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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?

#481

Post by tomcam »

IgorPartola wrote: post #55

Here's my list: - Using Vim. Just do it. You'll be more productive than in most other editors, and you can use it over ssh on pretty much any machine. - Using Python. Batteries included means less work for you to do. - Using Django. Ditto - Stopped chasing the latest and greatest JS framework and just use what I know (jQuery and Angular lately). Not worth my time when I already feel very productive. - Use puppet for…

Now that you've discovered polyamory, I'm amazed you have so much time for the other stuff

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

#482

Post by [deleted] »

roymurdock wrote: post #352
tjbiddle wrote: post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A very helpful tactic I've learned recently is to not focus on not having any thoughts but instead - realize they're going to be inevitable, and when they pop up, acknowledge that it's a thought, a feeling or, an emotion - and let go of it.

Or acknowledge it, write it down if it's an actionable to-do, then let it go. It probably won't return, and you'll have a great list of things that were previously buzzing around in your head, taking up space now down on paper in front of you.

[deleted]

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

#483

Post by rayalez »

rufugee wrote: post #470
rayalez wrote: post #458

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One cool tip - you can meditate while running in the morning. That way you can do two useful things at once, and meditation doesn't seem boring. It's also much easier to stop the thoughts, focus on the present moment, breathing, etc when you are running in a park as opposed to staring at the wall.

Meditation while running sounds fascinating. Can you explain the technique? Any good sources of information online?

Pretty much the same as any other meditation - the goal is to stop your mind from racing and to clear your head, stop thinking.

As you run, you focus on your breathing, or on your body motions, or on the environment around you - whatever makes you feel "present", experiencing the moment around you instead of being in your head. And you just keep running without thinking for some period of time.

Couple more bonuses of meditating while you're exercising:

- You can focus on motions instead of breathing. That way you move better, and it's more fun, and it makes meditation easier.

- You don't need a timer, you can just meditate while running a certain distance. Since you're doing it every day the timing will be pretty much the same, and you aren't subconsciously wondering when the timer is going to stop, you can just focus on enjoying your jogging.

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

#484

Post by imaginenore »

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.

Lying about your previous salary may open you up to a lawsuit. It's sort of a grey area, but some consider it fraud.

http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/18/is-it-illegal-to-l...

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

#485

Post by lucb1e »

mixmastamyk wrote: post #207
anotherevan wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree. Apart from spouse and kids, the only others that get tech support from me are my parents (hey, they raised me and put me through school) and my in-laws (because I'm not an idiot).

I'm not sure… when I still helped out family I found often I would get blamed for things not working right. Ending that was beneficial.

> when I still helped out family I found often I would get blamed for things not working right.

I used to get this from family too but it's been a lot better in recent years. My advice: install the most recent version of their favorite OS and let them stick with it until the end of extended support (so 10 years or so). My people still have Windows 7, are perfectly fine with it and know what to click and what not to click.

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

#486

Post by jc4p »

ardit33 wrote: post #472
rdegges wrote: post #358

For 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…

Congrats, but there is no fricking way you are natty. At 235lb 15% body fat, and perhaps 5'11" - ish? Whoever is readying this, don't think you can get that amount of muscle in a natural way so fast. Only Testosterone, trenbolone and other stuff will make you that large. According to a simple calculator, if you cut down below 8% fat (which is pro body builder territory), you'd still be at above 205lbs, which is no wa…

Uh I went from 305lb to 205lb in a year and at my lowest was around 17% body fat at 205lb 6'1" -- I really think you're overthinking this, it's very possible to look what he looks like in that last photo by just being consistent and caring about what you do.

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

#487

Post by emilssolmanis »

rdegges wrote: post #358

For 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…

Honestly, I'd extend this to any serious exercise. I'm not a big fan of weights, but I run a lot and it's profoundly changed things. All the research into +20% cognitive, getting tired a lot less, everything you've read that's been peer reviewed has proven to be true in my case.

The before and after is basically me being completely pumped and half-dead after my 8h vs. me taking a happy stroll out the office at the end of the day, going for a run and still putting in 4 more hours of whatever else I'm doing, easily. With 0 signs of burnout, when I was skirting the line for years before I started cardio.

So exercise, can't stress that one enough.

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

#488

Post by bhandziuk »

hinkley wrote: post #450
mudil wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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..

There are lots of maladaptive tendencies that can go along hobbies, if they are just another form of escapism. Filling your time so you are never alone with your own thoughts is unhealthy over the long term. But if you can crack walking/standing meditation, things like gardening or endurance exercise can complement rather than hinder your efforts to just be instead of trying to send your mind somewhere else. If you c…

Does that mean that, instead of paying attention to what someone is saying, you are standing, meditating?

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

#489

Post by metaphorm »

andrepd wrote: post #217
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…

Not a hippie, but you do meditation and fasts... Okay, that came out a bit incisive. Do you have any scientific backing to support those claims? I'm especially interested in fasting. Not eating for 3 days a month does not seem especially healthy. Then I see the claim that it cures cancer and forgive me if all my alarm bells go off.

you seem to have deliberately misinterpreted what was said. there was not claim of curing cancer. the claim was that fasting is thought (by some researchers) to be potentially effective in preventing cancer from arising in the first place.

also, have you ever tried meditation?

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

#490

Post by rashkov »

econner wrote: post #187
rayalez wrote: post #141

1. Good diet, exercise, and generally taking care of my health. Seriously, this should be the top priority, if you know that you're being stupid about how you treat your body - fix it as soon as possible. 2. Writing regularly(fiction or nonfiction). I think it's one of the most awesome skills you can develop, and the younger you are when you start practicing - the easier it will be. Just create a blog, and try to reg…

Regarding #3 do you have designated times that you read, etc? I find that I end up spending a lot of little chunks on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and HN when something is compiling or deploying or starting to run. I keep saying I'm going to stop checking all of these inane things, but I always fall back into it with these 5 min chunks where it would be hard to do something else.

I've found that logging off of Twitter and Facebook make a difference for me. My password is in a password manager so that adds yet another step. Anything to break the "muscle memory" and habit of reaching for a procrastination fix.
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