One of the weirder tech issues I’ve had is that my laptop refuses to connect to wifi while its backup hard-drive is plugged in — it took me a while to figure out that’s what was even going on! I want my things to “just work,” and it’s so frustrating when they don’t. But it got me … More Brokenness is inaccurate emergence
I have a hard time remembering things that went well. It’s much easier for me to call to mind mistakes I’ve made: times I dropped the ball, or tried and failed to do something that matters to me. This is definitely a phenomenon many people experience (negativity bias), but at least in my case there’s … More Three Good Decisions
This year at Carleton I’ve gotten to teach one of my favorite parts of multivariable calculus, the multivariable chain rule. Despite its scary-sounding name, the multivariable chain rule seems to capture a fundamental principle about how the world works, a principle I call “narratives add.” I’ll walk you through how the multivariable chain rule works … More Narratives Add
Part of my job as an academic is to write up and share my research results with the rest of the mathematical community, but while I moderately enjoy writing, I don’t enjoy how long it takes me: I spend a lot of time rewriting whole sections to make a point slightly better, or having to … More Writing an academic paper with Scrum
What’s the best way to measure progress toward long-term goals? For some goals, like “Read 100 novels in 2020,” it’s easy to measure your progress as you go, and you’ll know pretty quickly whether you’re on track to complete your goal. But if your goal is to write a novel, it’s not clear how to … More The metric that matters
I love optimization—both the general principle of trying to make things the best they can be, as well as the specific techniques that go into making that happen. In an alliterative-adjective icebreaker game, I even introduced myself as “Optimizing Owen,” which somehow did not surprise my Intro Calculus students. But optimization has a cost—it takes … More Optimization takes effort
On our drive back from seeing the solar eclipse last year, Clara and I listened to Solving the Procrastination Puzzle, a short book in which Timothy Pychyl outlines why we procrastinate, why it’s a problem, and what to do about it. Most of his advice is solid and helpful, but in chapter 6, “The Power of Getting … More Closing mental parentheses
I love reading, and audiobooks are the next best thing for when I’m driving or doing chores. On the other hand, sometimes I get fidgety while watching TV, and it helps to have some simple knitting occupy my fingers. Both of these pairings seem perfectly complementary: Boring chores occupy my hands and eyes but leave … More Completing partial activities
This is the conclusion of a three-part series on automating habits. Click here for the introduction, part 1, and part 2. Let’s review: In part 1, we talked about how to choose exactly what your new habit will consist of (the behavior) and when exactly you’ll do it (the cue). In part 2, we covered … More Lose the Training Wheels: Automating Habits, Part 3
This post is part 2 of a three-part series on automating habits. Here are links to the introduction, part 1, and part 3. There’s a little gremlin who lives in my car. He doesn’t mess with the wiring, and he doesn’t leave a mess; all he does is take down the reflective screen I put in … More Build Consistency: Automating Habits, Part 2
Owen Biesel 