“What is it you do to practice that is analogous to how a pianist practices scales?” — Tyler Cowen (professor, blogger, podcaster, and co-author of Talent) Since reading Talent, I haven’t been able to get this question out of my head. In a subsequent
I'm an engineer, and I sit at my computer all day. Here's what I do that's broadly applicable:
-Consistently try to learn the keyboard shortcuts of whatever software I'm using. Includes Windows itself; navigating between tabs using things like alt+tab really speeds things up.
-Constantly changing software settings when I find something I dislike.
I'm curious what else applies broadly for white collar work.
For activities like investing where "success" may not be easily defined, having a repeatable process is essential. When evaluating stocks, I follow the same process every time. First, I put the company through a scorecard. This reminds me of the attributes I value most highly in companies and allows me to identify which attributes are most correlated with future gains. If conservatively arbitrary, quantitative thresholds are met in the scorecard process, I value the company relative to profit. If not met, I value the company relative to Tangible Book. So, I have two strategies/valuation methods to track as well as the correlations from the scorecard. It's repeatable, unemotional, and easy to track. Success and failure can be measured relative to the strategies and attributes, rather than attaching narratives to success or failure. I input data, my spreadsheet tells me what to do, and market volatility/chaos (assuming diversification among stocks and long enough holding period) simply heightens returns .
I'm an engineer, and I sit at my computer all day. Here's what I do that's broadly applicable:
-Consistently try to learn the keyboard shortcuts of whatever software I'm using. Includes Windows itself; navigating between tabs using things like alt+tab really speeds things up.
-Constantly changing software settings when I find something I dislike.
I'm curious what else applies broadly for white collar work.
For activities like investing where "success" may not be easily defined, having a repeatable process is essential. When evaluating stocks, I follow the same process every time. First, I put the company through a scorecard. This reminds me of the attributes I value most highly in companies and allows me to identify which attributes are most correlated with future gains. If conservatively arbitrary, quantitative thresholds are met in the scorecard process, I value the company relative to profit. If not met, I value the company relative to Tangible Book. So, I have two strategies/valuation methods to track as well as the correlations from the scorecard. It's repeatable, unemotional, and easy to track. Success and failure can be measured relative to the strategies and attributes, rather than attaching narratives to success or failure. I input data, my spreadsheet tells me what to do, and market volatility/chaos (assuming diversification among stocks and long enough holding period) simply heightens returns .
Great stuff !