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Do you read HackerNews all day and never actually do anything?

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Do you read HackerNews all day and never actually do anything?

#61

Post by ericb »

melling wrote: post #48

HN should put a little entrepreneur badge next to your name for having shipped a product. That would motivate some people.

It could make a psychological difference by putting a shame/pride/credibility/game achievement effect in place. I'd put it in "feature requests" here and see what pg thinks--he is definitely interested in keeping the HN addiction in check for YC companies too.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=363

In terms of an easy implementation, it could be something users self-manage on the honor system, and perhaps a "ship" icon could link to the product if applicable.

Re: Do you read HackerNews all day and never actually do anything?

#63

Post by pierrefar »

chrisbroadfoot wrote: post #34
AgentConundrum wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just too easily defeated for it to really work on me, since I convince myself that I'll just check this one thing, then I'll go back to working. It's the exact same thought process that, after I've been up all night and I'm trying to stay up all day to reset my internal clock, convinces me that it's ok to lay down in my bed for a minute. I inevitably wake up quite confused a number of hours later. I saw a site o…

Okay - you need some semblance of self control. For me, it's a subconscious thing. It's close to mindlessly browsing. Forwarding to that message wouldn't do anything for me. I think the most important thing was just that "neg" to break out of the mindlessness and get back on track :)

I'm told it's like quitting smoking. If you still find ways around the hurdles you put up for yourself, you're never gonna quit.

Re: Do you read HackerNews all day and never actually do anything?

#64

Post by pdelgallego »

klodolph wrote: post #27

Well, I'm working on something real right now. It's a web application that works now but it's a total hack. I want to actually make it into something usable by others so a couple days ago I black holed Reddit in /etc/hosts. It worked so well I'm considering the same for Hacker News, too. There's the comment by "AgentConundrum" who argues that any method of limiting access to an addiction such as HN can be circumvente…

I do the same when I have a deadline, but I point all the time consumers websites(facebook, HN, ) to my bug tracker url so instead of getting an error I just see the list of things that need to be done or fix. It works like magic.

Re: Do you read HackerNews all day and never actually do anything?

#65

Post by andreas_bak »

As long as you making plans and analyze why to do something or not, you are losing your time on over-analysis. Instead of reading super-analytical and pseudo philosophical 'less wrong' or marketing crap from 'techcrunch', that have little to do with reality, start to do something REAL. When you do something REAL, ideas will pop-up on the course and some believes will be challenged, but this is the only way.

HN is great community but there are some stereotypes that need to be chalenged on personal level:

1. The "SWEAT CAPITAL" is better than Venture Capital, and you have access to it already.

2. If you want to make money, do not think in the box. Here people tend to analyze what already been done. This is not a way - you need to innovate.

3. People will laugh with your ideas and failures. You need to be firm believer in what you do. Respect is gained and not granted.

4. Start doing something "stupid", without prospects of economical gain. you will see that you will end up with something completely different than when you started thinking about it.

5. Stop dreaming -- Start Doing. It is much more rewarding and interesting.

Let It Be.

Re: Do you read HackerNews all day and never actually do anything?

#66

Post by d3x »

I am glad I have never had this problem. I really dont care about HN @ all and just use it as a resource to learn from the same as TC and a plethora of other websites. I enjoy making things so thats what I do and the same goes for my friends. If you enjoy studying startups more than launching products etc... then perhaps you should shift your career in that direction.

Re: Do you read HackerNews all day and never actually do anything?

#67

Post by reemrevnivek »

edw519 wrote: post #62

Simple hack: 2 computers, one for work and one for the internet. Different workstations, preferably in different rooms. It's a lot harder to get up off your ass than to hit alt-tab. Harness that laziness to your advantage.

Impressive that you not only had the wherewithal to do this, but also are not being lazy by moving yourself to the other room to post this comment.

Seriously, though, how do you make yourself sit down at the work computer?

Re: Do you read HackerNews all day and never actually do anything?

#68

Post by todayiamme »

Most people like edw519 have talked about practical solutions to it, but have you ever considered why you do it?

Maybe you just need excitement and intellectual company? Maybe you just want to have someone in your life that inspires you to do something? Maybe you just need to find the right people?

The point is that physical hacks for behavioral problems are ineffective until emotional hacks are taken into account. Just take a deep breath and try to understand yourself.

I'm saying this because I used to be addicted to HN, but now it just doesn't matter. After a series of realizations I'm simply indifferent to that high, and that's something far more long lasting than a firefox extension.

Take care.

Re: Do you read HackerNews all day and never actually do anything?

#69

Post by coliveira »

pierrefar wrote: post #2

Yes, which is why there is a useful noprocrast setting in your profile.

haha, I used noprocrast once, but it has the opposite effect. Whenever somebody says that I can't do something, this is when I try harder. It always does not work.

Re: Do you read HackerNews all day and never actually do anything?

#70

Post by sielskr »

todayiamme wrote: post #68

Most people like edw519 have talked about practical solutions to it, but have you ever considered why you do it? Maybe you just need excitement and intellectual company? Maybe you just want to have someone in your life that inspires you to do something? Maybe you just need to find the right people? The point is that physical hacks for behavioral problems are ineffective until emotional hacks are taken into account. J…

So you got more or better or smarter friends or work partners in your life, which stopped your HN addiction?

Or by "someone in your life that inspires" do you mean a sexual or romantic partner?

Specifics please.

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