Optimize Your Mindset (Without Overclocking)

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Nebraska.Code() 2026 - Career Progression // V2026.1 $ optimize --target=self Optimize Your Mindset (without overclocking) Christine Seeman CPU 64%

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Nebraska.Code() 2026 - Career Progression // V2026.1 AI Disclaimer •Me and Claude did a redesign of slide visuals. •All Content is human curated for good or bad (aka my me) •References and quotes will be be provided in full at the end and online Christine Seeman CPU 64%

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// THE PREMISE You can improve yourself. Not with more willpower. With four research-backed techniques you can actually stick with.

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// FOUR DEVELOPERS, FOUR STRUGGLES 👩💻 🧑🎨 👨🔧 👩💼 Everyone struggles. Nobody has to stay stuck.

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// MEET THE CAST 👩💻 🧑🎨 👨🔧 👩💼 Evette Dell Nick Peyton Software Engineer Product Designer Network Engineer Product Manager → mindfulness → habit building → growth mindset → deep work

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👩💻 Software Engineer Evette What's her struggle? WARN Replaying the code review comment from this morning — for the fifth time WARN Overwhelmed with worries and general chaos WARN Everything wrong is happening to her

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TECHNIQUE 01 · FOR EVETTE A solution? Mindfulness 01 / 04

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“ Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgementally. — Jon Kabat-Zinn creator of the Stress Reduction Clinic & Center for Mindfulness

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/ / W H AT I S M I N D F U L N E S S ? The mental habit of paying attention — without thinking. console.log ( "your brain" )

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// LIVE DEMO inhale · exhale Let's try a quick meditation.

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/ / H O W TO P R A C T I C E M I N D F U L N E S S 01 Focus your attention on something 02 Keep your focus — but don't judge yourself 03 Don't strive too hard Simple, but not easy.

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Might even call this the Secret Sauce

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/ / FA Q Do you have to meditate in order to be mindful?

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Am I going to need a lot of props? singing bowl an app subscription meditation cushion gong incense

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Nope. There is no perfect way to meditate.

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/ / W H AT C A N I T H E L P W I T H ? Emotional balance Response flexibility Down-regulation of fear

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But wait — there's more… Insight Empathy Morality Intuition

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👩💻 How will this help Evette? Replaying the code review comment for the fifth time → Lets her redirect her thoughts Overwhelmed with worries and chaos → Down-regulates fear and chaos Everything wrong is happening to her → Helps her find insight and perspective

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🧑🎨 Product Designer Dell What's the struggle? TODO The January resolution list is still mostly unchecked — and it's April TODO Fourth habit-tracker app this month — the first three already have broken streaks TODO Notion, Todoist, a planner, sticky notes, the back of an envelope, and a different list on each

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TECHNIQUE 02 · FOR DELL An idea to help? Habit Building 02 / 04

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“ All our life, so far as it has definite form, is but a mass of habits. — William James The Principles of Psychology, 1890

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What is a habit? Just "something you do every day" A frequently recurring behavior that triggers when a cue is encountered then runs automatically.

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// THE HABIT LOOP 💥 Cue → 🐁 → Routine ↑___________ reward reinforces the cue ___________↑ 🧀 Reward

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// EXAMPLES 🥱 Wake up (cue) → 🪥 brush your teeth (habit) 🏢 Get to work (cue) → 📧 check email / Slack (habit) 😣 Get stressed (cue) → 🍪 grab a snack (habit) 🧠 Hit a hard problem (cue) → 🌐 open a new browser tab (habit)

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How do you form a habit? 01 02 03 Identify your goal Create environmental triggers Define your reward

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It's a marathon, not a sprint.

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// IDENTIFY THE TRIGGER Look for something already in your routine, like: 🚿 🥣 🚗 Showering Eating breakfast Commuting

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// A POSITIVE HABIT LOOP ☀ Cue sunrise → 🏃 Routine go for a run → 🎶 Reward your music

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/ / A N AT T E M P T I N G TO B E P O S I T I V E H A B I T L O O P ☀ Cue sunrise → 🏃💦 Routine go for a run → 😫 Reward NOT JOGGING

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/ / T H E N E G AT I V E H A B I T L O O P 😣 Cue stress → 📱 Routine doomscroll → 😫 Reward momentary escape

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Tips for making a habit stick Find out what you like Have a habit buddy Keep score Make it hard not to do

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Treat your habit like a sprint and hold a retro.

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🧑🎨 How will this help Dell? Resolutions unchecked since January → Mark them off one at a time Broken streaks across four apps → Habits build on habits — start small A resolution list a mile long, scattered everywhere → Tie each habit to one long-term goal

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👨🔧 Network Engineer Nick What's the struggle? FIXED "That's not really my area"... whenever anything outside his lane comes up FIXED Failed the cloud-cert practice exam once, hasn't rebooked FIXED A newer engineer just made tech lead, and the congrats message sits unsent in his drafts

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TECHNIQUE 03 · FOR NICK A solution? Growth Mindset 03 / 04

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// THE RESEARCH Abilities aren't fixed. They're grown. — Carol S. Dweck · Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

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v 0.5 You are never at your final version.

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Belief → Action → Growth

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/ / Q U E S T I O N S TO C H A L L E N G E " W H Y " Why hide deficiencies instead of overcoming them? Why seek people who shore up your self-esteem instead of ones who challenge you to grow? Why choose the tried and true instead of experiences that stretch you?

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Small changes, big difference.

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Fixed vs Growth mindset I suck at math Math has been challenging for me I'll never be an artist I'm not satisfied with the art I've made yet I'm not good at handstands I haven't learned handstands yet

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How to put it into practice 01 Accept you're not perfect, but you can improve 02 Change your perspective on failure and criticism 03 Focus on the process, not the end result 04 Learning fast != learning well

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If you're discouraged, remember: "I'm just not good at this yet."

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// IMPOSTER SYNDROME & MINDSET The internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud. It's just a mindset and it might be helped by focusing on growth. ref: xkcd.com/1954

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👨🔧 How will this help Nick? "That's not really my area" → Embrace challenges as learning opportunities Failed the cert once, hasn't rebooked → Only through perseverance do you learn Congrats message still unsent → Find lessons and inspiration in others' success

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👩💼 Product Manager Peyton What's the struggle? BUSY Her calendar is full BUSY 47 unread Slack threads, three red exclamation points, and she hasn't opened email yet BUSY Can't remember the last time she finished something that mattered

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T E C H N I Q U E 0 4 · F O R P E Y TO N A solution? Deep Work Strategies 04 / 04

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You are not losing a discipline contest. You are losing a design contest. — Johann Hari · Stolen Focus

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The ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable. — Cal Newport · Deep Work

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Not all work is equal Deep Work Shallow Work Distraction-free. Cognitively demanding. Pushes your capability. Hard to replicate. Low cognitive demand. Done while distracted. Easy to replicate. Feels productive.

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23 minutes The average time to fully return to a task after a single interruption. — Gloria Mark, UC Irvine

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We now self-interrupt, on average, every 47 sec — Gloria Mark, UC Irvine

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// 9:02 AM · DEEP IN A HARD PROBLEM 🔔 Slack · 1 new message

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// 9:04 AM 🔔 Slack · 3 new 📧 Email · 2 new 📅 Meeting in 10 min 💬 @here in #incidents

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/ / 9 : 0 7 A M · W H E R E WA S I ? 🔔 Slack · 9 📧 Email · 6 🔔 Slack · 12 ⚠ Alert fired 📅 Standup 📧 Email · 11 💬 @channel 🔴 PR review 📱 2 texts 🗓 Calendar invite

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The urge to check Slack doesn't come from Slack. It comes from the discomfort of a hard problem.

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/ / D E S I G N T H E D AY 1 · Block your deep work first Schedule everything else around it 2 · Batch shallow work Into a few defined windows 3 · Protect the rest of the day

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/ / D E E P W O R K F I R S T — A D E S I G N E D D AY 9–11 am 🧐 Deep work — no Slack, no email, no standups 11–12 pm 📧 Shallow batch #1 — messages, email triage, quick reviews 12–1 pm 🍲 Actual lunch — away from the desk 1–3 pm 🗣 Meetings + collaboration 3–4 pm 📥 Shallow batch #2 — follow-ups, status, inbox 5ish 📝 Shutdown ritual — review, plan tomorrow, close the loop

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// THE SHUTDOWN RITUAL · A GRACEFUL EXIT FOR YOUR BRAIN The shutdown ritual A fixed 5–15 min sequence that ends the workday. 01 02 03 04 Capture Review Look ahead Check the plan Sweep every loose task into one master list. Scan every list; set due dates on anything urgent. Check the calendar ~1-2 weeks out — no ambush deadlines. Glance at the weekly plan; note what actually got done. $ schedule shutdown, complete▋ The phrase is just the receipt, it only works because you did the accounting first.

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A notification fires the same cognitive interrupt whether you read it or not.

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💥🔔💥 One ping. One context switch. One recovery cost.

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📵 Just turn them off.

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👩💼 How will this help Peyton? Her calendar is full → Still full but now designed with intention, in support of her goals 47 unread threads before she's opened email → One thing that matters, picked before the inbox got a vote Can't remember finishing something that mattered → She finished it this morning

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/ / Y O U R TO O L K I T 👩💻 Mindfulness → logging for your brain

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/ / Y O U R TO O L K I T → logging for your brain Mindfulness 👩💻 🧑🎨 Habit Building → a retro for your daily life

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/ / Y O U R TO O L K I T 👩💻 Mindfulness → logging for your brain 🧑🎨 Habit Building → a retro for your daily life 👨🔧 Growth Mindset → v1.0 is not your final release

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/ / Y O U R TO O L K I T 👩💻 Mindfulness → logging for your brain 🧑🎨 Habit Building → a retro for your daily life 👨🔧 Growth Mindset → v1.0 is not your final release → turning off interrupts for your focus Deep Work 👩💼

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/ / Y O U R TO O L K I T 👩💻 Mindfulness → logging for your brain 🧑🎨 Habit Building → a retro for your daily life 👨🔧 Growth Mindset → v1.0 is not your final release 👩💼 Deep Work → turning off interrupts for your focus

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// SHIP ONE CHANGE Pick one. Start small. You don't have to stay stuck and you're never at your final version.

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/ / R E F E R E N C E S & F U RT H E R R E A D I N G Everything, in one place. christine-seeman.com/optimize-your-mindset-references

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👋👋👋👋 Thank you. Christine Seeman · Nebraska.Code() 2026

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Mindfulness — resources Timeless Truths for Modern Mindfulness — Arnie Kozak Wherever You Go, There You Are — Jon Kabat-Zinn nickwignall.com/how-to-start-a-mindfulness-practice · mindful.org/jon-kabat-zinn-defining-mindfulness counterculturist.net/mindfulness-meditation-beginners · blogs.scientificamerican.com — what mindfulness does to your brain

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Habit Building — resources Essential Zen Habits — Leo Babauta The Power of Habit — Charles Duhigg zenhabits.net/how-habits-are-formed · zenhabits.net/habit-motivations ucl.ac.uk — how long to form a habit · psychologytoday.com — the habit replacement loop

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Growth Mindset — resources Mindset: The New Psychology of Success — Carol S. Dweck mindsetworks.com/science · ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5836039 · theconversation.com — growth-mindset interventions fs.blog/2015/03/caroldweck-mindset · hbr.org — what a growth mindset actually means · scholarworks.uvm.edu/tvc/vol34/iss1/6

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Deep Work — resources Deep Work — Cal Newport (2016) A World Without Email — Cal Newport (2021) Stolen Focus — Johann Hari (2022) Flow — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1990) Indistractable — Nir Eyal (2019) Attention Span — Gloria Mark (2023) Make Time — Knapp & Zeratsky (2018) Hyperfocus — Chris Bailey (2018) Four Thousand Weeks — Oliver Burkeman (2021) Nicholas Carr — the original Atlantic essay