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Ask HN: How could I hire someone in Bangalore to watch me for 8 hours a day?

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Re: Ask HN: How could I hire someone in Bangalore to watch me for 8 hours a day?

#11

Post by Figs »

rajlego wrote: post #10
Figs wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It probably isn't far off to describe my struggle to manage these as mental illness rather than a productivity hurdle You might try asking your healthcare provider for help finding a therapist or social worker. They can help you assess the issues you are facing in a way that's different from what you'd get from friends or family (for example such discussions are generally confidential), and they can check-in with y…

I've had a therapist before but they unfortunately didn't help as much as I'd hoped. I can often make systems that last a few weeks but single failure days cascade very easily. My hope is that with external accountability I can bootstrap these systems into working for months and become the kind of person that can reliably manage myself

You might have to try a couple therapists before you find the right one -- I'm on number three personally (with many years and much denial in between) -- but when you find one who you work well with it can be very helpful. Your desire for weekly analysis of your feelings and help debugging motivational issues is generally up their alley; I check-in with my therapist once a week via video call and our sessions often explore what's going on when I have low motivation. You might consider giving it another go, but up to you. Keeping a daily journal -- if you don't already -- may also be useful.

Regardless, I wish you the best of luck with your challenges and hope you find a solution that works for you.

Re: Ask HN: How could I hire someone in Bangalore to watch me for 8 hours a day?

#14

Post by rajlego »

Teamancer wrote: post #12

With the right series of prompts and criteria ChatGPT could probably whip up an effective virtual nanny.

I've thought about this but the problem is it has to be able to poke me in a way I can't ignore

It seems plausible to add penalties of some sort that make me take it seriously but hard for me to align it in a way that handles edge cases well

Re: Ask HN: How could I hire someone in Bangalore to watch me for 8 hours a day?

#15

Post by gregjor »

Ylpertnodi wrote: post #9
gregjor wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The OP asked for help hiring someone in Bangalore to wake them up, monitor, and babysit them. The link to the article that inspired their idea had more to do with optimizing productivity and dealing with procrastination than mental health problems. To me the whole idea of an adult hiring someone to act as a parent or kindergarten teacher seems ridiculous. If an adult actually needs that level of supervision and prodd…

If the pay is fair, looks like at least two people will benefit from this. I like the idea, and it would be interesting to see the results.

We can probably predict the results. Having someone tell you what to do and when to do it describes some environments we all probably have experience with: Parents, school, jobs.

A single person working from home has none of those factors. They are left to manage their own time and priorities. Some people handle that better than others, and some people get anxious, upset, overwhelmed when they can't manage themselves. Hiring someone to essentially babysit and keep you on track may work, but it works in the sense that paying someone to feed you means you don't have to shop, cook, and feed yourself. The anxiety and the underlying problems don't go away by outsourcing them.

People who have too many details to manage and too many things to do (not just things they imagine they should do or want to do) hire assistants to handle some of the tasks. They don't hire someone to stand behind them and tell them to get to work.

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