Making money is an inevitable byproduct of learning.
—Naval Ravikant (1974-)
✏️ The Freelancer’s Dilemma
I wrote a while back about work-life balance and work-life integration. I think to truly give yourself to your work, you must live it, breathe it, let it permeate every second and atom of your existence. A Sunday morning walk to hear the church bells ring can provide the necessary inspiration for one’s work — the toil should not wait until Monday at 9.
I have recently taken upon some freelance work that has made this more difficult to approach. In an agreement where one is trading his time for money, how does one account for mulling over of ideas, the natural curiosity, the studying of the problem that occurs outside of the work of the real project? I prefer project-based fees because I do not have to think about how long I spent doing this or that. I can give myself to the work, and forget about when or how long things take. That is not important. The work is in the name of God — it takes as long as it takes to be worthy.
I am not advocating for overwork or burnout. One must decide when the time to rest has come. This is part of the work too. But I think the people who are truly great at things do not confine themselves to the boundaries of paid time or scheduled practice. They embody their craft, and this is what makes them excellent. Soon, I believe, they will be paid their worth. Anyone pursuing excellence should not think more than is necessary about how long something will take or how much to bill. Compensation is important, but it is the work itself that bears the real fruit. The work I refer to is the type that brings you into that state of ‘excited accountability’ — where one is intrinsically drawn to the project, excited about its potential, and at the same time pressed by accountability from employers, or teachers, or even oneself. The man in a state of ‘excited accountability’ is not primarily focused on task completion and tracking his hours. He is focused on producing the best quality he can.
This is the freelancer’s dilemma. Your livelihood is tied to the aspect of the work that doesn’t matter.
Hodie mihi, cras tibi — today it’s me, tomorrow it will be you.
💡 Food for Thought
No lie can live forever.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)
🧬 Paper of the Week — TikTok and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Study of Social Media Content Quality
Citation: Yeung A, Ng E, Abi-Jaoude E. TikTok and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Study of Social Media Content Quality. Can J Psychiatry. 2022 Dec;67(12):899-906.
Objectives
Social media platforms are increasingly being used to disseminate mental health information online. User-generated content about attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most popular health topics on the video-sharing social media platform TikTok. We sought to investigate the quality of TikTok videos about ADHD.
Method
The top 100 most popular videos about ADHD uploaded by TikTok video creators were classified as misleading, useful, or personal experience. Descriptive and quantitative characteristics of the videos were obtained. The Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for Audiovisual Materials (PEMAT-A/V) and Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark criteria were used to assess the overall quality, understandability, and actionability of the videos.
Results
Of the 100 videos meeting inclusion criteria, 52% (n = 52) were classified as misleading, 27% (n = 27) as personal experience, and 21% (n = 21) as useful. Classification agreement between clinician ratings was 86% (kappa statistic of 0.7766). Videos on the platform were highly understandable by viewers but had low actionability. Non-healthcare providers uploaded the majority of misleading videos. Healthcare providers uploaded higher quality and more useful videos, compared to non-healthcare providers.
Conclusions
Approximately half of the analyzed TikTok videos about ADHD were misleading. Clinicians should be aware of the widespread dissemination of health misinformation on social media platforms and its potential impact on clinical care.
In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.
—Eric Hoffer (1902-1983)
Caio,
AT