Task Positive Programming: Don't Think, Just Do
I've had a recent bout of stack paralysis, spending ludicrous amounts of time researching languages and frameworks in hopes to find the the stack.
There are always one or two project ideas swirling around in my head at any given point in time, and I've really been struggling with just starting.
While I think Go is a great language, and I'd be more than happy to work with it again, it just doesn't feel like my language for solo projects. I want that language that just clicks with me and that I find beautiful. I'm a very visual person, and how a language looks is important to me. That may sound funny, but the visuals of a language significantly affect my ability to feel where I am in code and get information at a glance. Also, writing in a language that is visually appealing to you can feel very rewarding.
While I think my exploration was warranted and fruitful, I went about it in the wrong way. Instead of spending the time I did reading and deliberating, I should have been rapid-firing out mini-projects in each language I was curious about.
I should have been doing instead of thinking. I tend to spend a lot of time toiling over things, where the solution becomes immediately apparent if I just take action. For example, I may feel paralyzed trying to pick a path to future-proof something I am developing, only to find that after just coding anything it either worked or pointed me to the obvious answer that I never could have found by just thinking.
Or, let's take this blog post as another example. Naturally (for me), I tried to plan and find the right idea for my first post, became frustrated, and almost decided to nix the idea for a blog altogether. But, here I am, writing something.
The idea of just doing may sound obvious, but it's something that took me a long time to figure out.
I had heard of the Default Mode Network (DMN) before, the area of the brain that is activated when not engaged in a task. It handles thinking about the future and past. However, I think something clicked for me when I recently learned about the Task Positive Network (TPN). It's the area of the brain that is engaged when focused on a task.
It makes sense that there is a part of the brain that makes use of idle time. When not focused on the outside world, the DMN can look inward, plan, reflect, and reorganize. On the other hand, the TPN focuses on incoming sensory data and moves you toward a goal by making quick decisions.
I think I've spent most of my life improperly trying to use my DMN to achieve goals. After being exposed to the idea of the TPN, it occurred to me that I struggled to focus, set goals, and execute because I was literally trying to use the wrong part of my brain.
To attempt to shift to using my TPN, I think things along the lines of:
- "Don't think, just do."
- "Stop planning, just start."
- "Just type something, anything."
- "I'm only going to figure this out after making a decision and taking action."
Now, here I am with a finished side project and a blog post.
Since looking at the problem of focus in this light, something has really clicked with me. I won't say that it's a silver bullet, but I suspect this way of thinking may remain in my mental toolkit for some time. However, I'm always trying to iterate on my model of how I work internally, and this could just as well be a stepping stone to some more complete understanding in the future.
There are always one or two project ideas swirling around in my head at any given point in time, and I've really been struggling with just starting.
While I think Go is a great language, and I'd be more than happy to work with it again, it just doesn't feel like my language for solo projects. I want that language that just clicks with me and that I find beautiful. I'm a very visual person, and how a language looks is important to me. That may sound funny, but the visuals of a language significantly affect my ability to feel where I am in code and get information at a glance. Also, writing in a language that is visually appealing to you can feel very rewarding.
While I think my exploration was warranted and fruitful, I went about it in the wrong way. Instead of spending the time I did reading and deliberating, I should have been rapid-firing out mini-projects in each language I was curious about.
I should have been doing instead of thinking. I tend to spend a lot of time toiling over things, where the solution becomes immediately apparent if I just take action. For example, I may feel paralyzed trying to pick a path to future-proof something I am developing, only to find that after just coding anything it either worked or pointed me to the obvious answer that I never could have found by just thinking.
Or, let's take this blog post as another example. Naturally (for me), I tried to plan and find the right idea for my first post, became frustrated, and almost decided to nix the idea for a blog altogether. But, here I am, writing something.
The idea of just doing may sound obvious, but it's something that took me a long time to figure out.
I had heard of the Default Mode Network (DMN) before, the area of the brain that is activated when not engaged in a task. It handles thinking about the future and past. However, I think something clicked for me when I recently learned about the Task Positive Network (TPN). It's the area of the brain that is engaged when focused on a task.
It makes sense that there is a part of the brain that makes use of idle time. When not focused on the outside world, the DMN can look inward, plan, reflect, and reorganize. On the other hand, the TPN focuses on incoming sensory data and moves you toward a goal by making quick decisions.
I think I've spent most of my life improperly trying to use my DMN to achieve goals. After being exposed to the idea of the TPN, it occurred to me that I struggled to focus, set goals, and execute because I was literally trying to use the wrong part of my brain.
To attempt to shift to using my TPN, I think things along the lines of:
- "Don't think, just do."
- "Stop planning, just start."
- "Just type something, anything."
- "I'm only going to figure this out after making a decision and taking action."
Now, here I am with a finished side project and a blog post.
Since looking at the problem of focus in this light, something has really clicked with me. I won't say that it's a silver bullet, but I suspect this way of thinking may remain in my mental toolkit for some time. However, I'm always trying to iterate on my model of how I work internally, and this could just as well be a stepping stone to some more complete understanding in the future.