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Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

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Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#41

Post by wayne_skylar »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #24
mikestew wrote: post #13

The author is quoting someone else: “Because every minute spent doing something other than what you love most today is a minute you’re more likely to regret when you’re 80.” Depending on how literally one takes that, you’re going to be one sorry motherfucker when you’re old. I like taking a shit, but I don’t love it. But I gotta do it, my Yelp review on “taking a shit” notwithstanding. Personally, I quit being so spo…

> But I’ve also learned to love the mundane. There’s more to washing dishes than you think. When I was looking for an entry-level New York studio apartment four years ago, one thing I absolutely insisted on having was a dishwasher. Screw the overall size of the kitchen or the square footage of the apartment, or even whether I had a stove or an oven—I needed a dishwasher god damn it! My parents and a lot of my friends…

Also live in NY and I bought a portable dishwasher 10 years ago and have brought it with me during every move. It's on casters and functions as a countertop (which I need anyway) when not in use.

I went for a few years without using it in my newest apartment because my adapter didn't fit my new faucet. For some reason it took me a few years to think to look for a different adapter.

Anyway I very much appreciate using my dishwasher. It feels like it makes an impact on my life in a way that most other tech doesn't. It feels like magic. You put in dirty dishes and out come clean ones. I liken it to having a washing machine that you put dirty clothes in and they come out clean, dry, and folded.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#42

Post by pdimitar »

Gosh, the dismissiveness of the average HN comment in this thread! I am surprised.

Whatever you might think of the author's age or number of data points or whatever other platform you choose to berate him on, he still has a very solid argument: there are things that simply exhaust you when you are doing them. That's a fact.

Haven't you all ever experienced this?

And no, I never grew to like doing the dishes or cleaning the apartment. At 40, I still need some good music and a hole in the schedule of both me and my wife for us to actually not grind our teeth while doing it. So yeah, please only talk for yourself, guys.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#44

Post by zhdc1 »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #16
danielvaughn wrote: post #3

My problem is that I get excited about different things with far too much frequency. This past week I've become obsessed with a video game idea. The week before I was obsessed with a design app that I'm working on.

I do that too. The top slot in my mind flips between ideas on a weekly basis. Last week it was a videogame. This week it's worldbuilding. Next week it might be something for the job, or it might be an Emacs mode, or who knows. One thing I've noticed though - regardless of whether or not I do something about my current top most exciting thing, these things come back . The same videogame idea has been visiting me regul…

The last point needs to really be emphasized. I've had a couple of pretty major career breakthroughs over the last year simply because stuff I worked on in the past suddenly became relevant to my research.

I've also noticed that I become a lot more committed to a project when I bring other people on board.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#45

Post by zhdc1 »

Garvey wrote: post #31
eterm wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm similar to OP in that I'll get excited about something but I don't usually get past the very intro before I get bored or frustrated and stop. So I learn very little, and often restart the same things over and over. Eventually I give up and play computer games because they steer the focus and drip-feed novelty and reward compared to actually doing anything more productive.

This pretty much sums up my experiences. I've noticed my frustration tends to stem from a feeling of not progressing quickly enough, or getting bogged down in architectural details before strictly necessary and then abandoning the whole thing due to the assumption it's too complex for my knowledge level...

I think that boredom also plays a role.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#46

Post by technothrasher »

deepGem wrote: post #35

Being totally honest here. I don't find any work that I totally can't stop thinking about. There is always something that I need to get done that I don't relish, that I don't enjoy. Here's how it goes - there's an idea that you think is really nice, you start talking to people then you are hit with reality - no one gives a shit about your idea. Some do, but most of them are like meh. There comes the first punch and y…

It sounds like you're too goal oriented. Leisure activities can be simply about enjoying the activity and don't have to lead to anything. If you like to work on an idea, work on it. When you're annoyed by having to put a front end on it, just don't. You've played with your ideas, you've hopefully learned something and enjoyed passing the time. Now you are free to drop it like a hot potato and move on.

I spend my work time on embedded engineering. I like it well enough, but it's stressful because there are goals to be met and drudge work to be done. But I spend my free time working on classic sports cars. I fix what I want on the car and if I'm tired of it, I just get rid of it and move on to something else. No goal, no stress, just enjoyment.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#47

Post by Dansvidania »

What a simplistic way to put things in.

You need to do a lot of things you do not love before you have the skills, the vision and the attitude to actually do what you love, and accomplish the goals you want to accomplish...

As a millennial, I think this kind of attitude is the problem with our generation. I mean both simplifying things into instagram-quote-sized senteces like "always do what you love" and also convincing ourselves that if you are not doing what you love, you should be doing something else.

Maybe we should focus more on how to be able to still motivate one-self to do things you do not love so much, but that are necessary.

Often, things that I really do not want to do are necessary for me to achieve things I really want to achieve.

Articles like this, and the beliefs they seems to want to propagate, are probably a big source of depression and failure in young adults (and not so young adults) these days.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#48

Post by zhdc1 »

AzzieElbab wrote: post #43

Most people can't stop thinking about instant gratification of some form

This is a good point. One thing that has helped me is removing other sources of instant gratification, such as social media and television, that condition me to expect an instantaneous high whenever I do something.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#49

Post by maroonblazer »

deepGem wrote: post #35

Being totally honest here. I don't find any work that I totally can't stop thinking about. There is always something that I need to get done that I don't relish, that I don't enjoy. Here's how it goes - there's an idea that you think is really nice, you start talking to people then you are hit with reality - no one gives a shit about your idea. Some do, but most of them are like meh. There comes the first punch and y…

>you start talking to people then you are hit with reality - no one gives a shit about your idea.

I think this was your first mistake. I believe the author's point is that whatever that thing is, it's important to you and potentially you alone. If it so happens to be interesting to others that's icing on the cake. And, there's at least some chance that that thing you find to be so important others, somewhere, will find it valuable too, more or less. But maybe not, and that's OK.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#50

Post by surfsvammel »

“Because every minute spent doing something other than what you love most today is a minute you’re more likely to regret when you’re 80.”

I think the opposite is true. Most things that I hated doing when I was 20, I’m today at 49 happy that I did. Workout, do the homework, even my military service. Many things I loved doing in the moment, play video games all through university, for example, I’m not so sure about.

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