Fighting Anxiety with Quantity

Lately, whenever I feel anxious, I tell myself to start taking action first.

I've been keeping records on my calendar and using a Pomodoro timer for years.

I recently looked back at the data and realized I really haven't worked as hard as I imagined. I haven't put in enough time, but I've spent a lot of it feeling anxious and thinking I'm not good enough.

So I've decided to increase the amount of effort I put in before worrying about whether I'm good enough.

It reminded me of an experiment I read about in Atomic Habits. Jerry Uelsmann, a photography professor at the University of Florida, split his students into a "quantity" group and a "quality" group. One group had to submit as many photos as possible and was graded on quantity; the other only had to submit one photo and was graded on that photo.

The quantity group ended up producing better photos because they tried things repeatedly, made mistakes, and adjusted. The quality group, chasing perfection, focused too much on theory and made too few attempts, so their results were disappointing.

Of course, not everything can be measured, and putting in more time doesn't necessarily mean getting better results, especially in the age of AI. But to judge the results of my efforts and adjust my direction, I still need to put in a lot of work first.

For now, I'm aiming for "at least 40 hours a week on my Pomodoro timer. That shows how much focused time I had this week."

Forty hours comes from eight hours a day, five days a week.　 During that time, I can:

1. Apply for jobs consistently. I know I have a lot to work on, but I can't keep waiting until I feel ready to apply. I need to apply while preparing. The best way to get into a better state for interviews is to keep doing them and improve my performance each time. Preparing alone without putting myself out there is like submitting just one photo for an entire semester.
2. Prepare interview questions, keep contributing to Kafka, and study AI.
3. Study Japanese with my Anki vocabulary and grammar decks and practice JLPT questions.
4. Try to write one short piece every day, or write this month's newsletter.

I think part of anxiety and overthinking comes from a lack of action and knowledge. Once I start acting, I can turn anxiety into a search for solutions. Finding those solutions and overcoming some of the challenges I used to fear can reduce my anxiety.

Now when I feel anxious, I check my Pomodoro timer to see how long I've focused today. If it isn't much yet, I tell myself not to be anxious and to get my hours in first.