work reflections

distilled from real experiences — anonymized notes from a neurotech startup internship, hackathons, math competitions, coding sessions, and a lot of honest self-reflection. not polished advice. real patterns that worked, failed, or taught something.

76 pages across 13 sections. heavily interconnected — browse from any entry point.

sources & methodology

sources-and-methodology — where this content came from (IdeaFlow, Apple Notes, Obsidian, mentor conversations), how to search those sources, and what was useful.

core strategies

• zooming-out — stepping back from work. walks, scenery changes, thinking time.
• resyncing — communication patterns. sync meetings, high-bandwidth comms, "short circuit."
• critical-path — "is this critical path?" as the core prioritization question.
• intentionality — the meta-skill applied to work, relationships, growth.

work patterns

• startup-workflow — weekly cadence, re-entry format, growth numbers, 80-15-5.
• electronics-workflow — breadboarding → wiring → UX.
• software-workflow — think first, types, iterate, then implement.
• vibe-coding — AI coding reflections. rotting, context switching, trusting agents.
• modeling — "all models are wrong but some are useful."
• research-workflow — approaching research problems.

mentality & inner game

• impostor-syndrome — from "everyone is cooking me" to "acceleration > position."
• perseverance — staying when things are cooked.
• narratives — how framing affects motivation.
• resets — reset options by emotional/physical state.
• gratitude-and-appreciation — gratitude as a tool.

team & relationships

• team-dynamics — bandwidth in comms, "assume no ill will."
• relationship-repair — deliberate walks to fix friction.
• feedback-and-honesty — "tell them how im feeling, dont ask for anything, keep working."

meta

• operation-optimization — periodically optimizing how you operate.

mentorship

lessons from 30+ mentor conversations, anonymized.

• agency-talk — the pivotal "take agency" conversation
• pattern-recognition — how mentors spot what you cant see
• asking-good-questions — extracting value from conversations
• the-stocks-metaphor — acceleration > position, growth compounds
• disagreeing-productively — "disagree and commit", being forceful

things that worked

positive patterns extracted from weekly reflections. not evolution — just wins.

• morning-routines — morning patterns that produced good days
• energy-hacks — specific boosts for energy and focus
• social-wins — relationship strategies that worked
• work-sessions — patterns of productive sessions
• mindset-shifts — moments where mindset change unlocked performance

research notes

technical workflows from a neurotech internship.

• signal-processing-workflow — EEG pipeline
• debugging-hardware — binary search debugging hardware
• reading-papers — extracting value from academic papers
• experiment-design — designing tests, iterating, ensuring robustness
• emotions-and-work — when emotions cloud work

strategies

distilled from 100+ IdeaFlow entries.

• prioritization — raise or fold, the yes-brain mistake
• habit-formation — identity approach, trigger-response
• learning-from-experience — the reflection engine
• framing-and-narrative — reframes, the articulation effect
• social-strategy — graph search, mutual growth model

inner work

Joe Hudson / Art of Accomplishment influenced.

learning science

how learning actually works.

• spaced-repetition — Ebbinghaus, Mochi, natural spacing
• the-testing-effect — retrieval practice > re-reading
• building-to-learn — learn by building, not studying
• transfer — how skills transfer between domains

flow & deep work

getting into and maintaining focus.

• monotony-and-creativity — 80-15-5 rule
• distraction-management — AI rotting, escape ladders
• energy-cycles — ultradian rhythms, 90-min blocks

decision-making

frameworks for choosing what to do.

• reversible-vs-irreversible — type 1 vs type 2 decisions
• regret-minimization — 80-year-old self test
• fomo-trap — FOMO is position, not growth
• sunk-cost-and-quitting — when to keep going vs quit
• information-gathering — how much research before deciding

sleep & energy

managing the physical substrate.

• circadian-rhythm — light, meals, temperature
• food-and-focus — food comas, the ~7pm cutoff
• exercise-as-reset — exercise as most reliable reset
• napping-and-recovery — strategic napping, breathwork

math problem-solving

from math modeling competitions and physics.

• problem-framing — choosing the right abstraction level
• monte-carlo-and-simulation — when to simulate vs solve
• estimation-and-sanity-checks — Fermi estimation
• competition-strategy — time management, problem selection
• mathematical-writing — writing modeling papers

debugging

the meta-skill. harrison's favorite topic.

• the-30-hour-bug — one line fix after 30 hours
• binary-search-your-life — debugging as life meta-skill
• hardware-vs-software — can't printf a circuit
• rubber-duck-and-zoom-out — explaining reveals answers
• assumptions-kill — every long session has a wrong assumption

writing as thinking

writing discovers what you think.

• writing-to-understand — writing as debugging for thought
• the-reflection-gap — insight without action
• articulation-as-memory — naming patterns makes them usable
• public-vs-private — honesty vs clarity tradeoff
• journaling-systems — what works and what doesn't

from obsidian

older reflections that still resonate.

• before-the-awakening — pre-startup self-reflection
• compiled-advice — accumulated wisdom

published notes on moonflowers.xyz — especially on modeling, operation big items, reset options, and on optimized learning.