"Mindfulness" VS "Sunk Costs"

At first glance, the idea of meditating to ground yourself in the present, to view things in terms of  'here-and-now', has little to do with design or usability.

But consider that design is about making decisions.

Your ability to make good decisions is affected by the extent to which you feel an obligation to stick with a course of action that you've already invested time and resources in.

This doesn't mean you should change course whenever things get difficult, but consider your motivation when you feel the need to continue on with something that isn't working.  There is a real difference between having reason to believe things will improve and being stubborn because of the investment you've already made.

The previous investment -- the "sunk costs" --  is less valid than your present understanding of the situation.

Momentum and inertia both refer to movement. You want the positive trait of momentum. You don't want the negative trait of inertia.

This post came out of a piece I read from from  UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center:

Can Mindfulness Improve Decision Making?

http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/can_mindfulness_improve_decision_making

Plans Laid Best

Dominoes will refuse to fall according to plan. Expect to improvise.

Check your baggage

You don't need it, it adds no value, and it takes up space - either measurable real estate or conceptual space. It's there because you thought it was important, or that you might want it or need it later. Those things might be true but, like the suitcase of next week's clothes when you're on a plane, you don't need 'em right now.

So you check it. You can still get it back when you need it, if you need it.

Options

Keep your options open for too long, you may find they've expired.

many ways

There's more than one way to skin a cat. And most of them work on dogs, too.

Axis of Incompetence

When your client doesn't understand the product they've hired you to design - yet still wants to micromanage - and your management is too lazy or too frightened to set and enforce rational boundaries -- you are dealing with an axis of incompetence. Exit with as much dignity as you can.

Back and Forth

Sometimes you have to back up to move forward.

Change

The world won't change without you.

Downtime

Downtime is a break. Breaks are opportunities. Opportunities lead to things. Where are you headed?

The Fence

Operate within the neatly fenced boundaries of the reasonable and the practical. But every now and then, move the fence.

The Best Time

It's always the best time to get started.

New Things For Old

To really start a new thing, you have to both carefully remember and completely put aside the old things.

Crap beats zip

When you need to come up with an idea and you're drawing a blank, write something down. Even "the bad idea that I can't even come up with" is something you can change.

More often, you're coming up with lots of things - and they're all bad.

Pick the one you like the most (or - more likely - hate the least) and write that one down. Now you've got something, even if it's something bad.

Crap beats zip.

Magic

Sometimes the magic works. Sometimes it doesn't.

Better Choices

When faced with a new project, you have a dizzying number of options. Your experience and knowledge will trim those down considerably - you have a good idea of what will work, and what probably won't.

Still, there will be a lot of choices. And frequently - through habit or reflex or the simple comfort of the known - you'll make similar choices to those you have made in the past. And that can be fine. Wise, even. Assuming you have usually made the right choices.

Too often, you find yourself in a "here we go again" situation, not because you're dumb or incompetent but because the options you're used to selecting often lead to similar pitfalls or pinch points. Doesn't mean your path won't work - just that the same pain appears.

When you become conscious of this, it means you should back up, breathe, and think about how to make better choices.

Squeaky wheels

There's communicating (interfacing with colleagues, an even-handed give-and-take, sharing knowledge and opinions) and then there's being the squeaky wheel. They're not the same thing. And reinventing the squeaky wheel is way out there.

Don't

Don't hide the "Next" button. Just don't.

Head or tail of it.

It's like a coin. Doesn't matter what it is, it's like a coin. Every now and then you should flip it.

The Bull

Taking the bull by the horns will quickly reveal your most likely outcome.

A little at a time

Everything is incremental.