Keep It Simple — Issue #45

Get More Done – With Less Frustration 😌

Let's get one thing clear.

Anxiety is normal. It does not mean there is something wrong with you. Some people feel it more than others, and it is a normal emotion that you cannot erase. It only becomes a problem when it affects your ability to do the things you want to do.

• Unable to start things
• Avoiding social settings
• Daily physical pain from anxiety

At this point – I think it's worth addressing.

Maybe in a future newsletter I will dive in to what I noticed causes anxiety in general, but today's newsletter is about reducing work anxiety.

• Get started faster
• Less doubting your skills
• Shorter procrastination cycles

As software engineers work can be mentally taxing. Learning to reduce anxiety and get more done can literally improve your life. I know it improved mine.

Here's what worked for me:

Clarity Comes First

Working without clarity is the recipe for anxiety and frustration.

Before you ever start working on anything you have to get clear on the next task. A big mistake I see people make is they feel the need to plan everything out to the end before they start working. In general this is unproductive.

The further out you go when planning, the more likely it is that those plans mean nothing.When you stack probabilities on top of each you quickly approach 0.

Let's imagine you have a 10 step plan.
Each step builds on the previous step.
Each step has a 75% chance of working.

0.75 ^ 10 = 0.0563

This means that when planning 10 steps ahead the chance of things going according to plan are 5%. Even when individual steps have a relatively high certainty. Pretty bad odds if you ask me.

Why am I telling you this?

It's one thing to tell you "just focus on the next step", but it's another thing to give you the mental ammunition to know why that is the best option. When you're planning 10 steps out you're probably wasting your time.

Let's say you want to build a finance tracking app.

You have no idea where it will end up, but you know about the Plaid API. Given that knowledge, you decide that today's task is to build a web page with a button that opens a connection to the Plaid API, lets you connect a bank account, then displays a list of transactions.

Sure, right now you have no idea where to go next – but in the process of digging through plaid's API you will get other ideas. You will have a better understanding of what is required for the next step with each step you take. That is the nature of progress.

The worst thing to do is nothing.

Develop Your "Focus Only" Environment

Okay, so now you have some clarity on how to move forward.

Buy you are anxious because you can't focus. Something comes up, you get bored quickly, you can't seem to break the habit of checking Instagram.

This is why you need a "focus only" environment.

​
In high school I had the classic bedroom/office combo:

I worked here, I coded here, I played video games here, I watched movies here, I ran a dedicated Minecraft server here, hung out with friends here, and I slept here.

While this room holds a soft spot in my heart there is one big problem.

There was no clear thing to do when I was there.

I didn't have an environment that told my mind it is time to focus.

Ideally, you have a dedicated room in your house that is work only. However, especially with today's housing market, we don't all have a spare room.
​
So you can create a figurative "focus only" environment. This means you build a list of stimulus that are only for periods of intense work. You do not expose yourself to these stimulus in any other setting or you risk diluting their effectiveness.

Some stimulus that work for me are:

• A playlist of "focus only" music
• Setting the lights to a specific color
• A certain flavor of drink for intense work
• Symbolically placing my phone on the charger in the other room
• A certain time of the day

Your brain has strong association powers. Once you pick your "focus only" stimuli do everything in your power to not associate them with anything else.

Don't listen to that playlist to work out.
Don't drink that drink while watching a movie.
Don't place your phone on that charger to control music while you cook.
​
​Build an intentional focus only environment.

P.S. I love brain.fm. It's my "focus only playlist" and i'm listening to it right now while writing this newsletter.

Set a Timer

I know this one sounds cliche, but it works.

This is my last resort when I can't focus but man is it effective.

Assuming I already:

• Set clear intentions
• Tried my "focus only" stimuli

And i'm still getting distracted? I turn it in to a game. This is similar to setting a timer when you work out.

Have you ever done a plank without a timer?

It's hard to be honest with yourself about how much power you have left in the tank. However, when you set a timer, you can push yourself beyond what you thought was possible just for the sake of hitting the time limit.

I find that "focus" is the exact same way. Mental and physical limitations are not that different.
When you need that extra push. Gamify it. Set a timer and commit to hitting it.
​
You'll be surprised how much you can get done.

---

Thank you for reading this week's newsletter.
I appreciate all of you who read to the end.

How I can help you:

​Book A Coaching Call ☎️​
​Free Course 📚​
​Email Me​ 💌​

Until next week 👋