Make more money.
Ask HN: Will soon have lots of time and little money – how to spend it?
51–60 of 74 posts
Re: Ask HN: Will soon have lots of time and little money – how to spend it?
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
A million upvotes for snacks. I work primarily from home now and they absolutely destroy you. Make sure you get out and do some exercise too!
Healthy snacks are fine. Nuts (cashews, pistachios), fruit (as long as you don't overdue it). Just don't go through 2-4 cans of Mountain Dew a day.
I found nuts of all sorts just killed me too.
Re: Ask HN: Will soon have lots of time and little money – how to spend it?
#53I've been working from home for about 5 years. If you want to be productive, the key point is to make a very clear distinction between work and leisure. On a normal job this is clear enough - the clothes, the physical setting, the timetable, all converge to trigger your professional mindset. Not so at home. Organize a little corner of your house for working. Even if it's just a desk and a bookshelf. Keep it reserved…
A million upvotes for snacks. I work primarily from home now and they absolutely destroy you. Make sure you get out and do some exercise too!
You are working, as in earning money. Therefore snacks are an option. Six months down the line this guy is going to be looking back and seeing snacks as part of the good-old-days, when he had money for such things.
My advice would be to pare food down to the basics, as in a sensible lunch and a proper, cooked from fresh evening meal with no snacks. Get the sacks of pasta and rice in with canned goods, e.g. tomatoes, in bulk. Then do the rest of the shopping by bicycle, i.e. the vegetable shopping. Give up meat and go veggie on cost grounds. The jaunt by bicycle should also cover the regular exercise base somewhat.
I should also say: stay off HN!
Re: Ask HN: Will soon have lots of time and little money – how to spend it?
#54Sounds like you've already taken the biggest and hardest step; which is to simply initiate the change.
My #1 piece of advice, while you're setting goals and scheduling activities, is to understand the organic rhythm and cadence of growth for each goal.
Work brings an inherent cadence of 9am-5pm, Mon-Fri and success is often calibrated every week/sprint/quarter.
But learning guitar, body building, and understanding new programming languages each have their own organic cadence and process for achieving mastery.
Sometimes taking a break from learning something new and simply reflecting is better than grinding away for 5 hrs per day, as that pattern tends to reinforce bad habits rather than develop new and better habits.
Re: Ask HN: Will soon have lots of time and little money – how to spend it?
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
Healthy snacks are fine. Nuts (cashews, pistachios), fruit (as long as you don't overdue it). Just don't go through 2-4 cans of Mountain Dew a day.
I found nuts of all sorts just killed me too.
Really? What kinds? Nuts high in protein and fat should burn slow and not give that lethargic feeling.
Re: Ask HN: Will soon have lots of time and little money – how to spend it?
#56Get a good kitchen set and starting making your own meals. Spend two weeks where you make every meal you eat, so you break the habit of eating out. Also continue to surround yourself with fantastic people, it will keep you from getting depressed. Exercise (jogging, especially) is a very economical and beneficial pastime. Start that as soon as possible.
> Get a good kitchen set and starting making your own meals. Spend two weeks where you make every meal you eat, so you break the habit of eating out. How would you suggest doing this? Both in terms of learning cooking techniques as well as constructing a healthy diet for oneself?
...get a girlfriend/boyfriend that complains if the food is always from 'the roster'. It is much easier to cook exciting stuff if it is to be cooked with love and shared.
Re: Ask HN: Will soon have lots of time and little money – how to spend it?
#57I've been working from home for about 5 years. If you want to be productive, the key point is to make a very clear distinction between work and leisure. On a normal job this is clear enough - the clothes, the physical setting, the timetable, all converge to trigger your professional mindset. Not so at home. Organize a little corner of your house for working. Even if it's just a desk and a bookshelf. Keep it reserved…
Avoid sweets, fizzy drinks, pastries, as you are less physically active than before.
Sorry, had to laugh about that. If the guy is coming from a high stress, high-paying law firm job, he probably wasn't very physically active before...law firm gigs don't usually leave a lot of free time. Most likely, he'll finally have the time to actually exercise now. But other than that the advice is definitely sound.
Re: Ask HN: Will soon have lots of time and little money – how to spend it?
#58I've actually spent the last month doing the same.
I started blogging. just to decompress, and figure out what i've learnt over my career.
I actually think it's allowed me to rediscover my voice, and i just... i have so much to say. I didn't expect that.
It's been very freeing, and I think possibly life changing.
Re: Ask HN: Will soon have lots of time and little money – how to spend it?
#59I've been working from home for about 5 years. If you want to be productive, the key point is to make a very clear distinction between work and leisure. On a normal job this is clear enough - the clothes, the physical setting, the timetable, all converge to trigger your professional mindset. Not so at home. Organize a little corner of your house for working. Even if it's just a desk and a bookshelf. Keep it reserved…
"Dress for work, even if you are at home"
This is great advice. It's important to create psychological compartments between "work" and "home" when working from home. And all the little things add up to form those compartments. How you dress, what room you work from, what hours you work, when and where you go when you go outside, etc. Make these things distinct from leisure activities. Don't work from a lounge chair in your bedroom, for instance, if that's where you usually go to kick back and read books. Don't work in a bathrobe or old gym clothes.
It takes a bit more effort to create the trappings of a working environment in your home, but doing so will keep you from slipping. And if this is your first major experience with working from home, you will slip. Everyone does the first time around. Set up mental guard rails.