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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?

#81

Post by dahart »

Curiosity, and fun -- selfish fun.

You're giving yourself not just too much, but the wrong kind of pressure.

Find something that's more fun and interesting to you than browsing Facebook, something you'd rather be doing, and something that scratches an itch or helps you learn something you want to know.

Don't do it for social value, don't expect to give more than you take, and don't commit to it. Do something for yourself, and those things will happen naturally as a byproduct when you find the right thing that you care about so much more than Instagram that you can't bring yourself to browse Instgram.

Finding the thing is your job at this point, so don't stick to one of the things you listed until you try them all and try many other things too. Try boating, or woodworking, or exercise, or eating, or volunteering at the homeless shelter. (If you want a blog or vlog, you need stories to write/video about, after all.) Find something you enjoy before you even think about commitment.

There's almost nobody writing blogs or open source software or posting videos to YouTube that are worrying about their contribution to society -- they are doing it because they love it, they like participating in the activity for reasons that primarily benefit them -- and only occasionally and secondarily do they benefit others -- and that's okay!

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

#82

Post by Pr3fix »

sametmax wrote: post #57
klibertp wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 'Coolness' is an unmeasured and a dangerous motivation. As is curiosity, but we have little problems with people motivated by it in tech?

Oh no, we have big problems with coolness in tech.

He was comparing coolness, an "unmeasured and a dangerous motivation", to curiosity, which is similarly unmeasured and dangerous. ie, both are unreliable motivators and yet the industry idolizes both.

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

#84

Post by kilon »

"but I just can't force myself to do it" Actually you can. I used to tell myself what you just said but then when I reached the dead end of lack of powerful motivation I did understand that I had to force it.

In Greece we say "The beginning is half of everything" and my problem is beginning something. Sticking to it is not a big issues assuming I do not take a large break for it , say a few days or couple of weeks . Then I have to force myself to start again. Which as you imagine happens ofter. But when I do it , its easy to continue, no pressure involved and makes me happy.

So yeah starting something can be a pain in the ass and you need to punch your way through this phase which fortunately does not last long.

Forcing yourself to start doing something is a good idea. But forcing yourself to keep doing it can be an indication that it does not make you happy or you simply do not like it. Dont do that. Pick something you really like. It does not have to be amazing, just something you like doing.

Whats the worse it can happen if you pressure yourself ? Will you head explode ? Will you be very unhappy ? Will you fail ?

Heads do not explode, happiness is not permanent and failure is part of life and improvement.

I think if you pressure yourself hard at the right time can easily solve your problem.

In the end you will realise that motivation alone is not enough always to overcome fear of failure, boredom or confusion. See pressure as your first product, self motivation. Actually self motivation is best thing you can produce. The second best, is motivating others.

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

#85

Post by UnpossibleJim »

cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #75
marvin wrote: 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…

The guy wants advice on "how", not some words to make him feel better about not doing stuff, so let's give him that. > for most people this is an exercise that will in the long run lead to burnout. Your mind is already subconsciously telling you this. I want to point out that this is one of the reasons why people never start things. Let me share my experience as someone who has started, AND burned out, multiple times…

I will counter with one (older person's, I guess) observation of a bunch of my friends who are now in their early to mid fourties and late thirties. The one's who focus on making a career and accomplishments, be they for social value or greater equality for all or the justice in society being more balanced, etc. etc...... anyway, they end up at my age, when naturally, the larger group starts to drift apart a bit, looking around alone with their accomplishments being their only companion. That's great if you are only driven by business success/societal accolades. Super awesome and congratulations. You've figured out what makes you happy and I commend you. That isn't most people. Take some of that spare time and energy and go out, meet some people and have some fun. Blow off some steam. Have some sex. Meet four or five significant others. Pair them down to the point where you're both (or whatever) are happy. Build a life together. And stop rushing around. I know a bunch (most) of friends who are on their third or fourth spouse because they were in such a hurry to get things done, they never took the time to figure out who their significant other was, who their friends were or why they liked them or who, in fact, they really were. Don't fill the hole inside of yourself with hollow accolades and useless trophies. Take some time to figure out who you are and what is really going to make you happy. Experiment with different things. Fail. Try something else... You know. Live your life. Have fun. Now. That being said. I doubt this will be an overly popular sentiment. But when their friends start dying, they'll see them all start saying the same sorts of things, and none of them are, "I wish I'd spent more time working." P.S. If you want to figure some stuff out and do some good, go volunteer at an eldercare facility. That can be you in 50 years (I'm guessing at ages here, forgive me). Sitting in a home, alone for the most part, wishing people would visit. Building a happy life with strong relationships is important to the society at large. Trust me. Society without happy people without friends is fucking terrifying.

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

#86

Post by Bakary »

marvin wrote: 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…

On what basis can we make the assumption that full-time jobs do in fact contribute to society? In this current world it's not an easy question to answer.

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

#87

Post by eeZah7Ux »

doublelife wrote: post #51
marvin wrote: 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…

Most weeks I expend about 40 hours (mostly remote) working as a software developer in order to pay the bills. At the same time I'm spending between 10 and 40 hours working on my own startup as I don't want to be an employee forever. I also have a young family and I really do my best to fulfil my obligations as a parent, as is fair and right. A day for me does not stop from the moment I wake up (7am) to the moment I g…

> I feel guilt if I don't work ... this is actually a problem

Yes it is. Volunteering out of enthusiasm != volunteering out of guilt/shame.

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

#89

Post by egh5oon »

xname2 wrote: post #58

Find a lover, get married, raise at least two good kids. This will be your best contribution to the society.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_overpopulation

The last thing this world needs is more people, by far. If anything, adopt kids.

Also, how's the marriage required?

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

#90

Post by algesten »

cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #75
marvin wrote: 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…

The guy wants advice on "how", not some words to make him feel better about not doing stuff, so let's give him that. > for most people this is an exercise that will in the long run lead to burnout. Your mind is already subconsciously telling you this. I want to point out that this is one of the reasons why people never start things. Let me share my experience as someone who has started, AND burned out, multiple times…

> I guarantee you you WILL NOT burn out if your thing goes well.

I strongly disagree with this. I'm a compulsive person, I used to say yes to everything, I enjoy everything. I don't think I ever spent effort towards something that wasn't rewarding in some way or other.

However. Stress is stress and it can be negative or positive. Stress makes you perform better, adrenaline pumping, your senses sharpen. It can all be in a positive loop with great feedback, everyone loving what you do, amazing results, and still you end up burnt out.

My stress manifests physically, "skipped" heartbeats, adrenaline rushes when waking up in the night, I even got atricular fibrilation (AF) and was hospitalised to be "reset" through one of those heart machines you see in ER. I was convinced there was something very wrong with me. Heart problem? Doctors did test after test, and nothing.

I learnt my lesson, I know how to recognise the signs now. I can manage it by just taking care of myself.

But guess what, every single thing I do is fun, positive, great feedback.

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