, as a result of probability, we are most likely a simulation.

The Frustration and then the Curiosity

Rogan absorbs Bostrom’s words and asks, ”but how do we know that we have created a simulation?”. This leads to an unfulfilling, highly frustrating conversation that fails to come to an understanding, even with Bostrom’s attempt of using thought experiments and various alternative explanations. 

Looking at the comment section of the youtube clip and Reddit, I see most of the commentators are baffled by Rogan’s ability to comprehend the basic concept of probability. I was also one of the listeners who wanted to just jump in and shake Rogan vigourously into an epiphany.

But I had time to reflect, I came to a better idea of what Rogan was truly asking. The core question is “What is the evidence that our current position in time or the present, is after the first creation of indistinguishable simulation?”.

To understand this point of view, let’s visualize the timeline of the so-called “Architects”. 

Timeline of the “Architects”

Here we see a highly simplified timeline of the real biological humanity or the “Architects”. At the start of the existence of the architects, we will name the “Origin”. We assume that time is linear, and humanity will not go extinct due to technological advancements.

Once the architects reach technological maturity, they will reach the point where the first indistinguishable simulation is created, we will call it “Simulation 0”. Like any kind of technology, it is logical to assume that the creator of the simulation will have a technological edge, and will be the sole creator of the simulation for a certain period of time.

Assuming that the architect’s interest to create simulations is durable, eventually, the technology to create simulations will be widely available and multiple simulations will be created. At this point, we will name “Simulation Commodification”.

Now lets experient on the probability that we are in a simulation if the “Present” (present time of the Architects) is at different positions in the timeline.

Case 1 – If the “Present” is after “Simulation Commodification”

If the “Present” (in the viewpoint of the Architects) is after the point of “Simulation Commodification”, the probability of us being in a simulation significantly high, as described in the probability theory there will be multiple simulated beings created. Therefore, it will require magnificent luck to be an “Architect”, as there are so many magnitude more simulated beings.

But I will argue that the probability of us being in a simulation if the “Present” is after the “Simulation Commodification” is 100%. This is derived from the assumption that we currently do not have the technology to create multiple simulations, this then eliminates the option that we are an “Architect”, thus we are a simulation.

Case 2 – “Present” is after “Simulation 0” and before “Simulation Commodification”

The elimination of the probability that we are the “Architect” will also hold even if there is only 1 simulation created we will be a simulation, as we do not have the technology to create a simulation that is indistinguishable from reality.

Case 3 – If the “Present” is before “Simulation 0”

If the “Present” is before “Simulation 0”, clearly we are the “Architects” as we have not reached technological maturity and simulation has not been created yet.

The Simulation 0 Threshold Argument

Thus, the argument of the probability theory logically does not answer if we are in a simulation. It does not matter if 1 or trillions of simulation is created, as that will mean that we are in a simulation, due to the fact that we have no technology to create such simulations.

So the focus should be on what I call the “Simulation 0 Threshold Argument”. Is the “Present” of the “Architects” before or after the inevitable first creation “Simulation 0”?

This can be argued in many ways, for example, if the “Architects” do not go extinct, the time period of “Post-Simulation 0” will be much longer than “Pre-Simulation 0“. So if you were to place the “Present” to a random time on the “Architects” timeline, it is probabilistically more likely to be in the “Post-Simulation 0“, thus we are in a simulation.

I hope this angle of thought experiment can assist in the pursuit of the truth of simulation theory.

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Program your productivity wisely using task programming.

Reality of productivity as a procrastinator

You may have listened to a Jordan Peterson clip on youtube and now you are ready to make a change. So taking his advice you make a schedule for the upcoming week of things you want to accomplish and things you want to do to develop yourself.

Feeling good about making the first step, you go to sleep ready to become a changed person. But as soon as you sit down at desk with the project in front, you feel that familiar feeling taking over you. It is like a icy villain’s beam that freezes your hand from working and that uncomfortable tightness wraps your heart. You can’t seem to start that first key stroke, or that first pencil stroke. The physical debilitation is followed by the wave of negative feelings; “I don’t want to do it”, “I can’t do it”, “I am useless”. It pushes you away from the work space like a tsunami back to your sofa. To forget the pain you felt you lose yourself in playing games and youtube clips. By the time you snap out of the mindless haze you have wasted a whole day. This then becomes a negative feedback loop and any progress in productivity you made is now lost. You feel hopeless and rage against your own weakness.

For years this has been my cycle of self-development. My procrastination was deeply rooted into my identity. I have changed, slowly mind you, but I can proudly say that I have become more productive that an average person. I have self-taught myself how to code and now working on my own startup idea, I am freelancing for a friends startup as a website developer and a online marketer, I am writing this blog, while being a full-time university finance student.

The journey to productivity was a slow process. I can say that I took me 2 years of rehabilitation using trial and error of various productivity techniques. Many did not work, however, the experience gave me insight to the technique that I employ which I want to share with you today. This is not a cure for universal procrastination, like a certain diet it may be life changing for some, and may not work for others.

Task Programming

I believe that productivity is like a muscle, and thankfully for us procrastinators is a muscles can be trained. But the reason it goes wrong most of the time is when we try to immediately jump into task that requires maximal effort. Imagine going to the gym and the first thing you do is put 3 plates on the bench press bar and start pressing. Most likely outcome is you will be injured or not be able to complete a rep. The muscle is simply not prepared to take on this amount of physical effort. To prevent that, we warm up, gradually working up in weight.

This is a parallel to productivity. Procrastinators are like new gym members trying to ego press the most amount of weight right away, leading us to get injured and never get any gains. What requires from being able to complete high effort task is a warm up tasks that prepared us for the most important tasks. The following passage will take you through the step-by-step method to utilise task programming.

Step 1: Setting daily tasks prioritisation

Daily Priority	Daily Tasks	Effort Required (%)
1	Working on coding	100
2	Writing content on blog	70
3	Cleaning my window	50
4	Washing my dishes	30
5	Making my bed	10

First it is crucial to write down your tasks either on paper or using apps. This creates a commitment to the tasks and also structure your priorities. Also, you will estimate the effort that will be required to complete each task. The amount of effort required will be subjective but use the amount of focus required and the time required to complete it as a guideline in calculating the requirements.

For me, my most important task is to work on my startup idea and it requires the highest effort as coding requires entirety of my focus. While lowest priorities are making my bed which requires low effort and time. I also included cleaning my window as I recognised that my window was dirty but have been putting it off for few days.

Step 2: Task Programming – Warm up tasks

Next I will start my day from my lowest priority tasks. This is my warm up task which requires the lowest effort. As I am not a morning person hopping into the maximal effort tasks like coding first thing has never worked for me. After completing my lowest priority task, I will move on to my second lowest priority tasks, in this case is washing my dishes from last night. Because I have already completed the first low effort task, I have warmed up and will have slight momentum which makes easily ignored tasks like the doing the dishes easier to start.

Step 3: Task Programming – Working Tasks

After this point I am feeling good so I attempt to start on my highest priority task. This  is what I call the attempt threshold is extremely flexible and it depends on the effort required of the task, how you feel at the moment, how much sleep you got last night and so on. It is important to gage this yourself and try to keep your threshold lower than your expectation. Through many cycle fo this program I have set my threshold at 20%. I advise for starters to begin with a attempt threshold of 50%. As I have crossed my threshold I sat in front of the computer and started coding, but I started feeling that procrastination feeling grabbing me. I recognised it immediately because I have felt it so many times.

If that happens you will leave your high priority tasks and move back to the remaining lowest priority task, in this case was cleaning my room’s window. There is two distinct benefit of doing this; First is that you prevent from losing momentum you built up with the low priority tasks. Second is because you attempted a high effort task, lower effort task feels easier. It is like when you try to press a heavy weight, then you immediately lowering the weight and it feels lighter. Thus, a task like cleaning the window which normally a procrastination inducing tasks will be completed.

Step 4: Task Programming – Reattempt of high priority task

Once completing the lower priority task, you will attempt that high priority task again. But today, I am especially unmotivated. So I will repeat Step 3, and now I am writing this blog content because my failed attempt to code twice today. But I have now sat in my chair for 2 hours and almost completed a entire blog post in one sitting. And I attribute to the attempt I made to the high effort task. Once completing this content, I am going to attempt working my start up once again. (I will write my results for today after the fact at the end of blog).

Step 5: Task Programming – Evaluation

Once going through the incremental efforts, it is most likely that you are well warmed up to take on the maximal effort task now. And majority of the time it will work. I attribute to my success in “getting shit done” to this method. But there are days that you will not complete the maximal effort task. This is life as a procrastinator. But when you look back you will see all the task you completed. My bed is made, the dishes cleaned, the window is cleaned (I never know how blue the sky was until I cleaned it) and I have written this blog content. I now feel feel motivated and this momentum will push you through the threshold tomorrow.

Conclusion: Importance of long-term development

By completing hundreds of low level task will will train your productivity muscle which will lead you to complete higher effort tasks or endure high effort tasks longer. Before you realise it you will be heading to the right direction. If you feel it is not working, try moving up your attempt threshold. Do this gradually until you start completing the tasks. Do not forget to push your threshold down if it is working for you. Lowering the attempt thresholds will ensure your highest priority task are completed daily.

As a precaution, having a clear long-term goal will be important in setting the daily tasks prioritisation. If you have not clear goals yet, try googling goal setting techniques. I might write up my version of goal setting in the future, but at the moment I do not have a real comprehensive method yet.

Hopefully you will find this technique useful and start becoming productive. I am rooting for you my friends.

 

Is there Any Positives in Being a Procrastinator? Mindset Dev

Procrastinationism

Procrastination is generally seen as a negative habit. However, there are a group of individuals that embrace it. Commonly referred to as “Procrastinationism”, these are those who are proud in their ability to leave thing to the last minute, yet be able to reach high levels of performance and focus under pressure. High pressure builds diamonds if you will. And meanwhile during the procrastination they would put their idea in a mental pressure cooker which as a result in a superior output. But because they are not forced to take action during these periods, they can get mental relaxations which can lead to better mental health.

Careful Consideration vs Reality Avoidance

From my prospective is very different from what is considered procrastination. When I procrastinate there is no consideration for better ideas or getting a mental break. Procrastination is reality avoidance, I would force myself to come up with some excuse not to work. Once it’s gets really close to the deadline I would sleep every night wishing it was a dream and when I wake up everything will be gone. So while I procrastinate the last thing is thinking about the work, and even though your trying to ignore it, you know that your fucking up so slowly it chips away your mental health too.

Pressure as a Performance Enhancer

Now it doesn’t mean that careful brain storming and putting yourself under pressure doesn’t work. Especially if your like a artist where your success is solely dependent on your individual output. And if your were to fail to meet the deadline, the only person you are hurting is yourself. Pressure can also help with perfectionists who never be quite ok with their work.

However, in reality, most jobs and projects are a collaborative effort. You work as a team and your have to be accountable to do your part. Therefore, your procrastination puts everyone under pressure, and it is much more common for people to perform worse under pressure than those who do well under pressure. Different from school, when your risking people’s livelihood, you will endanger yourself from being blamed.

From my experience, to have urgency is important in any work. It doesn’t mean that the work is “rushed”, but in the end what matters it execution rather than having a world changing idea. People will have no trust on people you can’t walk the walk.

To Procrastinate or Not To Procrastinate

So as aggregate, there are very limited positives to procrastinating. And I think it is important to clearly separate “deliberation” (careful consideration) and “procrastination” (reality avoidance). Using physical pressures such as time can be used to enhance performance. However, as you self develop, you must be able to use internal pressures such as ambition, discipline and accountability. When developed properly these can be as powerful tool as external pressures, without jeopardising your relationships.

Stop finding excuses to procrastinate, it has caused great pain to myself and others surrounding me. Don’t let it happen to you.

 

Become Consistent Learner with The Mike Boyd Effect: Procrastinator to Productive

In my first post, I talked about my first inspiration that kick started my journey to productivity. As I become more productive, you become time efficient with your day. The availability of time has lead me to explore new interests. I have since become obsessed in technology, and as a result of the daily consumption of TechCrunch, my free time turned into brainstorming sessions. But having no idea where to find a developer, I decided that I will try to learn how to code myself. Through the quick research I ended up in Codecademy and I start taking their free online course. Their interactive learning made it extremely enjoyable, and I felt that I was progressing fast. I thought in 6 months, I will be creating my own app! Then as soon as I tried to build something from scratch, I was thrown into cluelessness. I thought I was just not born with the brains to code. So as a typical procrastinator, I gave up.

Then similar to my first inspiration, while lost in the algorithm of youtube, I came across Mike Boyd’s channel. The basic format of his youtube video is that he chooses a relatively niche skill he wants to learn (solving a rubik’s cube, learning how to pull a wheelie) and he records the entire process of learning the skill. I recommend you go watch his videos asap. He usually does not watch any tutorials and basically wings it. The videos chronicles his struggles and how he slowly determines what works and what doesn’t. It is weirdly personal experience watching him and once he is able to achieve a goal he set, you can’t help but celebrate with him.

Consistency Wins the Race

From watching his video i came to a sudden realisation. Maybe because the struggles are visualised it easier to understand a seemingly obvious concept. To be good at any any thing, you got to put in the work. What was interesting was that he usually only practices around 30 minute to 40 minutes a day. He breaks down the skill into small chunks, when he was learning how to stack dice,  he started with one dice until he got used to the movement.

This concept of building consistency through using short sessions and setting trackable goals is surprisingly effective for procrastinators. I have applied this concept for my modified pomodoro method. As explained in my previous posts, it had great positive impact in my journey to productivity. Mike Boyd has influence on how I structure learning in general, and I am grateful that he continues to create videos which motivates myself to learn.

The Dip

However even after implementing this to my second go at learning programming, I found myself in stagnation. I was able to reach a early intermediate level, then the learning process became harder and frustrating. This experience is what Seth Godin describe as “The Dip”. In any progression of learning there is a initial stage where learning is fun as you start to improve rapidly and be able to apply these skills in practice. But then you hit this zero rate of progress. You can’t seem grasp the higher level concepts and this dip period is where most leaners get derailed.

Mike Boyd shows a how in the initial stages of learning you can achieve great satisfaction in a relatively short time. But skills that has a steeper learning curve like programming requires prolonged periods of dissatisfaction. I’m am exactly in that period now. I can now build very simple website with html and css, but it is demotivating when you can draw up great UIs in your head, only to be smacked with reality and I fail to built anything close to the vision. The only reason I am still staying with it is because I know that after the dip, enjoyment will return when your skills and higher level practicality aligns. Understanding this process has help me maintain the motivation to learn how to code.

If your in the middle of the dip, or you are like me and has a history of giving up, try to visualise this graph and know that the frustration is building momentum to reach the peaks of mastery. Be patient, you will reach the velocity to exit the dip soon.

Talent vs Hard Work: Mindset Dev

The debate between Talent vs Hard Work can be argued from numerous angles, and everyone has their own opinions. But I my mind this comparison can be seen in terms of singular short term output, and long term aggregate output. And ultimately, hard work is a greater force that increases your chance of you experiencing success.

Talent is Singular, Hard Work is Universal

In terms of purely a short term singular output, talent will always trumps hard work. We all know this feeling where no matter how hard you try, there will be some guy that just does it better. I remember on my maths class in high school there was a guy that could calculate in his head quicker than I could read the equation. We are given different hands in the game of life, and these natural abilities can dictate the probability of immediate success.

However, what defines a person’s achievement that truly has weight is determined through a longer term, multi-output. When talent is recognised from a young age, parents deprives the child of the chance of exploration in other interests. The child is taken to special classes after school, seek scholariships or even drop out to pursue their talent full time. This causes the their talent to become their entire identity. Any attention, praise or success leading to personal value will be attach to the talent.

Meanwhile the hard workers has been slowing moving forward even though they might not have enjoyed seeing their peers progress beyond their field of view. But their minds are sharpened as they grind though the rough experience of struggle. Because of this, hard workers has mental strength that can carry over to any career they choose. They know the feeling of being clueless, yet they tasted progress and development. As a result they acquired crucial skill; consistency, discipline and grit.

The Output

The difference in talent level paves a path that greatly shapes contrasting life experiences. To visualise the effect on success, lets use the talented basketball player vs a untalented hard working basketball player.

The chance of success is differentiated by two factor; relative probability and success subjectivity.

Relative Probability

The chance of the hard worker becoming successful is higher simply because of probability. The talented basketball player puts everything in his life to pursue the career in basketball which is a limited market with extreme levels of competition. Higher you climb the significance of the talent dilutes in correlation. A talented college player is a average player in the NBA. This can be devastating for the individual as you become a shadow in the arena that they were once the hero. And as he has been hyper focused in a singular skill, it is difficult to change careers especially when the skills are niche as Basketball. Moreover, because he has been talented since the beginning, he never had to blindly go into a area that he has no natural talent at. It becomes frustrating to experience embarrassment of inferiority which deters them to step into a completely new field.

Conversely the hard worker may only aspired to play on the college team. It may take him 4 years to get to play in the team. But once graduating, he will have a cognitive skill that will be transferable in any career he chooses. In his pursuit of making the team he tasted the joy of progress and accomplishing a goal that objectively may seem small but subjectively brings great satisfaction. That experience will give him the confidence to pursuing careers that he might not have the skill currently. He knows that as long as he keep at it, he will get better. Therefore, by having more options of careers that he can potentially be successful, and having the ability to adapt to new environments means he will have greater number of opportunities to become successful.

Success Subjectivity

Secondly the definition of success is subjectively different between the individual. For the talented, the more talent you have the higher you set your goals. For the talented his definition of success is playing in the NBA. This is means that anything other than reaching the NBA in his mind a failure. NCAA players have a 1.2% change of getting into the NBA, then their chances of “perceiving” as failure is 98.8%.

The hard worker is conservative in measuring his capability in Basketball He set his goals to represent the college team and with enough hard work there is a high likelihood he will make it. This humble mentality nurtures an important mindset of setting achievable goals. And as his definition of success is much realistic he gets to experience success periodically which drives a positive feedback loop. The type of success that society acknowledges is a built with series of small successes that people will never see. Yet becoming a serial mini achiever is what eventually builds permanent greatness.

To Clarify

I am not saying that hard work is superior, in the end it is not a black and white argument. Obviously the ideal is to have both talent and hard working mentality. What’s important here is that that even your hard work doesn’t take you far in a career, don’t feel that you wasted time. Your experience will equip you to find your passion and success. Do not value yourself in a singular output. Become a serial mini achiever, and you will be surprised how far that ride can take you.

The Tomato Timer: The Pomodoro Method Cures Procratination

Procrastination is usually come from the  overwhelming feeling you get when you see the enormity of the task ahead. Because you so far away from the finish line, you can’t muster up the motivation to start. In numerous occasions, I have left massive school projects stewing right up to the deadline. And many times as the clock ticks down, I gave up and start making some creative excuse on why I couldn’t send the work on time. Then i will I feel like a fraud and a failure. This destructive habit has led me to drop out of university my first time around. I let down my family, my teachers and my relationship. At that time I felt that I was completely useless, and all I would do is day dream a parallel universe where I was successful, rich and respected.

After few more life failures, I was desperate for change. One day looking for any answers, I came across the “pomodoro method”. And it has saved my life from the grip of procrastination.

The pomodoro method is a simple technique where you work for 25 minutes and take a 5 minute break between each session. How it works is that by breaking down a large task into small goals. Because working for 25 minutes isn’t a daunting task, you start working and by doing so it gets the ball rolling by being able to work for multiple sessions. Also it also takes into account that human can only truly focus on a task for no more than 25 minutes at a time.

How I personally use this method is a slightly modified version. The traditional pomodoro session will be four 25 minutes session with 5 minutes breaks in between sessions, and a long 10 minute break at the end. As a procrastinator, committing myself to work for 2 hours was too much, as I was afraid of feeling like a failure if I couldn’t complete the pomodoro session. So rather than committing to a entire session, I only commit to a single, 25 minute session.

For example, if I have a school project due in 2 weeks, I will set a daily goal everyday; “Work on school project for one 25 minute session”. I will set the pomdoro timer and work until the timer is up. Once I complete the 25 minute session, I will set the timer for 5 minute and do something totally unrelated (for me is to watch random Youtube videos). After the break, I will ask to myself, “do I want to do another session?”. If the answer is no, I cross off my daily goal and stop working. If I feel like I can commit another session, I will set my timer and work for another session. Then I repeat this loop until my answer is no.

This worked for me because every time I completed a session I was able to check off my daily goals that I set. That feeling of satisfaction and success breeds consistency. At the beginning, you might be able to do only one session, and that’s ok. The most important thing is that every day you will work for 25 minutes, thats progress. And somedays you will have the motivation to do multiple sessions, but that is not sustainable which can make you feel like your failing again. So only commit yourself for a single session.

Since I started implementing this technique with together with daily task planners , my grades has improved significantly (I’m back in university to get a bachelor degree in Finance), I have learnt how to code a simple website and I have started this blog. Even though I am still a natural procrastinator, I am proud of my slow but consistent progress.

So next time try this method, write down your daily task, set up your pomodoro session and complete a single 25 minutes session. Once you do that cross it out from your list of daily tasks and stop working. Next day, do the same thing until you start getting into the groove of things and start being able to sit through multiple sessions.

Start getting productive 25 minutes at a time.

Simplify Being Productive: Become a Serial Mini Achiever

The most difficult part about being a procrastinator is that moment see the amount of work you need to do, you get overwhelmed. I tried various methods on planning my work to meet the deadline. But the act of planning makes the enormity of the task even more visible, which further worsened my procrastination.

What helped me was stop looking at the big picture and only focus on what I need to get done “today”. Therefore I started setting daily task of my notes app, but it got annoying having to delete each task I noted down. After trying few apps to organise my daily tasks, I came across an app called “Clear Todos”.

This app is super easy to use, you can tap to create a task, then swipe right once you complete it.

Every morning when I wake up I will create my daily tasks including small tasks like “walk to get a coffee”. By completing these small tasks first, it starts rolling the ball for the day and you will build momentum. This drive will push you to start on more larger tasks that you might procrastinate otherwise.

It is crucial that for more larger tasks such as school essays, you should set a minimum goal such as “Work on essay for 30 minutes”. If you can work for 30 minutes you can swipe and stop working. But if your feeling it, continue working. The key is to work for short periods, but be consistent on working 30 minutes everyday. Eventually you will have a day that you get in the groove and make major progress.

If your still new to the “procrastinator to productive” journey, keep your tasks super simple like “make bed” or “walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes”. Get used to achieving the goals you set by starting at a micro level. Be patient, be consistent and you will see the results.

If you reached this part of the blog this is your micro task of the day, go to the app store and download “Clear Todos”, then create three simple tasks that you will do tomorrow.

Do it.

How to Stop Social Media Addiction: Procrastination to Productive

Social media is a procrastinator’s nightmare. It can suck hours out of our time and it hold us back from being productive. I have a simple solution for you.

Delete the App

Now deleting the app doesn’t mean that you have to quit social media entirely. What you can do is go the your browser and use your social media there. This doesn’t sound like a solution but hear me out. The key for having a healthy relationship with social media is to set just enough barriers between you and your social media experience. The act of you having to go into your browser and typing the website is enough work to deter you from going into social media app anytime your bored. Also the app is optimised for your phone and it is also built to keep you immersed in the app. So the user experience is much more snappier.

Above is the screen recording of the instagram application. Now compare it to the web browser version below;

You can clearly see it’s much slower to load and when you press back, it has this lag that infuriates you. This negative feeling is crucial in stopping you from mindlessly swiping away in the discover page.

Personally this simple method has drastically help me from being stuck in the social network experience. Social media is a important tool in our real social lives and it is unreasonable to completely quit it. But for us procrastinators it can be a hindering addiction.

To have a balanced online and offline life try this simple change. You will find that you magically create more time in your life to be more productive!

How to Make House Chores Fun: Quick Tips

Last post I talked about how making my bed helped me start building physical habits that lead to me doing laundry and cleaning my room consistently. But no matter how motivated you are, these tasks are boring. As procrastinators we have to make boring yet important task as fun as possible. The best method that helped me the most is to listen to podcasts while doing these chores. I’ll introduce you to 5 podcasts that I listen to everyday which diversified my knowledge and get shit done at the same time.

1. Radiolab

Produced out of WNYC public radio station, Radiolab tells obscure stories in a well choreographed structure that make it a pleasure to listen to. They go in deep on topics such as Speed where they look into how human mastered the world of microseconds and utilising it in places such finance, Alpha Gal a story of a woman who suddenly turned allergic to meat and Breaking News looking into how technology is bending reality of media.

2. How I Built This with Guy Raz

Anyone who are interested in startups or building a business in general, Guy Raz interviews the founders of tech unicorns such as Airbnb and iconic brand such as Ben & Jerry’s. You get to hear the birth of their business, the failures and their vision. Guy Raz has the skill to pull out personal stories out of the guests, which makes a immersive listening experience.

3. 99% Invisible

This podcast focuses on the world of design, not in fashion kind of way, but the design of thing that make our world. The Pool and the Stream pursue the origin of the kidney shaped pools which became pop culture, and Unpleasant Design examines the design of uncomfortable park benches. 99% Invisible changes your perceptive of the world as you start seeing everyday object differently.

4. Planet Money

From the NPR radio station, Planet Money focuses on stories in the world of economics. Not only it clarifies confusing economic news in a much digestible form, it also looks to find answers by actually doing it. The recent episode SPACE 1: We’re Going To Space the team attempts to send a miniature satellite into the space, like really send a satellite using rockets. The Free Food Market look at the economics of the food banks and how ironically the free market system helps in running charitable organisation efficiently. If you are looking for a quick interesting stories, I highly recommend this.

5. The Joe Rogan Experience

Hands down my favorite podcast. Comedian, UFC commentator, former Fear Factor host Joe Rogan invites a broad spectrum of guests and have a long conversation with them. This podcast has personally diversified my knowledge most. The episode with Jordan Peterson & Bret Weinstein was a true workout of my brain. Or the talk with Courtney Dauwalter who won the MOAB 240 race, running 240 miles in under 58 hours. If your not into serious topics, he often invites he’s comedian friends which is a much more casual (often times inappropriate) conversation.

Give this podcast a try and start working on those laundry you have stocked up or the toilet bowl you haven’t cleaned in months!

My first step: Procrastinator to Productive

For my first post of the blog, I thought it will be fitting to tell you the story of what inspired my journey of micro self development. The first thing you need to know about me is that I’m a Youtube addict. Youtube has always been my drug of choice. It is a buffet for procrastinators, every time you tell yourself; “this is the last one!” then you see something mildly interesting then you immediately give in; “just one more clip”. I am Alice and Youtube is the Wonder Land. I have fallen into countless rabbit holes and 99% of the time it’s cat videos, but sometimes, you find a gem.

In the suggestion feed, there was man in the thumbnail dressed in a white military uniform. It was titled: If You Want to Change the World, Start Off by Making Your Bed – William McRaven, US Navy Admiral. Now I encourage you to watch this video, as it touches multiple topics that had been valuable for me, but lets focus his main case: “start of your day by making your bed”. He claims that by making your bed every morning, you have accomplished a task. And by doing so, you will be able to accomplish other tasks as it has a domino effect. Initially the make-your-bed part wasn’t particularly life changing, but I was mesmerised by McRaven and drunk from motivation. So I made my bed purely because McRaven told me to do so.

And that was it.

Honestly I did not know what I was hoping to feel. But the clouds did not open up or my consciousness did not reach enlightenment. It felt like nothing has changed. I was still me. Once the high had worn off, I went about my normal unproductive day and fell asleep. I woke up next morning as usual and went straight into the shower. Once I got out of the shower, I saw my bed, unmade. It was a weird feeling because I noticed that the bed was “unmade”. I never made my bed before and that “unmade” state was normal. Now it was …. not normal. So I made my bed for the second time. And the third time. And I continued to make my bed. McRaven talks about how making your bed is a visual representation of completing a task. Every time you come back home you see that you have accomplished something and that drives a positive reinforcement. And I believe it did jump start my productivity. After making the bed became my habit I moved on to laundry, then to cleaning the floor every 2 days and so on. It cascaded into series of habits that became essential tools for my productivity.

Im sure most of you guys have messy rooms, and you don’t give a shit if you room is clean or not. But when you are welcomed to a clean room after a long day there is something incredibly satisfying and rewarding. Even more so as you know that it was you that made the bed, did the laundry and cleaned the floors.

As procrastinators (PCTs) we try so hard to better ourselves, but we fail because we try to prove ourselves by aiming big. To write 5000 words on our essay, to go to the gym everyday for 1 month, learn how to code a website in 1 week. These goals if you achieve them will give you great sense of pride. But like mountain climbing, if you never climbed a mountain before and you see mount Everest in front of you, your not leaving base camp where theres warm food and a comfy bed. As any endeavour we have to progressive build our strength, endurance and technique to take on these big climbs.  And unfortunately for us PCTs, we lack all of it. So let start from treadmills out from other people’s sight. Making your bed is your first 10 minutes on the treadmill.

So go make your bed now.