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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?

#321

Post by squeaky-clean »

mudil wrote: post #180
iamben wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, took the words out of my mouth. Mediation has been a game changer for me. Understanding the amount of sleep I need has been a big one as well. Also, trying to optimise the way I do things / my systems. We all have them, whether we realise it or not. I'm just trying to better get on top of mine: wake -> meditation -> exercise -> breakfast -> office -- etc.

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..

I've only been doing it for a few months now, so I'm not an expert, or even particularly proficient, haha. But the difference, as I understand it, is practicing the ability to be mindful in any situation.

It's easy for me to feel entirely "in the present moment" when I'm deeply involved in a craft or something. and everything is going nicely. But it doesn't help when I want to start the hobby on a Saturday, but am also too anxious about a deadline next week for work, or when I'm bored waiting in line at the bank, or talking to new people at a bar. And so on.

It's been really helpful learning how to be mindful using what's always available to me. The breath, physical sensations, flow of my own thoughts. I can't always pull out a guitar or sewing kit when my mind starts racing. But (typically), I'll always have my breath.

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

#322

Post by iopq »

gradys wrote: post #274
nether wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe not the right game? Try Dwarf Fortress. It's the only game that has addicted me past the age of 18.

For me, it is almost the opposite. I can't get into games that are highly "stateful" anymore. I find that the only games I can consistently play for relaxation are games like match-based FPSs that I'd call "stateless". The anxiety about wasting time hits me when I'm looking down at an empire in Civ or a growing base in DF or my stats pane in an RPG. When I can see evidence of how much time I've spent building an imag…

Get into a skill game, then you can say that you're improving your skills. Something like Go, Starcraft, etc. People are actually impressed even if you're only above average (dan-level Go player/Master or above SC2 player)

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

#323

Post by stevenkovar »

Saying "No" and giving back.

Constantly remind yourself that "this is entirely optional," whether it's a lunch meeting, a product feature, or your entire career. It helps you be more present—in the moment. If it doesn't excite you enough to be in the moment, say no next time. Eventually, your schedule will be more and more interesting and engaging to you. We become a slave to "yes" without realizing it. Derek Sivers has a good piece about this: https://sivers.org/hellyeah

Give back; or even better, practice preemptive giving. Not to be manipulative or trying to find some sort of karmic success; just because giving itself feels good and it causes you to start thinking from a more empathetic, gratitude-focused state of mind.

I think the world needs more of this, and hell... it's easier to handle stress when you default to finding the positive in a situation than actively looking for something to be critical of.

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

#324

Post by 33W »

iyn wrote: post #291
33W wrote: post #277

Earlier 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 used to have more, but have dropped a bunch to keep it sustainiable.

Broken into financial and non-financial ones from another thread:

Listing my financial ones:

Marketplace

Marketplace weekend

Radical Personal Finance

Slate Money

Freakonomics

Planet Money

Non-financial ones:

Parent Savers

Intelligence Squared

Intelligence Squared US

HBR Ideacast

Happier

Serial

Common Sense with Dan Carlin

Dan Carlin's Hardcore History

NPR Politics

The Economist Radio

Stuff You should Know

99% Invisible

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

#326

Post by CardenB »

desdiv wrote: post #319
Sukotto wrote: post #20

Declining to reveal my previous salary when negotiating a new job. I ended up with a significantly better salary than they originally offered and never even said a number. Just built a good rapport with the hiring HR rep and agreed that the offered amount would be totally reasonable for [someone else with good experience]. Then I pointed out that I also bring to the role [additional, relevant, and desired experience]…

I'm not a dishonest person in general, but I have zero problem with lying about my previous salary in order to gain a negotiating advantage. I feel that it's simply none of their business how much I used to make, and that if they're presumptuous enough to ask then a made-up number is what they deserve.

Except the company that hired you can then request a w2 and see your previous salary

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

#327

Post by superuser2 »

umbs wrote: post #144
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…

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…

+1. I had a similar experience - my one auto accident (though I am much younger than you) was when I clipped a mirror on a parked car after sleeping 5 hours.

I wonder if we as a society will ever come around to treating insufficient sleep similarly to drunkenness or distraction for drivers. My intuition says it's similarly dangerous.

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

#328

Post by zos »

criddell wrote: post #57
throw94 wrote: post #2

For 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 :)

My reading speed is slow and my to-read list is long. I used to force myself to finish every book I started but now I'll happily give up on anything that doesn't grab me fairly quickly. I've also been working on only adding things to my list that I actually want to read and avoiding books that I add only because I want to have read them. Is there a title in particular that triggered your interest in reading?

100% agree that the point of reading is not anything to do with finishing books!

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

#329

Post by bg4 »

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…

How does one fast for three days?
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