If you weren't such a idiot...

My friend Buck once told me that he often had interactions with me that felt like I was saying “If you weren’t such a fucking idiot, you would obviously do…” Here’s a list of such advice in that spirit.

Note that if you do/don’t do these things, I’m technically calling you an idiot, but I do/don’t do a bunch of them too. We can be idiots together.

If you weren’t such a fucking idiot…

• You would have multiple copies of any object that would make you sad if you didn’t have it
  • Examples: ear plugs, melatonin, eye masks, hats, sun glasses, various foods, possibly computers, etc.
• You would spend money on goods and services.
  • Examples of goods: faster computer, monitor, keyboard, various tasty foods, higher quality clothing, standing desk, decorations for your room, mattress, pillow, sheets, etc.
  • Examples of services: uber, doordash, cleaners, personal assistants, editors, house managers, laundry, etc.
• You would have tried many things at least one time.
  • Examples of things to do: climbing, singing, listening to music, playing instruments, dancing, eating various types of food, writing, parties.
• You wouldn’t do anything absurdly dangerous, like take unknown drugs or ride a bike without a helmet.
• You wouldn’t take irreversible actions if you didn’t know what the fuck you were doing.
• You would exercise frequently.
  • Types of exercise to try: climbing, walking, running, soccer, football, yoga, hiking, fencing, swimming, wrestling, beat saber, etc.
• You would reliably sleep 6-9 hours a night.
  • Obvious things to try:
    • melatonin
    • blackout curtains
    • putting black tape over LEDs on electronics
    • experimenting with mattress, pillow, blankets, sheets, etc.
    • blue light blocking glasses
• You would routinely look up key numbers and do numerical consistency checks during thinking.
• You would have a password manager.
• You would invest money in yourself.
  • Recall: money can be used to buy goods and services.
• You would use a email’s subject line to succinctly describe what you want from the person.
  • For example, if I want to meet with my advisor, I’ll send an email with the subject “Request for Advisory Meeting” or something similar. If I want someone to read a draft of something I wrote, the subject would be “Request for Feedback on <Title>”.
• You would have a good mentor.
  • One way to do this is to email people that you want to be your mentor with the subject “Request for Mentorship”.
• You would drink lots of water.
• You would take notes in a searchable database.
• You would summarize things that you read.
• You would have tried making your room as bright as the outdoors.
• You would carry batteries to recharge your phone.
• You would have tried using pens with multiple colors.
• You would read textbooks instead of popular introductions.
• You would put a relatively consistent dollar value on your time.

I’m sure there are more things that I tell people that can be prefaced with “if you weren’t such an idiot…”, but that’s all I got for now.