Progress Report 1: January 2023
Somewhere in the middle of January, I determined to write a book. I didn’t know what I’m going to write about, but I knew that I had enough of topics to choose from. I created a list of possible topics in one of my tweets. Let me find it for you.
Here’s the original tweet:
Instead of reading 50 random books a year, let's instead pick one topic and read/research this topic in depth for a while year. I have some ideas what I'm going to pick.
— Jyri And (@jyriand) January 2, 2023
If you are not into Twitter, here is the list of topics I was considering:
- Austrian Economics
- Problem Solving
- Systems Thinking
- Self-control/Procrastination
- About Jesuits
- Gnosticism
- Adlerian Psychology
- Concept of fate/determinism/fatalism
- Ancient Greek language, history, mythology
- Value Investing
Creating this list, I was not aiming to pick a topic for a book. I created this list to find out what topic I will pick for the year of 2023. I wrote a post about it. You can check it out here:
Topical Reading: Instead of Reading Lists
Finally, after mulling over it and ordering the topics, I landed on the “Problem-Solving” topic. Still, at that moment, I wasn’t thinking about “writing a book”. But at some point I started to think: if I’m going to research this topic, why not frame this research into the “book writing” frame. That way I will have some structure and a purpose. And that’s how I decided to write a book.
Progress
How much progress have I made?
On the writing front — not much. But that is expected. I am not planning to start writing so soon. I’m in the phase of research, outlining, and searching for the “Organizing Principle”(I think I found it).
What is an Organizing Principle?
It is hard to explain, but I will try. It’s a principle, an idea, a structure, a strange feeling in your gut, a ray of sunbeam that has penetrated the clouds and lights up a way out of the fog, a magical vision that gives clarity—a principle that joins the book into one single piece. I think (actually, I’m pretty sure) that I found the organizing principle of this book. It happened while I was leafing through my Zettelkasten paper slips, searching for something, something not related to the book, and I happened to read a title of one of the notes: “Center, Enter, Turn”. Of course, I knew about that card, it was a note I took from the book Weinberg on Writing (summary here), but I never thought about it in connection with problem-solving. In hindsight, the connection is pretty clear. Instantly I knew what my book will be called: “Center, Enter, Turn: The Art and Science of Solving Problems”. That title gave me the structure of the book. Three parts:
- Center
- Enter
- Turn I also knew what each part will be about.
Part I: Center
Before trying to solve a problem, you need to center yourself. Don’t jump head-first into the unknown waters, even if you think you know what you are dealing with. Forget what you know. Understand the problem first. Ask yourself: What is the actual problem? Who has the problem? etc. Centering is all about forgetting what you already know, and seeing the world with a new, fresh eyes.
Part II: Enter
This part is about different approaches, techniques, frameworks, and methodologies you can use to solve your problems.
This is the part I’m not entirely sure about yet. I have notes on various techniques, methods, and anecdotes about solving problems, but I don’t know how to structure them.
Part III: Turn
Every so often, you get stuck on a problem, not able to solve it. You try and try, but you can’t find the solution. It’s as if the problem has no solution. This is the time when you need to turn away from it. Again, forget it. Let your subconscious do the work.
If you are into video-games, then you surely know this feeling. You are stuck on a level. You have tried to pass it for countless times, but it’s just not happening. Then you close the game, do something else, go to sleep—forget about the game. Next time you open up the level, you pass it on a first try. How is this possible? What happened? Well, the third part of the book is all about that.
What I’m doing?
Currently, I’m reading various books about problem-solving, getting better acquainted with the science.
I also work on the outline using my analog Zettelkasten. I’m collecting relevant notes, and trying to find out where to put them. In February, I will do mostly that: read, take notes, and work on the initial outline.
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