Why are Adults so busy? • Hacker News Board

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#291

Post by retro64 » Wed, Sep 14, 2016, 3:14 PM UTC

anexprogrammer wrote: post #236

Well this is clearly written by someone without committments and children. Young adults used to be having children. With young kids around, the laundry and responsibility for dependents figures become hours daily, not weekly. When they're a bit older there's less cleaning but now you're running them around more and ensuring they meet their commitments. With more gadgets, chemicals and domestic appliances we've just i…

What used to be a trigger for inventing a game, building a den, or making something new with lego is far more filled with minutes on YT.

This hurts to read because it really nails it. This very thing has been on my mind quite a bit lately after watching my older kids now as young adults. We managed to keep them away from much of this simply because we never thought it necessary, but apparently not to the extent I wish we would have. Now with complete freedom of how they spend their time I’m not exactly pleased with the results. They still seem to be lacking the inner drive to create, but instead would rather consume.

My desire was for them to know how to be satisfied from within, developed from their own inner source, not coming from the outside, simply fueled by what they are consuming.

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#292

Post by ktRolster » Wed, Sep 14, 2016, 3:15 PM UTC

theandrewbailey wrote: post #287

ktRolster wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not bad, but I've also taken up watching Youtube for hours every night. The key is to not overwhelm yourself and to do something towards your goal. For example, don't try to set up the entire blog in one night, instead do a micro-portion, "oh, I better start downloading the webserver before I watch youtube." Or even, "oh, I better plug my server in and turn it on." The key is to do something every night, and cut it i…

I tried to do it all last night: got it installed, db set up, and even a certificate. It didn't feel that overwhelming, and it started to be kind of fun after a while, but something went wrong somewhere just shy of it actually working. I'll try it again sometime.

Too much effort all at once. Really, just set your goal to spend five minutes looking at it.

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#293

Post by ghaff » Wed, Sep 14, 2016, 3:17 PM UTC

Spoom wrote: post #286

brightball wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doing laundry is still the most time consuming task because it's done sequentially. If there's any build up at all it throw it in the wash, wait, move it to the drier, wait, unload, fold and put away. Multiple loads means a multi hour time commitment to being on stand by to transfer and continue the process. The programmer in me actually has resorted to throwing everything in the car and driving to a laundry mat if I…

I've always wondered why someone didn't build a vertical washer-dryer combo, about the size of a fridge, where the clothes in the washer portion at the top simply drop into the dryer portion at the bottom (possibly assisted by a mechanical push) and start the dryer portion automatically. Bonus if you can then push the dry clothes out the side into a waiting basket, but not totally necessary. Perhaps stability is a fa…

There are all-in one units using a single drum. I've never investigated but my understanding is that they're pitched primarily for more space-constrained situations. (Example: http://www.homedepot.com/b/Appliances-Washers-Dryers-All-In-...)

I'm not sure of the tradeoffs. If you have the space, doing laundry while you're in the house for other reasons and transferring manually is the least of the effort.

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#294

Post by mtnygard » Wed, Sep 14, 2016, 3:18 PM UTC

Spoom wrote: post #286

brightball wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doing laundry is still the most time consuming task because it's done sequentially. If there's any build up at all it throw it in the wash, wait, move it to the drier, wait, unload, fold and put away. Multiple loads means a multi hour time commitment to being on stand by to transfer and continue the process. The programmer in me actually has resorted to throwing everything in the car and driving to a laundry mat if I…

I've always wondered why someone didn't build a vertical washer-dryer combo, about the size of a fridge, where the clothes in the washer portion at the top simply drop into the dryer portion at the bottom (possibly assisted by a mechanical push) and start the dryer portion automatically. Bonus if you can then push the dry clothes out the side into a waiting basket, but not totally necessary. Perhaps stability is a fa…

Mainly because engineering machines that deal with water plus electronics plus moving parts, and making the whole shebang reliable is really hard.

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#295

Post by grondilu » Wed, Sep 14, 2016, 3:20 PM UTC

logfromblammo wrote: post #290

grondilu wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We have to pay to exist? No. Existing is free. You have to pay in order to live in a dwelling you could not afford.

You also have to pay for the bounded, mappable area around that dwelling, unless you live in a ship on international waters or a perpetually-aloft aircraft in uncontrolled airspace. In many places, homelessness, squatting, and camping without explicit permission are illegal. You might not have to continuously pay for the spot on which you stand, but if you stay on it for too long, eventually someone will come to coll…

> In many places, homelessness, squatting, and camping without explicit permission are illegal.

And in just as many places, if not many more, it's not. After all, shanty towns do exist.

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#296

Post by lgieron » Wed, Sep 14, 2016, 3:25 PM UTC

sapphireblue wrote: post #237

lgieron wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's just how the world is, you know. Back in prehistoric times, you didn't just happen to find a free shack and live in it - you needed to build it and maintain it. Right now, landlords take care of that for you - for a price.

Building a shack isn't that hard, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P73REgj-3UE Try building it in the forest though - it is most likely illegal due to some rentier (or government) already owning it. I think the grandparent has some truth to their words. Existing outside the dwelling is illegal. Dwellings are owned by the elite rentier class, so you need some money just to exist (unless you are a rentier).

Yeah, the land is not free, but, outside of metro areas, the land can be dirt cheap. You certainly don't have to toil for years to buy a piece of it. Plus, in places like Siberia or Northern Canada perhaps, you can live for decades in a public forest without anyone noticing.

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#297

Post by ericdykstra » Wed, Sep 14, 2016, 3:26 PM UTC

carrier_lost wrote: post #173

ericdykstra wrote: post #50

"I'm busy" is really just an excuse for not taking productive action. You know all those people you look up to that seem to be 10 times more productive than you? Whether it's Elon Musk running multiple blue ocean companies while being a technological innovator or Richard Branson leading over 400 companies, or whoever it might be, they all have the same 24 hours that you do. In the end it's up to you whether you find…

"The most time-consuming things often can't be totally cut out, but they can be systemized or delegated." This is a big part of it, and it makes the comparison between Musk or Branson and an average Joe a bit disingenuous. They have the wealth afford to delegate many things that consume an average person's time. I doubt Musk does his own grocery shopping, and Branson likely doesn't scrub his own toilets.

It's hard to come up with examples without choosing people with wealth, since people who excel at time management become wealthy. It starts with good time management techniques, which leads to wealth, which leads to the ability to delegate the low and no-value parts of your life.

Let's say someone with bad time management goes to the grocery store every day, and the nearest one is a 10 minute drive away. They spend at minimum 45 minutes going to and from the grocery store, choosing food, waiting in checkout lines etc every day. That's over 5 hours per week! Musk spends 0 hours. But it's not all or nothing. Instead, a 30 minute investment of planning out a general meal schedule and grocery list for it on Sunday, and one trip to the grocery store might take an hour and a half. That's 3.5 hours of savings per week!

Repeat this for cooking, cleaning around the house, etc, and I guarantee you can find significant time savings in systemizing routines. If you save even 2 hours every week, that's an entire 8 hour work day per month. If you make, let's say, $300 daily as a software engineer that's quite a bit of savings! Even... maybe enough to hire a house cleaner and someone to do grocery shopping for you.

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#298

Post by maxsilver » Wed, Sep 14, 2016, 3:29 PM UTC

sqren wrote: post #112

Maybe this should be worded: Why are American adults so busy. I've been living in the US for a couple of years, and have thoroughly enjoyed it, but it occurs to me that life is more "rushed" than I'm used to from Denmark. RE: 1) Have Money The standard work week is 37 hours. I love my job, but this leaves me plenty of time to do other stuff I enjoy. RE: 6) Bills, Bills, Bills Living in the US for a couple of years ta…

>RE6: The banking infrastructure allow consumers to "subscribe" to businesses

We have this in the US (almost all businesses have an 'Automatic Bill Pay' or similar)

But businesses are very routinely "slightly-corrupt" here, so many don't trust it. Businesses will purposefully withdraw more than they should, and make you fight to get it back. Or will raise prices without telling you. Or will continue to bill you after you unsubscribe (if they let you unsubscribe at all).

Often you have to yell or make threats to people on telephones, or publicly harass a company on Twitter / Facebook, or manually withhold payment, to get any kind of appropriate response.

This creates an atmosphere where people don't trust businesses with "subscriptions" or automation of any kind of bills. Which further perpetuates the antique cheque-based bill payment process. It's not a technology problem (we have the technology). It's more of a "poisoned trust" issue.

> RE: 11) my only tax-related action is to click "Accept" once a year.

We have this in the US -- the IRS is already capable of offering this. It's just illegal for them to do so, because of Intuit's political influence. (Again with the businesses being corrupt...)

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/16/technology/personaltech/tu...

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#299

Post by kentt » Wed, Sep 14, 2016, 3:30 PM UTC

k-mcgrady wrote: post #246

kentt wrote: post #199

Since the article didn't answer the question of why, I'll submit a partial answer. People put a minimal value on their free time and so it gets sucked up with things of minimal value. One place I've noticed this in that placing a high value on my own time comes off as self-important. As well, wondering why colleagues aren't placing a high value on their time, leave me bewildered. Just the other day, a friend was show…

He could be getting other benefits he values more than $50 doing that 30 min drive. You assume it's a 'chore' but he may enjoy the drive and peace and quiet away from the family (or just some time out of the house).

I agree. Of course he should do that if it's what he wants to do. I only meant it as illustrative.

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#300

Post by paulmd » Wed, Sep 14, 2016, 3:30 PM UTC

kentt wrote: post #199

Since the article didn't answer the question of why, I'll submit a partial answer. People put a minimal value on their free time and so it gets sucked up with things of minimal value. One place I've noticed this in that placing a high value on my own time comes off as self-important. As well, wondering why colleagues aren't placing a high value on their time, leave me bewildered. Just the other day, a friend was show…

People are very irrational about gas prices in general. People will often go far out of their way to save an extra five cents a gallon. If you have a large 20-gallon tank, that adds up to a whole dollar saved. Depending on how far out of your way you went, that may not even end up being a savings.

The best philosophy is to know where the cheap gas stations are near you. Try to fill up there when you need it, put five bucks of expensive gas in if you're low and you know you're going there soon, but otherwise don't worry about it. It's just not worth going out of your way and it's certainly not worth running out of gas in an effort to save a dollar or two.

In business, there's a principle that's something along the lines of "know your business". Your business probably isn't fixing the laser printer when it breaks, or (for smaller businesses) running your own hosting service. It costs money to do those things in-house, so it also makes sense to hire someone else to do it so you don't have to worry about it.

People often fail to apply that to their own lives. Some things just aren't worth fretting over when you can throw a bit of money at the problem and make it go away (or significantly reduce the scope of the problem). If owning a Roomba cuts down on vacuuming time by 75% then just pay the money and make the problem go away, your time is worth more than the amortized cost of the roomba.

The other one that's really surprising is car repairs. Changing oil is literally a half hour job, and many other repairs boil down to replacing an easily accessible sensor or something. The gains here are large, a garage will hardly look at a car for less than a hundred bucks. It's easy to check Youtube and see videos of someone doing the job.