Impose constraints - and you can do much more
April 26th, 2008
Just yesterday I told a friend of mine,
I go through nasty writer’s blocks sometimes.
And he told me imposing strange constraints
might make me more productive right away.
And so I thought about it long and hard,
and realized just how much true it feels.
For strange constraints remove the overwhelm
that you might feel when there is too much choice.
We also talked with the friend about how Shakespeare wrote all his plays in iambic pentameter (ten syllables per line, short-long-short-long etc.). We thought maybe this strange limit made his writing more brilliant than it would be otherwise. So we figured I might try it too 
(even the post title is in iambic pentameter)
Sometimes in life you’re faced with too much choice, and your decision-making just grinds to a halt. When that happens, you have two solutions:
1. Just pick one option and stick with it (a.k.a. The 70% Solution)
2. Impose artificial constraints
Let’s pick a trivial example. You’re at a huge supermarket and you’re choosing a yogurt. There’s like a hundred kinds available, and you just can’t pick one. You could just grab the first one you kind of like, and be done with it. Or you might say to yourself: “Alright, I’ll only choose a yogurt that has red and blue and green colors on its lid.”
The advantage of the 70% solution is that it’s very fast and efficient. As long as you don’t start doubting your choice, it’s the best solution.
Imposing ridiculous constraints, on the other hand, makes the process fun! And that’s definitely a great thing too.
The constraints work because they focus and direct your efforts. It’s like taking a magnifying glass and using it to concentrate sunlight at a small spot.
If you get stuck and can’t decide, it’s often because your focus is scattered all over the place. Just take the magnifying glass of ridiculous constraints, and focus your efforts. And just like a child who first uses a magnifying glass to focus sunlight, you might well be surprised by the powerful effects.
So now just choose a part of your big life,
in which you plainly can’t decide or choose.
Impose for yourself crazy-ass constraints,
and see the useful things that you’ll produce.
May 6th, 2008 at 15:00
Wow, this is an outrageously good post. I think u can start preparing to publish your own book. I’m sure that it would be in the NEW YORK TIMES bestseller list for a long, long time.
Your articles present things so differently and so nicely in such a easy to understand language.
I’m proud to say that ur blog has had a very significant impact on my thoughts and principles in the previous months.
Wish you all the best for all the good work, which I know u’ll produce for sure.
Bye, buddy. YOU truly ROCKED my life!!
July 5th, 2008 at 12:28
[...] block. Then I was like “Ah, whatever, I’ll write the post in iambic pentameter.” (here’s the result) I didn’t actually write the whole post like that, but it got me [...]