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What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

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Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#61

Post by alpaca128 »

timvisee wrote: post #34

Vim. I think it can be in the list as well. It takes a long time to properly learn. But one hours is defiantly enough to get to know the main Vim bindings, to be as productive as in other editors. In the end it makes you super productive.

I've been using Vim for over 5 years now for as much as possible, and it started exactly like that: I looked at a couple of the most basic shortcuts(Esc and i to switch modes, :w and :q to save and exit, hjkl to move the cursor), just started using it for editing files and looked everything else up when I needed it. Over time the stuff you actually need regularly sticks.

Nothing has influenced my use of computers as much as Vim, and I'm really glad this tool exists. It makes editing text a great experience, and has a couple feature you can't find anywhere else(not even Emacs offers such a flexible, intuitive keybinding functionality or reliable, quirk-free controls).

Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#63

Post by mamcx »

tuesday20 wrote: post #15

Compound interest. Simply starting early in some boring find/investment and not obsessing over daily stock prices will do wonders for one’s health and finances

Is this just a USA thing? I live in Colombia and wish to have something like that, but not know how judge if the packages given by banks are truly decent.

For example, I look at one of the richest bank accounts balances of a company I work for and the savings account become a net loss after each year.

The way to get some money is for people itself perform in a kind of lottery we call a "natillera" where people put together money and try to create some profits running events from it.

This demoralize me a lot, because if with all that money in an account you lost anyway, what chance get the rest of us?

Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#64

Post by fbnlsr »

timvisee wrote: post #34

Vim. I think it can be in the list as well. It takes a long time to properly learn. But one hours is defiantly enough to get to know the main Vim bindings, to be as productive as in other editors. In the end it makes you super productive.

Serious question: I keep seeing Vim thrown up and down like it's the holy grail. I've been using VS Code for two years maybe now, and I don't see how Vim could help me be a better/more productive coder. What am I missing?

Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#65

Post by astura »

tempsy wrote: post #16
Moodles wrote: post #10

First aid is good. Also general investing in index funds like VTSAX and VTIAX. It is so simple, yet most people I run into on a regular basis just save their money in a checking account earning 0.01% APY. Follow the reddit personal finance flowchart. Learn about Roth and HSAs and ESPP and the benefits of diversification. We’re literally talking about multiples of your net-worth over your life if you invest compared t…

What crowd are you in where most people have all their money in a savings account? That is borderline financial suicide.

They have all their money in checking probably because they don't have nearly enough money to invest.

Those people would be much better off learning to either spend less, earn more, and get out of debt instead of learning about how to invest hypothetical money that they'll never have with their habits.

I certainly didn't know a damn thing about index funds, investments, stock markets, etc until I actually had the extra money to invest. Now people come to me for advice.

Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#66

Post by tempsy »

thrower123 wrote: post #57
tempsy wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also think the reddit personal finance crowd is way too focused on how to invest their existing money when almost everyone would be better off figuring out how to make more money from their day job than worrying about whether they can make 4% here vs 5% there from their existing savings. Perhaps less true if you have a large savings of over $1M already, but otherwise no.

Or cutting extraneous expenses. It's cliche, but really, making your own coffee and packing lunch can save $20-25 a day. That adds up fast.

True, though I’m in the camp of “make enough money where I don’t have to feel guilty spending money on food”.

If you’re more income strained then yes though.

Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#67

Post by BeetleB »

tempsy wrote: post #22
Moodles wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My family. Women I’ve dated. I’m back in my hometown for Christmas now and talking to people I knew from school. The average person doesn’t know about this stuff (though most likely has some proportion invested through the default option in their 401(k)). I mean damn, my aunt’s husband died recently and we had to bail her out of 10k credit card debt where she was paying interest. The Hacker News crowd probably knows…

Do they have 401Ks or pensions or other retirement accounts? Then they have stock or bonds.

FYI less than half of American workers have access to a 401K plan. Less than 60% have access to any retirement plan.

Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#68

Post by Insanity »

nkrisc wrote: post #55
rwnspace wrote: post #38

Take an hour to sit in a quiet room without any stimulation. You'll learn a lot about your mental situation, and understanding where you are is really helpful for understanding where to go (if anywhere).

I think this is more valuable than it might seem. I'd wager many people couldn't even sit still for an hour in a room by themselves with nothing but their own thoughts.

Does it count if you lie awake in bed for an hour unable to sleep because of rumination? Because in that case, I'm sure plenty of people do it at some point.

But what helps me is taking walks. You're alone with your thoughts, but the act of walking through nature is stimulating for more positive thinking, from my experience anyway.

Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#69

Post by H8crilA »

omarhaneef wrote: post #25
sunstone wrote: post #13

Why is it, exactly, that, as a rule of thumb, almost all people who start life poor and end up rich do it with real estate.

Because it’s really the only place where a non-rich person can get massive 4:1 leverage on their assets, and where there has been a secular growth trend over the last 50 years.

This. Never underestimate the power of leverage combined with luck (good asset selection, which almost always is luck).

TQQQ, a NASDAQ 3x leveraged ETF is up almost 50x since 2010.

Real estate has insane leverage via mortgage. 10% downpayment results in a 10x leverage, 5% downpayment is a 20x leverage.

Imagine a house that was purchased at 10% downpayment. A 2x (+100%) house value appreciation gives you a 11x (+1000%) return on that 10% downpayment.

Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#70

Post by ddelt »

varjag wrote: post #12
jpxw wrote: post #8

Basic First Aid (CPR etc)

Among 'etc' I would recommend Heimlich maneuver in particular. Didn't really ever expect to use it, but ended up doing it on my own kid…

I am alive today because someone close by me knew how to do this. I hope others never need to use it, but I hope everyone 'knows' how to use it.
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