Psychology saves

addicted to saving money

1. On taking transit - There is a chauffeur ready to take you to where you want to go at almost any time of the day, it’s cheap,  provides valuable thinking and internets time, and if needed includes a handy BAC > 0 feature! 

2. On walking/cycling instead of having a car - Getting paid to significantly reduce the risk of the most common causes of debilitation and death while improving your physique!  

3. On not having cable TV - People don’t routinely barge into your home unannounced and fabricate a need in your mind which compels you to give them some of your freedom (i.e. money) or feel disadvantaged. 

4. On room-mates - Getting paid to socialize!

5. On cycling in the rain - Sprinklers are fun, how is this so different?*

6. On saving money - Getting paid to figure out how to not buy things (or do so more efficiently) where, after each discovery, the paycheque comes in for the rest of your life by default!

7. On lifestyle inflation - Disparaging the value in your past while sacrificing your future position of strength. 

8. On hardship - Stretching your perspective so that your typical days, the ones you have the most, come to you easily and leave you smiling!

9. On failure - The number of times you have to fail before succeeding at something is a pre-determined number that you are simply not aware of.   What you do know, is that you crossed one off the list.  That same failure was also secretly crossed off of dozens of other lists corresponding to other successes that you are not yet aware of! 

10. On grad school – see numbers 1 through 9

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*When the answer is "because it's cold", I usually just fall back on trusty old number 8 : ) 




Yup!

Today I want to talk about one of the best pieces of advice that I think I've ever been given.  The advice relates to a habit that I think is all too common in everyday life.  For me (and I suspect many in academia), this habit is so strong it's essentially an automatic reflex!  The habit goes as follows:

Learning to run

Busy busy busy, my writing sure has taken a hit over the holiday season!  Lots of good times all around, but I'm beginning to think that the real reason I haven't found (allocated) the time to write a new post is due to my recent committee meeting.  It's no secret how important I think committee meetings are and this last one did not disappoint!

Committee meetings can help you to collect your thoughts and give you a topographical view of your research.  You zoom out from all the nitty gritty and see the lay of the land.  You re-establish your frame of reference which is essential to directing your future efforts in a productive way.  In anticipation of these types of discussions, I included a master list in my presentation of all the things I needed to do until the date I'm "supposed" to graduate (i.e. four years after I started). 

"Things to do in the next 20 months" 

There was a problem with the list though...