
8,760 Hours: How to get the most out of next year - braydenm
https://alexvermeer.com/8760hours/
======
welanes
This is good. Especially this:

> A review of your “ideal you,” your ideal future, your major goals and
> desires in life.

One 'problem' with many task management methods is that when you slip (which
most of us do) there's an aversion to opening up your
Wunderlist/Excel/moleskin months later and seeing how far your current self is
behind your aspirational self.

Task managers are good at atomizing goals into objectives but overlook
motivations and outcomes. They lack a _' remind me again what's in it for
future-me?'_ feature.

I'm currently attempting to code such a feature into my app. By way of
example, take learning French as a goal:

* Tasks: the usual list of todos. Go to evening classes; Watch 5 hours of TV5Monde each week. etc.

* Resources: links to Youtube videos, uploaded language podcasts, communities on the web.

* Inspiration: images of French cities you want to visit, scenes from a favorite French film, quotes, a mini journal-entry about that French girl or guy you met that one time. Snippets of things the French-speaking-you will appreciate.

* Insights: how much time you're dedicating to the goal, hours already spent and estimated completion date based on your current rate of productivity.

So your task manager serves not only as a checklist but also as a control-room
(or if you like, moodboard) for that goal. Tasks, tools, motivation and a
feedback loop all in one place.

~~~
mgiannopoulos
Take a look at Beeminder [1] Each goal includes an open text "fine print"
where can put anything like what you describe above.

[1] [https://www.beeminder.com/](https://www.beeminder.com/)

~~~
dreeves
Thank you so much for that plug! The author of the article, alexvermeer, is
also a longtime Beeminder fan! See
[https://alexvermeer.com/beeminder/](https://alexvermeer.com/beeminder/)

------
slashdotdash
I'm trying a new approach for 2017: personal goals, made public [1].

A public GitHub repo where my goals are recorded as issues and accomplishments
are closed tickets. I've created milestones for each year (e.g. 2016, 2017) to
track my progress. I've backdated some of my 2016 acheivements to get a feel
for how it will work.

I hope that writing down my aspirations for the year ahead will help me fulfil
them.

[1] [https://github.com/slashdotdash/personal-
goals](https://github.com/slashdotdash/personal-goals)

~~~
sowbug
I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer, but you should watch this TED talk about
publishing goals:
[https://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_keep_your_goals_to_yo...](https://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_keep_your_goals_to_yourself)
The TLDR is "people who talk about their ambitions may be less likely to
achieve them." As with many TED talks, the message is thought-provoking but
not guaranteed to be based on solid science.

In any case, best of luck. I hope you achieve your goals -- but please don't
interpret this encouragement as false social reality.

~~~
maroonblazer
I've found that using one of Sivers' alternate approaches - "I'm going to do x
and please kick my ass if I don't" \- works remarkably well. Of course you
need to choose people who actually _will_ kick your ass, otherwise you start
figuring out who amongst your network will let you slide and tell only them,
defeating the purpose of the exercise.

~~~
codeisawesome
"kick my ass" can also be translated to a major monetary penalty - Steve Kamb
tells us about his friend who bet $500 to his friends if he didn't lose weight

~~~
powermeat
stickk .com

------
alexvermeer
Sorry for the potato server everyone. Will fix asap.

Alternate download link:
[https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2PaeRjVqAN7MngxTXFPQkpLVj...](https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2PaeRjVqAN7MngxTXFPQkpLVjg)

~~~
lyoshenka
Do you have a text version of this? The PDF is nice, but a single-column
webpage is way easier to read. Thanks.

~~~
WCityMike
Quick run through pdftotext and minor cleanup:
[http://pastebin.com/raw/V7FaFS0Q](http://pastebin.com/raw/V7FaFS0Q)

------
shubhamjain
I don't follow any specific goals or planning but I have come to realise the
value of their intended purpose. I think many people — as did I — see these
lists as overburdening. But, the more I have worked towards creating or
accomplishing something the more I have realised how many things are under
realm of attainment with a little push. These small accomplishments make you
more confident and happier.

Earlier, I lacked focus to read a book without fiddling around my phone and
managing only a few pages in a spurt. Few months back, I pushed myself to
concentrate and try to finish even if my mind pushed me towards just checking
HN / Reddit. I managed to finish four in a month which is not a bad
considering that earlier figure was one. I didn't lose any hours of my happier
life but spent some in being more knowledgable.

~~~
chillwaves
Even without the knowledge, I find intrinsic value in training yourself to
focus. Also find it helps to focus on how the activity is enriching myself, or
future benefit. I might want to leave a sink full of dishes overnight, but if
I do them now I frame it as a gift to my future self and the amount of relief
I feel having tied up loose ends like this each day is enormous. The more I do
it, the better and more efficient the habit becomes, the less time it takes.

There is more resistance to get started because of inertia but once I get
going that inertia works in my favor.

~~~
codyb
I find that thinking about things I have to do is much less enjoyable than
actually doing those things. It's definitely true that the more often you
convince yourself to just get up and at 'em the easier it is to overcome those
mental hurdles in the future.

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petecooper
Slow as molasses here, so archive.org link:

[https://web.archive.org/web/20161221130952/https://alexverme...](https://web.archive.org/web/20161221130952/https://alexvermeer.com/8760hours/)

Also, perhaps a (2012) in the title?

Edit: my bad, there's a 2016 update:

[https://alexvermeer.com/8760hours-v2-update-
announce/](https://alexvermeer.com/8760hours-v2-update-announce/)

------
markbnj
I think I'm just going to enjoy it and do my best not to count the number of
hours in it. I imagine I'll probably get some stuff done though.

------
malcolmocean
I remember a classic breakdown of 7 areas of life which has in a few places
when reading about goals etc: Career, Family, Financial, Mental, Physical,
Social, Spiritual. These aren't terrible decent, but I think Alex's breakdown
is much better for sparking useful thought:

• Values & Purpose • Contribution & Impact • Location & Tangibles • Money &
Finances • Career & Work • Health & Fitness • Education & Skill Development •
Social Life & Relationships • Emotions & Well-Being • Character & Integrity •
Productivity & Organization • Adventure & Creativity

I actually liked these so much that I integrated them right into the yearly
review section of the productivity app I run, Complice
([https://complice.co/](https://complice.co/)). The app is subscription-based,
but you can use the yearly review without paying :)

To get to the yearly review, make an account then go to
[https://complice.co/YOUR_USERNAME_GOES_HERE/reviews/2016/yea...](https://complice.co/YOUR_USERNAME_GOES_HERE/reviews/2016/yearly)

~~~
matt4077
The actual model is
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits)

Almost all these self-help "how to do X" guides focus exclusively on
Conscientiousness. Yeah, they all pay lip service to "relationships" but it
gets the same treatment as "bigger car": work! work! work! daily goal!

> • Values & Purpose • Contribution & Impact • Location & Tangibles • Money &
> Finances • Career & Work • Health & Fitness • Education & Skill Development
> • Social Life & Relationships • Emotions & Well-Being • Character &
> Integrity • Productivity & Organization • Adventure & Creativity

That list is absurd. If you're unhappy enough with your life to turn it into a
24-point daily checklist you need a vacation and possibly treatment for
depression. If you think that's not it, here's some advice:

Get "Values & Purpose" straight and everything else will follow.

~~~
malcolmocean
There is something important to be said about the effect of having a really
clear sense of purpose. I think this is seriously underrated.

But I think it's also the case that part of how we discover purposes to orient
towards is thinking about areas of our lives and envisioning how they could be
different.

(Also I'm not sure why you're comparing the Big Five list with these lists)

------
dominotw
Is it really necessary to manage your life like a software project at a big
co. Would it be possible to come up with something less intimidating and
practical like

'do 10 pomodoros/day for 1 month'.

~~~
mgiannopoulos
After a couple of weeks it is useful to have some context in writing: why did
i set up the goal, what am I trying to achieve?

------
sireat
This hyperproductivity might only be advisable in small doses and only when
one is young (under 30 if not under 25) Then it has a small chance of leading
to some "greater" utilitarian good (ie you become next Elon Musk)

As I get older I realize how little time I have left. There are myriad of
things I will never get to do no matter how hyper organized I get.

The worst realization is that there is no real time to master something new
when you are older past the age of 40. You can fake it by setting lower
goalposts but that feels deeply unsatisfactory.

Only solution is to enjoy the present (family, friends, my existing skills, a
good book, a game, etc) as there is no real success in the end (the pieces all
go in the same box).

------
curiousgal
Direct pdf link:

[https://alexvermeer.com/wp-
content/uploads/8760-hours-v2.pdf](https://alexvermeer.com/wp-
content/uploads/8760-hours-v2.pdf)

~~~
peterhartree
Alternative PDF link:

[https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-A14CtANtmIX3ZCQmFvVW5neU...](https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-A14CtANtmIX3ZCQmFvVW5neUk)

~~~
wears_sweaters1
thank you

------
hoodwink
This guy's guide on Anki (Anki Essentials) changed my life

~~~
hakakadera
Will be nice if you can give a glimpse of your experience.

~~~
hoodwink
Anki (and spaced repetition in general) is an amazing tool enabling you to
learn more in less time. The problem is that the learning curve is quite
steep. Alex's manual holds your hand up the learning curve with clear
instructions and practical advice.

I tried maybe two or three times prior to integrate Anki into my flow. It
wasn't until I worked through this booklet that it finally clicked.

~~~
hakakadera
Thanks for the reply!

I am going to give it a sincere try.. Hope I can find some grip in climbing
anything that is steep (whether its Anki itself or my other goals).. I guess
motivation in itself is another trainable skill..

------
maxxxxx
I think a good goal would be to do one thing that you are really proud of per
year. Much better than trying to be busy every second.

------
0xCMP
I wish I produced content which made my website die, but I also would never
want that to happen to me. I can't understand why everyone doesn't just run an
S3 static website for most of these personal websites/blogs.

And then I remember almost every tool/plugin/theme/etc. is for wordpress and I
think "Oh man, must be nice..."

Always a tradeoff.

------
aashishkoirala
I keep getting Database Error.

~~~
Light2Yellow
Actually it worked for 10 minutes or so. I kept trying and made through it :)

------
K_REY_C
Any plans for an ebook version? The older I get the more I find the PDF a
frustrating reading experience (especially on mobile).

~~~
alexvermeer
Yes to plans, though not before 2017.

~~~
K_REY_C
Appreciated. Really enjoy the walkthrough.

------
Zelmor
And an article about why it's all bullshit. Posted the same day. How ironic.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13235654](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13235654)

------
edem
I get database error when I try to visit the page.

~~~
matt4077
At least you'll have an excuse :)

------
PanosJee
How should some one get the most of anything?

~~~
getlasterror
Ask a lot and then decrease

------
cairo_x
I am not my achievements. I am not my goals. I shall smell the roses and enjoy
the process and struggle without lust for result. Namaste, mofos!!!

------
spython
Especially during the festive season one should remember that productivity is
not everything. The Guardian has a good write-up:

Why time management is ruining our lives

[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/22/why-
time-...](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/22/why-time-
management-is-ruining-our-lives)

~~~
tyrust
Thanks for sharing that, I hadn't read it before. As an engineer just getting
started with my life and career I've been struggling with the sorts of
concerns in that article. It was good to read something that was sympathetic
to my worries.

That said, the article doesn't really provide answers. It merely points out
what maybe should have been obvious: excessive time management is excessive.
It's true that productivity for the sake of productivity is a poor goal.
However, suppose that with your increased productivity you are able to enrich
not your life, but the lives of others. Then you are faced with the choice of
working harder or letting others down. It's easy to say that taking a trip to
another country for the sole purpose of filling your Instagram is just
masturbatory (which might not be a bad thing!). A more difficult question
might be whether it's worth taking such a trip to do charity work during a
holiday that you would ordinarily spend with your family. The trade-offs
between helping strangers vs letting down your family and between getting some
rest vs using your time off well are complex.

At this point I am rambling. The shortest answer I have right now is the same,
vague answer I have for similar complex things: operate in moderation and
things will work themselves out. Finding exactly what the appropriate balance
is will probably be a life long struggle.

