The principles listed here are probably useless without the context and details from their respective sources. So, if your attention is drawn to any of them, I strongly recommend reading the source.

Contents

A case history in scientific method (Skinner 1956)

  1. “When you run into something interesting, drop everything else and study it”
  2. “Some ways of doing research are easier than others”: simplyfing complex experiments may lead to new ideas
  3. “Some people are lucky”: unpolished details may lead to new ideas
  4. “Apparatuses sometimes break down”: unexpected errors may lead to new ideas
  5. “Serendipity: the art of finding one thing while looking for something else”: the thing you were trying to show may prove wrong/false in the end, but by pursuing that idea you may end up finding something interesting

Ultralearning (Scott H. Young)

  1. Meta-Learning (first draw a map)
  2. Focus (sharpen your knife)
  3. Directness (go straight ahead)
  4. Drill (attack your weakest point)
  5. Retrieval (test to learn)
  6. Feedback (don’t dodge the punches)
  7. Retention (don’t fill a leaky bucket)
  8. Intuition (dig deep before building up)
  9. Experimentation (explore outside your comfort zone)

Deep Work (Cal Newport)

  1. Work deeply
    • Depth philosophy: monastic, bimodal, rhythmic, journalistic
    • Ritualize: where, how long, how you will work, how you will support your work
    • Grand gestures:
    • Don’t work alone:
    • Execute like a business:
      1. focus on the Wildly Important
      2. Act on the Lead Measures
      3. keep a compelling Scoreboard
      4. create a Cadence of Accountability
    • Be lazy
      1. Downtime aids insights
      2. Downtime helps recharge the energy needed to work deeply
      3. Evening work done instead of downtime is usually not that important
  2. Embrace boredom
  3. Quit social media
  4. Drain the shallows

Slow productivity (Cal Newport)

  1. Do Fewer Things
  2. Work at a Natural Pace
  3. Obsess Over Quality

Atomic habits (James Clear)

Laws

  1. Make it obvious (Cue)
  2. Make it attractive (Desire)
  3. Make it easy (Activity)
  4. Make it rewarding (Reward)

Additional ideas (11 lessons from 30 days of better habits mailing list)

  1. Identity based habits
  2. 2 minute rule
  3. Implementation intention.
    • I will do ACTIVITY at TIME in PLACE
  4. Environment design
  5. Reduce friction
  6. Prime the environment
  7. Temptation bundling; Commitment device
  8. Rewards aligned with identity (e.g. bubble bath after exercise)
  9. Habit tracker
  10. Role of family and friends
  11. Habit graduation