Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Productivity

blog.samaltman.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 428 posts

Re: Productivity

#101

Post by bobwaycott »

bachmeier wrote: post #68
wpietri wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Church of Productivity strikes me as a very American kind of religion. I personally value being productive on things I care about, but I've worked hard to unlearn this general protestant-work-ethic, no-moment-wasted, anxiety-driven desire to be a Very Productive Person. One of the interesting things to me is how long this has been a part of American history. In the excellent history podcast Backstory, one episode…

For some reason, those of us in the US measure productivity in terms of "value created for our employer" or "value created for the business". That doesn't make any sense. You need to measure productivity in terms of what matters to you, which includes time with your kids, spirituality, and such. The amount of value you create for your employer probably shouldn't get much weight.

It makes perfect sense when one realizes increasing productivity is the single key to extracting maximum surplus value from labor under capitalism. Measuring (and increasing) productivity wasn’t invented for workers.

Re: Productivity

#102

Post by khalilravanna »

wpietri wrote: post #47
stavros wrote: post #6

I see these kinds of articles come along from time to time, and it always makes me wonder: Why this pressing need to maximize productivity? Why not just do things you enjoy, at a pace that you enjoy? Is it for more money/prestige? What's the use if you've been stressing and pressuring yourself for it all your life? I feel like the odd person out because I work on something while I enjoy it, stop working on it when I…

The Church of Productivity strikes me as a very American kind of religion. I personally value being productive on things I care about, but I've worked hard to unlearn this general protestant-work-ethic, no-moment-wasted, anxiety-driven desire to be a Very Productive Person. One of the interesting things to me is how long this has been a part of American history. In the excellent history podcast Backstory, one episode…

It's an extremely American tradition that was practiced and pushed by one of its founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin. Himself being called "the most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in inventing the type of society America would become". A nontrivial amount of his autobiography is him espousing productivity and the ways he accomplished so much in his life.

I think it's fine to kind of just chill in life, but I think it's also great that some people feel a real fire under themselves to get as much done in their lifetime before they die. It's why we have people like Benjamin Franklin who helped usher in the next several eras of progress for humanity.

Re: Productivity

#103

Post by DenisM »

itamarst wrote: post #67

More propaganda for working long hours coming from a VC. Surprise! """ You have to both pick the right problem and do the work. There aren’t many shortcuts. If you’re going to do something really important, you are very likely going to work both smart and hard. The biggest prizes are heavily competed for. This isn’t true in every field (there are great mathematicians who never spend that many hours a week working) bu…

I appreciate your cynicism and can relate to your irritation, but I think Altman actually believes what he writes. So it's less "propaganda" and more preaching the community values of the SV culture back to the community itself. It may get tiresome after a while, but less so when you settle comfortably into your own work ethics.

On a related note, there is an essay "In praise of idleness" [1] by Bertrand Russell - he is one of the greatest minds, and his work gives excellent form to many of your thoughts. I think you will thoroughly enjoy it.

[1] https://harpers.org/archive/1932/10/in-praise-of-idleness/

Re: Productivity

#104

Post by lamename »

stavros wrote: post #6

I see these kinds of articles come along from time to time, and it always makes me wonder: Why this pressing need to maximize productivity? Why not just do things you enjoy, at a pace that you enjoy? Is it for more money/prestige? What's the use if you've been stressing and pressuring yourself for it all your life? I feel like the odd person out because I work on something while I enjoy it, stop working on it when I…

Overall I agree with you, but there are many people who want to do something (profesionally or personally), but lack either 1) the motivation or 2) self-awareness of time/energy management, in the context of the rest of their life.

Productivity porn taps into fixing one or both of these. Sometimes it's useful, sometimes not.

Re: Productivity

#105

Post by philwelch »

not_a_moth wrote: post #50

Anyone have an opinion on his recommended mattress, as I nervously consider a 4k purchase this morning?

Go to a Tempur-Pedic store and lie down on the mattresses. Feel them tenderly conform to your body shape. Toss and turn a little and feel them tenderly conform again.

I've tried all kinds of mattresses, from an IKEA latex mattress to a futon on the floor to a fancy Sealy hybrid-innerspring-memoryfoam. Tempur-Pedic is above and beyond. Yes, they're really expensive, but you spend a third of your life on your mattress and Tempur-Pedics last a long time.

Re: Productivity

#106

Post by Balgair »

To expound on some of sama's points:

> My system has three key pillars: “Make sure to get the important shit done”, “Don’t waste time on stupid shit”, and “make a lot of lists”.

Proper use of the Eisenhower Decision Matrix is key (Note how quads 2 and 3 are arranged):

https://www.artofmanliness.com/2013/10/23/eisenhower-decisio...

https://content.artofmanliness.com/uploads/2013/10/Eisenhowe...

> I use a Chili Pad to be cold while I sleep if I can’t get the room cold enough, which is great but loud (I set it up to have the cooler unit outside my room).

I guess that he got the idea from Tim Ferris, right? To be fair, I've seen a lot of people adopt these and love them

> This is likely to be controversial, but I take a low dose of sleeping pills (like a third of a normal dose) or a very low dose of cannabis whenever I can’t sleep. (emphasis mine)

Yeah, that's controversial as heck. The issue is the use of weed when traveling. Many many countries do not allow you in if you have 'a record' with weed possession on it and I wonder if this admission will follow him the next time her tries to enter China or Canada.

> I wrote custom software for the annoying things I have to do frequently, which is great. I also made an effort to learn to type really fast and the keyboard shortcuts that help with my workflow.

I would love to see that code.

Re: Productivity

#107

Post by ravitation »

Bjartr wrote: post #100
ravitation wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but what is happiness other than a way to increase your productivity?

Happiness is an end unto itself. An end that productivity can, but doesn't always, serve. At least that's how I go about my life.

It's a joke.

The fact that so many see it as something else is interesting on multiple levels.

Re: Productivity

#109

Post by hnthrowbackaway »

Balgair wrote: post #106

To expound on some of sama's points: > My system has three key pillars: “Make sure to get the important shit done”, “Don’t waste time on stupid shit”, and “make a lot of lists”. Proper use of the Eisenhower Decision Matrix is key (Note how quads 2 and 3 are arranged): https://www.artofmanliness.com/2013/10/23/eisenhower-decisio... https://content.artofmanliness.com/uploads/2013/10/Eisenhowe... > I use a Chili Pad to…

> or Canada.

What do you mean by this? Canada has fully legalized cannabis and stores will open for sale in a couple of months. I don't think someone admitting to smoking cannabis online will get them banned from Canada.

Re: Productivity

#110

Post by inteleng »

Great: productivity advice from a failed entrepreneur (and stoner) who slimed his way to the top ranks of YC.

Edit: keep downvoting. Let the hate flow through you.

Post reply on HN