How I do things

Zeigarnik effect vs my procrastination

January 28, 2023 / Experiments, How I do things / Leave a Comment

I make commitments but don’t always deliver on time. In 2022, I ran an experiment to find out why I procrastinate.

In Jan-Feb 2022, I listed the top 2 things I wanted to get done each day and measured how often I completed them.

14 Jan. ❌ Summarise from three research reports
12 Jan. ❌ UIFactory experiment ✅ Decide if I am a (…)
11 Jan. ❌ UIFactory experiment ✅ Agree on publishing in (…)
10 Jan. ❌ Client video. ❌ UIFactory experiment
09 Jan. ❌ UIFactory experiment. ❌ Attrition email as a story
07 Jan. ❌ ZS visual
06 Jan. ❌ Release Gramex Guide. ✅ UWC application
05 Jan. ❌ Publish network cluster post. ❌ Release Gramex guide
04 Jan. ❌ Publish network cluster post. ✅ Release Gramex.
03 Jan. ✅ Publish election TDS video. ❌ Publish Network cluster post.
02 Jan. ❌ Publish election TDS video. ❌ Publish Network cluster post.
01 Jan. ❌ Publish Network cluster post. ✅ Finalize SG school.

I completed 23 / 57 things (40%). That’s one of my TOP priorities.

In Mar-Apr 2022, I started micro-journalling to find out why. Whenever I was working on something, I wrote down whenever I started, stopped, or skipped working, and why.

- Tue 01 Mar. ❌ Create React app with any one Vega chart where attributes control chart signals
  - 09:30am. Skipped. INTERRUPTED. Shobana. Cleaning bedroom
  - 09:50am. Skipped. SCHEDULED. Breakfast
  - 10:10am. Skipped. INTERRUPTED. Naveen. Call
  - 10:50am. Skipped. DISTRACTED. LinkedIn. 3b1b videos
  - 12:30pm. Skipped. SCHEDULED. Calls
  - 01:30pm. Skipped. SCHEDULED. Lunch
  - 02:00pm. Skipped. INTERRUPTED. Shobana. Cleaning, Dhyeya airtel card
  - 02:30pm. Skipped. PROCRASTINATED. Didn't feel like working
- Sat 05 Mar. ❌ Record Jio videos fully. Run productivity log alongside it.
  - 09:45am. Skipped. INTERRUPTED. Appa. Investment, music
  - 11:00am. Skipped. PROCRASTINATED. Only 2 hours to next call. Let's do it later. Plenty of time tomorrow.
  - 01:30pm. Skipped. PROCRASTINATED. Only 30 min to next call. Plenty of time tomorrow.
  - 03:45pm. Skipped. PROCRASTINATED. Half day wasted already. It’s OK to take one day off completely.
- Mon 07 Mar. ✅ Record Jio videos fully. Run productivity log alongside it.
  - 09:37am. Started. ZEIGARNIK. Was thinking about this since morning.
  - 10:00am. Stopped. INTERRUPTED. Naveen. Called
  - 10:25am. Started. ZEIGARNIK. Just continued with momentum.
  - 01:00pm. Stopped. SCHEDULED. Lunch
  - 01:30pm. Started. ZEIGARNIK. Just continued with momentum.
  - 03:15pm. Stopped. COMPLETED.

After 2 months, a few patterns emerged.

Why I skip working
  1. Distraction (50%).
    • Interesting things (22%) were the biggest. Less important things (e.g. programming, browsing/research)
    • Movies (10%) pulled me away
    • Email (8%) was fairly common
    • Organizing things (6%) like my calendar, TODOs, financials, etc.
    • Social media, interestingly, was not on my list
  2. Procrastination (25%). There were 3 kinds:
    • It’s hard, and I’m stuck
    • I don’t feel like doing it
    • I don’t have time — my next task begins sooner than I can finish
  3. Schedule (14%). I’d scheduled something else for then (usually food)
  4. Interrupted (12%). Usually by family or close colleagues
    Why I start working
    1. Zeigarnik effect (68%). I keep thinking about the problem. So even after a break, I just plunge right in
    2. Mindfulness (19%). I got started just by the act of writing the journal
    3. Distraction (9%). Sometimes, distractions work in my favor. A movie gets stuck, or someone pings about the topic, or my mind is processing the problem in the background
    4. Completed (3%). I finished the previous task and the momentum just took me to the next
    Why I stop working
    1. Schedule (47%). I have another meeting/task planned at that time
    2. Interruption (35%). This is mostly by colleagues (22%), family (8%), or hunger/thirst (6%)
    3. Exhaustion (10%). I’m just too tired to go on
    4. Distraction (8%). To do this, I need to do THAT first, and I get sucked into THAT
    What I learned
    • The Zeigarnik effect helps me start. Once I start solving something the momentum carries forward. The next best is to write down why I’m not starting it (micro-journalling).
    • To avoid procrastination, I should eliminate distractions first. Specifically, use a new Virtual Desktop, block movies, and block email & notifications.
    • To avoid schedules interrupting me, I should batch meetings even more tightly, giving me longer or more flexible blocks to work on

    Picking books to read

    January 11, 2023 / How I do things, Top 10 lists / Leave a Comment

    I add book recommendations to my GoodReads – To-read list. Then I sort by rating and pick the first one I like to read.

    In 2023, I’m reshaping my environment. Picking books I usually won’t pick. (Read The Unknown Unknown: Bookshops and the Delight of Not Getting What You Wanted if you want to be similarly inspired.)

    So here are 4 approaches I’m adding to my process.

    1. Algorithmic. Sort Kaggle books based on popularity, rating, and age. Pick the top 10 (or 50)
    2. Serendipitous. Go to bookstores and libraries. Pick the most popular books
    3. Award-winning. Pick from the Pulitzer, Booker, Nobel, Hugo, and other award winners
    4. Challenges. Pick from Popsugar, Book Riot, Goodreads, The 52 Book Club, and other challenges

    FYI, here are algorithmic results (for books with 100+ ratings and a 4+ average on Goodreads):

    Top rated books

    Most popular books

    Oldest books

    Books in 2022

    January 8, 2023 / How I do things, Top 10 lists / 2 Comments

    I read 52 books in 2022 (about the same as in 2021 and 2020.) Here’s what I read (best books first).

    Mind-blowing

    1. Man’s Search for Meaning. Viktor Frankl. It’s 75 years old and timeless. Who we are is independent of what’s around us. This book shows us why. This story is a great example. My best book of 2022.
    2. The Paper Menagerie. Ken Liu. I cried all the way from the beach to home. The skies joined me. It’s short. Touching. It healed a wound I can’t speak about. The most touching book of 2022.
    3. The Data Detective. Tim Harford. 10 powerful, down-to-earth rules for how to make sense of data, and avoid being fooled. I plan to incorporate every one of these into my talks. The most useful guide to working with data in 2022.
    4. The Extended Mind. Annie Murphy Paul. Explains how we think not just inside our brains, but in our bodies, in our physical environment, and in the people around us. The most effective guide to transforming my thinking in 2022.

    Life-changing

    1. Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens, Homo Deus and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. Covers the past, present, and future of humanity, weaving the shared beliefs we’ve crafted — God, money, equality, property rights, happiness, and much more.
    2. Four Thousand Weeks. Oliver Burkeman. We live just 4,000 weeks. When you realize that, time management takes a new meaning. This is the most different time management book I’ve read, and I’ve started writing down stories of what I’ve done with my 4,000 weeks — each week.
    3. The Motive. Patrick Lencioni. Why do you want to stay a CEO? That’s the question this book answers, and in a sentence, it’s about doing the most important stuff that no one else will do. Not the stuff you like, or are good at.
    4. Team of Rivals. Doris Kearns Goodwin. The life of Lincoln and his cabinet. It’s extraordinary to see the path 4 eminent politicians took and the day-to-day decisions each made during the American Civil War.
    5. This is Water. David Foster Wallace. A commencement speech about the importance and power of noticing our blindspots, and making a habit of it.
    6. The Unknown Unknown. Mark Forsyth. A short, witty defense of bookshops. But it’s actually about blindspots and the power of randomness.
    7. Messy. Tim Harford. Explains how messiness is good for creativity and efficiency, with dozens of stories that prove the point.

    Interesting

    1. The Conquerer series. Conn Iggulden. The life of Genghis Khan. Factual, but interpolated with imagination. Gripping.
    2. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. Mark Manson. A direct nudge to face our fears and choose our pains (not pleasures) actively.
    3. Talking to Strangers. Malcolm Gladwell.
    4. Bad Blood. John Carreyrou. The story of Therenos. It shows how thin the line to cross is.
    5. Land of the Seven Rivers. Sanjeev Sanyal. A history of India.
    6. The Ocean of Churn. Sanjeev Sanyal. A history of the Indian ocean.
    7. On Writing Well. William Zinsser. Teaches you to write with clarity, simplicity, brevity, and humanity.
    8. Superforecasting. Philip Tetlock, Dan Gardner. Techniques to consistently forecast better.
    9. Oathbringer. Brandon Sanderson.
    10. What the Dog Saw. Malcolm Gladwell.
    11. Humble Pi. Matt Parker.
    12. David and Goliath. Malcolm Gladwell.
    13. Next in Line. Jeffrey Archer.
    14. The Bomber Mafia. Malcolm Gladwell.
    15. Emperor series. Conn Iggulden.
    16. Flow. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
    17. When Breath Becomes Air. Paul Kalanithi.
    18. The Lost Metal. Brandon Sanderson
    19. The Assassin’s Blade. Sarah J Maas.
    20. Skyward. Brandon Sanderson. Sunreach, ReDawn, Cytonic, Evershore

    Readable

    1. War of Lanka. Amish Tripathi.
    2. A Court of Thorns and Roses. Sarah J Maas. Part 1, 2 and 3.
    3. Asterix and the Magic Carpet.
    4. Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life. Bryan Lee O’Malley.
    5. Scott Pilgrim vs The World. Bryan Lee O’Malley.
    6. Daughter of the Deep. Rick Riordan.

    How I read books

    1. Select. I add book recommendations to my GoodReads – To-read list. Then I sort by rating and pick the first one I like to read.
    2. Listen. I listen to non-fiction audiobooks during walks.
    3. Read: I read fiction as ePUBs on my laptop or phone.
    4. Stop: I stop reading books that are boring, with no guilt. I’ve better things to do.

    My Year in 2022

    December 31, 2022 / How I do things / 2 Comments

    In 2022, I made 3 resolutions:

    1. Run 50 experiments. I ran ~20 until April (here are some), but stopped (for no reason). I’ll continue.
    2. Speak at 10 global forums. I delivered 10+ PyCon talks. They were pre-recorded, allowing me to scale. But recording videos and no feedback are boring. I’ll explore how to scale enjoyably.
    3. Be 10X more effective. I improved my calendar effectiveness 2X in Jan. But I realized this is actually efficiency. Not effectiveness. Maybe effectiveness shouldn’t be optimized, but discovered. I’ll continue to ponder.

    Milestones in 2022:

    1. I completed 10 years at Gramener in February.
    2. I moved to Singapore in August. (Cycling and ComicCon were mind-blowing discoveries.)

    2 habits I continued from last year:

    1. Walk 10,000 steps daily.
    2. Read 50 books.

    In 2023, I plan to:

    1. Run 50 experiments. I’ll learn by disproving my beliefs with measurable tests.
    2. Make 1 change a month in my environment. 90% of our thoughts are shaped by our environment. (Read The Extended Mind.) So I’ll use the remaining 10% to shape my environment.
    3. Calendar integrity. Stick to my calendar. Especially the time I block for myself to work. (This is a 2021 habit I’ve slipped on.)

    I’m curious — what’s ONE thing you’d like to do in 2023?

    Learning to speak better

    October 17, 2022 / Data, How I do things / Leave a Comment

    Microsoft ported its PowerPoint Speaker Coach to Teams. Since September, it’s given me suggestions covering 11 hours in 77 calls (I speak ~10 min/call.)

    I say “uhh” a lot. That’s intentional

    I use the filler word “uhh” in 70% of my calls. That did not surprise me. I do that intentionally.

    1. On a poor network, they know I’m still connected
    2. They know I’m going to say something
    3. I sound less confident. That invites critique I can learn from

    But I also use filler words like “You know” and “I mean” in half the calls, and “like”, “actually”, and “basically” in a fifth. That’s NOT intentional, and I’ll be conscious.

    Filler words% of calls# / call
    uhh70%3.6
    You know48%2.4
    I mean43%2
    like22%1.4
    actually19%1
    basically18%1.2
    anyway14%1.1
    hmm16%1.1
    umm9%1.4
    ah4%1.3

    I say “maybe” a lot. That’s surprising

    What did surprise me was “maybe“. I use it every fourth call, but when I do, I say “maybe” ten times per call. That’s a lot of maybe!

    Sometimes, I say maybe because I’m communicating uncertainty.

    Maybe we’ll have 20-30% success rate…

    So and I had to switch 3 laptops or maybe 4.

    … then she said, “OK, maybe it’s some other Sam”

    Sometimes I’m proposing tentatively.

    … one of the reasons why I’m nudging towards that is maybe a large reuse initiative is high return,

    We can even put this in as part of the project by maybe offering it to different teams…

    Maybe by having dedicated support…

    Maybe I’ll drop off. Bye

    But sometimes, it’s testable hypotheses.

    Uh, maybe I’m getting the names wrong, but I think it was Socrates…

    Maybe it’s me, but yeah, I guess…

    You know, maybe it’s because I don’t store any of my stuff in…

    One of my year’s goals is to run 50 experiments. I’d been doing well until April, and then fizzled out. Partly motivation. Partly a lack of testable hypotheses.

    And now, in October, I discovered that I literally speak out one testable hypothesis every call — roughly every 10 minutes I speak! I’m amazed at how blind I’ve been, and how easy it can be to find experiments to test. I guess I need more of a scientific mindset. (Or just plain curiosity.)

    The next time I say, “maybe” (or see it in my transcript), I’ll write it down as a hypothesis to test.

    Repetitive words cluster

    Another discovery was: I tend to pick a phrase and use it repeatedly in calls. For example, I said “let’s say” twelve times in just one call of 15 minutes. I said “main” 20 times over 2 calls of 8 minutes each. I said “cool” 7 times in an 11-minute call.

    Repetitive word# calls# / call
    lets say112
    main210
    also18
    only27.5
    correct77.4
    in terms of17
    alright36.3
    that is36
    cool25

    Clearly it’s something to watch out for. But maybe repetition of words isn’t a bad thing if it’s not the same phrase repeated across calls? (There! I said “maybe”. Let me find out!)

    Modulate the pace

    In a third of my calls, I need to speed up. In a third of my calls, I need to slow down. (On some calls, I need to do both!)

    Clearly, I need to vary my pace a lot more, consciously. It’s not that I talk fast or slow. I do both. But I get stuck in one mode of speaking for too long.

    Takeaways

    I used to think I was a pretty good speaker. That’s not a bad thought, but it can blind me to feedback and improvements. There’s no end to learning how to speak. Speaker Coach is a great “in-your-face” feedback mechanism. I hope Microsoft adds more features to it.

    But what I’m going to do now is:

    1. Every time I say “maybe”, write down an experiment
    2. Speed up and slow down more in calls
    3. Watch for words I use repeatedly

    Singapore Central Business District at Dusk

    Moving to Singapore

    August 2, 2022 / How I do things, Interesting experiences / 5 Comments

    My family and I relocated to Singapore today.

    Most of my major life decisions have involved the distance from Chennai.

    In 1992, I wanted to study physics at IIT Kanpur or Kharagpur. My father erased the choices from my admission form and calmly said, “Tick anything in Chennai.” I ticked everything except Chemical Engineering. Prof Kalyanakrishnan saw my rank, said “You’ll get Chemical Engineering”, and ticked it for me. No one heard me say, “But I don’t like Chemical Engineering.”

    In 1996, I got job offers from Ramco Systems, Chennai and IBM, Bangalore. I chose IBM partly because my mother said, “Move out of Chennai, else you’ll live in your father’s shadow.”

    In 1999, I got offers from IIM Ahmedabad and Bangalore. I picked Bangalore. “You’re declining the best IIM?” my couseller asked. But it was far from Chennai.

    In 1999, I lost a scholarship and was insecure during the internship interviews. I accepted my first offer (from Lehman Brothers), though it was in Tokyo. “Well, you’ve already accepted. All the best,” my father said that evening with concern.

    In 2000, I declined Lehman Brothers’ pre-placement offer. Tokyo’s too far from Chennai. (60 days of Subway‘s Veggie Delight didn’t help.)

    In 2001, my matrimonial profile mentioned just 2 things: “He likes curd rice and plans to settle in Chennai.” My wife, Shobana, ignored it. She had other plans.

    By 2005, she convinced me to move to the US or Europe. London’s physically and spiritually closer to Chennai than New York or Seattle. So I joined Infosys Consulting in London.

    By 2011, I’d had enough. After 2 months of careful planning, I walked home and told Shobana, “I lost my job. Please don’t tell anyone. Let’s go back to India.” We left 2 weeks later to join Gramener.

    In 2019, I attended Landmark’s Forum and told Shobana I’d tricked her. (She didn’t speak to me for a day.) We decided to move again. Not the US or Dubai. Singapore’s physically and spiritually closer to Chennai. She spoke to my father, who was OK to move too.

    COVID slowed things down (thankfully), but in 2022, my daughter would start Class 11. That’s a logical time to shift.

    So as of 1 Aug 2022, we’re in Singapore as a family. At least for 2 years, until my daughter starts college. After that, let’s see.

    Old songs in my music library

    June 6, 2022 / Data, How I do things / Leave a Comment

    My music library has around 1,000 songs (mostly Tamil and Hindi, with some Telugu and English film songs).

    I spent this morning tagging them by year with mp3tag. (Manually. You don’t automate the pleasures of life.)

    I thought my 1990s collection would be the largest. I was in college, listening to lots of music then. But surprisingly, my collection has grown post the 1990s.

    I have 3 guesses why.

    1. Recency bias. I re-built this collection recently. Maybe I forgot older songs?
    2. Digitization bias. Maybe I listened to more songs as the cost of transmission/storage fell?
    3. Worsening standards. Maybe I used to be choosier about music?

    Though I’m not sure of the above, there’s another interesting anomaly.

    There is a spike in the 1960s.

    I don’t need to guess this one. I know why. Those are the songs my parents liked. I grew up hearing them.

    The oldest song Tamil song is from Thiruneelakantar (1939). It’s from my father’s collection. I’ve heard it often enough to still enjoy it.

    The oldest Hindi song is from Jaal (1952). He has a fondness for Dev Anand’s songs. So do I. This one is a beauty.

    The oldest Tamil song my mother introduced me to is from Parasakthi (1952). She used to dance to this song when young.

    The earliest Hindi song she introduced me to was from Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje (1955). It’s the song I grew up on, and it’s still among my favorites. What a melody!

    My wife prefers newer songs. But I have low standards and few preferences. It makes my life rather happy.

    So, in celebration of Make Music Day on 21 June, I’m treating myself to 2 weeks of my collection from the 1960s!

    PS: My full collection is at https://gist.github.com/sanand0/877637165b17239aa27beac03749c9a6

    10 years later

    March 17, 2022 / How I do things / Leave a Comment

    On 12 Jan 2012, on a flight back from London, I wrote:

    … it was clear in my mind. I would be an entrepreneur. I would create a small company that would probably fold. Then I’d do it again. And again, 10 times, because 1 in 10 companies survive. And finally, I’d be running a small business that’d be called successful by virtue of having survived. A modest, achievable ambition that I had the courage for.

    10 years later, Gramener successively crossed 10 employees, 10 clients, 10 years, $10 mn and is on its way to 10 offices.

    We just opened a new office at Hyderabad.

    I have the same request as 10 years ago.

    It’s scary but exciting. Wish me luck!

    Increasing calendar effectiveness by 2X

    January 25, 2022 / Experiments, How I do things / 1 Comment

    I took a 2022 goal to be 10X more effective. In Jan, I managed 2X. Here’s how.

    What is effectiveness?

    I don’t know. I’m figuring it out.

    But to start off, I measured the number of people my actions directly impact. For example:

    Clearly, the impact is not equal. But it’s a start.

    How to measure it?

    Since Dec 1, I categorized all my Outlook calendar entries into one of these categories:

    Red is “low reach”. Green is “high reach”. This is what 6-10 Dec 2021 looked like:

    I continued this for 8 weeks.

    Did effectiveness increase?

    In Week 1, I reached 30 people on average. This was the control week.

    In Weeks 2-3, the reach increased from 30 to 77. In Weeks 4-8, it settled at 64.

    So, yes, effectiveness increased. in Jan 2022, I reached twice as many people per week as when I started off.

    I didn’t measure quality/impact. One-on-one coaching has more impact than a lecture. Reach is just a crude first approximation for effectiveness.

    How did this happen?

    What gets measured, improves. I’d categorize each entry on my calendar. This enabled 3 things:

    1. I’d try to remove low-reach (<50 reach – red) items. This reduced rom 45 to 29 hours a week.
    2. I’d try to add high-reach (>= 50 reach – green) items. This increased from 12 to 18 hours a week.

    So, I now have 10 more hours of “me time” every week, while I still reach 2X as many people.

    What next?

    I’m exploring better measures of effectiveness. I believe:

    • Effectiveness is goal alignment. It’s personal, and purely a function of your priorities.
    • Effectiveness is multipled by assets. Actions that create assets improve effectiveness.

    Once I discover a robust measure, I will to re-categorize my calendar and re-run this experiment.

    If you use a measure of effectiveness of impact, please let me know — I’d love to learn from that.

    My Year in 2021

    December 31, 2022 / How I do things / 4 Comments

    In 2021, I made 3 resolutions.

    1. Lose 10 kgs. I lost 5 kg in 3 months. But gained it back by the year-end.
    2. Fail big. I practiced confronting people – and failed. I still run from fights. Even when important.
    3. Calendar integrity. I stuck to my calendar 90% of the time. But personal commitments slipped.

    On learning, I discovered network clusters. My PyCon talk on movie networks is the start of a fascinating exploration of actors that I’ll write more about.

    On training, I designed a Tools for Data Science Course for IITM’s Bachelor’s in Data Science. I’m now a “faculty” at my alma mater, and no longer scared of it.

    On self-improvement, I completed a Landmark course and continued Pranayama. Both helped my resolutions.

    I also continued 2 habits from last year.

    1. Walk 10,000 steps daily. I averaged 10,200.
    2. Read 50 books. I read 52. Here are my reviews. (Which did you like? What would you recommend?)

    In 2022, I plan to:

    1. Run 50 experiments. I’ll learn by disproving my beliefs with measurable tests.
    2. Speak at 10 global forums on data stories, and spread the beauty of data.
    3. Be 10X more effective. I’ll measure the impact and stop low-impact work.

    I’m curious — what’s ONE thing you’d like to do in 2022?