In a simple tit-for-tat strategy, one begins by cooperating and then mimics the other player’s moves. Tit-for-tat is nice in that it is willing to cooperate and it does not bear a grudge. It also cannot be exploited because any defection from cooperation will be returned.
“You are old, Father William,” the young man said, “and your hair has become very white; and yet you incessantly stand on your head – do you think, at your age, it is right?”
In my youth,” Father William replied to his son, “I feared it might injure the brain; but now that I’m perfectly sure I have none, why, I do it again and again.”
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865)
Oliver Burkeman provides an important and insightful reassessment of productivity. The drive to get more done can become an excuse to avoid figuring out what we actually want to accomplish. By confronting this question, we unlock a more meaningful approach to organizing our time.