Weekly review (2024-03-10)

This week passed like a blink. It was a busy week for troubleshooting, and I think we made good progress, though there is a lot more to do. I am often amazed by the resilience of my colleagues and myself. I sometimes think about whether I can work like this every day – I feel like I am always leaving some slack for a rainy day (and that’s why I can do BJJ, write books, etc., while working). At the same time, I also think that this leeway is there for emergencies as we save money.

When I am in trouble, I make sure that I do exercise every day. It cannot be long (because I don’t have time) but intense. For example, I go to the Dojo and do BJJ sparling without pause for 30 minutes (skipping the technique part), or I do a three-time 800m split run within 180 seconds. These things help me reset my working memories, making me think straight. They also remind me of the importance of tenacity. When I become out of breath, I tell myself, “Don’t give up.“ It works. When my body overcomes challenges, my mind can do the same thing.

When I need to reduce sleep, I tend to eat less until 18:00. The reason is simple—I get incredibly sleepy if I overeat. I ensure that I consume enough protein to maintain my muscle, but my overall calorie consumption will be much lower. Actually, my body knows what I should do, so my appetite basically disappears when I work on something crucial.

Intense short exercise, less food, work/think, work/think, work/think, and sleep. The routine will be like this. I maintain the other routines as much as possible but skip many meetings unrelated to the issue. In my experience, I can work like this for a month without risking sustainability. Usually, it doesn’t take more than a month until I manage to make a turnaround.