Comments on: What I’ve learned from Tennis http://lapsusapp.co.uk/2010/06/08/what-ive-learned-from-tennis/ The excitable chap who's building a time tracking app Fri, 02 Sep 2011 20:07:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: John http://lapsusapp.co.uk/2010/06/08/what-ive-learned-from-tennis/comment-page-1/#comment-1886 John Tue, 09 Nov 2010 12:46:25 +0000 http://synapticmishap.co.uk/synapticmishap/?p=257#comment-1886 Thanks. I haven't thought of it in quite the way you do actually. What you say provides an interesting new perspective on the problem - the idea of getting goals etc out of the way and just focussing on "hitting the ball" i.e. writing code is a good analogy. Thanks. I haven’t thought of it in quite the way you do actually. What you say provides an interesting new perspective on the problem – the idea of getting goals etc out of the way and just focussing on “hitting the ball” i.e. writing code is a good analogy.

]]> By: Mikko http://lapsusapp.co.uk/2010/06/08/what-ive-learned-from-tennis/comment-page-1/#comment-1874 Mikko Tue, 02 Nov 2010 18:31:10 +0000 http://synapticmishap.co.uk/synapticmishap/?p=257#comment-1874 This post makes perfect sense, too, from a Zen perspective, or more western theories of what it means to be in the "zone", or even the modern GTD movement. The paradox is that by concentrating on the end result (usually by worrying about it, since if you're still working on it, it is not ready) you get tangled in the process, and your performance towards that end result suffers. Sure, you have to set goals for the process, but once you've set them (wrote them down, defined them, put them in a way outside of the process of getting there) you are free to just do it, just hit the ball, from moment to moment. In a development process there's of course re-iterations etc. but those too should be a part of the structure, instead of a part of the process. Congrats on Lapsus. You're definitely on the right path. :) This post makes perfect sense, too, from a Zen perspective, or more western theories of what it means to be in the “zone”, or even the modern GTD movement. The paradox is that by concentrating on the end result (usually by worrying about it, since if you’re still working on it, it is not ready) you get tangled in the process, and your performance towards that end result suffers. Sure, you have to set goals for the process, but once you’ve set them (wrote them down, defined them, put them in a way outside of the process of getting there) you are free to just do it, just hit the ball, from moment to moment. In a development process there’s of course re-iterations etc. but those too should be a part of the structure, instead of a part of the process.

Congrats on Lapsus. You’re definitely on the right path. :)

]]> By: John http://lapsusapp.co.uk/2010/06/08/what-ive-learned-from-tennis/comment-page-1/#comment-1577 John Fri, 11 Jun 2010 11:42:14 +0000 http://synapticmishap.co.uk/synapticmishap/?p=257#comment-1577 That's funny! :) That’s funny! :)

]]> By: John http://lapsusapp.co.uk/2010/06/08/what-ive-learned-from-tennis/comment-page-1/#comment-1576 John Fri, 11 Jun 2010 11:41:21 +0000 http://synapticmishap.co.uk/synapticmishap/?p=257#comment-1576 Thanks for your comment, David. Yeah, I've heard Daniel Pink speak a lot about this stuff but haven't got around to reading Drive yet. The theories he puts forwards are really interesting and surprising for those of us who haven't seen the science behind them before. One thing I really took away from this is when I'm building Lapsus and I'm feeling low on motivation, I should remember why I want it to exist, rather than trying to imagine how much money it might make - therefore appealing to my intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation. Thanks for your comment, David. Yeah, I’ve heard Daniel Pink speak a lot about this stuff but haven’t got around to reading Drive yet. The theories he puts forwards are really interesting and surprising for those of us who haven’t seen the science behind them before. One thing I really took away from this is when I’m building Lapsus and I’m feeling low on motivation, I should remember why I want it to exist, rather than trying to imagine how much money it might make – therefore appealing to my intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation.

]]> By: Joe Wright http://lapsusapp.co.uk/2010/06/08/what-ive-learned-from-tennis/comment-page-1/#comment-1575 Joe Wright Fri, 11 Jun 2010 11:36:47 +0000 http://synapticmishap.co.uk/synapticmishap/?p=257#comment-1575 To my shame I thought Tennis was going to be a time management app. To my shame I thought Tennis was going to be a time management app.

]]> By: David Talbort http://lapsusapp.co.uk/2010/06/08/what-ive-learned-from-tennis/comment-page-1/#comment-1570 David Talbort Wed, 09 Jun 2010 08:05:42 +0000 http://synapticmishap.co.uk/synapticmishap/?p=257#comment-1570 Really nice YouTube video picks up on a similar theme, in terms of motivation. Worth a look: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rsa+motivation&aq=f Really nice YouTube video picks up on a similar theme, in terms of motivation. Worth a look: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rsa+motivation&aq=f

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