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Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?

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Re: Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?

#41

Man, this is me all over. I've spoken to friends about how I feel like on the "consumer vs. creator continuum," I'm far too far on the consumer side. It's just easier to watch Netflix after coming home from work, instead of creating something new. The commitment is a big deal too. I don't want to start a blog, write two posts, and then abandon it, and I know that's more likely than not. I even struggle a bit with wha…

If you've just had a child your best approach may be to just accept that for the next few years you don't have time for active production. Your active learning/production right now is learning how to raise a child.

Trust me on this one, you're not going to look back in a few years time and regret spending too much time watching your child growing up into an independent person.

Re: Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?

#42

99% of the human species blows their time on Facebook so don't feel too bad about it

Delete the smartphone app now. Thank me later.

I just deleted the app and moved several of my smaller group conversations over to WhatsApp (yes, the irony that this is also owned by Facebook is not lost on me). Been contemplating this for a while but you have provided the necessary impetus, thanks.

Re: Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?

#43

I would ask if you think uploading videos to youtube that you feel obliged to produce for the sake of being 'productive', is really contributing to society. We have a glut of online content. For every tweet that illuminates, there are 9 that constitute meaningless chatter, background noise that serves only to obfuscate the good stuff. The freedom that the internet has given people to communicate is a wonderful and em…

This. Can you learn something so intensely that there's a purpose for you to produce, other than 'I don't feel like just enjoying and celebrating the creative works of others'?

Anyone who's really locked into the nasty treadmill of staying creatively relevant, truly loves a good fan or good consumer. Somebody's gotta do the experiencing, sift through the chaff, find the gold. If you're working in the creative sphere, odds are you can't even do that because keeping up a genuine creative output is too heavy of a commitment.

I think this is the future knocking at our doors. One day energy and goods will be all produced by robots and machines, and we will all be consumers by vocation, whose job it is to sift through the noise and find the signal. As we can see in this post, as soon as we're comfortable with that we're already unsatisfied, and want the celebrity of being informationally significant.

And that becomes the equivalent of a struggle for survival. Once survival is taken care of, it's beneath notice, and importance becomes everything. (or if you like, expressing informational generosity)

Re: Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?

#44
What you can always do is to give feedback. For example I actively create issues on OSS projects I use. Most devs (including me) have no idea how their software is being used and what corner cases they have with which other devs are struggling. If you want to start your own blog the easiest way is to use Jekyll + Github. It is just 5 clicks away...Contributing to OSS can also be started by simple bugfixing tasks.

Re: Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?

#45
post #27

I'm going to say something that might be wildly unpopular among ambitious people: If you have a full-time job, you are by far not a passive consumer. You presumably contribute >40 hours every week of creatively demanding, high-quality labor to society. For most people, the premise of this question is wrong. Procrastination, when you don't obviously have a lot of available time and effort, is a symptom that most of yo…

My experience worth people who work a lot in their spare time is that their productivity at work drops. Basically, former in the pub socialization is replaced by in the office socialization. Their tv watching is replaced by more browsing at work. Effectively they do 60% position, but are able to switch to full time productivity when needed.

There are positions where it is ok (slow company) and there are situations where you have to do it (when you need to learn something new).

So basically, my advice would be to find company that is not much demanding and then produce whatever you envoy producing.

Re: Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?

#46
I've gone through this recently, and it's very difficult to overcome. I've read close to 50 books on topics like this, and some of the best advice I have gotten are from 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Turn that ship around, Talent is Overrated, Flow, and The power of habit. These books provide mental models and frameworks that you can start using immediately to overcome this issue.

What I've found is most people look entirely at efficiency. They want to produce more with less, and this is their goal. However, this usually completely leaves out the value of the activity in question. What value is it that you contribute to open source? Do they provide a truly meaningful difference in your life currently, or are they merely passive participants that are means to an end for you? Do their values and goals match your values and goals? Chances are, if you answered yes to these, then you will not need much more motivation to give back to these groups. You will do it out of a sense of duty to your values and knowing that it will satiate a personal demand you have.

Now what can you do today without reading all of the literature in the world on the topic? Write out the eulogy you want told at your funeral 3 years from now. Seriously, turn off all distractions and think long and hard on how you want your family, friends, coworkers and connections to speak of you. Chances are through this activity you will begin to define some values that define your character. Hone in on these, and identify tasks that will relate to these values and drive them forward. Think of what single activity you can do today that will have the biggest impact on your ongoing well being, and figure out how you can turn that into a habit. After you start having small successes, you hopefully will begin rewiring yourself to start chasing personal victories as opposed to constant consumption.

What I personally found is that I tried to do things for the sake of doing things. I would create simply to share, and skip the 80% of the work that would actually provide me value. Sharing with the world is important, but if you don't go through personal growth while creating, sharing with the world becomes empty and you chase metrics and statistics. You will beginning acting out of need for validation as opposed to acting out of what's important to your values. The closer you can tie your values to your actions, the more satisfaction you'll ultimately get out of what you do. It makes it easier to prioritize tasks and see a week/month/year in the future and know that you're making the correct decision not just for present you, but future you.

There's a ton of crap advice out there on this particular topic, but there's a lot of good. If you start with the few books I listed above, note books that the authors reference and relate too. Create a list from these books on what to read next. Be ready to throw away old habits and models that no longer drive your life in the direction you want to go. Habits are reprogrammable, but the longer and deeper they're held, the more effort it will take. Most people reject this entire process because in the short term, you're more likely to be uncomfortable as things don't always work out. You may lose some productivity, or at least perceive yourself as losing productivity, but habits pay off much like compound interest. It's a long game, the payoff is built up over time. Be ready to adjust your parameters to improve the likelyhood that you meet the long term goals, but don't be afraid to see short term losses. The more legitimate experience you get, the quicker it will be for you to know when to cut your losses and move on. You can always reduce this by reaching out to people who may have been in your situation. You learn more from others failures then you do successes, so make sure you fluff their accomplishments, but don't be afraid to ask about what they "wish they knew". This is often where the real advice is.

Re: Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?

#47
Your transition -- consumer to producer -- is one I've been through a few times. But I didn't realize it in the moments it happened for me.

(I produced written-word stuff; tech tutorials etc).

Each time I went through ramping up my output, I did so because I realized people were benefiting from what I produced. I did realize people were reading what I wrote. It was the knowledge I was doing somebody some good that motivated me.

You asked for advice, so I'll give it. Open up that YouTube channel, as soon as possible. Add more videos when it makes sense to do so, not because of a self-imposed schedule.

If the subject matter of your YouTube channel is relevant to your workplace, see if you can work out some kind of lunch'n'learn project so you can present it. You can also invite colleagues to present their stuff in the same lunch'n'learn series.

This next bit of advice probably sounds impossibly artsy-fartsy. Let your muse -- your motivation -- find you. Don't force yourself to crank stuff out just for the sake of cranking it out. Your job has enough of that.

As for finding the time.... what are you doing reading Hacker News? :-) :-) This point applies much more strongly to FB and other media outlets who measure "engagement" -- who get paid for stealing your time.

Re: Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?

#48
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So true. I'm blogging one a week about dev stuff and it takes 2-4 hours depending on the topic. I met a few devs with family and children, and they were blown away by my commitment.

Yeah, some weeks between work, family time, and other commitments I'd be lucky to get 2-4 hours of free time all to myself.

That sounds like hell, and I fear I'm heading there pretty quick myself...

Re: Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?

#49
post #27

I'm going to say something that might be wildly unpopular among ambitious people: If you have a full-time job, you are by far not a passive consumer. You presumably contribute >40 hours every week of creatively demanding, high-quality labor to society. For most people, the premise of this question is wrong. Procrastination, when you don't obviously have a lot of available time and effort, is a symptom that most of yo…

+1

I notice a hive-mind of looking-down on "ordinary work" even if it's not really challenging, and is actually isn't less purposeful than open source projects that get to the HN front-page.

'Coolness' is an unmeasured and a dangerous motivation.

Re: Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?

#50
If what is holding you back is fear, then perhaps I can make a recommendation to break it. Start with meeting like-minded people! Whether it's volunteering, meetup groups or tech events ... just pick one.

While it sounds nerve-wrecking - it was for me - actually, it's a low commitment activity. You're not trying to prove anything. You're not even expecting to make new friends. But watching other makers in action, and listening to what they say can slowly build up that push for yourself to become one.

It's different to reading and watching interviews at home because when you're out there, it all becomes personal. If I read about a guy who dreams of the next guitar picker, I'd probably roll my eyes and move on. But actually meeting one who is excitedly showing his prototype, and talking about his dream and motivations, that's endearing and actually inspiring. I may not see the guitar picker to ever change the world but I add this to my mental stock of maker stories, and this helps me to keep going.

Lately, I've found that it's much easier to slide into my project and focus on the real essentials. The more I go out and meet people, the more confident and articulated I get, and my idea gets refined further. And yes, inevitably you do make new and quite interesting friends :)

When it does become too much, then just step back a bit - remember, this is supposed to be low commitment!

Edit typo.

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