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Hire (or Become) a Thinking Assistant — LessWrong

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I think more people (x-risk focused people in particular) should consider becoming (and hiring) metacognitive assistants. This is the single largest performance boost I know of – hire someone to sit with you and help you think. It doesn't help me (much) when I'm at my peak, but I'm not at my peak most of the time. There are four types of assistants I'm tracking so far: Body doubles just sit in the room with you, periodically looking at your screen, and maybe saying "hey, do you endorse being on facebook?". They're a kind of brute force willpower aid. The person I know who uses them the most (Alex Altair) has them just sit in the same room (I believe while doing pomodoros, each of them working on different things). He guesses that they 2x his productivity (which is around what I've gotten) A metacognitive assistant is a step beyond, where they are dedicating their attention to you, noticing when you are getting stuck, and gently intervening. (I assume people vary in how they like to be

x Hire (or Become) a Thinking Assistant — LessWrong Practical Frontpage 142 Hire (or Become) a Thinking Assistant by Raemon 23rd Dec 2024 10 min read 50 142 Of the posts I've delayed writing for years, I maybe regret this one the most. I think more people (x-risk focused people in particular) should consider becoming (and hiring) metacognitive assistants. This is the single largest performance boost I know of – hire someone to sit with you and help you think. It doesn't help me (much) when I'm at my peak, but I'm not at my peak most of the time. There are four types of assistants I'm tracking

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