Lifting heavy weights on 5/3/1 or Starting Strength or similar. I'd be a BEAST by now.
Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?
761–770 of 785 posts
Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?
#762Earlier quoted context omitted.
If its effects are observable then it can surely be the object of scientific analysis?
>If its effects are observable then it can surely be the object of scientific analysis? it can't be because all the variables involved cannot be tightly controlled. Same reason why all the Psychology studies have been lately relegated to snake oil status.
That's news for me. Link?
Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?
#763Stopped playing computer games. I played Heroes of the Storm and Hearthstone a lot. Like almost every evening when I had nothing else to do. I noticed over time two things: First, I can't play such games in a non-competitive way. While some seem to play Hearthstone for fun, I play to win and I want to figure out how to do so. This leads me to second: Ultimately, for an hour's worth of gaming time, I had a few feel-go…
Just a heads-up, but if you ever take interest in card games again, I'd recommend giving Magic: The Gathering a try. Why? • There are no cards with the words "random" on them • Of the cards you draw, you can mulligan several times to get a better hand • Many cards let you search your deck and pull out what you need, or something similar, further reducing "chance" being a factor • You play a game of Best-of-3, and on…
Eeeh. Don't start with MTG. Its a big time and money consumer. It's super fun! But soon your apartment is going to be flooded with half made decks, binders you ment to sort and every few months you just have to buy the new set. It's a brilliant game, and I still play it from time to time. But it can get a bit to involving. Case in point; I recently bought 50packs of a 100 KFC perfect inner sleeves so that I could start double sleeving all my cards..
Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?
#764Earlier quoted context omitted.
>>My "hobby" is writing a science fiction novel. >>There is a very profound satisfaction in being able to do that. For you its writing, for other its music, collecting stamps, playing games or whatever. Why do you assume writing > everything else?
I'm not the poster you're responding to, but the difference between something like writing vs. stamp collecting or gaming is the act of creation. You're making something that others can enjoy and that you can look at and appreciate. It can live on when you've passed. When you play a game, you do enjoy the experience, but at the end of it all, you've not created anything of value.
You've enjoyed yourself. That is valuable to you and the people in your life.
Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?
#765After a single week of using a physical daily planner, I realized I'd accomplished more in the previous week than I had in the past 6 months. No looking back. Every Sunday I write down a single thing to accomplish for each day of the next week: Read a chapter of a book, Write a post about a specific topic, etc. Procrastination is super dangerous when there isn't a deadline. Way too easy for "tomorrow" to turn into ne…
My biggest problem with planners and to-do lists is I don't consult them. I've tried evernote, I've tried google notes, I used a Palm Pilot 20 years ago. I think technology is better for me because it's always available, but simply having a todo list doesn't cause me to remember to check it. I never think "hey, I'm bored, I wonder what's on the list!" Any advice?
Don't wait for boredom before you check. For me, it's declaring something as priority for the day that otherwise wouldn't have made the cut at all. If I don't get to something, I put a line through it and write down what I did instead.
For this week, the list has Code Complete - Chapter 4 Brain Bugs - Chapter 2 Don't Make Me Think (reread) Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Chapter 1 + 2, Economist + Web presence (read economist, write/email/etc deliberate internet stuff)
For the most part, this stuff happens after the kiddo is in bed, but before I sit down to watch something with the Mrs, or tuck into fiction/games/etc. Everyone's schedule is different, but everyone has some time they could be spending a bit more carefully.
Meant to get to Chapter 4 of Code Complete last week, but we wound up with a kid free weekend (thanks Grandma), so I took the Mrs. to dinner instead, and we followed up with GOG (1954).
Easy to burn out quickly if you're switched on and going at it all the time. Just as easy to let all of the extras fall off the edge while you're floating through seasons of whatever HBO's current thing is. There's not a line where activities are either relaxing or productive, it's a grey area, for sure. Need to find the right balance.
Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?
#7661. Ditching people who were emotionally abusing me pretending they were my friends to take advantage of me (financial and/or emotional) 2. Switching away from Windows to GNU/Linux 3. Investing in stock market 4. Eating organic and vegan only 5. Drinking only bottled water 6. Working out and learning martial arts 7. Working on my self-esteem 8. Believing in myself 9. Keeping small paper notes for everything I do and h…
Is 5 and 14 related. Does your local area have terrible water? If your local water is okay I don't really understand the benefit of bottled water only.
Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?
#7671. Ditching people who were emotionally abusing me pretending they were my friends to take advantage of me (financial and/or emotional) 2. Switching away from Windows to GNU/Linux 3. Investing in stock market 4. Eating organic and vegan only 5. Drinking only bottled water 6. Working out and learning martial arts 7. Working on my self-esteem 8. Believing in myself 9. Keeping small paper notes for everything I do and h…
Why the switch to exclusive bottled water? It might be worth looking into getting a high quality aluminum water bottle. You could still purchase purified water or water in larger containers. Personally after the sun touches plastic water bottles, I think it tastes funky. Plus, reusable water bottles can be better for the environment.
Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?
#768For me, it has been reading books. Although my reading speed is very slow right now (hopefully it will get better with time) but i still manage to read a book every month. So much to learn from them :)
Learn to speed-read by learning from a couple of speed-reading books. I recommend the Evelyn Wood system to get you started.
Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?
#769For me, it was 100% weight lifting and dieting (aka: exercise). Pretty much everyone here has mentioned this, but I don't think anyone has really explained just how incredibly life-changing it can really be. I've been programming since I was a kid. Spending most of my time at a desk eating Doritos and fast food wasn't really the best choice. I spent most of my 'good years' as a young guy being really overweight and h…
Amazing transformation!
Well done, sir!
Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?
#770Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 :)
I maintain a list of my past, present, and future podcast subscriptions on my personal site: http://www.andjosh.com/lists/podcast/
Hope it helps.