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Ask HN: Is it 'normal' to struggle so hard with work?
111–120 of 382 posts
Re: Ask HN: Is it 'normal' to struggle so hard with work?
#112I had the same problem you do. I used somewhat of an out of the box solution, which is to listen to subliminal audio. I do this while working, so it costs me no time at all. You can find some free ones on youtube. It changed me from someone who would want to mess around all day, to someone who actually enjoyed working. People underestimate the affect of what they listen to and see on a subconscious level and how it a…
>If you are listening to melancholy, nihilistic music, especially, change your habits I really have to take issue with this. Some of my most productive coding sessions have been to the full-volume soundtrack of Nirvana, Joy Division, Pixies, Radiohead, etc, etc, etc. In my experience it's important that the music has to be of the "wall of sound" type that acts almost as rhythmic white noise. Also they must be tracks…
I agree that music can help you work, but I also think at the same time, it can negatively affect your motivation to work.
I also do listen to the same subliminal audio recordings over and over again, and it fades into the background after awhile, just as regular music does.
It's all speculation, of course. I could be suffering from placebo effect. It's just something that I believe has helped me.
Re: Ask HN: Is it 'normal' to struggle so hard with work?
#113I have felt the same way. Some things that helped me: 1. Do the “Productivity” sessions in the Headspace app. I was really skeptical about guided meditation, but have found them very useful in maintaining focus. It teaches you to be aware when your mind wanders and helps you bring focus back to the task at hand. https://www.headspace.com/ 2. Force yourself to break big tasks down into tiny chunks. When things seem ov…
Never heard of headspace until now. Just heard the basics, it's a very cool site. Thanks for sharing.
Re: Ask HN: Is it 'normal' to struggle so hard with work?
#114I don't know exactly what your "success" or "failure" looks like to you, but I will say that working in an unstructured environment (which is what you normally do when freelancing) is super hard. I'm willing to bet that if you were to get a 9-5 job you'd discover that you're actually outperforming most other people -- because the 8 years of experience you have pushing yourself. Being "self-driven" is both a talent an…
Not saying OP, but some people chaff under leadership and need that "out" of freelancing to feel like they can walk away without concerns for loyalty. Sometimes it's because the leaders are inept, and sometimes it's because people just don't like being controlled. The Wachowskis spent 3 movies telling us about how there are layers of control no matter where you look. Perhaps OP is struggling because he may have been…
Do you have any more information or links on this interpretation of the matrix?
Re: Ask HN: Is it 'normal' to struggle so hard with work?
#115[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Is it 'normal' to struggle so hard with work?
#116I personally don't think it's something "wrong" with you, most probably there's something wrong with your process. I have the same issues, and I think you speak out for lots of people, motivation is a very limited resource and when it's not used properly, you end up in this state. What worked for me best is to tackle your tasks with the notion that you have limited resources in mind and that you're just human. Some t…
About timeboxing - Edmond Lau explains like this on The effective engineer: "instead of researching for a solution (say CSS library) for a few hours (which become days), give yourself (say) one hour for that and use the solution you were able to come up. Its interesting and certainly hits me hard, because researching is so much easier than working...
Re: Ask HN: Is it 'normal' to struggle so hard with work?
#117You aren't alone. I'm far better at helping others than myself. Freelancing I find tricky. I've had good management in the past alongside a team that knows how to play to my strengths and keep down my weaknesses. So don't discount working in a unit. Stroking my own ego, and trying to reward myself is useless for me.
Re: Ask HN: Is it 'normal' to struggle so hard with work?
#118Things to try: - get more sleep - time off to recharge / re-motivate - meditation / yoga / exercise - try to stop using stimulants (includes caffeine/nicotine/sugar) or try using different stimulants (eg. arecoline) - absolutely do not smoke marijuana, it is known to make many people lazy and demotivated - control your environment (quiet, no phone, phone off, offline) - clean your environment (zero clutter) - change…
absolutely do not smoke marijuana, it is known to make many people lazy and demotivated
This is the stereotype. Sure, some folks get lazy, but same for lots of drugs, including alcohol. How many potheads have you known? I've been one at different times, probably qualify, and would rather work with a pothead who is stoned all the time than a drunk. Lazy isn't due to marijuana, but rather the person smoking and to an extent, their reaction and tolerance level.
With me is the opposite. I don't clean house more or lesse, for instance, when I'm stoned constantly, but I don't mind doing it as much. I eat less. I enjoy my work more. I start enjoying going for actual walks. Now, if you are getting so stoned that you can't walk, that's gonna be an issue. But for me, at least, it isn't what you say. It might be worth trying occasionally. It might be worth cutting down. And if you just do it on weekends occasionally or smoking in the evenings after things are done, it probably isn't going to make little difference.
I am slightly more forgetful. But only slightly. I've sat here and learned stuff, like a langauge (not fluent, but can do simple jobs and speak lightly about politics with it). Not that big of a deal.
Re: Ask HN: Is it 'normal' to struggle so hard with work?
#119Yes, I do feel this way. So much so in fact that I could convince myself that I sleep-typed this, except for the fact that I'm in my mid-thirties. All the way down to gamifying my productivity, racking up points and "indulgences" which I use on junk food, video games, etc. I wish I had an answer, and am keeping an eye out on these replies as well.
That said, all external indicators seem fine. Whenever I bring the issue up to colleagues, superiors, or significant other, they assure me that I work plenty hard. I'm doing "okay" in my line of work, on track for a passable career in research. But I am all too aware of how much time I waste and how much better I could be doing. This troubles me because I know my work makes a difference in the grand scheme of things.
It's possible that we only have so many creative/intense work hours in the day and it's a lot fewer than we realize. In my case, I probably average around 3 hours of solid work per day, highly irregular (most days probably 1-2 with some hard spikes).
Shortly before finishing grad school, I did go see a therapist. He said something like "You might have a mild case of ADD, but you seem to be making it work so far (was finishing up a PhD). I could prescribe you medication, but I wouldn't want to mess with what seems to be working for you." To start with, he recommended the book "The Mindfulness Prescription for ADHD" and the Mindspace app. These were nice, but in my mind they are just thrown into the bin of "things that worked for a little while". Now that I live elsewhere, I've been considering seeing someone again.
I'm starting to just chalk this up to the human condition. Maybe I'm wrong about intelligence and my more successful peers (whom I've seen as equals in innate ability) might actually be brighter, not just more disciplined workers.
I'm looking for "the" magic answer, not because it would be easy, but because I don't want to sink more effort into just another method that may or may not work in the end. In a way, I'm getting demoralized on the subject of self-improvement.
For what it's worth, several years ago during an "enhanced" experience, I had the following realization, which might have some truth to it. Paying so much attention to self-improvement, month after month, year after year, trains your brain to think you're a loser. The constant thoughts of "I'm too lazy, how do I get better" eventually get internalized. This is probably unhealthy and might even be counter-productive.
Best wishes, fellow traveller.
Re: Ask HN: Is it 'normal' to struggle so hard with work?
#120I'm in my mid 30s and I think I'm in the middle of the pack as far as productivity/focus/procrastination go. From that perspective and from your own description of yourself, I would put you below average, and much more importantly - your performance is making you unhappy. I think this calls for a self-diagnostic. I would definitely see a therapist and maybe a doctor to make sure there aren't any subtle undiagnosed is…
I think you are right about the mild depression. In my own post further up, I suggested Cognitive Behavioural Therapy as a possible solution (possible to do as self-study and self-practice)
> possible to do as self-study and self-practice
Do you have any tips on getting started? A blog/website, what to look for?