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Ask HN: Novelty addiction is ruining my life and career. What should I do?

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Re: Ask HN: Novelty addiction is ruining my life and career. What should I do?

#151

Post by cylinder »

petercooper wrote: post #146
duncanawoods wrote: post #108

I have found people like you really useful to know because you have had contact with such a broad range of techs that when I have a problem, I can quiz you and get some killer pointers for where to look next. I wouldn't want you to change, just to find your place in the world and satisfaction in being naturally you. Its like you have pockets full of keys and really good at finding new keys just no locks to use them w…

It's funny you say that, and for entirely related reasons that I work in the news/media space where this sort of behavior can be sculpted into a positive (and got out of being a professional programmer where it's not such a positive). I'd write more but I just saw something new and shiny come out.. :-D

Funny, I have the same issue as OP, but I'm not in tech, and lately I've been thinking journalism may satisfy my addiction to novelty (I never thought about framing it this way, thanks OP). Unfortunately journalism just doesn't seem financially viable enough these days to do all the things I want to do.

Re: Ask HN: Novelty addiction is ruining my life and career. What should I do?

#153

Post by mattdesl »

I feel a bit like this sometimes. It is one of the reasons I embrace small JavaScript modules on npm. You can write a 100-line module with a narrow scope. It can quickly (even on first release) reach a stable and frozen API, and it will prove useful for years to come.

It allows you to experiment with a wide range of topics while still providing useful contributions to the community.

Re: Ask HN: Novelty addiction is ruining my life and career. What should I do?

#154

Post by cylinder »

pbreit wrote: post #47

I know I'm a monster but my answer would be something along the lines of "suck it up". We're on this planet for 80 years or so. There's going to be some repetition. Not everything is going to be "novel". Best to train yourself to lose this odd hang up.

I see it the other way... 80 years is nothing! There's way too much out there to learn.

Re: Ask HN: Novelty addiction is ruining my life and career. What should I do?

#155

Post by cylinder »

i336_ wrote: post #110
innertracks wrote: post #46

I can relate I think. Whether you need a cure or not is probably a question for you and a therapist. Ask about sliding fee scales and other options. My story and maybe something for you to explore. I never held a job longer than 24 months when I was younger. Not being able to figure out a career direction and trying to get some direction in 2000 I sought testing at a great organization called Johnson O'Connor Researc…

I agree with hanniabu that this should be higher up, this is definitely the kind of thing I come to HN for. I'm definitely going to have to follow up on aptitude testing! I reckon I fit the description of sled dogs to a tee; I actually have absolutely tragic committal issues and I wonder if that might be the cause. Link to website for Johnson O'Connor: http://www.jocrf.org/ Testing is apparently $675, $750 in NY. FYI…

Wish I could do it but who has $750 to spend on an aptitude test?

Re: Ask HN: Novelty addiction is ruining my life and career. What should I do?

#156

Post by nojvek »

y0y wrote: post #129
weinzierl wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Serious question: How is the following quoted paragraph linked to ADHD? Do you have a hard time transitioning? Are you late for things because you a) can't accurately estimate time and b) can't pull yourself away from the thing you're doing at that moment even though you know you're going to be late if you don't? Sounds more like extreme focus. Isn't this the exact opposite of ADHD?

ADHD is not an inability to focus, it's an inability to direct and control one's focus at-will . The ADHD brain is always seeking dopamine and constantly seeks out the most "exciting" thoughts. When you are actually into something and engaged, the brain is producing dopamine (the reward chemical) and so an ADHD person will hyper-focus on that thought/activity intensely for long periods of time, barely noticing the ti…

thanks for the insight, this gives a whole new perspective to the way I understood ADHD.

Re: Ask HN: Novelty addiction is ruining my life and career. What should I do?

#157

Post by y0y »

icoder wrote: post #133
atemerev wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP here — I am on treatment now, including medication. Didn't help me strategically, but it was worth it being diagnosed nevertheless. At least, medications helped me stopping losing things.

I'm confused, you ask a question like this (which is already hard to answer without knowing your full background) and you leave out the fact that you were diagnosed with ADHD recently (and are on treatment), only to mention it in a reply-comment? Do you think these are unrelated?

Based on his other replies, it seems he's given up on adhd treatments and probably didn't want all the replies focusing on that (oops!). I guess he was hoping there were some strategies others use that weren't related to treating an underlying neurological condition. /shrug

Re: Ask HN: Novelty addiction is ruining my life and career. What should I do?

#158

Post by nojvek »

atemerev wrote: post #74
brandonmenc wrote: post #34

> Is there a cure from novelty-seeking behavior? Start a project, commit to the technologies beforehand, and deviate under no circumstances. Facebook was built with PHP. AdWords was built with MySQL. Instagram was built with Django. GitHub was built with Rails. Stack Overflow was built with Microsoft technologies. It seems there are few instances where a "boring" tech stack prevents the product from being built. If t…

I have a huge working memory and ability to hyperfocus (occasionally), which helped me to deliver some quite successful short-term projects. It is persistency I have problems with. Commitment to stack is some problem for me, but it's OK for 6 months, maybe even a year. Anything longer-term, and I inevitably think something in the lines of: "this Java code now looks like shit, I learned so much new things, why not rew…

Sometimes this is not a bad thing. I started something in PHP an year ago, about 3 months ago I played with node, evaluated it and it felt like it would give a productivity boost in the long term. And it did! I am a lot happier with the new codebase. I guess it really depends on what you're working.

Re: Ask HN: Novelty addiction is ruining my life and career. What should I do?

#159

Post by lomnakkus »

randallsquared wrote: post #131
badpenny wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are probably a number of causes, but coffee may be one of them. Don't be radical, but if you're having too much coffee, I'd suggest cutting down to just one coffee in the morning. It will take a bit of effort but may help you concentrate. I'd suggest gradually cutting down to none. Apparently the alertness and general cognitive enhancing properties of caffeine don't really exist and all that people are noticing…

Given the way that first cup of coffee in months can affect a person, you seem to be suggesting that caffeine withdrawal is a permanent condition. ;)

OPs point is that your brain adapts to the level of caffeine you're ingesting. So if you're used to drinking coffee then you're basically at the same level of alertness/functioning that you were before you first started drinking coffee (i.e. before it became habitual). The effect you notice from the first cup of coffee in the morning is really just the coffee counteracting the withdrawal you feel after ~6-8hrs of no caffeine.

Re: Ask HN: Novelty addiction is ruining my life and career. What should I do?

#160

Post by badpenny »

Fishman343 wrote: post #150
badpenny wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are probably a number of causes, but coffee may be one of them. Don't be radical, but if you're having too much coffee, I'd suggest cutting down to just one coffee in the morning. It will take a bit of effort but may help you concentrate. I'd suggest gradually cutting down to none. Apparently the alertness and general cognitive enhancing properties of caffeine don't really exist and all that people are noticing…

This is clearly unsubstantiated - the benefits of coffee are very clearly outlined. Maybe some people who drinks too much are experiencing the withdrawal, but if you do not over-do it, there is a 90% chance of feeling more alert when you drink coffee.

This is clearly unsubstantiated - the benefits of coffee are very clearly outlined.

No they aren't.

http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/156/9/842.short

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20182035

These are just two of the first studies I found. There are plenty of others.

if you do not over-do it, there is a 90% chance of feeling more alert when you drink coffee.

90% of statistics are made up on the spot. If you're going to acuse me of making shit up on the spot maybe you shouldn't do it yourself? Feeling is the operative word in your statement.

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