Week 23 - Flow and Personality quizzes
Been a while!
So much is happening in the world - Covid-19, elections, politics, vaccines, holidays... In the middle of all this, what I've really been doing is enjoying the bliss and flow, and paying the costs of maker mode, and the flow state which comes with it.
Demon Intoning the Name of the Buddha (Oni no nenbutsu), 1700s. Japan, Edo period (1615-1868).
Problems of the flow state
Mid-november, at work, I wrapped a 12 week project - building a tool from ideation to MVP. This was highly impactful, built camaradeire and was highly satisfying. It was also brutal, and isolating - you are so close to your team and work, the rest of the world falls away.
The Flow state is highly sought after, desired, revered, something everyone aspires to. Current culture describes how we need to hustle, how flow is awesome, how we should focus on one thing - give it our all - and the flow state helps in all this.. What the current culture conviently sweeps under the table are the costs of the flow state.
Being deep in maker mode makes me obsessive towards what I'm doing. When anything else comes in the way - the stuff of daily life and family and relationships, I find myself extremely irritable, intolerant. "How dare you distract me from this awesome MOST IMPORTANT thing I'm doing?" goes the internal scream. Is this really the way I want to live life?
The other huge problem - the flow state is highly difficult to sustain. And, when not in the flow state, everything seems dull - life feels like an old CRT screen, while being in flow feels like a high-fidelity 4k with amazing Dolby surround sound. And so, once in flow, I continue to chase more flow - like an addict.
These problems with flow might be unique to me as a person, and my problems and tendencies. But I suspect not. In short bursts, being in flow is great - but being in flow for too long is really really bad for my humanity and relationships.
Ibaraki, c. 1840. Shibata Zeshin (Japanese, 1807-1891).
Coming down from a flow high
Everything ends, and so did my intense maker-mode-in-flow duration at work. At the end of every such period in my life, I've experienced something akin to depression - like a post-vacation malaise, or the disorientation a prisoner or veteran probably feels integrating back with regular life.
This time, I shifted from work-related maker mode to a personal-projects maker mode, and slowly lowered the intensity. And that really helped.
New things I built/made
bento.suprada.com
A website for my collection of recipes I have collated over the years. No more searching between a few notebooks, recipe books, emails, keep notes, Onenote notebooks.
Longer-term, I'm toying with a few ideas on what can be added to bento.
- adding a cooking calendar (What did I cook same time last year?) - or maybe a section of recipe improvisations (beer battered dosas?, wine soaked rasam?)
- or maybe a section of adaptation of recipes for the instantpot
- or an experimenters guide to cooking - Principles to use when experimenting with and creating recipes.
suprada.com
I redid my homepage. Try out the 'Dark mode' I'm super excited about. I'm also excited about the quote at the top of the page. Refresh and you will see a new quote!
More ideas for this site I'm evaluating
- A 'life in weeks' like what Buster Benson has
- A 'Now' page
- A 'balls I'm juggling' page for all my projects in flight
Scoodie for my daughter
This crochet project was supposed to be a birthday gift for my daughter's 7th birthday last november. I finished it in time for her 8th birthday. I used the super-super-super soft crushed velvet yarn by Bernat. Here is the pattern on ravelry
Beanie for me (or my daughter)
I had about 200yds of the yarn left after the scoodie. And so, I made a quick 2hr Warm and toasty crochet beanie. Here is the pattern on ravelry
Kali Attacking Nisumbha, c. 1740. India, Pahari, possibly Guler, 18th century.
On Personality quizzes
When I was younger, I used to think that personality quizzes tell me who I am. Now, I qualify that thought with "who I might be at this time". As we all grow, our personalities change - it might be naturally or it might be by design. These quizzes can help us try to design the changes we want in reacting to the world around us. So go do more personality quizzes!ss
Know thyself via Personality Quizzes!!!!
One evening, I decided to appease the personality quizzer in me. Why don't you take these to indulge the personality quizzer in you?
What is your thinking style?
Did you know that there are different kinds of thinking styles? Are you a
- Concrete Sequential Thinker - who tends to be based in reality. Who processes information in an ordered, sequential, linear way. OR
- Concrete Random Thinker meaning an experimenter. OR
- Abstract Random Thinkers who organizes information through reflection, and thrives in unstructured, people-oriented environments. OR
- Abstract Sequential Thinker who loves the world of theory and abstract thought.
I was super-suprised to turn out to be a Concrete Random Thinker. On second-thought, maybe not so surprised. What is your type?
What is your learning style?
What is your learning style from Educationplanner.org
How do you learn best? Should you reach for that textbook (should you use an ebook or a paper book?) or that podcast or that video tutorial? This site gives you a breakdown of your styles and what you mean.
I ranked as an auditory learner, my breakdown being
Auditory: 40%
Visual: 35%
Tactile: 25%
The site explained - "You understand and remember things you have heard. You store information by the way it sounds, and you have an easier time understanding spoken instructions than written ones. "
What is your learning preference - VARK
VARK suggests strategies of learning depending on your classification as one of "Visual" or "Aural" or "Read/Write" or "Kinesthetic"
Here, I turned out to be a "Mild Kinesthetic" type of learner - who likes practical exercises, experiences, examples, case studies, trial and error, things that are real...
“How do I respond to expectations?” - The Four Tendencies quiz
Gretchen Rubin has a quiz which helps answer “How do I respond to expectations?”. How do you handle inner expectations, and outer expectations?
Are you an
- Upholder: “I do what others expect of me—and what I expect from myself.”
- Questioner: “I do what I think is best, according to my judgment. If it doesn’t make sense, I won’t do it.”
- Obliger: “I do what I have to do. I don’t want to let others down, but I may let myself down.”
- Rebel: “I do what I want, in my own way. If you try to make me do something—even if I try to make myself do something—I’m less likely to do it.”
It turns out, currently, I'm an Upholder.
Two more issues of this newsletter coming your way to wrap up this year of the turtle.
Written on December 6, 2020.
This was Issue #23 of the Year of the Turtle. You can see all the past newsletters on this website.
The fonts used here are from David Jonathan Ross' Font of the Month Club
- Gimlet XRay - January 2020
- Dattilo DJR - March 2020
- Roslindale Deck - April 2020
- Roslindale Text - November 2017