11–20 of 46 posts
I wonder how many hours that would have otherwise been productive have been spent reading about productivity.
Reading about productivity can be useful, IF you use what you read. Most don't.
It seems as simple as make time for yourself and your ideas and your actions, then actually use that time with intention and focus.
I'm on board with all his points except for "Stop doing shit you hate." Lovely idea, but completely unrealistic.
But there used to be a lot of stuff I hated doing that I've been able to ditch. I probably could have written that point in a more realistic way.
I wonder how many hours that would have otherwise been productive have been spent reading about productivity.
Thats exactly what i thought when i stopped reading anything like that. Most entrepreneurs will give you huge lists of must reads. I rather code on my projects.
Kudos to you for having projects that keep you motivated though.
I wonder how many hours that would have otherwise been productive have been spent reading about productivity.
Heh. That's why I called it out in the post too. It's definitely something I've fallen into. Reading about productivity can be useful, IF you use what you read. Most don't.
I think many many are in a similar boat. I try to tell myself the above and realize that I should spend my "reading" time on things other than "productivity." I.e. planned procrastination isn't a bad thing. Just don't fool yourself that you're being productive.
I'm on board with all his points except for "Stop doing shit you hate." Lovely idea, but completely unrealistic.
I quit my job, moved to a country where i can life of the money i have and work exclusively on my side projects while outsourcing stuff i dont like. I mean, its not so far catched if you have no kids & wife.
That doesn't mean I should keep doing things I don't like...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I quit my job, moved to a country where i can life of the money i have and work exclusively on my side projects while outsourcing stuff i dont like. I mean, its not so far catched if you have no kids & wife.
I love my wife and son a lot more than I hate some of the things I don't like to do. That doesn't mean I should keep doing things I don't like...
I think the main issue on side projects is managing your own expectations. You have to be realistic and think that as the name implies is something you do on the side and it's not your main priority. So try to work on it as much as you can but don't blame yourself if you can't work on it for a day or a few days. We all have lives and have stuff to do that are more important then side projects otherwise they wouldn't…
I've tried that and I have to spend 10 minutes figuring out where I was, 15 minutes researching how to do the next bit that I want (esp. for a project in a new dev environment), 10 minutes upgrading various libraries or other stuff that is needed/needs updating, and then maybe 25 minutes of actual coding. I progresses very slowly.
Maybe my side projects are too ambitious, at least relative to my skill in their respective areas.
I'm on board with all his points except for "Stop doing shit you hate." Lovely idea, but completely unrealistic.
I have a cousin who lives in a rough neighborhood. I don't mean scary looking, I mean bullets flying and blood soaked people walking down the street at night (literally saw that the last time I drove out of there). When I was a kid living there, I always thought to myself there's got to be something better and I hated the area. They choose to embrace it. Now, years later, streets are as dangerous as ever. They're still there and I found something a lot better.
I had a few lucky breaks, but I was watching for them and I didn't let it pass me by. My wife did the same, moved to entirely different countries and learned the language there. We treat our jobs the same, when we find it's something we hate, we work toward fixing that. We talk to management about issues that come up. We job search when we have too. We don't give up, we work toward something better.
“Do not confuse "duty" with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect. But there is no reward at all for doing what other people expect of you, and to do so is not merely difficult, but impossible. It is easier to deal with a footpad than it is with the leech who wants "just a few minutes of your time, please—this won't take long." Time is your total capital, and the minutes of your life are painfully few. If you allow yourself to fall into the vice of agreeing to such requests, they quickly snowball to the point where these parasites will use up 100 percent of your time—and squawk for more! So learn to say No—and to be rude about it when necessary. Otherwise you will not have time to carry out your duty, or to do your own work, and certainly no time for love and happiness. The termites will nibble away your life and leave none of it for you. (This rule does not mean that you must not do a favor for a friend, or even a stranger. But let the choice be yours. Don't do it because it is "expected" of you.)”