Read critical theory! I recommend starting with Guy Debord's "The Society of the Spectacle" ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Society_of_the_Spectacle )
And Adorno: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_industry
Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?
251–260 of 282 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?
#252If want to deliver value to society, just stop. It's a bloated overweight out of control monster. It's already way too much, don't feed it. Don't contribute to it, it's not the sort of thing we want to encourage. We don't live in times of scarcity anymore, we live in times of too much of everything. If you feel otherwise, it's because you're a dumb ape who only understands not enough, because that's all your evolutio…
I have to admit that I'm leaning more and more towards a similar view. There's a (rapidly growing) Ocean of content out there and any one's contribution looks more and more like an insignificant drop in that Ocean. Consumers care less and less about what the content is, as long as it excites their input sensors in satisfactory ways. Content is functionally "attention grabbing" and there are many industries involved a…
This is a big realization I had recently. A lof of influences led up to it but the basic thought went like this: Why am I trying to make something if I don't have anything to say?
When I asked myself, "What is my message?" I came up empty, or with parroted nonsense that I don't actually believe in. So now, my mission is to just live and enjoy the things I truly enjoy and maybe eventually I'll have something interesting to say. It is no longer my goal to create media. I don't want to say "I want to make a y or write an x." Instead the goal is to say, "People need to know about x."
Re: Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?
#253Check out the book "Deep Work" by Cal Newport.
Re: Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?
#254Don't start with "How", you'll most probably give up after some time. Always start with "Why?". If the "Why" part is a strong enough reason for you, you will find a way to accomplish it. If it's not, well, you'll find excuses and give up on it sooner or later !
This is correct. All the other people saying "Just make stuff, just publish, don't worry" are not helping at all.
Re: Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?
#255How much spare time do you have, what are your living conditions like, your energy levels, hours of sleep, computer speed, monitor size, task management approach? I ask because you need to: A. build an environment conducive to producing. B. practice discipline. Like you, I had some half-baked blogs and projects that were doomed for failure. After way too much wasted time it was obvious that I wasn't living a lifestyl…
This resonates well with my experience. In sports training, many top athletes will use 2-3 month cycles broken in 3-4 sections that focus on specific adaptations. Endurance, strength, power, etc. For long-term goals, the most important section -- base conditioning -- aims at slowly building up your body's training capacity. If your body can withstand one more hour of workout without injury or sickness, then over time…
The larger idea behind very focused practice of specific skills is called "deliberate practice". Professor/MacArthur Fellow Angela Duckworth has done great work behind this (see her book, "Grit").
Re: Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?
#256Great question. THink of a class from years back where we studies Vico (16th cent Italian thinker). Verum factum. We can know what we have made. The rest is theology, etc.
I saw this to my preteen kids - when thinking about a job you want to do something where you are making things, not just performing a service.
It is hard to reorient. What works for one person does nto necc work for all.
For me "Extreme Ownership" was helpful (book by Willink and Babin) plus the podcast spun off from it. Some good ideas on how to live a more disciplined and free life.
Sometimes you need a toehold. For me it has been waking up before 5AM and doing something disciplined (somedays just making my bed).
Re: Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?
#257Speaking as a producer, you can also help by paying for your consumption! Patreon is a great service that lets you pay people who create content you like. You could also subscribe to your local paper, or buy a book. That way you would switch to being an active consumer, and producers would thank you :)
Re: Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?
#258I made one change that made a difference: Cancel all-you-can-eat subscriptions, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. When you must opt-in every time to consume content, it makes it easier to instead dedicate your time to creating content.
I disagree. Some of the series I consumed through Netflix/HBO Now changed my perspective. That's a fair exchange of my time.
I challenge you to interrogate what sort of perspective changes happened. I used to think the same: that the occasional Netflix series binge was opening my mind to a new perspective on X topic. But after deeper consideration, I realize the perspective changes were still on-par with shifts that could/would happen from other pursuits, like learning a language or just meeting new people. And this perspective wasn't earned through more "screen time"...something we should all be trying to reduce.
Re: Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?
#259Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Another mistake people make is thinking that burning out is like dying, and you can't recover. Speak for yourself, buddy. I'm still trying to overcome medical issues from my last bout with burnout, including sleep disturbances and stress-related gastritis, and so far the medical profession hasn't had much luck in dealing with any of them. Burnout and the stress that goes along with it can absolutely do lasting dama…
Just curious. How long has it been?
> Just curious. How long has it been?
About four years now.
Re: Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?
#260My biggest tip: minimize what you do. Since you want to do more, I know this sounds crazy. But when I set up a personal kanban system, it really changed my life. You establish a backlog of what you want to do. Then you limit the amount of work in process (WIP). That gives you a very small number of open tasks to switch between, which means you end up increasing your focus and being forced to finish things. (Or at lea…
Would you mind explaining his you do this? Any software you use? Modus operandi?
I personally recommend physical boards when possible, especially for people just getting started. E.g., my startup-sized kanban board is here:
http://williampietri.com/writing/2015/the-big-board/
You can happily use, e.g., sticky notes on a wall by your desk or inside a cabinet door. If you really can't do that, software can be ok, but it's easier to develop bad habits with software. With a physical system, certain things are usefully hard.
When I'm starting someone out, my standard columns and WIP limits are:
* to do
* soon - max 5
* on hold - max 3
* working - max 3
* done
When I've finished an item and want to know what do to next, I'll first look in "working", then "on hold", then "soon". If all of those are empty, it's time to think about strategy for a few minutes; I'll look at everything in "to do" and promote a few to "soon".
Hopefully that's enough to get you started. The important to remember is that the board is supposed to mirror (and shape) how you think about the work. If somebody happened to randomly ask you "Hey, what are you working on now?" it should generally be what's in "working". If somebody asks what you're doing today, it should be the stuff that's in "working" and "soon".
If you have different categories or WIP limits in your head, that's fine, go ahead and represent that accurately on your board. But every month or so look at the board, think about how you work, and tinker. E.g., I might say something like, "Things felt really chaotic this month, so I'm going to try dropping the WIP limit on "working" next month.
Does that help?