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Ask HN: What changes in your life did you make to become more productive?

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Re: Ask HN: What changes in your life did you make to become more productive?

#83

Post by cujic9 »

1. Spend ~3 minutes stretching and doing light exercise (pushups / situps) upon waking every morning.

2. Skip breakfast. Just black coffee until lunch. The intention is to train your body to get its energy from fat reserves (a more stable source) instead of the sugars in the food you just ate.

3. Cast aside desires, in the Buddhist sense. I found that, with just a little mental shift, I could "let go" of many daily frustrations that were sapping my energy.

EDIT: 4. GTD

Re: Ask HN: What changes in your life did you make to become more productive?

#84

Post by cujic9 »

baldfat wrote: post #13

Strengthen my self-discipline muscle. Seriously the ability to self-control ourselves is the biggest and hardest thing. 1) I HATE Running and I would run 3 miles a day around a 1/4 track 5 days a week. I could stop at anytime and just did it. 2) I fasted breakfast and lunch once a week. Just drank water period. This was awesome then I got married and have kids. I am the most undisciplined self I have ever known and l…

Strange. I found that my children have caused me to be much more disciplined, productive, and organized. It's just that much of my energy now goes toward raising good kids.

Re: Ask HN: What changes in your life did you make to become more productive?

#86

Post by maerF0x0 »

bec123 wrote: post #85

Met my best friend through work and she changed my life, I enjoyed work more than ever, you can't choose to do this so I apologise but if you find it you're very lucky <3

I alway thought workplace dating was at least risky, and mostly just off limits?

Re: Ask HN: What changes in your life did you make to become more productive?

#87

Post by bec123 »

maerF0x0 wrote: post #86
bec123 wrote: post #85

Met my best friend through work and she changed my life, I enjoyed work more than ever, you can't choose to do this so I apologise but if you find it you're very lucky <3

I alway thought workplace dating was at least risky, and mostly just off limits?

We're not dating just great friends

Re: Ask HN: What changes in your life did you make to become more productive?

#88

Post by Sevrene »

swendoog wrote: post #78
Sevrene wrote: post #69

1) Taking Modafinil[1][2] semi-regularly. I've always had problems focusing and being productive. Honestly I've always wondered if I have some form of ADD or something. I used to drink large amounts of caffeine but the effects after long term use declines dramatically due to tolerance and I found out I was lactose intolerant. So I tried Modafinil after hearing a lot about it. I personally find it to be an extremely u…

(5) has been one of the biggest struggles in my life. At times where I could sleep/wake naturally, I was a different person. I had more energy, I felt more optimistic, and alive. I still had my struggles to be sure, but sleeping in your 'natural' rhythm (whatever is native to you) is far superior to a forced sleep/wake cycle. The problem is, even if you do contract work, or work remotely for a flexible company, you'r…

That's very true (depending on the partner's pattern, I guess), and not all contract work allows you to be asleep during the day, some still require phone meetings and the such.

Even working remotely from home, I still have occasional logistical problems because sometimes there are appointments at 9am, or social events in the late morning and this will always be the case.

Just going to have to work with what you've got and work around it to the best of your ability. Although I should probably point out that it is important to find out before hand if there's anything else going on that could be causing this and potentially be resolvable before you stop expending energy fixing something you can't solve.

Although, if you are still having troubles sleeping and waking naturally feeling refreshed do your own research and maybe ask your GP if Melatonin[1] would suit you. Using flux[2] is also a great tool to help get to bed earlier too as that actually increases your melatonin naturally. Melatonin is not really similar to any other sleeping pills and it seems to be quite safe and has a great return on investment[3].

You probably already know about it so sorry if this was an unrequested information dump :)

[1] Wikipedia: Melatonin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melatonin

[2] Flux: https://justgetflux.com/

[3] Gwern on Melatonin http://www.gwern.net/Melatonin

Re: Ask HN: What changes in your life did you make to become more productive?

#89

Post by Hates_ »

jmcgough wrote: post #37

I started using a habit tracking app. I've always had things I've wanted to stick with (eating healthier, learning a second language, learning how to solve CS-heavier algorithm problems), and this has helped incentivize me to do a little bit each day, or just keep up with important daily tasks like cleaning or using skincare products.

Any app in particular that you recommend?

Re: Ask HN: What changes in your life did you make to become more productive?

#90

Post by otterpro »

swah wrote: post #82
musgrove wrote: post #63

Stopped watching TV. Total life improvement all-around.

Does TV include Netflix/Youtube? I love watching those and can't really muster the energy to read after dinner until I go to bed..

Watching DVD/Bluray discs helps (vs watching unlimited contents from Netflix/Youtube), since it limits the number of hours I spend watching, and I can avoid binge-watching. I recommend Netflix (the snail mail service, not online streaming)
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