Time anxiety: is it too late? • Hacker News Board

Re: Time anxiety: is it too late?

#111

Post by flattone » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 3:26 AM UTC

"If I never start doing some thing then I'll never have to confront how far behind / late / failure"

This is my current best try at translating a deep and very strong and very vague physiological sensation that prevents people (me) from doing almost anything of importance.

the article is as close as I've seen to something useful on this issue. partly due to avoiding even confronting the issue. Presenting an audit process to modify behavior and increase time spent in important ways +10 value.

Re: Time anxiety: is it too late?

#112

Post by flattone » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 3:29 AM UTC

nexuist wrote: post #103

Fr0styMatt88 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Somewhat related -- and boy I never thought I'd say this! -- some stuff started changing in my life for the better recently and I decided to get back on Facebook and get involved again (I hadn't deleted my account or anything, I just hadn't posted or interacted in a very long time). I joined a bunch of groups that interested me and more importantly for me, I started making an effort to like and comment on posts of ex…

I feel like your description of Facebook is what all the employees who worked on it circa 2004 were envisioning it would become. It seemed so groundbreaking yet so serene. A brand new way to do the same things. I wish we could have all the good without the bad, but I suppose that's what makes this field so insanely hard.

my reaction is: obviously fb has hn pr budget

Re: Time anxiety: is it too late?

#113

Post by ubu7737 » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 3:37 AM UTC

She's an ex-Googler, I trust her completely.

Re: Time anxiety: is it too late?

#114

Post by nradov » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 3:53 AM UTC

nexuist wrote: post #103

Fr0styMatt88 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Somewhat related -- and boy I never thought I'd say this! -- some stuff started changing in my life for the better recently and I decided to get back on Facebook and get involved again (I hadn't deleted my account or anything, I just hadn't posted or interacted in a very long time). I joined a bunch of groups that interested me and more importantly for me, I started making an effort to like and comment on posts of ex…

I feel like your description of Facebook is what all the employees who worked on it circa 2004 were envisioning it would become. It seemed so groundbreaking yet so serene. A brand new way to do the same things. I wish we could have all the good without the bad, but I suppose that's what makes this field so insanely hard.

It's easy to have the good without the bad by unfollowing people and pages that post bad content.

Re: Time anxiety: is it too late?

#115

Post by nradov » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 3:59 AM UTC

asdffdsa wrote: post #63

Grzegrzolka wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Serious question, what other hobbies can one have?

Just learned how to ride a motorcycle (more or less) on my own over about a month or so. I took a motorcycle course over one weekend. Took the license test another weekend. Bought a bike and filled out paperwork during the week (registration & insurance). Rode almost every day for the first month, practiced maneuvers (finding the friction zone, quick stopping w/o skidding) I wasn't comfortable with in a parking lot.…

You might be overestimating your skill level. Let's see what you think after your first serious crash.

Re: Time anxiety: is it too late?

#116

Post by drongoking » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 4:04 AM UTC

Interesting essay.

Related to time anxiety, Oliver Burkeman pointed out the paradox of "making good use of time". Taken too far, it turns time into an instrumental goal. You never really enjoy it; you're always just investing time in a future that never comes. And you suffer time anxiety.

Re: Time anxiety: is it too late?

#117

Post by slothtrop » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 4:24 AM UTC

scarejunba wrote: post #83

rland wrote: post #51

The single consistent thing I have noticed in dealing with this type of anxiety is that if I spend time with people I actually like being with, it completely disappears. It's impossible to be so self-directed if there is another person in the room who I care about or love. To that end, the fix is simple: surround myself with people that I love. Friends and family. Easier said then done, especially in our modern world…

Yeah, but it's deleterious to my societal productivity. Like I'm happier spending my time with my friends. But I have less of that burning desire to build. I think I might actually be content to live just happily on the beach with the wealth I have now, so long as everyone I love is nearby and we frequently meet. But obviously I don't want to be content with that.

I experience the opposite. Meeting social needs is a motivating factor. If I'm lonely I'm less productive at my leisure.

Re: Time anxiety: is it too late?

#118

Post by ken » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 5:03 AM UTC

taneq wrote: post #86

scarejunba wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but it's deleterious to my societal productivity. Like I'm happier spending my time with my friends. But I have less of that burning desire to build. I think I might actually be content to live just happily on the beach with the wealth I have now, so long as everyone I love is nearby and we frequently meet. But obviously I don't want to be content with that.

Well what do you want, to be happy or to be productive? Happy people don't make great art.

I used to believe that. These days, I'm certainly happier making art than whatever it was people wanted to pay me to do on a computer.

Why can't happy people make great art? Do we also think that sober people can't write great novels, or people who survive past age 27 can't make great music? I can think of countless counterexamples to all of these. Just because there were miserable great artists in the past doesn't necessarily mean you have to be miserable to be a great artist.

Re: Time anxiety: is it too late?

#119

Post by DoingIsLearning » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 5:04 AM UTC

bumby wrote: post #13

CalRobert wrote: post #4

I believe the word for this is Torschlusspanik https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Torschlusspanik - and sums it up nicely. I'm a kind of morbid person by nature, but the more time goes on the more I realize that awareness of my mortality is helpful for getting me off my ass to get things done. Not necessarily work, just life in general. I wanted to live abroad "someday" and finally tried it when I was 30 (in the nick of…

I think there's a stoic principle of "Memento mori" -- remind yourself that you'll die so that you can make the most of your life now.

Tangencial to your comment that is pretty much the spirit of the Dutch 16th century 'Vanitas' paintings.

Wealthy patrons would comission art to act as a memento of their own fragility/mortality.

Re: Time anxiety: is it too late?

#120

Post by esolyt » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 5:19 AM UTC

taneq wrote: post #86

scarejunba wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but it's deleterious to my societal productivity. Like I'm happier spending my time with my friends. But I have less of that burning desire to build. I think I might actually be content to live just happily on the beach with the wealth I have now, so long as everyone I love is nearby and we frequently meet. But obviously I don't want to be content with that.

Well what do you want, to be happy or to be productive? Happy people don't make great art.

But they're happy.