I’ve also changed the style/pace of my engagement somewhat, in a way that feels a little hard to describe.
It’s sort-of like, when I first encountered EA, I was approaching it as a sprint: there were all these amazing things to learn, all these important career paths to pursue, and all these massive problems to solve, and I had to go fast. I actually found this exciting rather than stressful, but it meant I wasn’t spending enough time with my (non-EA) partner, was too constantly talking about EA things with her, etc. (I think this is more about my personality than about EA specifically, given that a similar thing occurred when I first started teaching in 2018.)
Whereas now it’s more like I’m approaching EA as a marathon. By that I mean I’m:
Spending a little less time on “work and/or EA stuff” and a little more time with my partner
My work is now itself EA stuff, so I actually increased my time spent on EA stuff compared to when I was a teacher. But I didn’t increase it as much as I would’ve if still in “sprint mode”.
Making an effort to more often talk about non-EA things with my partner
Reducing how much I “sweat the small stuff”; being more willing to make some frivolous expenditures (which are actually small compared to what I’m donating and will donate in future) for things like nice days out, and to not think carefully each time about whether to do that
I think the factors that led me to switch to marathon mode are roughly that:
It seemed best for my partner and my relationship
I’ve come to see my relationship itself in a more marathon-y and mature way (or something like that; it’s hard to describe), I think due to the fact that I got married this year
This seems to have made ideas about compromise and long time horizons more salient to me
(I mean this all in a good way, despite how “seeing my relationship as a marathon” might sound!)
My career transition worked! So now I feel a bit less like there’s a mad dash to get onto a high impact path, and a bit more like I just need to work well and sustainably
But this change was only moderate, for reasons including that I remain uncertain about which path I should really be on
Getting an EA research job means I can now scratch my itch for learning, discussing, and writing about interesting and important ideas during my work hours, and therefore don’t feel an unmet intellectual “need” if I spend my free hours on other things
In contrast, when I was a teacher, I mostly had to get my fill of interesting and important ideas outside of work time, biting into the time I spent with my partner
I’ve also changed the style/pace of my engagement somewhat, in a way that feels a little hard to describe.
It’s sort-of like, when I first encountered EA, I was approaching it as a sprint: there were all these amazing things to learn, all these important career paths to pursue, and all these massive problems to solve, and I had to go fast. I actually found this exciting rather than stressful, but it meant I wasn’t spending enough time with my (non-EA) partner, was too constantly talking about EA things with her, etc. (I think this is more about my personality than about EA specifically, given that a similar thing occurred when I first started teaching in 2018.)
Whereas now it’s more like I’m approaching EA as a marathon. By that I mean I’m:
Spending a little less time on “work and/or EA stuff” and a little more time with my partner
My work is now itself EA stuff, so I actually increased my time spent on EA stuff compared to when I was a teacher. But I didn’t increase it as much as I would’ve if still in “sprint mode”.
Making an effort to more often talk about non-EA things with my partner
Reducing how much I “sweat the small stuff”; being more willing to make some frivolous expenditures (which are actually small compared to what I’m donating and will donate in future) for things like nice days out, and to not think carefully each time about whether to do that
This post feels relevant here
I think the factors that led me to switch to marathon mode are roughly that:
It seemed best for my partner and my relationship
I’ve come to see my relationship itself in a more marathon-y and mature way (or something like that; it’s hard to describe), I think due to the fact that I got married this year
This seems to have made ideas about compromise and long time horizons more salient to me
(I mean this all in a good way, despite how “seeing my relationship as a marathon” might sound!)
My career transition worked! So now I feel a bit less like there’s a mad dash to get onto a high impact path, and a bit more like I just need to work well and sustainably
But this change was only moderate, for reasons including that I remain uncertain about which path I should really be on
Getting an EA research job means I can now scratch my itch for learning, discussing, and writing about interesting and important ideas during my work hours, and therefore don’t feel an unmet intellectual “need” if I spend my free hours on other things
In contrast, when I was a teacher, I mostly had to get my fill of interesting and important ideas outside of work time, biting into the time I spent with my partner