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

Ask HN: What do you struggle with?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

281–290 of 553 posts

Re: Ask HN: What do you struggle with?

#281

Post by nradov »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #201

Everything worth doing and about half of the things that aren't. If I had to pick one thing, it'd be my weight. I've lost 150lbs and have been keeping it off for years. People who've never lost a significant amount of weight (north of 50lbs) probably can't understand what it is like to have to fight your body every day of your life. I have to avoid temptation as much as possible, which means keeping only enough food…

The idea that caloric restriction diets cause metabolic damage is basically a myth. If it happens at all the effect is very small.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/22327054/

Chances are you are underestimating your intake, or overestimating how much you burn through exercise. I don't mean that as a personal critique: most people are terrible at that kind of estimation.

Re: Ask HN: What do you struggle with?

#282

Post by Aloha »

kadabra9 wrote: post #77

Imposter Syndrome. I've worked in various technical roles at startups, huge public companies, and have received offers from FAANG companies. I still sometimes feel like a complete fraud, like I don't deserve to be in the position I am in. It really bothers me. Maybe its related to the incredibly smart people I work around. Maybe its because I am self taught, so didn't have a "formal" education in CS or Statistics. Ma…

Impostor Syndrome.

I spent a bunch of my childhood in borderline abusive situations being told I was useless or stupid. I also spent much of my childhood on the outside looking in, as the fat weird kid. Like you, further complimenting this is being completely self taught, so I'm certain that I'm less valued than peers with a formal degree, and on some level I feel looked down upon by those with a degree.

The more accolades I get, the more certain that its all gonna disappear one day, and I'm going to wake up poor again working a dead end job, like I was at 18.

Re: Ask HN: What do you struggle with?

#283

Post by meesterdude »

PerfectElement wrote: post #276
legohead wrote: post #219

I don't like the new way of doing things. Kubernetes, node, react, terraform... Everything is more complicated and also more fragile. I feel like the software world is collectively mad and I'm sitting on the outside asking "wtf is going on?" Or maybe I'm the crazy one.

Same here. I'm hoping to retire by selling my current SaaS business (which uses vanilla ASP.NET/Web API/IIS) so I don't have to get back in the market and learn the new way of doing things.

I can totally sympathize - but there's a lot out there, and more than one way to do things - especially on the web. That's what makes it such a great platform!

Would you want to code in your retirement, or do you plan on hanging up your keyboard?

Re: Ask HN: What do you struggle with?

#284

Post by justboxing »

abledon wrote: post #256
legohead wrote: post #219

I don't like the new way of doing things. Kubernetes, node, react, terraform... Everything is more complicated and also more fragile. I feel like the software world is collectively mad and I'm sitting on the outside asking "wtf is going on?" Or maybe I'm the crazy one.

I’m playing with the idea of quitting software , getting a softskills excel/MS word gov job for equal pay then only programming on spare time in elixir and tensor flow for fun side side projects —- current web dev environment is ridiculous !

> getting a softskills excel/MS word gov job for equal pay

This is a great idea ( I sincerely mean it), and I too have been toying with this.

Gov programming jobs are also very cushy. The knock on them ( / "cons" ) until recently was that they pay very less, almost 40% less, and that it's full of old people. But that has changed -- atleast in San Francisco and Bay Area where I live.

Esp the City of San Francisco tech jobs[1] are quite interesting and many use modern tech. On top of that almost all Govt jobs accrue pension at the rate of 3% of your gross / year, so if you work 17 years or so you can get 50% of your highest salary at retirement.

The con I see is that the process to get hired is very tedious and involves lots of applications and moves very slowly. I was plesantly surprised to see Sr. Software Engineer jobs that were paying anywhere from 110K to 130K [2] -- all govt jobs have to disclose salary or rate range in JD --, which is not to far off from the average in this area for non-FAANG / non-Startup type job.

[1] SF City Tech Jobs => https://www.jobapscloud.com/SF/?Keyword=&Loc=&DeptNumber=&Oc...

[2] Source / Example: IS Programmer Analyst Principal: Notice salary Range of $105,794 - $133,094/yr in desc. https://jobapscloud.com/SF/sup/bulpreview.asp?R1=PEX&R2=1064...

Re: Ask HN: What do you struggle with?

#286

Post by beaker52 »

bu0Ahcei wrote: post #278
ChuckMcM wrote: post #240

I have a very wide area of interests, and doing things takes time. But while I'm doing thing 'A', I think about the fact that I'm making no progress on 'B', 'C', ... 'n' and it distracts me both from thinking as deeply as I need to on thing 'A' and the enjoyment I get from getting something done. So I struggle with letting go of the desire to get everything done that I can imagine would be fun and interesting to do.

You're a generalist!

That's definitely how I spin that trait on my CV.

Re: Ask HN: What do you struggle with?

#287

Post by souprock »

Odenwaelder wrote: post #15

I struggle with the question whether to have children or not. I'm surrounded by new fathers who struggle with their children, whose wives have turned from attractive women into unattractive moms. I read witty comments all the time suggesting how much of a burden kids are. This struggle burns me out.

I'm at 11 kids now.

The struggle and burden is real, though most people wrongly assume that it is a linear function of the number of kids. It isn't so bad. The first one upturns your life. The second and third are much less trouble. After that, the only thing you notice is when you outgrow a vehicle. I'm at a 15-passenger van now, which is hard to outgrow before the oldest kids learn to drive.

Once you have a couple kids, you might as well have a dozen.

By "unattractive moms" do you refer to flabby bellies? Yeah, that happens... but then again, to some extent it happens anyway, and we all end up looking awful in the end. If you meant presentation (makeup, hair style, high heels...) then I don't know what to say because I purposely picked a woman with a plain all-natural style.

Re: Ask HN: What do you struggle with?

#288

Post by madeuptempacct »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #240

I have a very wide area of interests, and doing things takes time. But while I'm doing thing 'A', I think about the fact that I'm making no progress on 'B', 'C', ... 'n' and it distracts me both from thinking as deeply as I need to on thing 'A' and the enjoyment I get from getting something done. So I struggle with letting go of the desire to get everything done that I can imagine would be fun and interesting to do.

Apparently that's a no-no:

... Flint replied, "Well the top 5 are my primary focus, but the other 20 come in at a close second. They are still important so I'll work on those intermittently as I see fit as I'm getting through my top 5. They aren't as urgent, but I still plan to give them a dedicated effort."

To which Buffett replied:

"No. You've got it wrong, Mike. Everything you didn't circle just became your 'avoid at all cost list.' No matter what, these things get no attention from you until you've succeeded with your top 5."

https://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffetts-not-to-do-li...

Re: Ask HN: What do you struggle with?

#289

Post by dabockster »

I just got diagnosed with ADHD combined type. Looking back, my entire life was a total mess before starting treatment. Little to no concentration abilities make you lose focus on your surroundings so much that it can affect your ability to eat and sleep on a consistent basis (not to mention employability). You sort of just sit there mentally screaming at your body to get up and move. Or you mentally scream at your body to stop moving and sit down. Bottom line is that you have almost no control over your attention in every way. Your head is also in a constant fog because you aren't able to maintain focus on what's going on in front of you.

If you see yourself with constant attention issues even in an optimal environment, please see a doctor. ADHD and other associated conditions can ruin your life if left untreated.

Re: Ask HN: What do you struggle with?

#290

Post by tropo »

joelurker wrote: post #61

I struggle with imagining the second act of my life. In my first act - my 20s - I got more exciting jobs than I could hope for, started two organizations I am proud of, made friends for life, was popular enough that people knew who I was before I knew who they were. For various reasons, I left this first act - both mentally and geographically. Today I have a family, emotional and financial stability, and job prospect…

This strikes me as perfectly fitting the natural instincts.

Initially, you have to prove yourself. You then succeed enough to find a mate and start a family. This reduces your tolerance for risk, as it should: your kids need you.

Once you no longer have small children, you will likely hit a midlife crisis. At this point you may be tempted to have an affair or buy a Ferrari. This is an instinctive reaction to the lack of small children -- you aren't reproducing successfully with your current mate.

Post reply on HN