Faisal's Notebook

Recent Notes

Personal Guidelines for Behavior

3 min read

Justification and Assumptions

I recognize that the only people who deeply care about me are my parents and siblings, and, as such, I also only care about them. My past experiences have convinced me that I am permanently unlikable—working on myself have not changed that. Furthermore, people who I thought were friends seemed to not take my issues seriously and, from my perspective, look down on me. For this reason, I feel almost completely detached from everyone else, except for my family, whom issues I connect and relate with.

Potential Effects of Strictly Adhering to the Guidelines

Positive

  • Increased productivity
  • Greater fulfillment
  • Moral consistency
  • Enhanced autonomy

Negative

  • Less empathy
  • No genuine friends
  • Be seen as boring by everyone

Rules

Hobbies

  1. Deprive yourself of media that is explicitly sad or angry (unless required by an assignment), including but not limited to
    1. songs that you interpret as lyrically sad or angry;
    2. books (unless philosophical);
    3. movies and TV shows; and
    4. videos and photos highlighting someone’s life struggles.
  2. Deprive yourself of technologies/media that are intentionally designed to make you addicted (unless needed for accomplishing an assignment, communicating, or finding a solution). For example:
    1. Reddit, YouTube, Discord, Facebook, Messenger, and etc.
  3. Although it seems contradictory, keep exercising to instill discipline and remain physically healthy.

Materials

  1. Do not buy anything unnecessary. If there is a manageable alternative, opt for it.
  2. Avoid shopping for too long. When you need to buy something, decide which product you will buy within 15-25 minutes.

Social Interactions

  1. Do not care nor pretend to care about other people unless required by an assignment.
  2. Nurture friendships for utility only.
  3. Treat people like ends too (not just means) but do not be invested in anyone.
  4. Avoid stirring up drama.
  5. Avoid provoking others or treating them as inferiors.
  6. Avoid thinking about people’s achievements and comparing it to yours.

Work

  1. Plan your daily activities using a calendar.
  2. Use the Pomodoro technique to sustain focus.
  3. During focus sessions, prioritize the scheduled task and just record anything else you plan to do later.
  4. Minimize intellectually heavy activities during break sessions.
  5. Do not be distracted by fixing technical issues that you can temporarily acclimate to.
  6. Avoid things that seem to improve productivity but is actually just a waste of time.
  7. Stick to defaults as much as possible to avoid being invested in unnecessary configuration and customization.
  8. Either do chores, sleep, listen to calm music, or wait during your break. Strictly avoid activities that will divert your attention for later.

Others

  1. Avoid looking at the mirror for more than 1 minute unless managing your appearance is crucial at a particular time.
  2. Avoid doing actions that will reinforce your time-wasting habits (e.g., trichotillomania).
  3. Only spend 5 minutes when deciding what to wear unless it is crucial at a particular time.

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