Sten Vesterli's Blog

Making IT Live up to its Promise

Category: Spiritual Programmer

What does work?

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Two factors affect your happiness. For most people, one of these is clearly dominant. For happy people, they are in balance.

The factor that decreases your happiness is all the things that don’t work. It is the bugs in your code, the meaningless bureaucracy you are subject to, and the constant deluge of bad news from our media. This information is constantly forced upon us from the outside.

The factor that can increase your happiness is all the things that do work. But the media rarely report good news, and your boss rarely comes by your desk to express his appreciation for all the systems that are working flawlessly. That means that you have to provide the good news yourself.

Make a habit of appreciating something every day. The code that runs just as it should, the train that was on time, the friend that called you. It is up to you to keep your life in balance.

Reboot

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There is nothing you cannot start today. Every day is a new beginning, no matter what happened yesterday. If life got in the way, or simple procrastinating kept you from doing what you had planned, never mind. You can do it today.

The reason we always start IT troubleshooting with “Did you try a reboot?” is that it works. Starting over gets rid of superfluous zombie processes and reclaims memory. It works for your brain just as it does for your computer. But as your day wears on, you’ll find you work slower and slower. Email and other messages add background processes and use up memory, leaving you with little productivity left by the end of the workday.

That’s why you need to start with what’s important. Identify one task that has to happen today, and don’t open email, messaging apps, or social media until that is done.

Fight the Manipulation

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You are being manipulated, and you need to fight back. Apps and websites want you to stay as long as possible, and they are employing well-researched brain-hacking tricks to make you spend more time than you intended.

TikTok is famous for taking attention-trapping to the next level, but today, the AI chatbots are moving the game up another notch. Notice the evolution of ChatGPT: First, it just gave you what you asked for. Then it started ending all answers with a friendly offer, “I can also get you…” Now they don’t offer you the option to continue; instead, they present you with an A/B choice: “I can get you A or get you B, which do you prefer?” Notice that the option to end the conversation has disappeared.

Your defense is to engage your conscious System 2 (cf. Kahneman) to set a limit. If you just let your automatic System 1 loose, you will be dragged down one rabbit hole after another.

Whenever you decide to spend some time on TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, SnapChat, Instagram, or ChatGPT, set a timer. If you are accessing on your phone, use its features to limit the time spent in each app. If you are accessing through a web browser, install a browser plugin.

You only have so much time, and evil people are out to take it from you. Fight back.

Take Action

Spiritual Programmer,

To make a difference, you must act in the real world. It’s election day in Denmark, and I’ve done my civic duty. My single vote probably doesn’t change the outcome, but it has more impact than a hundred online posts.

One of the insidious problems of social media is that it creates the illusion of action. I have liked, commented, and subscribed, and now the world will definitely change. Not.

The only way to change the world is IRL: vote in elections, volunteer for causes you support, and buy products that harm the planet as little as possible. Take action today—online doesn’t count.

Memento Mori

Spiritual Programmer,

Have you thought about death recently? Specifically, your own death?

When a victorious general rode in his chariot in triumph through ancient Rome, he would have a slave standing behind him. Every once in a while, as the conquering hero received the adulation of the people, the slave would whisper “memento mori” – remember that you must die. It was supposed to prevent success from going to his head.

In the Renaissance, this saying was adopted as a spiritual practice: you have an unknown, but finite, time on Earth, and you need to make the most of it. Renaissance paintings often included a skull, an hourglass, or wilted flowers to remind the viewer that everything will pass.

We’re not surrounded by these symbols today. Instead, we’re bombarded with images of how to look younger. Every drugstore sells “anti-aging” ointments, and billionaires are throwing money at speculative longevity research. But it is much more useful to be mindful of how we use the time we have.

When James Bond’s colleagues at MI6 hold a remembrance for him, M reads from a poem by Jack London: “I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”

I lost my wife this year. Lachesis had measured out 59 years for her. She used her time well and made a difference in the world. In her memory, I aspire to make the most of my remaining time.

How are you doing? Reflect on how you have spent the minutes you were given today. If you feel there is room for improvement, figure out a way to make tomorrow better. Memento mori.

Making The Most of Your Time

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As if the Afghan people did not have enough problems already, they have also just been hit by an earthquake. People are fleeing war and prosecution all over the world. If you are sitting in a comfy office working on your computer, spend a moment appreciating the good hand you’ve been dealt. Then reflect on what you are spending your life on. Are you really making the most of the talents and situation you have been given?

Set your Mind’s GPS

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Did you ever set your GPS wrong? I know I have. It takes a little while, but I eventually figure out that something is wrong with the directions I am given. But if you set your mind’s GPS wrong, it can take much longer to notice.

If you are unhappy about the path of your life, you need to re-program your mind’s GPS. A simple way to do that is by saying affirmations. An affirmation is a compelling sentence that describes how you feel after reaching your goal. One of mine has been “I am happy and proud that I won the Best Speaker award.”

Design an affirmation and say it to yourself every day. You will find that it directs your mind to seek a way to reach the goal your affirmation describes. And yes, I did win the award I was looking for 😉

Choose Your Soundtrack

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Movies manipulate your feelings. You can borrow the techniques of the movie industry to change how you feel. One of their tricks is the soundtrack. You just know that something scary is waiting behind that door – the music tells you.

Think about the soundtrack you want for your life. You might create several playlists for different moods. You can have one for starting work, one for winding down after your workday, one for getting ready for bed, and an extra energetic one for doing boring work around the house.

Your rational mind cannot directly affect your feelings. It doesn’t work to simply tell yourself to cheer up. But your rational self can select the right tunes and let the music do the magic.