* Don't compromise my ethics unless there's a very good reason to do so. Small steps down a bad path can lead to being very far from who you want to be.
* Progress not perfection. Instead of being paralyzed by indecision, choose the simple tasks that can make incremental progress towards an end goal. Repeated small steps towards a larger goal can get you very far.
* Break large tasks into smaller tasks that are achievable. For me, this mostly takes the form of a daily "to-do" list that I try to complete. Also getting even rough time bounds on how much effort/money/time is involved in each helps prioritize.
* Make sure to include fun/satisfying/interesting things in your day to day life. This might include doing the (perhaps unjustifiable) "fun" thing of learning a new language, learning some math, playing a video game, watching a movie, etc. Burnout happens not because of excessive work but because the work being done feels without end and because hope drains. "Fun" things help counteract that burnout and depression, especially when they're tied to the skill that you're using day to day, because it provides a positive feedback and gives you something to look forward to. It also gives myself permission to slack off because I know I'll be more depressed if I don't.
* When a task seems insurmountable, watch, wait and learn. Sometimes things are impossible because I don't have a skill set or the tools to understand it. Other times it's because they are impossible with the environment/tools at hand, so re-assessing whether it's still impossible when the ecosystem around it has changed is a potential way forward.
* Don't forget "life maintenance" tasks. Cleaning, showering, exercising, maintaining friendships, etc. These all erode my mental health if not actively maintained.
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I just want to specifically address your "play to your strengths" model. I still maintain that to be an effective human being, you pretty much need to know everything (at least to a certain depth) but this doesn't exclude the "T-shaked skills" of learning [0].
Often time the deep knowledge in one domain bleeds into another, allowing avenues into it that other people might not have. For example, electronics is a whole lot easier for me because I have a more solid math and programming background than someone who's learning heuristics on how to construct a circuit (I'm not knocking those heuristics, I'm just saying I have a way into it that helps me).
* Progress not perfection. Instead of being paralyzed by indecision, choose the simple tasks that can make incremental progress towards an end goal. Repeated small steps towards a larger goal can get you very far.
* Break large tasks into smaller tasks that are achievable. For me, this mostly takes the form of a daily "to-do" list that I try to complete. Also getting even rough time bounds on how much effort/money/time is involved in each helps prioritize.
* Make sure to include fun/satisfying/interesting things in your day to day life. This might include doing the (perhaps unjustifiable) "fun" thing of learning a new language, learning some math, playing a video game, watching a movie, etc. Burnout happens not because of excessive work but because the work being done feels without end and because hope drains. "Fun" things help counteract that burnout and depression, especially when they're tied to the skill that you're using day to day, because it provides a positive feedback and gives you something to look forward to. It also gives myself permission to slack off because I know I'll be more depressed if I don't.
* When a task seems insurmountable, watch, wait and learn. Sometimes things are impossible because I don't have a skill set or the tools to understand it. Other times it's because they are impossible with the environment/tools at hand, so re-assessing whether it's still impossible when the ecosystem around it has changed is a potential way forward.
* Don't forget "life maintenance" tasks. Cleaning, showering, exercising, maintaining friendships, etc. These all erode my mental health if not actively maintained.
---
I just want to specifically address your "play to your strengths" model. I still maintain that to be an effective human being, you pretty much need to know everything (at least to a certain depth) but this doesn't exclude the "T-shaked skills" of learning [0].
Often time the deep knowledge in one domain bleeds into another, allowing avenues into it that other people might not have. For example, electronics is a whole lot easier for me because I have a more solid math and programming background than someone who's learning heuristics on how to construct a circuit (I'm not knocking those heuristics, I'm just saying I have a way into it that helps me).
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-shaped_skills