…e philosopher Nietzsche observed that our vanity and self-love promotes the culture of the genius. “For if we think of genius as something magical”, he wrote, “we are not obliged to compare ourselves and find ourselves lacking.”
… an alarm to wake you to go to work; why not set an alarm to tell you when to stop working as well? Best of all, having a timer tell you when to stop can actually give your conscience a pass. “I’m not being lazy,” you can tell yourself. “I’m just following orders.”