We’re told that radical overnight changes don’t lead to sustained change. I believe this. The only way to change sustainably is to gradually adjust one’s position on some given dimension by a degree or two at a time.

So I think it’s worth thinking about what I would change and in what order, to find the path of least resistance.

First is that I need to go to bed sooner and wake up at a reasonable hour. That enables pretty much everything else. My ideal schedule notwithstanding, right now I need to work more in the 7-to-3 range right now for familial compatibility.

When I’m waking up earlier in the morning, that frees up, say, two hours. Let’s say, 6AM, which is probably as early as I’ll ever care to go. Second could be a half-hour of low-impact exercise (e.g. neighborhood walk or rowing).

Third could be a decent breakfast, if I choose to eat one. A few mornings like that and I bet I’ll have a better appetite. And this is an excuse to read the headlines, but only actual event summaries, no commentary. AP, Reuters, BBC, etc. No social media.

Fourth is painting miniatures again. It’s a good use of the time between when I finish work and when Sara gets home. If John has homework, I’ll help him. If not, I’ll paint miniatures. This is a good time for language practice.

Fifth is going back to MathAcademy. This might mean resetting some progress to do it right. Don’t have a daily goal, don’t pay attention to the competition “feature”. Turn it off if possible. Learn what you can each day. Stop when bored or frustrated. This might be a good lunchtime activity.

Sixth is going back to LeetCode. I’ve done a decent amount on there but have gotten out of the habit. As absurd as coding interviews are, I do believe there’s genuine intrinsic and extrinsic value to practicing LeetCode questions. This is something I can do in the evenings with my wife, since that’s an alternation of stimulation/concentration and break time where I get up, get a drink of water, use the bathroom, etc. I can just use her to cue me on when to take a break.

Seventh is aiming the majority of the remaining time, whatever possible, at reading books. Big picture overview books are actually what I want right now, not specifics, nothing too dry. I need to build a large number of basic vocabularies very quickly. I need to be conversant across many different subjects, learn their broad strokes. Then as I drill in, prior experience will help me keep up with the information flow more easily.

If I do just those seven things, which I believe I could adopt in seven consecutive weeks, then I think I would be well on my way to living the kind of life I want to live. It addresses my health, my learning, and my ambition.