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The Over-Engaged Knowledge Worker

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41–50 of 69 posts

Re: The Over-Engaged Knowledge Worker

#41
post #28
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> every last feature of my IDE to make sure I don't have to alt tab all over the place. Terminal, database, docs and code is all in my IDE Which IDE is this?

Let me introduce you to the song of the Emacs People.

Could be, but the features he lists are also all available in Intellij (I know because I use all of them and Intellij in the same way as he describes).

Re: The Over-Engaged Knowledge Worker

#42
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can chrome or Firefox do an "exit but save all my tabs"? I find myself force closing Chrome because I can use the recover tabs when I come back.

If you close Chrome normally and on reopening attempt to undo closing a tab (Ctrl-Shift-t on Windows) it will reopen all the closed, and even separate windows with their own tabs (maybe that takes a second Ctrl-Alt-t, I can't recall). Firefox just opens with all the same tabs by default (at least it does for me. I don't recall if it's a setting I selected).

Firefox just opens with all the same tabs by default (at least it does for me. I don't recall if it's a setting I selected).

It's a setting. In your preferences, under start-up, check restore previous session. IIRC, you can also restore the previous session from the history menu even if you don't have that option checked.

Re: The Over-Engaged Knowledge Worker

#43
post #21
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So to me it made some sense. Putting it in my own terms, he argues knowledge workers are _by default_ overloaded and they use distractions as a necessary form of relief from the pressure - the distractions aren't the problem, they're a symptom. Right now we're too focused on tools and strategies to make us "more efficient", block distractions and promote collaboration. Instead we should focus on reducing the mental d…

Minimizing context switches has been my angle after I burnt out. I automate things that take me out of context and use every last feature of my IDE to make sure I don't have to alt tab all over the place. Terminal, database, docs and code is all in my IDE. It feels more like sitting down at a specialized workstation than a general computer and it keeps me focussed and in flow. Not only is that a less stressful state…

I do similar but on OS level - I keep separate virtual machine for each project/customer and when I finish a work day I just save its state to disk to resume it intact on another one. I use Ansible to bootstrap them and each one has different color theme for an easier mental switch.

Also my host OS is my private leasure time system and of course that causes some distractions during the work day - pay bills, read about some new music band or movie.

Now I am contemplating about stripping host OS from all easy reach distractions (browser, email, side-projects) and creating dedicated private time VM.

Re: The Over-Engaged Knowledge Worker

#44
I'm so connected yet so disconnected with my inner self. Knowledge workers are under appreciated in the regular day job. If you also happen to be creative then you'll be challenged by some other ego trying to take credit for your work. In the struggle and dilemma: "should I care about this guy?" you forget about it and start to build resent. Then burnout is then a fact. Your challenges in college were way more benefitting and purpose-driven instead of your boss's wallet. That's why I say CS degree was awesome, working as dev is draining.

What's this comment about? Just need a rant...

Re: The Over-Engaged Knowledge Worker

#45
post #7

Could someone more familiar with the subject and vernacular provide some sort of summary of what this is trying to say? I've read it two or three times and I still can't work out the point being made. If any.

What I'm getting out of it is that idealized notions of "knowledge sharing" and "task management" are unrealistic compared to how people actually work on things in the real world, and that software meant to help people work on long-running tasks should take that into consideration. As a concrete example: I frequently find myself needing to figure out how to implement some software task I've never done before myself,…

Your concrete example is the main reason I've switched from Firefox to Vivaldi. You can create either "tab stacks", which group multiple tabs into a single top-level tab, and which can even be unloaded all at once. If you want a more persistent (and I think even shareable) version, you can then save the group as a session.

Re: The Over-Engaged Knowledge Worker

#46
post #12

> So how might we approach idea generation around knowledge work without idealizing the knowledge worker? Editing tip: you can delete sentences like this without loosing much. The following text should do a good enough job of making a point without an introduction helping it along. The trick to editing is to backspace as many words as you can.

What’s wrong with an introductory question? Also, losing not loosing.

It’s conversational, and adds nothing: the reader who was following along already asked themselves that question, and the reader who’s hasn’t latched onto the thesis doesn’t understand why this is a good question to ask.

Re: The Over-Engaged Knowledge Worker

#48
post #44

I'm so connected yet so disconnected with my inner self. Knowledge workers are under appreciated in the regular day job. If you also happen to be creative then you'll be challenged by some other ego trying to take credit for your work. In the struggle and dilemma: "should I care about this guy?" you forget about it and start to build resent. Then burnout is then a fact. Your challenges in college were way more benefi…

I guess it also depends on where you work. You can do some pretty amazing and creative work if you find the right niche to work in.

Re: The Over-Engaged Knowledge Worker

#49
post #19

Could someone more familiar with the subject and vernacular provide some sort of summary of what this is trying to say? I've read it two or three times and I still can't work out the point being made. If any.

When people discuss “knowledge work”, they often slip into imagining an “idealized” knowledge worker: one who is very engaged, and doing “big” meaningful things one at a time. In reality, (1) we are all distracted, (2) our work usually consists of a large number of small chunks that are spread over time (3) we all have a large pile of undone work (both “job” and “personal”) that we're always feeling guilty about. Wha…

I have an idea for your (2), which is a tool for interrupting you when you are procrastinating, and showing something interesting to do from your TO DO list, adequate to the current moment and place.

This could use all the addictiveness techniques of current "engagement+advertising" platforms and turn it to good use.

Re: The Over-Engaged Knowledge Worker

#50

>This is the reality of knowledge work that none of these conceptualizations address: it’s hard (in very specific ways), some of it we don’t want to do, and the work we don’t want to do piles up and becomes dominant simply because it remains undone. Let me rephrase this for you. A lot of so-called "knowledge work" is just tedious, mind-numbing bullshit. Not only that, but you have to plow through it while fighting in…

Browsers aren't real tools. They are designed to make for smooth information consumption Well yeah. They're browsers, that's what they are. "To browse: an act of casual looking or reading."

They're not really browsers - they're web page viewers.

The views are organised by the needs of the source technology - "pages" generated by a web server - not by the needs of the user.

A lot of useful features - cross-referencing, comparisons, task-based content searches, dynamic content update notifications - are either impossible or poorly implemented on the server side.

There's never been an active browser that tries to integrate information instead of being a dumb page viewer with tabs and some form filling options.

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