Discussion Forum > Small changes huge difference
Having spent the last year experiencing the effects of making small change after small change (plus a few large ones), I know exactly what you mean.
February 17, 2012 at 7:46 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
So do I !
February 17, 2012 at 7:57 |
FocusGuy.
FocusGuy.
Now the important question: why is this so?
Is it just psychological? I note that prior to any change there must have been some unrest that motivated it. Perhaps the subsequent failure was coming anyway and really had nothing to do with the change itself.
Are the rules hypersensitive? Is the nature of the rules such that most small changes will of course have big impact? This reminds me of evolutionary programming. Take a small algorithm, randomly change a line, and unless you've carefully tuned the elements of your algorithm you'll get rubbish. Even with a carefully tuned set, a random change likely will be bad.
Are *we* hypersensitive? Maybe our readiness to do hard work is so fragile that anything less than a carefully balanced mechanism will fail us. In that case, ought we be thinking more about developing our balance independent of time management?
Perhaps a system can give us our inner ear by having a feedback mechanism that tells us how we are and propose a remedy so we can adjust? I doubt it, but I suspect dashboard indicators may be helpful.
Are we fundamentally broken? Maybe periods of high and low productivity are just the natural, and perfection of character is beyond our fallen nature. All we can hope then is work to grow our spine stronger and grace to recover from each inevitable failure. And a Final Version to improve the proportions in our favor :-)
So: resist change, or grow character, or reimagine the AF system, or c'est la vie / rien marchera (I.e. Pray for mercy and march on anyway)?
Is it just psychological? I note that prior to any change there must have been some unrest that motivated it. Perhaps the subsequent failure was coming anyway and really had nothing to do with the change itself.
Are the rules hypersensitive? Is the nature of the rules such that most small changes will of course have big impact? This reminds me of evolutionary programming. Take a small algorithm, randomly change a line, and unless you've carefully tuned the elements of your algorithm you'll get rubbish. Even with a carefully tuned set, a random change likely will be bad.
Are *we* hypersensitive? Maybe our readiness to do hard work is so fragile that anything less than a carefully balanced mechanism will fail us. In that case, ought we be thinking more about developing our balance independent of time management?
Perhaps a system can give us our inner ear by having a feedback mechanism that tells us how we are and propose a remedy so we can adjust? I doubt it, but I suspect dashboard indicators may be helpful.
Are we fundamentally broken? Maybe periods of high and low productivity are just the natural, and perfection of character is beyond our fallen nature. All we can hope then is work to grow our spine stronger and grace to recover from each inevitable failure. And a Final Version to improve the proportions in our favor :-)
So: resist change, or grow character, or reimagine the AF system, or c'est la vie / rien marchera (I.e. Pray for mercy and march on anyway)?
February 18, 2012 at 14:40 |
Alan Baljeu
Alan Baljeu
I think we do have periods of high and low productivity -- several overlapping cycles and all sorts of external bumps. And it's not just productivity -- it's varying degrees of resistance (or even attraction) to different activities.
Most of us know which part of the day we're more likely to almost enjoy sitting down with the accounting, or exercising, or watching that horrid show the kids like.
Heart attacks are more common on Mondays. My friends often comment that "today feels like Thursday already". We know how the week feels.
Women's monthly cycle includes times of creativity and times of attention to detail and times of consolidation (and the more-famous times of weepiness and lack of sleep and irritability).
Seasonal Affective Disorder, or the winter blues, is also common.
Then we have external factors. Very few can concentrate around a major life-change, good or bad. Food can reset (or disrupt) the ultradian (faster-than-day) rhythm. Bright light (especially close to UV) can reset the daily rhythm (jet-lag) and SAD.
Some of those rhythms can be created and/or reset with habit. After a few months of always working out at the same time, we get used to it.
If we can recognize, predict and make use of those phases, rather than fight them, things go more smoothly. Sometimes it's a simple as starting the day with 15 minutes of routine filing or wandering the plant looking rather than the papers that arrived overnight.
This is another way "standing out" is better than "first on list", as long as "standing out" includes priming your subconscious with deadlines and the size of each project.
Most of us know which part of the day we're more likely to almost enjoy sitting down with the accounting, or exercising, or watching that horrid show the kids like.
Heart attacks are more common on Mondays. My friends often comment that "today feels like Thursday already". We know how the week feels.
Women's monthly cycle includes times of creativity and times of attention to detail and times of consolidation (and the more-famous times of weepiness and lack of sleep and irritability).
Seasonal Affective Disorder, or the winter blues, is also common.
Then we have external factors. Very few can concentrate around a major life-change, good or bad. Food can reset (or disrupt) the ultradian (faster-than-day) rhythm. Bright light (especially close to UV) can reset the daily rhythm (jet-lag) and SAD.
Some of those rhythms can be created and/or reset with habit. After a few months of always working out at the same time, we get used to it.
If we can recognize, predict and make use of those phases, rather than fight them, things go more smoothly. Sometimes it's a simple as starting the day with 15 minutes of routine filing or wandering the plant looking rather than the papers that arrived overnight.
This is another way "standing out" is better than "first on list", as long as "standing out" includes priming your subconscious with deadlines and the size of each project.
February 18, 2012 at 15:26 |
Cricket
Cricket
It seemed quite innocuous. And it was a complete disaster! After a few good days, my mental command of the list completely evaporated! So I'm reverting to forward order.
Anyway, I'm astounded such a basic change has such incredible impact on performance.