No schedule policy - 1 month on
Just over a month ago, I wrote about how I had recently decided to stop following any kind of schedule on a daily basis. In this post I share some notes about my experience. The overview is necessarily largely subjective since consistent record-keeping such as would be needed for a more quantitative evaluation would be contrary to such a strategy.
Adopting a no schedule policy
In the “Pmarca Guide to Personal Productivity”, Marc Andreessen describes his no schedule theory as the most controversial part of his productivity strategy and when I first read the 2007 essay, I too was somewhat aghast at that idea. Indeed by the time I encountered his guide, around 2020, Marc himself had declared in an interview that his life had taken a 180 degree turn and due to the nature of the work in which he was now engaged he kept to a very strict schedule. Yet for several days now I have wholeheartedly embraced the strategy of not keeping any kind of schedule.
Some consequences of commuting
Commuting changes the way you spend time in the morning and evening before and after the journey. For someone who is disorganised and has problems with attention, it can take over 2 hours in the morning to get ready and it may require an hour or more to wind down after your return.
Invisible Foreigners
A problem for an autistic person is that they can become a foreigner. If you simply look at their credentials they might appear someone of intelligence and education and you might therefore expect them to know certain things.
Brief Encounter
When I first borrowed Brief Encounter from my school library in my early teens, I ended up watching it three times, I think, before returning it. I watched it one of these times and maybe twice in the company of even younger siblings and they found it equally absorbing.
Some thoughts on the story of Amy, an autism case study
The book Solutions for Adults with Asperger’s Syndrome by Juanita Lovett features two contrasting case studies of autistic individuals, named Keith and Amy1. Whilst Keith’s special talents were identified early on and he was accordingly directed towards a fulfilling career, Amy’s life is a tragic tale of wasted potential.
A thought about art and AI
Medical Magic
For medicine to match other aspects of modern technology it must be characterised by magic and it is a crucial aspect of magic that the burden of the effort involved in creating an illusion not be borne by the observer.
Modes of Travel
It occurred to me that before long there will not be many people left who remember what it is like to travel by ship. Not unlike how by the late 19th and early 20th centuries very few people would have known what it was like to travel long distances by stage coach.
On the utility of ChatGPT as a reading assistant
Expositions of the capabilities of ChatGPT and other LLMs often feature their ability to summarise or explain or otherwise help you understand challenging existing material such as research papers, articles and textbooks.