What to Do Tomorrow Morning

In any new venture, there’s a certain amount of inertia. As an object at rest, I have a tendency to remain there. Moving in a new direction means I have to overcome inertial resistance.

Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now

➤ Faust, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Just start! It doesn’t particularly matter what you choose to start with, but start something from this book deliberately, first thing tomorrow morning.

Here’s a suggested checklist of some possible first steps:

• Start taking responsibility; don’t be afraid to ask “why?” or “how do you know?” or “how do I know?” or to answer “I don’t know—yet.”

• Pick two things that will help you maintain context and avoid interruption, and start doing them right away.

• Create a Pragmatic Investment Plan, and set up SMART goals.

• Figure out where you are on the novice-to-expert spectrum in your chosen profession and what you might need to progress. Be honest. Do you need more recipes or more context? More rules or more intuition?

• Practice. Having trouble with a piece of code? Write it five different ways.

• Plan on making more mistakes—mistakes are good. Learn from them.

• Keep a notebook on you (unlined paper, preferably). Doodle. Mind map. Take notes. Keep your thoughts loose and flowing.

• Open up your mind to aesthetics and additional sensory input. Whether it’s your cubicle, your desktop, or your code, pay attention to how “pleasing” it is.

• Start your personal wiki on things you find interesting.

• Start blogging. Comment on the books you’ve read.^[159] Read more books, and you’ll have more to write about. Use SQ3R and mind maps.

• Make thoughtful walking a part of your day.

• Start a book-reading group.

• Get a second monitor, and start using a virtual desktop.

• Go through the “next actions” for each chapter and try them.

I’ve barely scratched the surface on a variety of really interesting topics, and researchers are discovering new things and disproving old ideas all the time. If anything I’ve suggested here doesn’t work out for you, don’t worry about it, and move on. There’s plenty more to try.