Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

newyorker.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

351–360 of 691 posts

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

#351

Post by awicz »

kater006 wrote: post #347
tayo42 wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Idk if it's just terrified, but I think we're addicted. This probably sounds ridiculous but I recently blocked some apps and sites on my phone and actually felt a little off for a day, like my sleep was weird. I think there was a slight withdrawal from the constant bombardment of stuff. It is helping kill my Facebook habit. I don't even really like the site, I just check it impulsively. It's weird. Reddit is another…

Delete the mobile apps. I scrolled reddit to infinity on my phone going through news that would make me depressed. I deleted the app and have been happy ever since. I come here twice a day for 10 minutes instead and my screen time reduced by 40minutes at least. I don’t feel gloomy all the time because of news too

This is wonderful advice. I went on a news hiatus some time ago and can attest to its benefit.

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

#353

Post by shaklee3 »

blobbers wrote: post #221
shaklee3 wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Of course I researched the decision outside of HN. But just the superficial exposure you have to so many different things that you wouldn't have by just browsing around is invaluable. And just by hearing something like a name can take you on a tangent that can be very fruitful.

Case in point: I'm very familiar with Kafka, and the discussions on here usually lead to hinting about new technologies that you may not hear of just by reading a Kafka threat. Things like NATS, Jetstream, liftbridge, pulsar, and the list goes on. Having that kind of exposure just knowing that alternatives are out there, and people having real-world experience with them is really useful.

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

#354

Post by johnisgood »

lol636363 wrote: post #271
bstar77 wrote: post #245

I was incredibly driven about 7 years ago... I was a founder of a startup and had really lofty aspirations. I told my wife that it was very possible that we would be millionaires by the time we hit 40. Fast forward to today and that did not happen. The startup is no more, but mainly due to burnout. We made money and did well, but not well enough. I never made my millions, but did have a substantial aqui-hire opportun…

For last few years, I have been telling myself to take it slow and do what you are doing now. I got a easy but a boring job. I figured this way I will save all my mental energy for my projects after work. But this is slowly burning me out. The boredom of not doing any real work for 8 hours is soul killing. I do a lot of busy red tape work but it is not intelluctly stimulating. So now I will do 180 and quit my job in…

How about being a security guard? There are some cozy, chill, nothing-ever-happens places where you can just sit there at night, maybe do a couple of walks but other than that you could work on your projects! This way you have a steady job that will also be beneficial for pension (adds to work years), and you can work on projects that will pay off later. Do not forget to bring your laptop!

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

#355

Post by deegles »

graeme wrote: post #346
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hear you, but I'll tell you what I tell my mentees: Most of it distills down to being honest about your priorities. If you value relaxed mornings, relaxed evenings, and never feeling rushed before or after work, then there's nothing wrong with that. You're not obligated to go out with friends or allocate hours to hobbies during the weekday. The problem comes when people say they value one thing, but when decision t…

> Personally, I freed up an enormous amount of time by tightening up my schedule. Learning how to get out of bed, get dressed, eat breakfast, and get out the door in under 30 minutes was a game changer for me, and it wasn't even that difficult. How do you do that? Am assuming you include a shower. It seems like there is not enough time to do all those things unless breakfast is just milk/cereal or eaten on the go. Or…

You can't improve what you don't measure. Maybe try making a list of the things you need to do in the mornings to get ready (as detailed as you want) and timing yourself might help. You can then see what you can improve. Same with chores and cooking.

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

#356

Post by pjfin123 »

wenc wrote: post #178
pjfin123 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The gamification of Duolingo is something that has really worked for me (as an adult). It has all the parts of an addictive mobile game that keep you coming back: a streak that notifies you if you're in danger of losing it (this is the one that really works for me), social rankings, fun graphics, in game currency. I have a 410 day Spanish streak as of this morning! I took French in middle/high school with the standar…

As a language learner (working on my 8th right now), I dabble in Duolingo from time to time and agree that it provides contact time with the language, and any contact time helps reinforce memory. Language learning in general though, I have found, is not that amenable to gamification. Some learning methods may be more efficient than others, but even with the most efficient methods, real language learning is still inhe…

Interesting, I think I largely agree. However, I think the polyglot community is probably not a great representation of what would work for most people. For a lot of people, myself included, I think the choice is realistically between lower commitment (and lower quality/speed of learning) options and nothing at all. At least for myself it would take a lot of motivation to consistently do workbooks for years, major props to the people who can though.

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

#357

Post by shaklee3 »

heisenbit wrote: post #280
blobbers wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

There is a lot that I know which was relevant but is not anymore. A large percentage of knowledge needs constant replacing and often I do not know with what until I‘m exposed. HN gives me exposure. It is part of my solution to staying on top of developments. It does not provide answers to questions I have but to questions I should have had.

Excellent way to phrase it. For lock of a better way of saying it, you don't know what you don't know. You can become comfortable with certain things, but the pace at which stuff moves in this industry makes you stale if you don't at least look at the trends every few months or so. you could always be in the camp that says you should look at new trends, but I'm of the complete opposite viewpoint. Some of these new trends which people love to hate ended up working really well in production for me, and being on HN gave me the exposure I needed to them. It also gives you people that have used these technologies in production, and have opinions on them that might be helpful.

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

#358

Post by gukov »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #159
papito wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People are now terrified of putting down a screen and being left alone with their own thoughts for more than 30 seconds. It's horrifying what's bouncing around up in that dome, and having to process it. But this is exactly what we did before. We got bored , we were wasting time, we were experimenting, and that's how great ideas came around.

I have enough ideas .

Generating endless ideas is how my brain fights off boredom. Bringing those ideas to life is a different story. The brain is too busy generating new ideas.

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

#360

Post by adamcharnock »

didibus wrote: post #300

I think there's a cultural aspect at play. I come from a place where success is measured more by the amount of experiences you've lived and the fun you've had, then the money you've made or the social status you've achieved. I like to use New Orleans motto as a way to describe it: Big Easy. A good life is one that was easy going, lade back, where you've enjoyed the company of others, where you've explored the wonders…

I'm pleased I'm not the only one! I'm 35 shortly and I feel very content with what I have done so far. Here on out feels like icing on the cake.

I always found the "what's the meaning of life?" question to be a nonsense one. I suspect encountering The Hitchikers Guide To The Galaxy at a young age was part of the reason for that. There is so clearly no reason other than to enjoy it as much as you can. But I thin most of it is likely down to having parents that loved me unconditionally regardless of my achievements (which actually seems to be rare).

Do what makes you happy, let boredom be a motivator.

PS. Related comment of mine from a while back: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23061260

Post reply on HN