SELF-GROWTH

​How to Be Effortlessly Disciplined: 5 Mindset Shifts

Video | Ali Abdaal

There's a lot to absorb in this video in terms of research and techniques to help you become more disciplined at something. Of all of them, I thought one research study was particularly interesting because it was like coding scripts with words. One study had a treatment group envision their goal and identify the obstacles that may get in their way. In this identification they were told to write if-then statements to help them overcome the obstacles (which reminds me of writing if-else statements in code).

In the example shared, students were preparing for an exam. The treatment group envisioned the goal of taking it well, and they wrote if-then statements to help them prepare, like a problem-solution model. This would look something like "If I get distracted while doing practice tests, then I'll get up and do a quick walk around my room and sit down and start again."

In the study this treatment group completed more exam questions than the control group who didn't envision and do the if-then statements. It has me curious about how I can use this practice in areas of my work.

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CODING

​Build an Accordion Menu with React & Tailwind CSS

Video | Code Commerce

I've been very slowly trying to learn React which is a front-end JavaScript library for building user interfaces. Because I rarely have time to work on a React project in full I watch short tutorials to pick up concepts.

In this tutorial they are also using Tailwind CSS which I think is really cool and have been learning. In simple terms, Tailwind CSS allows you to use unique class names for quickly styling elements within your HTML. You don't need to write your own CSS, saving you tons of time.

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For example, let's say I want to style a div container to have 20px of padding on all sides.

A standard method for doing this looks like:

<div class="my-style">Hello
​
​.my-style {
padding: 20px;
}

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With Tailwind CSS there's no need to touch your stylesheet. Everything is preset with class names. So it would look like:

<div class="p-20">Hello

What if you want to quickly add rounded corners?

<div class="p-20 rounded">Hello

And you want the text to be the color blue? No problem.

<div class="p-20 rounded text-blue">Hello

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I think Tailwind CSS is pretty awesome and a great time saver. Now, you can imagine how complicated the HTML can read though with all these classes in the code. So there's pros and cons, but for quick prototyping this framework is great.

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SELF-GROWTH

​How to Stop Procrastination and Laziness

Podcast | Jocko Podcast

Sometimes it helps to listen to a short 8-minute podcast that gives you a good kick to get you moving. Jocko, a former Navy SEAL provides that motivation in this simple episode. The takeaway is that if you want to get something accomplished then decide to execute, execute, execute. Do the thing.

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