- Scott H Young - https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog -

Friday Links 08-07-11

From the Web

Along with writing articles to this website, I also write four articles for Pick The Brain per month.  Here are a few recent entries I’ve written:

How to Find Motivation for Things You Hate Doing [1] – “Everyone has things they hate to do, but need to do anyway. Sometimes it is doing basic chores that need to be done. In other cases, it’s the boring part of an otherwise interesting project. People who get things finished (as opposed to people who just get things started) have mastered the ability to push through the things they hate doing, to work on the things they love.”

Listen: This Habit Will Dramatically Improve Your Conversations [2] -“Your non-stop talking makes you seem like a jerk. I’ve never met you before, so if you are perfect at listening in a conversation, I apologize. That message wasn’t intended for you. But a lot of people do have a problem with listening. They fill conversations with the sound of their voice. I know, because I’m one of them. The listening habit has been something I’ve been trying to build with myself. There are plenty of selfish (and non-selfish) reasons why becoming a better listener is useful. I’m sure you don’t want to miss out, just because neither of us run out of things to say.”

Attention Introverts: How to Become More Extroverted [3] -  “Already, by writing this title, I’m sure I’ve annoyed a few people. Extroversion is supposed to be a personality trait, not something you pick, but something you were born with. That might be true. But even if you are fairly introverted, I think you can still capture some of the best parts of being an extrovert: …”

From the Archives

Kill Open Loops [4] – A great recipe for wasting time is to work on open loops.  This article explains what open loops are, and how to close them so you can stay focused and productive.

From the Shelf

Foundation [5] – I recently read this science fiction classic by Isaac Asimov.  The book is interesting because I feel it parallels many of the social changes in human history, while having an page-turning plot.