Importance of Top of Mind
"I think most people have one top idea in their mind
at any given time.
That's the idea their thoughts will drift toward
when they're allowed to drift freely.
And this idea will thus tend to get all the benefit
of that type of thinking, while others are starved
of it.
Which means *it's a disaster to let the wrong idea
become the top one in your mind."
Control Environment to Control Top Of Mind
You can't directly control where your thoughts
drift.
If you're controlling them, they're not drifting.
But you can control them indirectly, by
controlling what situations you let yourself get
into.
Be careful what you let become critical to you.
Try to get yourself into situations where the most
urgent problems are ones you want to think about.
Specific Time Sink Thought Patterns to Avoid
I've found there are two types of thoughts
especially worth avoiding:
-
Thoughts about money. Getting money is almost by
definition an attention sink.
-
The other is disputes. These too are engaging in
the wrong way: they have the same velcro-like
shape as genuinely interesting ideas, but without
the substance. So avoid disputes if you want to
get real work done
Money as Time Sink
Money matters are particularly likely to
become the top idea in your mind.
The reason is that they have to be.
It's hard to get money.
It's not the sort of thing that happens by
default.
It's not going to happen unless you let it
become the thing you think about in the
shower.
And then you'll make little progress on
anything else you'd rather be working on.
Just about every startup I've seen grinds to a
halt when they start raising money or
talking to acquirers.
Disputes as Time Sink
Someone who does you an injury hurts you
twice:
first by the injury itself,
and second by taking up your time afterward
thinking about it.
If you learn to ignore injuries you can at
least avoid the second half