Time flies..

Wow, weeks go on by. Here's a quick update:

1. I got the thesis done.
2. Got some free time now
3. Work is good, life is good/ok.
4. Fall sucks, it's just too dark.
5. I like my work & co-workers!

Good stuff. I've been trying to get a little more active with sports.
The training regimen I'm trying on now is as follows:

- Tuesday, before work: 3km jog and some weights.
- Thursday evening: Squash 1 hour
- Friday, before work: 3km jog and some weights again
- Sunday noon: Squash 1 hour

The main bulk of my new-found free time has mostly been spent on catching up on reading, watching movies and playing some games. The computer's been upgraded a little thanks to a motherboard meltdown. I'm now running an Asus P5k with 4Gb ram and an Nvidia 8800gts 640. Seems to be running games alright. A bigger, better monitor is something I'd like very much, the 22" is a little limited by the resolution.

Some other purchases: A Canon S5is digicam & Canon Pixma mp600. They get the job done for most of the digital work that needs to be done.

Minna's been quite busy trying to juggle 3 jobs and her final year at school. There's also been some unwanted drama from her family's side. Without getting into details, I'll just say that we're not currently on speaking terms with the most of them. Minna's little brother is still cool, but the rest I'm not so sure about. Sad state of affairs, but what can you do.

Anyways, that's it for now.

"Spring is in the air"

Well, it seems like spring is back again. The first symptoms of allergy are here, hooray. Time to dig out the old recipes and get some meds.. Have to cancel the squash game with Mr. M. today. So far I have not managed to write a single line of text for my thesis, but have instead been reading a 1950s history classic by Mr. Alf Henrikson: "Alf Henrikson: Antiikin tarinoita 1-2" third Finnish edition. "And how is that relevant to your thesis?" I hear you ask. None of your goddamn business! Perhaps I was trying to get some inspiration from the rhetorics of Cicero? :P

Anyways! It is a very readable history of ancient times. Periods covered are roughly 1000 bce to 500 ce. Great source of stories and highly acceptable. One thing that is bothering me, though - is the complete lack of accurate references. Given the sheer volume of quotable material, and the projected reader's interest in references (and the fact that the book was written in the 50s) this is arguably quite understandable. The author has a very casual writing style, similar to Veijo Meri (note: his non-fiction Finnish history series) & Henri Troyat (biographies..). Sometimes it is rather fun to just blaze through authors such as these. The more serious (from an academical perspective anyway!) writers, such as Anthony Beevor are a little more tedious to read. This does not mean that their books are any less enjoyable. The amount of detail and research that for an example Mr. Beevor puts into his books is quite respectable.


Back to other tasks...

Another monday half spent

Been a while since the last update. I've got to keep up! :)

Been a little sick again. Some fever, but it went away in the same day. Situation now: home alone, drinking coffee and getting ready mentally to work on my thesis.

I've been pulling 3-4 work shifts per week. On the off time I've been watching some episodes of twin peaks, Rome second season & playing games (America's Army, Continuum, Europa Univeralis III, Fable, Medieval 2: Total war). I've done quite a considerable amount of reading as well, sadly I don't have the library receipts to see the reading history. Anyway, it's been history mostly + some business books.

I've also done some work on the thesis. Btw, procrastination is a bitch.. but have no fear friends! There are ways to combat it, such as goal setting. The following is a dirty copy-paste to make this post appear longer:

Goal Setting
This is a very effective mechanism for limiting procrastination. The process requires taking some larger goal and breaking it down into a series of smaller tasks. For optimum effectiveness, these goals should have four properties: Specificity, Challenge, Proximity, and Routine. It works very much as Discounted Utility Theory, outlined on the Theory webpage, would predict.

1. Specificity
   Goal specificity refers to explicit standards and conditions that indicate their fulfillment. Increasing specificity has been shown to increase performance and, in turn, should decrease procrastination. To the degree one does not have a clear understanding of when goals are about to be achieved, the motivational benefits of temporal discounting do not occur. In other words, you should know exactly where your finishing line is.
2. Challenge
   Challenge of goal essentially increases its value. Achieving a difficult challenge is more rewarding than achieving an easy task. To avoid procrastination, challenging goals should be set as they have higher value and less easily overshadowed by other alternatives. To be effective, challenging goals should be set as they have higher value and are less easily overshadowed by other alternatives. Of note, expectancy is somewhat diminished by challenge. Consequently, there is an optimal breakpoint where the decreased expectancy of a goal outweighs the potential gains in satisfaction.
3. Proximity
   Ideally, your goals should be set though that they can be completed in a timely manner, perhaps today or even just this morning. Distant goals are substantially delayed, reducing the motivational effectiveness. The only reservation regarding proximity is that by dividing a large goal into variously spaced sub-goals, each sub-goal must necessarily be easier to achieve and thus less satisfying. Consequently, there should be a breakpoint where the further subdivision of a goal decreases achievement motivation more than can be offset by the decrease in delay.
4. Routine
   One predictor of procrastination is the number of “choice points” a task requires. The more junctures that require choice, the more likely it is that we will procrastinate. Consequently, one of the most powerful self-control techniques is the development of automaticity through routines. Automaticity refers to a habitualized course of action that can be conducted with little or no conscious attention. These automatic routines can maintain goal pursuit as they limit decision making to that relevant to the task at hand. Consequently, you should try to schedule your goals to occur at a regular time and a regular place. For example, if you trying to exercise, choose a day, a time, a place, and stick to it as best as possible. If sickness makes you miss a day, get back to it as soon as possible. Eventually, you won't be deciding to do other things. You will just find yourself effortlessly performing."