Welcome to Episode #12 of the Focus and Chill podcast. We’re lucky to have Sandy Xu as our guest today. Sandy is passionate about the transition to net zero carbon emissions. She is a renewable energy analyst, convenor of the Sustainability Book club, and obsessed with finding low-carbon running shoes. She’s also Jeremy’s wife.
JN: What projects are you concentrating on during your focused hours?
Modelling in Python, not clay
Forecasting prices of electricity to make sure that
Studying Masters of Data Science
EV battery longevity
How about the rest of the time? What do you enjoy doing in your off time?
Sustainability book club (quarterly):
Books:
“Together we can”
“The big switch”
“Dark Emu”
What does your morning routine look like and how has it evolved over time?
Muse: meditation headset
Is it neurofeedback?
Journaling:
Free writing
Structured:
What am I grateful
What am I excited about
Anki
Data science flashcards, e.g. what is cross entropy?
JC: What do you do to optimize productivity during your working hours?
Energy management > time management
Peak performance in the morning: tackle difficult coding tasks first thing
Energy slump after lunch
Naps help
Another peak in the early evening: study
Time blocking: book meetings with herself so that other people can’t interrupt her during deep work
Body doubling
Distraction blocking using Focus Bear
Pomodoro technique
Changing locations (go to the library)
JN: How do you switch off at night?
Reading books
Evening journaling
How the day went
Plan for the next day
How do you stop studying from eating into switch off time?
Prioritize setting tomorrow’s tasks
Shutting down computers/devices
Hot shower/foot spa in the evening
JC: What habits do you want to remove from your life?
Inconsistent morning routine
Overcoming fear of starting
Excuses to not do things in the morning / kick them to the evening
To don’t list:
Facebook
WeChat
YouTube
JN: What resources (books, philosophies, apps) do you find most helpful for productivity and habit formation?
Books:
Atomic habits, Clear
Habit Stacking
Tiny Habits, Fogg
When, Pink
Collection of Chinese aphorisms
Apps:
Forest: can’t use the phone while focusing though doesn’t work on the computer that well
Focus Bear
JC: Where can people connect with you or find your work?
Meetup page for Sustainability Book club
LinkedIn
JC: Do you have any final words or asks for our audience? 1. A long journey starts with a single step
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