Resting, thinking and puzzling.
- Resting
A befuddled brain is no good for anyone, especially not a financial modeller. Give yourself a break away from the computer.
- Thinking
Let your mind wander and think about some of those thorny issues which perhaps you didn’t manage to solve in a very satisfactory way. Think about your models and ask yourself some questions. What is going on here? Am I jumping to conclusions? Am I being illogical? Did I solve that problem in an efficient way? Can I think about things differently?
To think further about thinking, read Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow. As the Financial Times says, this book is the masterpiece on human rationality and irrationality. It contains much of relevance to financial modelling.
- Puzzling
This, for me, is the best part of Christmas. Give me some logic puzzles of whatever type and I am very happy. Last year I was given Alex Bellos’s Language Lover’s Puzzle Book which kept me entertained for weeks. Puzzles teach us to weigh up and act on the information we have and not jump to unsubstantiated conclusions. That is exactly how we should approach financial modelling too; after all models are simply giant puzzles. That’s why I enjoy working with them so much.