For Obama, Jobs, and Zuckerberg, Boring Is Productive

Hugh Pickens writes "Robert C. Pozen writes in the Harvard Business Review that while researching a behind-the-scenes article of President Obama's daily life, Michael Lewis asked President Obama about his practice of routinizing the routine. 'I eat essentially the same thing for breakfast each morning: a bowl of cold cereal and a banana. For lunch, I eat a chicken salad sandwich with a diet soda. Each morning, I dress in one of a small number of suits, each of which goes with particular shirts and ties.' Why does President Obama subject himself to such boring routines? Because making too many decisions about mundane details is a waste of your mental energy, a limited resource. If you want to be able to have more mental resources throughout the day, you should identify the aspects of your life that you consider mundane — and then "routinize" those aspects as much as possible. Obama's practice is echoed by Steve Jobs who decided to wear the same outfit every day, so that he didn't have to think about it and the recent disclosure that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is proud that he wears the same outfit every day adding that he owns 'maybe about 20' of the gray, scoop neck shirts he's become famous for. 'The point is that you should decide what you don't care about and that you should learn how to run those parts of your life on autopilot,' writes Pozen. 'Instead of wasting your mental energy on things that you consider unimportant, save it for those decisions, activities, and people that matter most to you.'"

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Ian Malcom from Jurassic Park

[WankersRevenge]

If you haven't read Jurassic Park, check it out. I picked up recently and was surprised how much I enjoyed it. The article made me think of this passage
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"But don't you find it boring to wear only two colors?"

"Not at all. I find it liberating. I believe my life has value, and I don't want to waste it thinking about clothing," Malcolm said. "I don't want to think about what I will wear in the morning. Truly, can you imagine anything more boring than fashion? Professional sports, perhaps. Grown men swatting little balls, while the rest of the world pays money to applaud. But, on the whole, I find fashion even more tedious than sports

Re:Ian Malcom from Jurassic Park

[chill]

While many of the things I've done over my life resulted in disapproval or derision from my grandmother, everything paled in comparison when I made the mistake of giving her an honest opinion of why I didn't pay much attention to sports. Specifically, the Chicago White Sox and Bears. Her being a lifelong, rabid fan of both.

All she asked was "Why didn't you watch the game last night?" and I answered honestly.

"Because I have better things to do. Honestly grandma, it is nothing more than grown men playing a children's game of advanced catch. Its not like they're curing cancer or doing anything useful with their lives. What's the point?"

It was like a small thermonuclear device was set off in the living room. Two different neighbors came over to survey the wreckage -- one from a couple houses down. Someone had even called the police. One said that after 50 years of living next door, she couldn't remember anything like it. She wanted to know if grandma finally snapped and killed grandpa.

Nothing so trivial. I had blasphemed not only the beloved Sox, but called into question the very game of baseball itself.

It was three months before she'd speak to me again. Hell, when my cousin came out of the closet not only as a lesbian but also a registered Democrat, she only got two months of the silent treatment.

At least I didn't tell her I was a Cubs fan. I probably wouldn't be here today if I did that.