disclaimer: I’ve decided that I quite enjoy writing “Alek thoughts on”“life”"" blog posts. So, this is one of those, not hard core math.

Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of things that aren’t math. For instance, differential equations (not math), working, reading, “socializing”. I want to write this to better understand what role these things play in life, where I’ve kind of defined the purpose of life to be “creating epic math”.

Here are some thoughts:

1. It is usually very not benneficial to perceive an activity that you are already comitted to pursuing as being useless. For instance, diffyq: I can acknowledge that I wouldn’t be learning it if I didn’t want to get credit for the class. However, I may as well a) enjoy it, b) do it quickly, c) do it at low-energy times when I wouldn’t be likely to achieve something else super meaningful with the time

2. hmm, another thought: there are infinitely many unimportant things to do. they can fill the time you give them. so prioritize daily doing the most important things.

3. re motivation. there are ofc hackz to increase motivation. I could try more hackz. hackz that are likely to be effective:

• have a good set of goals
• talk about the goals and the challenges with everyone
• then people can help you refine your goals and keep you accountable (if they care enough to remember)
• hmm, I like this idea it seems like a meaningful way to interact with ppl.

4. reading. I really enjoy reading (good books). I would say, of the “forms of relaxation” that I practice, others being : exercise [walk around, bike, rock climbing ], cooking, talking to ppl sometimes, reading is the most dangerous, because my brain feels like I’m accomplishing something when I finish a book, and the context-switching out of reading is really hard. So what’s the up-shot?
   1. find times to read when you have a clear time-limit due to external pressures; even setting a timer can help

2. don’t read right before you need to concentrate on something
3. remember: you have bought the time with a steep price. this is helpful for helping decide not to squander it.