The Simple Fixes on the Quest for Improved Performance

Many people are interested in becoming more effective, improving their quality of life, having a better recall of what they learn, performing at a higher level, producing fewer errors, etc. You can find countless podcasts, books, articles, and tweets on the topic. People want to adopt strategies or structure their day to maximize effectiveness.

But for some reason, the simplest fixes get overlooked.

  • If you want to become better at everything you do, there’s one basic step you can take: prioritize your sleep. Sleep deprivation is bad on all counts. End of story.
  • After that comes exercise – are you doing any? Do you just cycle through sitting at your desk, your car, a table, your couch?
  • What about nutrition – are you giving your body high quality inputs on a sound schedule, or are you eating nutrient poor food and spiking your blood sugar repeatedly throughout the day?
  • How about attention – do you create the conditions that allow you to focus on your work? Or are you constantly distracted by endless notifications, social media addiction, and the compulsion to check Slack and email every 5 minutes?

These are fundamentals of life. Unless you’re attending to these areas, they are probably the primary limiting factor in your effectiveness. Not some hidden knowledge you haven’t yet discovered. Not the perfect tool you haven’t found yet. Not a magical process that will ensure you never make mistakes. Not some advanced skill you haven’t unlocked.

The most common response when I point this out is “if only it was that easy.” IT IS THAT EASY!

Are there good reasons that some people don’t sleep enough (or exercise, or eat well, or or or)?

Yes, certainly. I’ve had to work many late nights, especially when I had a job that required talking to folks in China. I also have two kids that interrupt my sleep quite frequently. But it is willfully ignorant to act as if there are only good reasons we don’t get enough sleep. I often don’t get enough sleep due to my own choices: scrolling on my phone, playing chess, working on my computer too late on unimportant tasks, binge-reading a book, etc. In any case, whether the reason is good or not doesn’t matter one bit. Sleep deprivation affects you the same regardless of the justification.

“If only it were that easy” is also willfully ignorant of science and your own experiences as a human being. We have so much data on the negative impacts of insufficient sleep, skipping exercise, and eating poorly. But I don’t need studies. Basic observation works just as well. I can monitor my own state of being and see the impacts of being well-rested or not: I am meaner, more sensitive, and more distracted when I am tired. Not only do I know this about myself, but everyone around me knows it too. And the impacts of sleep, nutrition, and exercise are extremely obvious when you’re around children. Kids are much more pleasant and focused when they’re well-rested, and cranky and scattered when they are tired. When they’re eating well, they’re pleasant, and when they’re hungry or blood sugar crashes they are prone to tantrums. When they’re insufficiently exercised and full of energy, they’re unfocused and scattered and destructive and annoying.

Why do you think the same factors do not impact you, fellow human? Have you transcended your biology?

References

  • Prioritize Your Sleep (Member’s Content)
  • The epistemology of software quality by Adora Cheung

    How much sleep do you get per night? When was the last time you worked more than 40 hours a week? Are you happy at your job? These are the questions that most impact software quality. Studies across disciplines consistently show that the difference between technical and human solutions is the difference between results that effectively state “We speculate there is a small impact” and “We are confident there’s a dramatic difference.” These findings make sense: Programming is an extension of our minds, and anything that compromises our minds will hurt our programming skills.

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