Second-order thinking
Keep asking and then what until the picture of the consequences stops changing
First-order thinking stops at the immediate result. Second-order thinking carries on to what happens after that, and after that, which is where the real cost of a bad decision usually sits. The method is one question, repeated: and then what? Howard Marks made the case for it in investing, where holding the view everyone else already holds is worth nothing. Outside markets it mostly works as a check on the quick fix.
Who backs it
Sorted by strength of stance
- Shane ParrishRecommends
Writer · Farnam Street and The Knowledge Project
The prompt he gives is one question, and then what, asked across ten minutes, ten months and ten years. First-order thinking is the failure he points at: it takes whatever settles the immediate problem and leaves the consequences to turn up later.
Source: fs.blog: second-order thinking
Aimed at the same thing
Other entries filed under focus or productivity.
- ProtocolFREE, no cost
Environment design
Change the room instead of relying on willpower
Backed by 7 of 54 stacks: 2 do it, 5 recommend it, 0 have discussed it - ProtocolFREE, no cost
Deep work blocks
Long, scheduled, distraction-free sessions on one cognitively hard task
Backed by 6 of 54 stacks: 5 do it, 1 recommend it, 0 have discussed it - ProtocolFREE, no cost
Time blocking
Give every hour of the workday a job before the day starts
Backed by 6 of 54 stacks: 4 do it, 2 recommend it, 0 have discussed it - ProtocolFREE, no cost
Deliberate wandering
Unplanned, inefficient exploration kept on purpose as the counterweight to efficiency
Backed by 2 of 54 stacks: 0 do it, 2 recommend it, 0 have discussed it - ProtocolFREE, no cost
Digital declutter
A 30-day break from optional tech, then reintroduce deliberately
Backed by 2 of 54 stacks: 0 do it, 2 recommend it, 0 have discussed it - ProtocolFREE, no cost
Hard thinking before lunch
Book the mentally demanding work for the morning and stop making big calls late in the day
Backed by 2 of 54 stacks: 2 do it, 0 recommend it, 0 have discussed it
Protocol entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.