Hey Everyone,
Starting out with a question: What loops run in your life? And what loops run your life?
I have been thinking about loops. Mostly because this week was turning out to be similar to previous weeks (more on that later) in following a familiar pattern of well... me not getting things done. It was getting to me.
I think that is why when I stumbled upon a couple of essays related to loops, they grabbed my attention. Details below but primarily they made me realize that we are surrounded by and in fact run on a lot of loops.
Our habits--everything from our established sleep cycles, our morning routine, to how and what we buy or the narratives we tell ourselves--are all loops.
Businesses are a collection of repeatable processes i.e loops. As such, our work probably consists in much part of a whole lot of loops.
And of course, nature is replete with loops: the water cycle, day-and-night (Earth's rotation), seasons (Earth's revolution), and so on.
Loops govern a lot of the aspects of our existence. As such, it pays to think about them--both in generalities (to try to find any abstract knowledge about them) and in specifics (to make them explicit). Doing so can help us tweak them for our benefit or at least, let us be aware of the "rules of the game", the mechanism of those processes.
So, back to the question: what loops do you see in your world?
// Readings
Why Figma Wins
Kevin Kwok | 30 mins
I didn't really know much about Figma before reading this. Had only heard of it in passing.
Still, I learned a lot of new concepts from this essay. Like: Seeing companies as "a sequencing of loops"; cross-side, and local vs global network effects; the nuances of building a plugin and community ecosystem; companies turning into a platform. And so on. Plenty to chew on.
(Oh, and I made the above loop graphic in Figma).
Summary:
Figma has been winning through a sequencing of well-structured loops. First, through cloud-first tech, they made it easier to collaborate on design and even get non-designers involved in the process. This encouraged users to get their team (non-designers too) onboard.
Figma then successfully built upon that bottom-up cross-side network effect by adding a top-down enterprise sales process.
And now, looking towards the future, they are betting on plugins and communities to drive global network effects and cement their lead. In doing so, they are moving towards becoming a platform for design and are in prime position to drive the progress of the discipline itself.
The Most Famous Loop
Alex Danco | 10 mins
In this interesting essay, Alex explores a general framework for loops. And also whether loops from thermodynamics--specifically the Carnot Cycle--can be transferred over to other domains like business.
Honestly, I didn't follow all the ideas. But that just means I have to do more thinking on my own. Which is good. Interesting and possibly useful thing to think about.
// Videos
Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results
Ali Abdaal | 11 mins
This is a great summary of Atomic Habits by James Clear which I consider one of the rare books that has both a high degree of possible impact and actionable practicality.
A very brief summary (of the book):
Habits are automatic looped behaviors made up of four components:
Cue: Something triggers our habit
Craving: We want to do that habit.
Response: Performing the habit
Reward: We receive a positive reward for the habit.
Habit change attempts should take this loop into consideration.
To get rid of bad habits:
Make the cue invisible
Make the habit unattractive (craving)
Make it hard to carry out (response)
Make it unsatisfying (reward)
Similarly, to build good habits:
Make the cue obvious
Make the habit attractive (craving)
Make the habit easy (response)
Make it satisfying (reward)
One Second Every Day
Cesar Kuriyama | 8 mins
Our lives are a finite sequence of days. Most of which are forgotten as the days melt into each other. It is a tragedy of sorts.
So Cesar came up with this idea here to record just one second of a day that can later act as a cue to jog our memories. You look back and go: “Oh, right, that day!”. Why only one second? Well, you could record longer but that might take away from actually living the moment. You might end up with a record of memories you didn’t actually live while you were busy recording.
The idea fascinated me! I ended up doing it for 2018 (though not every day).
(For 2019, I recorded the clips but my old phone that had it wouldn't compile it in the app. And the backup didn't carry over to the new phone :| Will manually stitch over... some day. As for 2020,... let's just say it is sparse).
The Neighbors’ Window
Director: Marshall Curry | 20 mins | Short Movie
This beautiful Oscar-winning movie elicited both a lot of emotions and thoughts.
It got me thinking about how many people and/or things I envy whilst ignoring what I have. Also how I might be inadvertently projecting a "perfect" enviable self. Maybe it is a basic human desire to want to be envied?
Thank you Nish for sharing it with me.
// Might-Be-Useful
The Missing Semester of Your CS Education
We know that college doesn't prepare us for industry. A lot of useful things are missing in the curriculum. This Missing semester attempts to address that.
I haven't gone through it all. But looks pretty good. :)
Why You’re Always Tired between 1pm - 4pm
Another loop we fall into is the afternoon slump. You know: that period after lunch when you suddenly feel like not doing anything. Happens to me quite often. This video goes over some of the reasons for it and what we can do to counter it.
// Interesting
Eunoia
There are words that don't quite translate between languages. (E.g: Chiya and tea :P )
This is a home for those words.
// Stories and Poems
Black Holes
Hengtee Lim | 4 mins | Short Story
Really short and really beautiful.
The Strongest of the Strange
Charles Bukowski | 3 mins | Poem
Powerful.
// Music
…
Slow down, you're doing fine
You can't be everything you want to be
Before your time
…
The voice, the music. Everything is so soothing.
// Wholesome
Other Updates:
Weekly Goals… didn’t go well this week too.
The Do-Nothing Meditation: I managed to do only two sessions this week. I suspect it will be an on and off thing with me. Also, looks like I’ll have to mix in other concentration-based meditation to complement it.
One random thought I had:
Quick searches on this returned Makeup tutorials :| Surely there are tools for this already though. (?)
Anyway, that’s it for this week.
Do reply with any thoughts engendered by any of the things here. Will love receiving them.
With Love,
Bijay
(P.S: If you know anyone who might enjoy these letters, do share it with them! Ciao).
Thank you for the "looping" thought. About highlighting videos, been wondering the same. (It's taxing to simply "copy video url at current timestamp" in YouTube. Over the Roam's slack channel I saw someone mention this tool "Reclipped".