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Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

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Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

#291

Post by iyn »

33W wrote: post #277
rayalez wrote: post #141

1. Good diet, exercise, and generally taking care of my health. Seriously, this should be the top priority, if you know that you're being stupid about how you treat your body - fix it as soon as possible. 2. Writing regularly(fiction or nonfiction). I think it's one of the most awesome skills you can develop, and the younger you are when you start practicing - the easier it will be. Just create a blog, and try to reg…

To point 3, I've built a playlist of podcasts that I enjoy. A good way to stay up to date on current events and get different points of view.

Maybe you could share the playlist you created? If anybody has suggestions about good podcast, please share them :)

Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

#292

Post by caconym_ »

SilasX wrote: post #202
nojvek wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand the hype behind vim. The biggest productivity boost I find is having an editor which has great code completion and error squigglys as soon as you cause an error.

I'm trying to fix this part of my workflow myself. I'm a hardcore vimmer, trying to branch out into Java with IDEs. Every time I do it, the IDE brings in more headaches than it saves, by far. Plus, they almost seem to "break the abstraction" and make it less clear what's going on. I'm sure if I made a dedicated effort (ideally with a human present to answer the hard-to-phrase questions) I could work out all the kinks…

My work environment consists of + Vim + Tmux + whatever language/domain specific tools I need for the task at hand. I'm really interested in hearing success stories from people who were like me but switched to working in an IDE.

I would like to have better auto-complete in Vim, but to a certain extent I think I might just have been too lazy to go out and find the right plugins. I'm also working on a hobby project text editor where I hope to explore this problem a bit more... but I can't deny that an effective solution would be better than my current solution which involves a lot of Googling and many open browser tabs.

Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

#293

Post by martin_bech »

Another223 wrote: post #152

Podcasts! I was considering jobs on the buy-side and a friend recommended a couple of financial podcasts. Knowing that part of the interview would be about my financial style and what industry leaders I followed / read I had a strong incentive to give them a try. I quickly became hooked. More convenient during my (on-transit) commute than a book and there's such a vast range of topics available to keep you interested…

Could you list the financial podcasts?

Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

#294

Post by varikin »

franciscojgo wrote: post #40

Joining a good Crossfit gym. I was usually skeptic to crossfit. Have been doing weightlifting and overall weight training for 2-3 years and was used to pushing myself at my own pace and setting goals myself. Was afraid to turn my training into a cookie-cutter group class and be forced to do movements that are outright dangerous. All the injury stories, the "cult" thing, etc. is all bullshit from my experience. No, yo…

I very much agree with this. I have been doing crossfit for about 2 years now. I had never really lifted seriously or correctly before, but very on again, off again with gyms doing machines, running, cycling. None of that every fit me nor could I stay motivated. Having a group, all doing the same thing, all cheering you on, with a coach always helping you get better is amazing. It doesn't matter that I am slower or not as strong because at the end of the class, all of use are just as tired.

As for beginners, I would recommend crossfit, but only if the gym has experience with complete beginners. Ours is great with it and go out of their way to scale everything and include everybody. If the coaches and other athletes are not inclusive, find a different gym. A good coach will teach proper form as best as someone can do it in their shape.

Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

#295

Post by neurocroc »

rayalez wrote: post #141

1. Good diet, exercise, and generally taking care of my health. Seriously, this should be the top priority, if you know that you're being stupid about how you treat your body - fix it as soon as possible. 2. Writing regularly(fiction or nonfiction). I think it's one of the most awesome skills you can develop, and the younger you are when you start practicing - the easier it will be. Just create a blog, and try to reg…

I wrote a little piece (http://www.nikitavoloboev.xyz/post/news/) on my approach to reading and information diet.

The way I do it is just by blocking all the websites that I tend to lose my focus on and have only two times in the day when I can visit these sites to get all the information I need.

p.s. it's really strange that hacker news doesn't support sharing of markdown links :(

Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

#297

Post by rconti »

davej wrote: post #240
andrepd wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not a hippie, but you do meditation and fasts... Okay, that came out a bit incisive. Do you have any scientific backing to support those claims? I'm especially interested in fasting. Not eating for 3 days a month does not seem especially healthy. Then I see the claim that it cures cancer and forgive me if all my alarm bells go off.

> Do you have any scientific backing to support those claims? Not OP but this is a good summary: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3946160/ > Then I see the claim that it cures cancer and forgive me if all my alarm bells go off. I think OP was implying that it may decrease your chances of getting cancer not cure it. Everyone will get cancer if they live long enough (based on the current state of medicine, t…

Huh. Wow, thanks. I had no idea.

Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

#298

Post by Jtsummers »

metaxy2 wrote: post #216
mudil wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question. How is meditation different from being engrossed with a hobby? Say doing gardening or fishing, and being totally mentally in it. Just wondering..

Mindfulness meditation is not unlike that, but the thing you get engrossed in is your entire mental experience: sounds, smells, the feeling of the air on your skin, even your thoughts (though you're supposed to let them go as soon as you notice them). It's a very different feeling than being engrossed in some single thing to the point where you lose track of everything else. It's more like being engrossed in _everyth…

Meditation can be aided by repetitive, relatively thoughtless [0], tasks. Fishing and (some) gardening activities would work well for some people.

[0] The task shouldn't require deliberate mental effort on your part. Initially, it may, but eventually it becomes something you can do without consideration. Fold paper cranes for hours and hours. At first you think about it, eventually you're just reaching for the next square and realize you've made a few hundred cranes.

Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

#299

Post by umbs »

bonsai80 wrote: post #169
umbs wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree with all three, but #2 for me has now become the very important due an incident last week. I pulled an all nighter and next day rear ended a vehicle near a traffic signal because I dozed off for a second. The impact was minimal and no one was harmed. It was the first accident with my fault in 15 years of driving. I am approaching 40 and have 2 young kids. I cannot get my priorities wrong at this point. Many liv…

Good call. I'm curious, what is your solution to getting more sleep? Frequently those all-nighters come as a result of deadlines and pressure from work. The usual tradeoff is work vs family vs sleep, where often you only get to pick 1. Have you had any success in getting 2 or even 3 of those together?

In my case, there is lot of inefficiencies. I can easily cut down on few things

(a) I spend time browsing emails while lying down (easily eats 30 mins per night). (b) No meetups in evenings. (c) Excuse from business meetings after a certain time (d) Cut down on social events on weekdays. (e) Push all non-essential things to weekends.

I made this list for myself and it helps free up evenings. Your situation may differ.

I realized that my kids are my investments as well. In to someone's future/life (not trying to sound too dramatic). So, that's highest priority at this point and hence the sleep.

Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

#300

Post by Jtsummers »

ryanlm wrote: post #288
pacala wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not a doctor and sample size of one. What worked for me was resetting the rhythm itself, by under-eating over long periods of time, 2 weeks at least, up to 1-2 months. I keep telling myself hungry is the new normal, and in the long run it becomes the new normal. Under-eating is not even that hard if one goes mostly veggie, that is eat fruits / veggies / eggs / cheese / yoghurt / fish and skip sugar / meat / pasta / b…

I can do that during the day. How do you prevent yourself from having midnight snacks? I sometimes "sleep eat" -- Very bad habit that I NEED to spare.

Minimize (if you can) the amount of food you keep in your home. Ensure that what food you keep is healthy.
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