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

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

#781

Post by Kevelo » Mon, Aug 08, 2016, 7:53 AM UTC

caconym_ wrote: post #292

SilasX wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 tex…

I use Vim myself but I recently learnt about EVIL mode in emacs which makes emacs like Vim and in emacs you can add code completion etc.

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

#782

Post by craigdfrench » Tue, Aug 09, 2016, 4:04 PM UTC

inafewwords wrote: post #740

craigdfrench wrote: post #657

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have been using Muse (no affiliation) which has a headband that measures brain signals, for me, it seems like it is able to tell when my mind has wandered off thinking about life's minutia, when I am supposed to be concentrating on breathing. It gives the feedback by stirring up the sound of waves and wind and really tries to get you back on track. This is my prompt to let go and recommit to focusing on my breathin…

Not sure if this works, but I was using those sound entrainment binaural beats for theta deep sleep waves, or set to meditation. There's some free frequency generators online or app store. You should try it with your headband to see if there are increases in frequency of the binaural beat frequency you've chosen in app

That sounds really neat. I will give it a try.

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

#783

Post by Slackwise » Tue, Aug 09, 2016, 8:29 PM UTC

theknarf wrote: post #763

Slackwise wrote: post #359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 sta…

Yea, I know what you mean. When I first played I got into it and burned out fast. Now I just play pre-made Duel Decks with my buddies, or we go out and do a draft at a store. Just $10 and half the time I break even from selling the cards I drafted/won right after we finish.

I mostly posted my comment because I saw he had the same complaints about the RNG in Hearthstone, which personally drives me crazy. I figured he'd enjoy MTG more because it doesn't have such flaws.

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

#784

Post by tertius » Thu, Aug 11, 2016, 3:44 PM UTC

LA_Banker wrote: post #346

neurocroc wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 :(

This is really great. I use the Pomodoro Method and only check distracting sites in between, but maybe I need to be even stricter and limit it to 2x/day (considering I'm wasting time right now).

I think I'm in the same boat. Maybe you need to pick better rewards for your breaks. I've really been trying to focus on rewards that are better for long term than short. Getting a dopamine rush is definitely short and without much benefit, it's an addiction...

I personally prefer cold turkey, but it's hard. It's probably better to pick something in between. I.e. something that you can see fairly quick results to. I.e. browsing reddit gives you extremely quick results. Maybe learning a skill like cooking or writing and tracking progress.

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

#785

Post by paweln » Fri, Aug 12, 2016, 8:55 AM UTC

halite wrote: post #336

chollida1 wrote: post #126

3 things for me: 1) Meditation, I used to think it was something hippies did. I now think its worth 10 IQ points. I honestly can't recommend it enough. 2) Sleep, I'm getting close to 40 and the last 2 times I pulled all nighters I ended up deleting pretty much all the code I wrote from 11pm onward. 3) Occasional Fasts. I normally fast from 6pm until noon the next day but I now do one 3 day fast each month. I think th…

Can you describe the basic structure of your 3 day fast? Do you not eat anything for 3 days?

Yes, you don't eat anything, just drink lots of water. You can also begin and end fast with freshly squeezed fruit or vegetable juices, which is important when the fast is longer.