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Ask HN: Feeling guilty for doing the bare minimum at work

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Re: Ask HN: Feeling guilty for doing the bare minimum at work

#351

Post by dr_orpheus »

klvrwrk wrote: post #313
dr_orpheus wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, there was article that recently came up on Hacker News about maintaining some slack in your work schedule so that you can always be responsive when an issue comes up. I'm having trouble finding it because searching for "Slack" on Hacker News turns up a whole other range of things... I feel like I am in a similar boat to OP. Often feeling like my regular work doesn't take up a full week and not trying to fill up…

I'm assuming you're thinking of this Farnam Street post: https://fs.blog/2021/05/slack/

Yes! That is the one I was thinking of.

Re: Ask HN: Feeling guilty for doing the bare minimum at work

#352

Post by asouers »

tailspin2019 wrote: post #347
eyelidlessness wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you use this primarily for professional life, personal tasks, general motivation? (Tried to word this non-exhaustive/non-xor but saying so explicitly in case that didn’t come across.)

Yes I'd be curious to hear more about this too. I've looked at Focusmate but haven't yet got myself over the line to signup.

ADHDer here—I found Focusmate last fall and it flipped my whole world right-side up. (It was so impactful I actually got in touch with the team and, long story short, I now work for them.) Anyway, I’d be happy to do a session with you and show you the ropes.

Re: Ask HN: Feeling guilty for doing the bare minimum at work

#353

Post by asouers »

eyelidlessness wrote: post #303
jvns wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

there's a site called focusmate that helps you find accountability buddies ( https://focusmate.com ). it's really helped me.

Do you use this primarily for professional life, personal tasks, general motivation? (Tried to word this non-exhaustive/non-xor but saying so explicitly in case that didn’t come across.)

You can use Focusmate for anything! I use it for 1) accountability to wake up on time and get myself going, 2) going through my morning routine, 3) working, 4) cleaning/chores. I’ve been on sessions where other people also write, meditate, study, or prep for presentations. Someone even used it to take a nap once when she needed some sleep.

Re: Ask HN: Feeling guilty for doing the bare minimum at work

#354

Post by mtnGoat »

rejectedandsad wrote: post #44
mtnGoat wrote: post #26

from all the reading i do here, you would be a great fit at Google, every G employee here seems to talk about barely working. :x

I do the same at Amazon fwiw.

Interesting, I was always told they work their engineers to the bone and then replace, hence the lower average tenure.

Re: Ask HN: Feeling guilty for doing the bare minimum at work

#355

Post by tailspin2019 »

asouers wrote: post #352
tailspin2019 wrote: post #347

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes I'd be curious to hear more about this too. I've looked at Focusmate but haven't yet got myself over the line to signup.

ADHDer here—I found Focusmate last fall and it flipped my whole world right-side up. (It was so impactful I actually got in touch with the team and, long story short, I now work for them.) Anyway, I’d be happy to do a session with you and show you the ropes.

Interesting to hear what an impact it had for you. I was just looking at the site again yesterday but in typical ADHD fashion didn't follow through with signing up! I'm game to give it a go - my email address is in my profile.

Re: Ask HN: Feeling guilty for doing the bare minimum at work

#356

Post by tailspin2019 »

meowface wrote: post #349
tailspin2019 wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your experience matches mine, apart from that I find that if I'm procrastinating on important/severe enough things, then my ability to do even things I enjoy diminishes too. Personally I think the reason is that the cognitive dissonance gets in the way... I know that I absolutely should urgently do X (important thing I'm putting off) and all the time I don't, I cannot reconcile a deliberate decision to do Y (trivial…

Actually, yeah, I relate to that 100%, too. (Even doing it right this second.) I just spend a lot more of my time in the neglect phase than the "caught up to me" phase.

Yes the deadlock phase is front of mind for me right now because I’ve been in it for a couple of weeks.

But you’re right that the “neglect phase” accounts for the vast majority of time. And when I’m in that, I forget all about the existence of the “deadlock phase” even though I’ll be hurtling towards another one.

Good to know that this self-destructive behaviour is common at least :)

Re: Ask HN: Feeling guilty for doing the bare minimum at work

#357

Post by mooreds »

ljoshua wrote: post #299
tspike wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd love to do that, but health insurance in the US makes it a nonstarter.

This really isn't as true as it's made out to be. I've done it, and with four dependents in tow as well. If you currently work for a big company (or really any company with >50 employees if I recall) you can qualify to take COBRA when you leave. Doing so is expensive, sure, but it's really usually about the same price as private insurance but much better (because it's a group plan). You can elect COBRA for up to 18 m…

> you can use HSA savings to pay for premiums.

This is not true, as far as I know. I'd consult a CPA for an authoritative answer, but from https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/health-savings-account-h...

> HSA funds generally may not be used to pay premiums.

Re: Ask HN: Feeling guilty for doing the bare minimum at work

#358

Post by PragmaticPulp »

borski wrote: post #312
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it's becoming common misconception online that hyperfocus is indicative of ADHD. That's a misunderstanding of the symptom. The concept of hyperfocus in ADHD was introduced in certain literature to explain a reduced ability of certain ADHD patients to control their attention, such as having difficulty stopping playing a video game to do the dishes. However, that's ambiguously close to normal human behavior of pre…

That is not true, and it is referenced as a symptom as early as 1993 in Driven to Distraction, the book I brought up earlier.

Driven to Distraction is a self-help book, not medical literature.

I was referring to official, medical definitions of ADHD and official diagnostic criteria.

Re: Ask HN: Feeling guilty for doing the bare minimum at work

#359

Post by datameta »

datameta wrote: post #173
bigbillheck wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ADHD is not meth in the same way grain alcohol is not wood alcohol.

For the reader, that's not only an apt analogy - it's a chemically accurate one. Structurally the difference between methamphetamine and amphetamine as well as between ethanol and methanol is a methyl group. Pharmacologically it's a different story - methanol is not a safe substance with any dose.

Addendum: This isn't to imply that methamphetamine has dosage that eliminates its side effects and neurotoxicity, but rather that drinking methanol will quite easily make one go blind.

Re: Ask HN: Feeling guilty for doing the bare minimum at work

#360

Post by borski »

tailspin2019 wrote: post #356
meowface wrote: post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, yeah, I relate to that 100%, too. (Even doing it right this second.) I just spend a lot more of my time in the neglect phase than the "caught up to me" phase.

Yes the deadlock phase is front of mind for me right now because I’ve been in it for a couple of weeks. But you’re right that the “neglect phase” accounts for the vast majority of time. And when I’m in that, I forget all about the existence of the “deadlock phase” even though I’ll be hurtling towards another one. Good to know that this self-destructive behaviour is common at least :)

Both of your accounts match my experience, even down to the forgetting. ADHD people are generally bad at self-reflection, and I know I definitely am, despite having gotten better at it over the years.

I’m so happy to see this discussion happening on HN

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