Comments on: Grit, Grinds, and Living the Low Stress Life http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/07/08/grit-grinds-and-living-the-low-stress-life/ Demystifying Sustainable Success Fri, 10 Sep 2010 19:12:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Richard Shelmerdine http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/07/08/grit-grinds-and-living-the-low-stress-life/#comment-11635 Richard Shelmerdine Sun, 27 Dec 2009 10:14:48 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/07/08/grit-grinds-and-living-the-low-stress-life/#comment-11635 Definitely agree. Pick a small few things to do repeatedly and focus your mind enough to complete them. The word 'grind' reminds me of the rat race. Definitely agree. Pick a small few things to do repeatedly and focus your mind enough to complete them. The word ‘grind’ reminds me of the rat race.

]]> By: Study Hacks » Blog Archive » Grit, Grinds, and Living the Low Stress Life | Masricano.com http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/07/08/grit-grinds-and-living-the-low-stress-life/#comment-10061 Study Hacks » Blog Archive » Grit, Grinds, and Living the Low Stress Life | Masricano.com Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:27:18 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/07/08/grit-grinds-and-living-the-low-stress-life/#comment-10061 [...] here: Study Hacks » Blog Archive » Grit, Grinds, and Living the Low Stress Life Share and [...]

[...] here: Study Hacks » Blog Archive » Grit, Grinds, and Living the Low Stress Life Share and [...]

]]> By: Study Hacks » Blog Archive » Focus Hard. In Reasonable Bursts. One Day at a Time. http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/07/08/grit-grinds-and-living-the-low-stress-life/#comment-9526 Study Hacks » Blog Archive » Focus Hard. In Reasonable Bursts. One Day at a Time. Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:45:10 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/07/08/grit-grinds-and-living-the-low-stress-life/#comment-9526 [...] found writing my thesis to be similar to writing my books. It’s an exercise in grit: You have to apply hard focus, almost every day, over a long period [...]

[...] found writing my thesis to be similar to writing my books. It’s an exercise in grit: You have to apply hard focus, almost every day, over a long period [...]

]]> By: Ryan Stephens Marketing » 20 Essential Blog Posts from July 2009 http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/07/08/grit-grinds-and-living-the-low-stress-life/#comment-9390 Ryan Stephens Marketing » 20 Essential Blog Posts from July 2009 Sun, 02 Aug 2009 00:37:04 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/07/08/grit-grinds-and-living-the-low-stress-life/#comment-9390 [...] Grit, Grinds and Living the Low Stress Life – Cal Newport (Study Hacks) “The grind lifestyle involves filling most days with an unhealthily large amount of work. It treats the overwork itself as the goal, not its results. This chronic overwork, in turn, generates stress and deep procrastination. Grit, on the other hand, is about persistently accomplishing a reasonable amount of hard work.” [...]

[...] Grit, Grinds and Living the Low Stress Life – Cal Newport (Study Hacks) “The grind lifestyle involves filling most days with an unhealthily large amount of work. It treats the overwork itself as the goal, not its results. This chronic overwork, in turn, generates stress and deep procrastination. Grit, on the other hand, is about persistently accomplishing a reasonable amount of hard work.” [...]

]]> By: Fresh From Twitter: "Life is relatively … http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/07/08/grit-grinds-and-living-the-low-stress-life/#comment-9290 Fresh From Twitter: "Life is relatively … Mon, 20 Jul 2009 09:29:19 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/07/08/grit-grinds-and-living-the-low-stress-life/#comment-9290 [...] so donu2019t think that you can keep switching your focus from goal to goal and get anywhere.u201d http://bit.ly/fKFGX Share and [...]

[...] so donu2019t think that you can keep switching your focus from goal to goal and get anywhere.u201d http://bit.ly/fKFGX Share and [...]

]]> By: Study Hacks http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/07/08/grit-grinds-and-living-the-low-stress-life/#comment-9244 Study Hacks Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:08:25 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/07/08/grit-grinds-and-living-the-low-stress-life/#comment-9244 <blockquote>Interesting contrast between this and, say, Tim Ferriss, who holds that major accomplishments can take very little time if popular assumptions are questioned.</blockquote> I agree that questioning assumptions is important. But major accomplishments almost always require a lot of well-focused time.

Interesting contrast between this and, say, Tim Ferriss, who holds that major accomplishments can take very little time if popular assumptions are questioned.

I agree that questioning assumptions is important. But major accomplishments almost always require a lot of well-focused time.

]]> By: Jack http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/07/08/grit-grinds-and-living-the-low-stress-life/#comment-9242 Jack Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:18:14 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/07/08/grit-grinds-and-living-the-low-stress-life/#comment-9242 Interesting contrast between this and, say, Tim Ferriss, who holds that major accomplishments can take very little time if popular assumptions are questioned. Interesting contrast between this and, say, Tim Ferriss, who holds that major accomplishments can take very little time if popular assumptions are questioned.

]]> By: Why you should learn a foreign language http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/07/08/grit-grinds-and-living-the-low-stress-life/#comment-9218 Why you should learn a foreign language Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:13:09 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/07/08/grit-grinds-and-living-the-low-stress-life/#comment-9218 [...] is, at very least, overrated, and may not exist in any meaningful way at all. What matters is grit — “working strenuously toward challenges, maintaining effort and interest over years [...]

[...] is, at very least, overrated, and may not exist in any meaningful way at all. What matters is grit — “working strenuously toward challenges, maintaining effort and interest over years [...]

]]> By: NewWorldOrder http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/07/08/grit-grinds-and-living-the-low-stress-life/#comment-9202 NewWorldOrder Sat, 11 Jul 2009 02:31:24 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/07/08/grit-grinds-and-living-the-low-stress-life/#comment-9202 I think the hard part in all this is defining appropriate constraints to maximize output. To get things done, you frequently have to make the "hard push" (e.g., all-nighter, marathon study session) Once you do this once, it becomes tempting to think: "what if I could do this hard push more often?!? I'd get tons done." This train thought invariably leads to a path of crash and burn as energy is cyclical. The trick is to systematically discover your own energy cycle. This, I do not know how to do. I think the hard part in all this is defining appropriate constraints to maximize output. To get things done, you frequently have to make the “hard push” (e.g., all-nighter, marathon study session) Once you do this once, it becomes tempting to think: “what if I could do this hard push more often?!? I’d get tons done.” This train thought invariably leads to a path of crash and burn as energy is cyclical. The trick is to systematically discover your own energy cycle. This, I do not know how to do.

]]> By: Daniel http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/07/08/grit-grinds-and-living-the-low-stress-life/#comment-9184 Daniel Thu, 09 Jul 2009 23:04:01 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/07/08/grit-grinds-and-living-the-low-stress-life/#comment-9184 "It takes 10,000 hours to master a skill. Most people quit after 5,000 hours." "The Craftsman" - by Richard Sennet (who lectures at MIT by the way) supports your thesis of spending a long period of time with one or a small number of skills. Sennet also describes what you call hard focus and improving your capability to focus over a long period of tiem; one example would be playing the Violin, which takes little practice aka hard focus in the beginning (maybe half an hour) and more than six hours when mastering the instrument. Of course this principle can be applied to almost any skill. It is thereby not only helpful to extend one's hard focus, but necessary in order to improve. @VTAMethodman: There's your book suggestion ;) “It takes 10,000 hours to master a skill. Most people quit after 5,000 hours.” “The Craftsman” – by Richard Sennet (who lectures at MIT by the way) supports your thesis of spending a long period of time with one or a small number of skills. Sennet also describes what you call hard focus and improving your capability to focus over a long period of tiem; one example would be playing the Violin, which takes little practice aka hard focus in the beginning (maybe half an hour) and more than six hours when mastering the instrument. Of course this principle can be applied to almost any skill. It is thereby not only helpful to extend one’s hard focus, but necessary in order to improve.

@VTAMethodman: There’s your book suggestion ;)

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