Simo Hosio

Walk: simohosio.com/qs

Retreated to a writing cave. Can't escape the feeling. :D

Why are some Americans so angry? 😀 A little context. I buy ads these days to my course "The Focus Reset" (pic 100% related). First I thought this is a one-off thing, but the pattern is clear by now. Practically all of the hate-comments I get are from Americans screeching that "YEAH I BET THIS DUDE HAS NO KIDS" and other condescending remarks about... not even the content, but about me. ~~ roughly talking about that whatever I say in the ad is not doable because they have kids and I'm a "bro with no idea what I'm talking about." I have three kids by the way. And yes I advertise outside the US too. And the commenters are always American. Not sample bias. And I can't do half the things I teach. That's the point. You take what you can, and factor that to your life. I teach a buffet methodology. Figure out what works, then narrow it down to what you can try, then try it out and keep what you can. Scoring the wins you can and ignoring what you can't is such a life hack. Also not being all the time so angry is something worth considering.

Researchers, feel the pessimism rising about your paper? Stop, and go back to it. And celebrate, because you caught yourself. You caught your own bullshit, so to say, and you didn't fall into self-handicapping. Think about the word itself. Do you want to be handicapping yourself? No. More of this at simohosio.com

Sending a paper somewhere? Your brain may be quietly sabotaging it to protect your ego. One way it protects you is to hand you excuses, so when the rejection comes, and in academia we all get rejections all the time, your ego doesn't take a hit. I didn't even try that hard. If I only had one more week to polish this thing, it would have been accepted. So your brain gets you to not do your best, all to spare your ego. More of this at simohosio.com

Scared your paper won't get accepted? For academics, that anxiety can be rocket fuel. Oh my God, this is difficult. It's highly unlikely I'll get accepted. But I'm gonna shoot my shot anyway. That thought can push you to go harder into your work. Polish the paper one more time, double check your statistics, ask for feedback before sending it. It's called defensive pessimism, the good kind of pessimism. More of this at simohosio.com

One of the things that we get so wrong is waiting for others to give us gifts Give give give, me me me me me Giving yourself those gifts that matter most every single day is a skill you can learn simohosio.com/more-work-will…

Morning walk (iykyk) Morning coffee (not iced, boo) Met a pig (old friend at Kiikeli) A bit of writing. Planning. Radiating good vibes to yourself. Is all it takes to not be miserable. ( And yes after all this good vibing and doing all the good stuff for yourself, avoiding doing the work, next up is simply sitting down with the laptop, closing everything else, and putting words on the document. Manifesting a million-dollar grant. That's what's really up. )

Greetings from a very very early morning walk from a and empty, pretty dark, but absolutely awesome downtown Oulu You don't have the time to not give yourself the gift of a good walk every day And you don't have to do a lot. Just work a bit on day 1, a bit more on day 2, and on day 3 try to extend it just a couple of steps more simohosio.com/qs/

Academics are insecure about their imperfections just like anyone else. Yet, that's what folks miss. Don't slopify everything. Just be yourself. Cliche but so true.

There is a way to do stuff while having fun and spending absolutely no extra time: simohosio.com/the-catch-in-t… I'm a big advocate of finding different creative ways to squeeze in one good walk per day. We've got a lot of tools now that allow you to use that time also efficiently. Although, just wandering the world and nature around you are also great ways to put the time to good use Anyway, if you manage to build yourself a system where you consistently put tiny drops of effort into something bigger on a consistent basis, congratulations. You can now start building something great. And the only thing holding you back is probably the belief that "it's not that simple" Because it kind of is.

The longest study of adult life ever run finds relationships predict health and happiness better than money or fame. The PhD is built to isolate you, and relationships are the first thing cut at a deadline. Message one person you've let drift today. More of this in the Edge Academia newsletter → simohosio.com

My guess is if you are in academia you are a pretty good thinker. By the same virtue you also might be a pretty good overthinker and overthinking is one of the easiest ways to catastrophize everything, including the stuff that hasn't even been decided yet. It's a lifelong journey to learn to see things how they are, but not worse. In some cases it's good to see them better as they are but our brains are fine-tuned to see the dark... Sometimes just stop and write down all the good things you have in your life. And the real brain twist here is that some time ago you probably said that having what you have now would make you happy and fulfilled. Did it? If the answer is no, that next shiny milestone or promotion in your head is not going to do it either. Pic from simohosio.com/stop-seeing-yo…

Your mind produces thoughts like an inbox produces email, with no quality control. You review claims for a living, so review the ones your head makes at 11 pm. One stinging thought today, evidence for, evidence against, a fairer sentence. More of this in the Edge Academia newslet

The more you focus on just frantically getting more done, the more you will get done, and the more will magically appear on your desk. There is no version of reality in academia where your workload decreases by doing more of it. More is always more, and more begets more. Let me ask you a serious question. Have you ever sat down with yourself for even just 30 minutes or 1 hour and written down what success looks like to you? I know, a radical idea. Pen and notebook. Not 200 tabs and apps open. Just you and a brutal giga dose of iced coffee and your thoughts. And that pen. Write that down, and then revisit it next week to see if you still agree with it. Tweak it a bit. See if you can make any directional changes in your life toward that direction. Don't wish. Really, just ask what you can do to get closer directionally to that vision. You have the answer already. Then it takes a lot of guts to make the changes necessary or learn the new skills necessary. But at least you know what to do. Which is more than what most know. I bet you are in a position where you once hoped to be. You are already in a position you once said would make you happy. And if it doesn't, you really think the next position will? That loop is the trap. Find your happy place.

What you pay attention to becomes your life, and your attention is being pulled on purpose toward things you can't affect. One 45-minute block today, phone in another room. Count the minutes before you reach for something. More of this in the Edge Academia newsletter →

You control your body, your attention, your thoughts and your words. Funding rates and reviewer two are outside the list, and energy spent there is gone. Two columns today, mine and not mine. Act on the first. More of this in the Edge Academia newsletter →

Goals set a direction. Plans decide what happens on a Tuesday in February. Shrink the thing you keep failing at by half, twice, attach it to something you already do, and write it as "when this happens, I do that." More of this in the Edge Academia newsletter →

Feelings follow what you do, far more reliably than the other way round. Reading about writing feels like writing, and that's the trap. Pick the thing you're waiting to feel ready for and do a two-minute version today. More of this in the Edge Academia newsletter →