“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”
Seneca, statesman and philosopher, circa AD 50
Author: pilot
The little reed, bending to the force of the wind, soon stood upright again when the storm had passed over.
Aesop, author, circa 600BC
Sometimes (often) I get stuck in a project muddle. Especially during the year of massive delays.
A new watch design or project idea lights me up and I dig deep.
It’s almost like a fever. Consuming. Obsession.
But sometimes that fire loses some fuel as I wrangle watch design details or wrestle with manufacturers that say, “That’s impossible.”
From mountain highs of vision to valleys deep in drudgery.
Many hundreds of decisions that chip away at resolve.
For example, here’s tiny details on COURG/42. And this is just one round out of months of revisions.
A Clarifying Potion
On Your Mark, Get Set — Make Your …
Play is the highest form of research.
Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist, circa 1950
The flow will come. You’ll find new work, new solutions also bring new insight into previous muddles.
Often when you least expect it.
Keep on making your music.
Play on.
And people might laugh. They might hate it. They might fall asleep. They might run. They might misunderstand.
Those who matter will get it. They’re the ones who matter.
And they’ll thank you for showing up and playing your music.
Don’t give up. Give it away.
A project from my cabinet of curiosities.
When I first learned to play my new ukulele, my fingers hurt. They turned an angry red. They ached.
The notes sounded horrible.
In time the pain receded and music ascended.
Through a long year, suffering produces callouses in our lives.
We harden. The shell thickens to dull the onslaught.
But we have to be careful that we don’t allow that layer to get too thick.
Or we won’t feel a thing. And worse — we’ll lack compassion.
Distressed for Purpose
It’s the callouses that enable us to press into the pain.
Because we’ve been there. We’re willing to push in.
Because even if we can’t see it, we know deep down suffering can become glory, and glory is a beacon.
And that requires time and space to heal and recover.
When we press into the pain that has healed, we make musical notes that resonate with others who bear the same pain.
In the Dark
Sometimes, we think of callouses as a bad thing.
Ugly. Rough. Coarse.
The mechanic or carpenter with tough scaly hands. Yet what wonders they craft with their hands — which have been formed by the work they’ve practiced repeatedly.
They become so practiced they could do their craft with their eyes closed.
Sometimes before bed, I dim the lights and strum my ukulele to decompress.
At first I had to squint down at my fingers. But after a few weeks I realized I didn’t even need to look down at the strings anymore.
Our practice shapes our lives to the best form to serve others. Our work makes something, and at the same time the work shapes us. It builds muscle memory in our lives so we can build others up.
But it takes time. Reflection. Being willing to stay in the dark. Sit and learn from the pain.
To be unashamed of the scars.
And even when we can’t see, even when things are dark and uncertain, because of our practice, we will know which notes we need to play in the night — for ourselves and for others.
Want to make your own? Here’s how I made mine.
Let’s START something new.
Redux exists to equip and encourage you to tackle your missions. I just happened to start with hardware — watches.
Now, I’m starting an experiment to be more intentional about ground support for your wetware (mind, soul, spirit, character) upgrades.
Once a week I’ll debrief with you on three waypoints (like trail markers) converging on one theme.
Why three?
Well, it takes three points to triangulate your position. When you connect the dots, and remember where you’re headed, you can course correct as needed.
Weekly Waypoints will include:
- Ancient wisdom
- Scientific evidence
- Workshop visit / Prototype intel
And - A personal story I’m digging into (this week literally)
Everything you need will be in the email, think of it as a heads up display. But if you want more, you can always meet me here the jump for a dive deep.
This week, in honor of this humble launch, let’s START SMALL.
It’s been an insane year. Many people are waiting for 2021 to make things better.
<Breaking News>
There’s no point in waiting for January to get a new start. January 1 resolutions are pegged to an arbitrary date anyway. It’s only meaningful because we assign some magic to that date.
Any date will do. Today — right now — is as good a time as any, and certainly better than later.
“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”
Francis of Assisi, friar, deacon, mystic, circa 1100s
“Take a behavior you want, make it tiny, find where it fits naturally in your life, and nurture its growth.
If you want to create long-term change, it’s best to start small.”
BJ Fogg, PhD, founder, Behavior Design Lab at Stanford University
Welcome to the new abnormal.
What’s that about curiosities? I have a bunch of projects in stealth mode. These have never seen the light of day for various reasons. Sometimes I just get distracted and need to make something. Other times these were experiments to find solutions for myself.
The End.
COURG Zero-Hour
1 Type-A SOLD!
If you’ve been on the fence about owning a COURG, now’s the time. I’m not sure whether we’ll make another production run ever.
Now, with the new designs still in a holding pattern, we need to try something different.
Just waiting around until the prototypes arrive to our satisfaction and then the months required for a proper crowdfunding launch is not an option.
We also want to respond to what’s been happening even with our limited resources. So, we will dedicate a percentage of sales from small batch projects to directly support first responders and healthcare workers on the front lines.
And most importantly, we want to ask: How are you doing and how can we help?
Many of you are members of our Valiant Alliance and are first responders.
I have a couple ideas I’ll share soon, but reply and let me know. We’re here to equip and encourage.
I hesitated a long time before sending this (I’ve been drafting this series of dispatches since April!) because I feel a bit torn. I know that most of you, understandably, think of Redux & Co. as a watch company (Reduxwatch.com @reduxwatch and all that).
Not Just Watches
But we never set out to just sell watches — they’re the flagship. Not the end goal.
Our vision is first and foremost about redeeming the time, and helping our crew live fuller more purpose-filled days. Part of that was building a workshop-business where I could create, make, design, and see what deserves a spot in your kit.
So in some ways, what we’re asking you is also an existential question for us. Are there further ways we can equip and encourage you? How do we better support you on your missions? What do we do better than anyone else in the world for you?
A More Focused Experiment
Redux & Co. began as an experiment, and somewhere along the way I started feeling inadequate. Like I needed to be more polished — that we had to pretend that we had it all figured out.
I tried to make it sound as if we had a larger organization. The royal nebulous “we.”
But really it’s just Wonderwoman Grace, our two littles, and I here in our NYC apartment, and we’re going to keep it real.
We are who we are. We’ll continue to be authentic and not pour on any veneer.
A grandson of the founder, on the way to college in the fall, created the special abrasive blend for us. There’s just something special about a family business.
We built a forum for the crew to collaborate and make epic equipment together!
Here’s a quick 3-step primer for new member registration account creation.
1. CLICK on register button
2. REVIEW our reasonable forum guidelines and best practices. Click “I Agree…”
3. TYPE in username and password details and submit. You will receive an email to confirm your registration and activate your account!
4. WELCOME!
Step 0 / STRAP CHANGE INTEL — ETA. 5 Minutes / COURG / Drilled Lugs
Redux COURG Parts Diagram
Gather components.
(1) 1 or 2 Songs
(1) Beverage
(1) New 2-piece strap
(1) Strap change tool or Macgyver skills
(2) Shoulderless Spring bars
Step 1 / REMOVE EXISTING STRAP
Start your music, sip your drink.
Place your watch face down on a soft cloth on non-scratch surface to protect the crystal and bezel — if you care about things like that. Find the spring bar holes on either side on the outside of the lugs (right next to where the strap connects to the watch). Use the needle end of your strap change tool (or a pin if you’re Macgyver) to push inward to depress the ends of the spring bar inside the lug holes. As you push the tool in, use your other hand to gently slide the strap slightly to release the spring bar from the lug.
*ATTENTION: Don’t tug on the strap too hard or tension on the other end of the spring bar could launch your springbar into a galaxy far far away.
Once both ends are released, slowly slide the strap free of the lugs. Repeat on the other end of the case.
Step 2 / INSTALL NEW STRAP***
Slide spring bars into your new strap so both ends stick out evenly. With the watch upside down, fit one end of the spring bar into one lug hole. Hold the other protruding end of the spring bar against the opposite lug, roughly lined up where the hole is.
Flip the needle point tool end to the flat head side. Pinch the needle point end, pull it out, switch it around so the flat head side faces out. Use the flat head of the strap change tool (or small screwdriver or knife or you get the idea) and push in on the very end of the spring bar so it can slide in between the lugs. Push the bar in against the strap until the end of the spring bar slides down inside the lug. Carefully move the strap up and down until you hear the spring bar click into its hole and ensure a secure fit.
Step 3 / TACKLE YOUR MISSIONS
Strap that watch on with the new strap installed! Then file a field report of your COURG in action.
Checkout the COURG crew gallery: dispatches.reduxwatch.com/gallery — and join us:
Find us @reduxwatch everywhere.
- Instagram instagram.com/reduxwatch
- Facebook facebook.com/reduxwatch
- Pinterest pinterest.com/reduxwatch
***PLEASE NOTE: Once a strap has been installed and worn (leather creased, dirty, etc.), returns are not permitted on items which can’t go to inventory for resale. So, please ensure the strap will fit before installing.
by Elliot Berkman, University of Oregon and Jordan Miller-Ziegler, University of Oregon
“I love deadlines,” English author Douglas Adams once wrote. “I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.”
We’ve all had the experience of wanting to get a project done but putting it off for later. Sometimes we wait because we just don’t care enough about the project, but other times we care a lot – and still end up doing something else. I, for one, end up cleaning my house when I have a lot of papers to grade, even though I know I need to grade them.
So why do we procrastinate? Are we built to operate this way at some times? Or is there something wrong with the way we’re approaching work?
These questions are central to my research on goal pursuit, which could offer some clues from neuroscience about why we procrastinate – and how to overcome this tendency.
To do, or not to do
It all starts with a simple choice between working now on a given project and doing anything else: working on a different project, doing something fun or doing nothing at all.
The decision to work on something is driven by how much we value accomplishing the project in that moment – what psychologists call its subjective value. And procrastination, in psychological terms, is what happens when the value of doing something else outweighs the value of working now.
This way of thinking suggests a simple trick to defeat procrastination: find a way to boost the subjective value of working now, relative to the value of other things. You could increase the value of the project, decrease the value of the distraction, or some combination of the two.
For example, instead of cleaning my house, I might try to focus on why grading is personally important to me. Or I could think about how unpleasant cleaning can actually be – especially when sharing a house with a toddler.
It’s simple advice, but adhering to this strategy can be quite difficult, mainly because there are so many forces that diminish the value of working in the present.
The distant deadline
People are not entirely rational in the way they value things. For example, a dollar bill is worth exactly the same today as it is a week from now, but its subjective value – roughly how good it would feel to own a dollar – depends on other factors besides its face value, such as when we receive it.
The tendency for people to devalue money and other goods based on time is called delay discounting. For example, one study showed that, on average, receiving $100 three months from now is worth the same to people as receiving $83 right now. People would rather lose $17 than wait a few months to get a larger reward.
Other factors also influence subjective value, such as how much money someone has recently gained or lost. The key point is that there is not a perfect match between objective value and subjective value.
Delay discounting is a factor in procrastination because the completion of the project happens in the future. Getting something done is a delayed reward, so its value in the present is reduced: the further away the deadline is, the less attractive it seems to work on the project right now.
Studies have repeatedly shown that the tendency to procrastinate closely follows economic models of delay discounting. Furthermore, people who characterize themselves as procrastinators show an exaggerated effect. They discount the value of getting something done ahead of time even more than other people.
One way to increase the value of completing a task is to make the finish line seem closer. For example, vividly imagining a future reward reduces delay discounting.
No work is ‘effortless’
Not only can completing a project be devalued because it happens in the future, but working on a project can also be unattractive due to the simple fact that work takes effort.
New research supports the idea that mental effort is intrinsically costly; for this reason, people generally choose to work on an easier task rather than a harder task. Furthermore, there are greater subjective costs for work that feels harder (though these costs can be offset by experience with the task at hand).
This leads to the interesting prediction that people would procrastinate more the harder they expect the work to be. That’s because the more effort a task requires, the more someone stands to gain by putting the same amount of effort into something else (a phenomenon economists call opportunity costs). Opportunity costs make working on something that seems hard feels like a loss.
Sure enough, a group of studies shows that people procrastinate more on unpleasant tasks. These results suggest that reducing the pain of working on a project, for example by breaking it down into more familiar and manageable pieces, would be an effective way to reduce procrastination.
Your work, your identity
When we write that procrastination is a side effect of the way we value things, it frames task completion as a product of motivation, rather than ability.
In other words, you can be really good at something, whether it’s cooking a gourmet meal or writing a story, but if you don’t possess the motivation, or sense of importance, to complete the task, it’ll likely be put off.
It was for this reason that the writer Robert Hanks, in an essay for the London Review of Books, described procrastination as “a failure of appetites.”
The source of this “appetite” can be a bit tricky. But one could argue that, like our (real) appetite for food, it’s something that’s closely intertwined with our daily lives, our culture and our sense of who we are.
So how does one increase the subjective value of a project? A powerful way – one that my graduate students and I have written about in detail – is to connect the project to your self-concept. Our hypothesis is that projects seen as important to a person’s self-concept will hold more subjective value for that person.
It’s for this reason that Hanks also wrote that procrastination seems to stem from a failure to “identify sufficiently with your future self” – in other words, the self for whom the goal is most relevant.
Because people are motivated to maintain a positive self-concept, goals connected closely to one’s sense of self or identity take on much more value.
Connecting the project to more immediate sources of value, such as life goals or core values, can fill the deficit in subjective value that underlies procrastination.
Elliot Berkman, Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Oregon and Jordan Miller-Ziegler, PhD Candidate in Psychology, University of Oregon
This article was originally published on The Conversation.
Do you sometimes feel you need a vacation from your vacation?
by Jamie Gruman, University of Guelph
Lots of people will take a vacation this summer, but for many of them, their vacations won’t be the relaxing, recuperative getaways they were hoping for.
Research shows that about 40 per cent of people return from their vacations and feel either no better, or even worse, than before they left.
This happens because many of us make mistakes that compromise how enjoyable and satisfying our vacations can be. Below are some simple recommendations that you can implement before, during and after your vacation that will help ensure that your time off this summer is pleasurable, gratifying and fully recharges your batteries.
Plan ahead
Vacations can be stressful. Minimize your stress by planning out key parts of your vacation before you leave.
Reserve a flight outside of rush hour so you don’t get stuck in traffic. Book your scuba diving adventure a few weeks in advance.
Coordinate your decision-making and expectations with travel mates before you leave for vacation. Image: Pixabay
Before leaving make sure that you and your travel partners are clear on everyone’s vacation priorities and have a general agreement about how you’ll spend your time.
While you are away you don’t want to engage in potentially stressful negotiations about how to fill your days. Even a single negative incident on vacation, like an argument with a spouse, reduces how much your time away improves your health and well-being.
Put away the electronics
A necessary ingredient for recharging your batteries on vacation is mentally disengaging from work. It’s not enough to physically leave the office, you have to mentally leave the office.
This is called psychological detachment. If you’re on the beach constantly looking at your phone to see what’s happening back at work, you’re not psychologically detached. If you check your email three times a day, you’re not psychologically detached.
If you don’t psychologically detach you won’t replenish yourself much on your trip. Turn off the electronics and clear your mind. That said, if you get anxious about the mountain of emails that will be waiting for you when you get back to work, you will also have trouble chilling out. So, engage in email triage.
Once every three or four days, check your email and delete anything you can dispense with immediately. Then, reply quickly to anything that can be addressed with a simple, token response, and mark as unread anything that needs some thought and should be tackled when you get back. This cuts the huge mountain of emails down to a small pile, which will put your mind at ease and allow you to unwind.
Read more:
The importance of actually unplugging on National Day of Unplugging
Enjoy yourself
Be a little bit selfish on vacation and ensure that you get to do what floats your boat. Enjoying yourself is a necessary ingredient in making sure your vacation is recuperative.
Make sure to do things you enjoy.
Vacations are supposed to refresh you and alleviate the burnout you suffer at work, and research shows that when you enjoy yourself and are satisfied with your vacation, your level of burnout drops significantly while away, but when you are not satisfied, your level of burnout barely changes.
Similarly, whether or not you enjoy your vacation strongly affects how refreshed you feel when it’s over. Take time for yourself and participate in activities you find pleasurable and satisfying. This is your vacation. You’ve earned it.
Staycations are OK
Not everyone has the disposable funds for travel vacations. But that’s OK. Staycations can be as effective as exotic getaways if they are done right.
Staycations can be great. But get out of your routine!
The main mistake people make during vacations at home is that they stay in their normal routine. They cook, they clean, they watch TV. In short, they don’t “vacate” their normal lives.
If you stay at home on your vacation, shake things up. Visit local tourist attractions. Eat different foods. Take day trips to neighbouring communities. Getting out of your normal routine can make a staycation feel as novel and recuperative as an excursion to a foreign land.
Read more:
How to turn your long weekend into a vacation
Come home a little early
We usually come back from our travel vacations on Sunday night so we can return to work Monday morning. We do this because we think that maximizing our vacation time means making the vacation last as long as possible.
But the goal of our vacations shouldn’t be to make them as long as possible but to make them as effective as possible. If you return home Sunday night you’re likely to run around trying to hurriedly unpack, water your plants, do laundry, pick up some groceries, check your phone messages and various other things you need to do to get back into the swing of things.
However, scrambling about is stressful and can quickly undo all the health and well-being gains you made while on vacation. Research shows that people who return from vacations a little bit early report being in a better mood for longer than those who return on a Sunday.
Arrive home with enough time to relax and organize before work on Monday morning.
Bookend your vacation with as little stress as possible. Come home early enough to leisurely get back into your normal routine, and ease back into work retaining your vacation benefits for as long as you can.
People often complain that they need a vacation from their vacation. When we return from our time off feeling just as depleted and tired as before we left it is usually because our vacations didn’t allow us to replenish our drained resources, satisfy our needs or adequately disengage from our normal routines.
Implementing a few simple tactics before, during, and after your vacation can ensure that your time off this summer fully recharges your batteries and lets you return to work feeling healthy, happy and productive.
Jamie Gruman, Professor of Organizational Behaviour, University of Guelph
This article was originally published on The Conversation.