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I thought I would have accomplished a lot more today and also before I was 35

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Re: I thought I would have accomplished a lot more today and also before I was 35

#221

Post by blobbers »

shaklee3 wrote: post #149
voidhorse wrote: post #13

Funny piece. It can be so easy to waste time when we have the internet. I think the most dangerous distractions are the ones that feel productive but don’t actually work toward your goals. For example, browsing hacker news. Such an activity is useful every now and then, but at least for myself I often scroll around only to realize later that it was a massive waste of time I could’ve spent working on something I care…

I have the complete opposite feeling. As long as you filter yourself fairly well on which topics you read, HN can be immensely useful. You can learn about new things that can help you a lot in your career, that you otherwise may have missed.

But usually you missed them for a reason. They just aren’t directly relevant to you.

... but I made a technical decision because of an idea on hacker news.

You should have researched that decision outside of hacker news. Less aggregate time spent.

Re: I thought I would have accomplished a lot more today and also before I was 35

#222

Post by joelbluminator »

grugagag wrote: post #216
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #102

I've been mentoring CS college students and new grad SWEs for a while. It's shocking to see how many of them perpetually feel like they're overwhelmed and short on time, yet they can't account for where they've actually spent their time. It's not uncommon for new grad SWEs to complain that an 8-hour work day is somehow consuming 100% of their weekday hours, leaving them without any time to do anything else. On furthe…

Thanks for reminding me to turn on screen time on my phone. I am indeed wasting a lot of time on my phone reading things that don't get me much value while procrastinating on real work or things that I consciously want to spend my time on. This problem is a lot more prevalent on my phone than on my laptop. I catch myself browsing HN without any intent and without any goal, mostly reading comments and skimming on arti…

How about every few days just actively search for HN topics that interest you? That's what I try to do. https://hn.algolia.com/

Re: I thought I would have accomplished a lot more today and also before I was 35

#224

Post by cyberlurker »

ethbro wrote: post #202
aledalgrande wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is not just spending time on those sites/apps, it's the pressure society puts on them to get to the next step on the ladder. Perfect houses on Instagram. 24yo making 300K on Blind. 18yo on Youtube making 1M+. Even if you don't want to compare yourself to others, comparisons are everywhere. That adds cognitive load to the slow grind of getting started on a new job, and now 8 hours feel like 12, and at the same time…

I think a few things aren't hammered into young people enough today. 1) Any action is greater than no action. It doesn't matter how much you suck at something. Do it. Congrats, you've beaten everyone who never started. 2) Finish things. No matter how ugly it is. Even if you have to half-kill yourself to drag it that last inch over the line. Congrats, you've beaten everyone who never finished. 3) Your worst effort is…

These are all great life lessons for anyone, not just for young people. I have used all of these on myself before and I probably need to be reminded about number 5 once a month.

Re: I thought I would have accomplished a lot more today and also before I was 35

#226

Post by rdtwo »

The problem I have is that the “free” time wasted on the screen isn’t actually free. It’s typically half committed to some activity that requires my physical but not complete mental presence or is cut into chucks of 5-10 minutes that I can’t transition into a meaningful activity for. I’m not really sure if there is much that can really be done about that.

Re: I thought I would have accomplished a lot more today and also before I was 35

#227

Post by Insanity »

altitudinous wrote: post #16

I'm in my 50's and I read less now, it's because writers are now younger than me and they tell stories I've already lived. I suspect all older folk might feel the same? Writing is for the young? Being published is for the young?

This highly depends on the genre of what you read of course. I suppose you haven't lived a "space opera" no matter what your age is. :-)

Re: I thought I would have accomplished a lot more today and also before I was 35

#228

Post by formerly_proven »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #113
simonsarris wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even among people trying to be productive you sometimes see vortexes of distraction, for instance around note-taking. I like note taking (apps and paper) but I think there is such thing as an over-reliance on them. They promote collecting over being. Perhaps also they stop people from completing their own ideas. One becomes Penelope, weaving the burial shroud of a thought forever. Note taking can be pernicious becaus…

It's ironic because the same tools can be used to empower your thinking[0]. Instead of collecting notes, note taking utilities can be used as a sort of L2 cache when you're trying to think something through. E.g. most of my problem solving involves repeated sessions with a text file, in which I dump my stream of thought and refine it. Sometimes it means literally talking with myself via a text file, sometimes it's co…

"The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Pen and Paper in the Process of Thinking"

Re: I thought I would have accomplished a lot more today and also before I was 35

#229

Post by vwat »

kart23 wrote: post #223
vwat wrote: post #217

This has 200 comments while the unveiling of the first working prototype of neuralink got a grand total of 15 upvotes. Hackernews has officially flatlined.

huh? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24311152

I’m not sure how this is possible... I posted the link before your linked post was created... and my post was a dupe of the following post which is also older than your linked post...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24308944

I guess I just somehow missed it?

Re: I thought I would have accomplished a lot more today and also before I was 35

#230

Post by grugagag »

joelbluminator wrote: post #222
grugagag wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for reminding me to turn on screen time on my phone. I am indeed wasting a lot of time on my phone reading things that don't get me much value while procrastinating on real work or things that I consciously want to spend my time on. This problem is a lot more prevalent on my phone than on my laptop. I catch myself browsing HN without any intent and without any goal, mostly reading comments and skimming on arti…

How about every few days just actively search for HN topics that interest you? That's what I try to do. https://hn.algolia.com/

Thanks for the suggestion, I will try algolia. What I really want is not a replacement to my addiction but I'd like to learn to control it better. Perhaps your suggestion helps if I want to come to HN on a weekly basis to get some highlights and stop reading and writing comments altogether. I will try to see how that pans out. Thanks again
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