Life Hack 2.0 How-to's
Reading my last post, LifeHack, GTD, ZTD and Friends, I see that the examples I gave for LifeHack 2.0 are very rudimentary and confusing. The following is a revision of the list.
Not only should LifeHacks be action-oriented, but they must describe how-to do something.
They should not be domain specific, such as “how to attract women” or “how to treat pimples".
They should not be a moral/ethical statement or principle.
LifeHack 2.0 Examples:
- Slowing down, take time to smell the flowers, relax
How to slow down: simply stop rushing from place to place, from activity to activity. Stop and observe. Greet and talk to strangers, watch the clouds in the blue sky, watch children and animals play, smell the flowers. Learn and practice relaxation techniques.
- To see the extra-ordinary in ordinary things
How to: Look at familiar things, but spend a little more time to observe. For example, you walk through the door every day, but never notice the door knob, the wood texture
- Do simple ordinary things such as dish washing, sweeping the floor, gardening
How to: Just do it. Every day chores. It is not a waste of time. Don’t do it while thinking of something else. Become immersed in your activity
- Less Multi-tasking, more focus on here and now
How to: Stop trying to do too many things at one time. Combine this with sub-tasking, one bite at a time below
- Bare Attention Suspend judgment once in a while
How to: Attention without labeling everything as good, bad, tall, short, fat, thin, ugly, beautiful etc
How to: Reflect your goals, and what you want to achieve. Reconsider and change if necessary.
- Mindfulness, using every day events for reminders to be mindful
How to: Thich Nhat Hanh suggested every time when a phone rings, to compose ourselves, before picking up the phone. You can use other events, for example every time you pass through a door, when you breath, etc. Compose and smile.
- Mindfulness of bad habits to break them
How to: Train yourself in Mindfulness, know your attachments and detachments. Decouple automatically triggered actions and thoughts from the stimuli. For instance, you get upset when another driver cuts your path. Become aware of the stimuli, become aware that you are getting upset (“I feel angry”). The very act of saying “I feel angry” or “I am getting irritated” silently often stops you from actually getting angry.
- Refactoring and re-purposing, get the task completed first and improve by refactoring (as in extreme programming). Re-use by re-purposing
How to: First make it work, then improve it gradually. Perfectionism often prevents us from starting anything at all. Something you have done in the past for a certain purpose can often be re-factored for a different purpose. E.g. your blog article can be used for a presentation
- Sub tasking, take one bite at a time
How to: Divide the tasks, so that it can be completed within a short time. Doing a task needs concentration, but we can’t concentrate on one subject for a long time. Completing a subtask becomes a psychological closure point to motivate us further
- Use a GTD system, manual, electronic or their combination
GTD organizes, provides reminders, and frees the brain from having to remember too many things.
- Continuous Learning
How to: Browse the internet, attend seminars, talk to people. Once in a while, try a new activity. Pretend you have forgotten everything, and start over again. Teaching subjects you have long forgotten is a good example. Adopt a beginner’s mind.
- Systems thinking :things are interconnected. Thich Nhat Hanh's InterBeing
How to: Broaden the subject, consider various items you have not considered. Analyze the balancing and reinforcing loops of causes and effects. For example, include environmental factors in business decisions.
- Nice guys finish first it is always good to be good
How to: Not anybody can be rich or become a genius, but everybody can to be a good person. Start with politeness and friendliness. Ties with the next hack
How to: Do whatever you can to help others. There is always something we can contribute.
- Don't use violence
How to: Violence comes after we lose our control. Use Mindfulness to be aware of the stages before we become violent.
There are many such hacks, please contribute your hacks here. One reader has already commented on exercising and healthy eating.
Earlier:
5 komentar:
Continuing my last comment, I think "energy management hacks" are important. It would include avoiding energy sinks, healthy eating, sleep, exercise, etc
The term LifeHack 2.0 does not seem suitable to me, Mind Hack seems to fit better for the list you are building
Mano, I agree with you. I am preparing it for the next revision of the list. It will deal with physical energy, as well as "life-force", how they are accumulated and dissipated and used.
Aa, Mind Hack is indeed a good term, but I believe there is a book published by O'Reilly titled Mind Hacks, and it deals a lot with the biological aspects of the brain. It is different from what I am trying to do
You might be interested in LifeHack.org's end-of-year article, http://www.lifehack.org/articles/site-news/year-in-review-lifehacks-lifehackorg-and-your-changing-life.html
Excerpts:The idea of a “lifehack” has changed a lot since Danny O’Brien introduced the term at NotCon in 2004. For O’Brien, life hacking was about applying the lessons of computer programming — the systematic logic and habits used by committed coders — to life in general.
For a generation (or two) unsatisfied by the empty promises and soggy new age platitudes of mainstream self-help literature, life hacking has opened up a new field in personal development, one that is relevant to the way we work, play, and relate to each other.
This year, lifehack.org has continued to expand its scope, adding over a dozen new writers who have written about studying more successfully, writing, designing your documents, meditating, getting and staying physically fit, the way our brains work, networking, motivating yourself, setting and achieving goals, parenting, leadership, and more. We still write about technology, but as part of our whole lives and not the entirety of our worlds.
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