This reminds me of what I heard of buses on Madagascar. A bus leaves not at specific time, but when it's full.
Maybe we attach too much importance to the saying "time is money"? It can be money, but there are other approaches.
The unreasonable effectiveness of just showing up everyday
521–530 of 591 posts
Re: The unreasonable effectiveness of just showing up everyday
#522Earlier quoted context omitted.
Someone mentioned a book called War of Art [1] here on Hacker News which I went out to buy and read. The author, Steven Pressfield, describes it as some metaphorical "Muse" (God of Art) that helps inspire your imagination when you set aside some time to do work. I loved that line of thinking since work can't happen if you don't show up. It motivated me, as indie dev that works from home, to make a concerted effort to…
Steven Pressfield is an amazing writer. I think he's the one who wrote about the Spartans and how ridiculously tough they were. I encountered the book as a paperback left in a bin for soldiers to take and read during some dumb deployment. Not that one, but a small one to Poland. This was 2002.
Bret Deveraux is a PHD historian and a critic of Pressfield. He picks apart his argument for "universal warrior" and concludes it has an ideology behind it. The ideology is fascism.
https://acoup.blog/2021/02/19/collections-the-universal-warr...
edit: the earlier version of my post used the word "agenda" instead of "ideology", but that was a bit unfair given Bret himself gives Pressfield benefit of doubt.
This article specifically mentions Gates of Fire.
Re: The unreasonable effectiveness of just showing up everyday
#523Effectiveness of just showing up works wonderfully for fitness as well. How much ever unfit one is, just showing up for a long period of time changes oneself. All one has to do drag oneself to the class, day in and day out, and then universe takes over..
Getting to the gym and getting changed into gym gear counts as 'going to the gym'. Once Im there and changed, i've only ever once turned around and said fuck it. And it turned out i was pretty ill that day
Re: The unreasonable effectiveness of just showing up everyday
#524Earlier quoted context omitted.
I get your point but I don’t think that’s historically been any concern for people. Just in the past decade or so, and only for some people.
If you are talking about alive people, then no. It was akways the case. The obvious example is Nobel prize laureate Knut Hamsun, who publically praised Hitler. In the soviet Union it was even more pronounced: the government was regularly doing mythbuilding around dead figures, like polar aviator Tchkalov and cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin: they were famous while alive, but became demigods after deaths. You see, you never hav…
Why even go to the past when you have Peter Handke?
Re: The unreasonable effectiveness of just showing up everyday
#525If you haven't read or listened to this book yet, I highly recommend it: Daily Rituals: How Artists Work[1] It's a collection of daily routines of many famous and prolific artists. The surprising thing about so many of the artists is that they only work 2 or 3 hours per day, then spend the rest of the day walking around, socializing, etc. But they consistently show up and put in the work and it adds up to some amazin…
I'm in formation for ordained ministry in a Christian tradition, and something that's really emphasised is the need to say the 'Daily office' – two short services at the beginning and end of the day. Ideally with other people, but in the end you often being alone.
It felt like busy work at the start, but it's a surprisingly powerful way of focussing the day upon a particular intention – in my case, putting everything I do in the day into the context of my religious tradition.
Personally I've always struggled with habits and routine, but I've now got quite a powerful experience of what persistence can do, with a fairly small commitment in time.
Re: The unreasonable effectiveness of just showing up everyday
#526Interesting and inspiring story.
Re: The unreasonable effectiveness of just showing up everyday
#527I used to think like this. At it's core, it's a variation of "never give up", mixed with "the power of habit".
I agree with "the power of habit" part.
From the "never give up" point of view, I've changed my mind, thanks to books like The Lean Startup, Blitzscaling, and my own experience.
The bottom line message seems to be "keep insisting and you'll be successful". I spent 3+ years working in a game that never took off as a side project. In hindsight, I should have taken the hint of the lack of traction early on and dropped the whole thing. Instead I sank countless hours into a project that never worked out. How many prototypes could I have produced in the same time?
Bottom line, habits are good, so long as we don't mix it up with the concept of "don't give up and you'll be successful".
Re: The unreasonable effectiveness of just showing up everyday
#528Re: The unreasonable effectiveness of just showing up everyday
#529Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you count only writing time, or also the time you spent constructing the book and associated programs in your head?
All of it.
That's very impressive. I envy you.
And I wonder how you do it. How are you able to suspend and resume work on a complex project like this? How are you able to stop thinking about it when scheduled time is up, and then pick it up the next day, without paying a huge time cost of loading yesterday's state back into your head?
Could you elaborate on this? I'm asking seriously - I myself wish I could do that. The way I work today, in irregular but long bursts of high focus, is somewhat effective, but doesn't lend itself to having a balance in life (work-life balance, but also "personal interests - life balance").
Re: The unreasonable effectiveness of just showing up everyday
#530Earlier quoted context omitted.
> steam vegetables are disgusting! Gee. Steamed veges (potatoes, corn, broccoli, beans, carrots, brussel sprouts etc) with a lil vegan butter, salt, and herbs or minced garlic on top is one of my favourite things in the world.
:) oops… should had put the disclaimer that it’s a personal opinion. I just hear some people saying “I don’t like vegetables” and often my question is “how have you had them?”
You probably mean steamed to death. if you blanch them, they mostly taste really good. of course, don't blanch potatos or something like that - but broccoli is a good example. Most people cook them until they are soft, but a short blanch is usually enough.