Back to the basics, relearn linear algebra.
Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
221–230 of 433 posts
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#222I’m interested in a subject that, I guess, could best be described as Jane Houston’s work, see
https://www.amazon.com/Possible-Human-Enhancing-Physical-Abi...
but involves martial arts, eastern religion, character acting, Ericksonian hypnosis, and all sorts of things. In my case it I use to express myself-as-a-fox [1] but outwardly as social artistry that functions as a form of ‘witnessing’. I will certainly not advocate that others to do what I do as a whole but I can offer people little useful things out of a large toolbox.
I’ve been working on this for a long time, felt I received an invitation to Kitsune-tsuki 2 years ago but it came together late this year when I got my motivation right and began to see it as a form of activism and service.
[1] a creature of the forest instead of a creature of the engineering school
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#223I want to try once again to learn piano. Previously, many years ago, I took lessons for 1.5 years but gave up because it was just too hard and I wasn't enjoying it. This time, I plan on trying to self learn. Been watching YouTube tutorials recently and as soon as I return from my trip, I will try once again. I have bought the Nancy Faber adult piano adventures book 1 too. Any tips are welcome.
Learning to play individual notes from sheet music only helps you learn one song. The breakthrough for me was thinking in musical structure.
- There are 12 keys on the piano just repeated - A scale can start on any of those 12 keys - The "home" key of the scale get labels with a roman numeral one, I - The rest of the keys in the scale get roman numerals ii,iii,IV,V,vi,vii - The I,IV,V are all upper case to represent major chords, the lower case for minor chords - Most pop songs use I,IV,V from a scale. In C-major scale, C, F, G major chords. - You can start on any key on the piano and if you play the same sequence of I, IV, V, you'll get the same song, just transposed into a different key. (the scales are slightly different due to even temperament for advanced ears)
So, learn songs by the chord structure first. It is easier to remember and you'll start to recognize patterns in other songs and unlock them faster.
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#224Explicitly nothing. The overwhelming majority of New Year’s resolutions and goals fail, then people feel bad, then repeat it the year after that. There’s no reason to make such a decision now; make it when it’s relevant in your life and don’t beat yourself over it.
I also find this relentless pursuit of more more more, especially in what relates to productivity, increasingly maddening and (ironically? paradoxically?) counter-productive. We are always doing more in a worse manner with less attention. And what do we do with the extra time we “gain”? More of the same shit we were doing before. To get more time to… do more of it? It’s insane, bordering on societal mass hysteria.
We’re all going to die, and all you did will mean nothing. So stop and smell the roses. Be kind to your fellow human being. Stop trying to get ahead and lift others with you instead.
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#225- MANDATORY: Re-learn focus. I will not self-diagnose but I exhibit ADHD symptoms and I started actively fighting them back (they mostly come from the phone). I am not going to just deny myself access to apps on schedule -- my brain never clicked schedule, not even once in my life -- but through a persistent and sustainable self-change from deep within. It's slow but it's beginning to work. - MANDATORY: Get more inti…
I feel like I could’ve written exactly this myself. The first point is the hardest. It affects every aspect of my life and I have no idea how to really tackle it. This is the first year where I feel the need to take drastic action to achieve some kind of improvement. What’s your plan? How is it working?
Seconded. I am also curious to what your ADHD plan is.
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#226Sometimes we only need concentration (and free time).
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#227Work solidly at work for 8 hours and then go home, instead of sitting behind a computer for 12 hours and wasting a lot of time.
This helped me when I used to dally, but assuming you are salaried, finishing your day in 50% less time means your effective hourly wage goes up as much
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#228[dead]
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#229Explicitly nothing. The overwhelming majority of New Year’s resolutions and goals fail, then people feel bad, then repeat it the year after that. There’s no reason to make such a decision now ; make it when it’s relevant in your life and don’t beat yourself over it. I also find this relentless pursuit of more more more, especially in what relates to productivity, increasingly maddening and (ironically? paradoxically?…
I'm all for existentialism informing our ridiculous chase of productivity. But... learning new things before you kick the bucket can qualify as stopping and smelling the roses.
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#230Explicitly nothing. The overwhelming majority of New Year’s resolutions and goals fail, then people feel bad, then repeat it the year after that. There’s no reason to make such a decision now ; make it when it’s relevant in your life and don’t beat yourself over it. I also find this relentless pursuit of more more more, especially in what relates to productivity, increasingly maddening and (ironically? paradoxically?…
I like reframing New Year’s resolutions in a more humane way.
It’s an arbitrary day on the calendar, yes.
I want to grow as a person, in terms of character and ability. My desire to evolve is a product of curiosity and vitality and ethics, not some capitalist mania for MORE.
Putting a random day on the calendar where I tell myself that I’m at an inflection point, that I’ve decided to bend my path, it’s useful. There are religious holidays where you atone, forgive, and so on. Those are also just days on a calendar. But they serve a purpose.