[yardshop]

He says something similar at the end of the article:

"These four verbs aren’t a productivity system or a self-help formula. Some days I forget one. Other days, one takes over. But when I return to them, they gently reorient me."

You may be overreacting with words like "machine" and "tyranny" to an idea simply suggested as a useful and helpful goal.

[romesmoke]

I wouldn't have commented if the article kept neutral on when to apply its ideas. But the push for daily learning-reflecting-etc is there. Even the segment you're quoting uses days for accounting. You're downplaying one's potential to read something like this on the Internet and try to literally live by it.

As for machines and tyranny, they're terms capturing the Zeitgeist all too well.

[owebmaster]

> As for machines and tyranny, they're terms capturing the Zeitgeist all too well.

What Zeitgeist? The spirit of this age is laziness, overeating, selfness. Everything is too difficult and... the fault of those tyrants!

[MoltenMan]

> But the push for daily learning-reflecting-etc is there.

But this is a good thing; if I waste a day without learning or doing anything, I feel bad about myself. And I want to feel bad! Always pushing to improve myself has helped me immensely. It's easy to keep telling yourself 'oh, I'll do better tomorrow'; it's harder to actually do better tomorrow.

That's not to say you shouldn't take it easy on yourself every once in a while. But figuring out those exceptions isn't what this article is about, and it's certainly not a 'tyrannical' article. As a society I feel we have gone way too far in this direction; sometimes life is hard! Sometimes you have to do hard things! And often it will pay off later in life and you'll be glad you put in the work.

[romesmoke]

Everyone has their values. It's OK if there's no universal system. I don't want to feel bad if a day passes and I haven't learned or done anything; I trust my intuition and experience to discern between peaceful and warlike periods. I'm all for doing hard stuff when needed; I'm all against the ideal of always; and yes, that ideal is tyrannical.

Life is not binary. Routines are not classified into hippie XOR hardcore. Not feeling bad for not improving yourself is a good sign of having actually improved. But that's just my opinion. Take care.