How I wish I lived my life (since 2020)

[I wrote this a few months ago]

I always have a(n at least) part-time job, doing something object level, where someone pays me to do something that creates value. Doing something that isn’t entirely self-directed, adds some structure to my life which, I think, makes me better at doing my personal projects. I might stick to one job for six months or a year, and then move on to try something else. I want to try a bunch of different things and work with different kinds of people. I always have a job, but I also always have my eye out for my next job. I do things like research for AI impacts, grant making for SFF, startup stuff for manifold, generalist work for CAIP, logistics for Lighthaven events.

[I should have a flag for whenever I don’t have a job. That’s something that I should fix ASAP, even with just a stopgap. Instead of looking for something that I really want to do, I should make sure that I have something that I’m doing for a few hours a week-day, even if I want to find something better. When people ask me what I’m doing, I should always have a day job.]

In the evenings, I work on personal and learning projects: programming projects (including working with a tutor), studying textbooks, writing, practicing therapy skills. Whatever I’m working on, it always has a deliverable: if I’m learning something, I should write what I’m learning or gives talks about it. If I’m learning a skill, I design a “final project” that involves some person other than me.

Sometimes I’ll put the learning projects aside, and scale up my work, going all in for a campaign of a week, or 3 months, working intensively with a team to complete an end-to-end project.

Some weekends I try an intensive, doing an experiment or self-designed exercise with another person or a group of people.

I live frugally. I put away most of the money I earn, split between long run investments (both index funds and higher risk bets) and my personal development fund. I make a enough to live on from scattered projects, so I should be able to save most of what I make from my work.

I go to 5 conferences a year, trying to get exposure to interesting happenings in the world, people who are thinking about interesting things, and highly ethical women to date.

Every day I meditate and exercise. I don’t watch TV or youtube or read comic books. My go-to habits when I’m not doing anything are reading and taking notes on podcasts.