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Scattered thoughts on why I waste my own time

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Re: Scattered thoughts on why I waste my own time

#91

Post by stavros »

hattmall wrote: post #58

The Hook with sites like Reddit, HN, etc is that they ARE addictive. Actually addictive in the sense of gambling. In gambling addiction the gamblers aren't addicted to winning, they are addicted to losing, or "almost winning". Now if they never ever won the addiction wouldn't form. If they ALWAYS won the addiction also wouldn't form. The old thing was email that people were addicted to checking because you MIGHT get…

> In gambling addiction the gamblers aren't addicted to winning, they are addicted to losing, or "almost winning".

I disagree. I remember my DotA addiction, I wasn't addicted to losing or "almost winning", if anything I was addicted to "almost losing". Stomping the enemy wasn't fun, getting stomped wasn't fun, almost winning but losing in the end was VERY not fun, almost losing but winning in the end was a huge high, and that's why I'd play. To get that feeling again.

Re: Scattered thoughts on why I waste my own time

#93

Post by Cryptonic »

I lost interest in reddit and other social media when I saw how much attention it steals from my children. Even if I do it at night in bed it steals my energy from them. Same with Doomscolling. It takes time and energy and gives nothing in return.

Then I found a new hobby in HEMA sword fighting and gave the people in the club a real chance to get a little closer. Now with a fixed social life I feel much better. Also the time I spent there in the club and with the people in offline activities returns self esteem and health gains.

Last I have some rules. Never look at your phone while speaking with someone. Only one type of media consumption at once. Do something voluble while compiling (reading docs, write more tests, swing a sword)

To sum up, try to get a physical hobby that involves people and get some rules for yourse

Re: Scattered thoughts on why I waste my own time

#94

Post by 4ggr0 »

kkjjkgjjgg wrote: post #89
4ggr0 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This reminds me of something I did last week. In our team we share a Keepass file on a Windows share to exchange important passwords. If I am WFH I have to connect to the VPN, login to said share, copy the file and paste it to my linux laptop. This takes less than 5min but it always feels like a waste of time. So then I had a genius idea that I could automate this process, to save time you know. Well, after 1,5 hours…

Is there no premade software for Linux that syncs a Windows share?

Could be. The issue I had is that my file browser can connect to a windows share, but doesn't cache anything. I need a local copy of this pw file, else I always have to be in one of the two VPNs we have.

Apparently Unison[0] could be a solution. But to be honest, I grab this file once every couple of months because 99% of the pws I need don't change, so I only sync when someone has built a new service I need the pw for.

[0] https://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/

Re: Scattered thoughts on why I waste my own time

#95

Post by mdp2021 »

About Reddit: how can users be comfortable with a repository which does not have a decent navigation of past submissions?! You cannot navigate by page, you cannot search by date (or time range), you may be bound to an "infinite scroll" system without a "bookmark" to return there later... Do not users demanding by trade decent control have the disappointing impression they are driving a car without seat or floor, or with a faulty steering wheel?

(Just one of the issues. Implicit: users have a number of severe faults with the instrument to get detached, if they do not orient themselves to forget them.)

Re: Scattered thoughts on why I waste my own time

#96

Post by kkjjkgjjgg »

4ggr0 wrote: post #94
kkjjkgjjgg wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there no premade software for Linux that syncs a Windows share?

Could be. The issue I had is that my file browser can connect to a windows share, but doesn't cache anything. I need a local copy of this pw file, else I always have to be in one of the two VPNs we have. Apparently Unison[0] could be a solution. But to be honest, I grab this file once every couple of months because 99% of the pws I need don't change, so I only sync when someone has built a new service I need the pw f…

I actually had the same setup just privately to sync KeePass between different clients. I used OneDrive, and the Linux solutions were not very reliable. But that may have been specific to OneDrive.

Re: Scattered thoughts on why I waste my own time

#97

Post by Jensson »

procinct wrote: post #86
Kiro wrote: post #74

Hacker News nurtures an addiction like nothing I've ever seen before. Facebook, Instagram and TikTok don't even come close. I wonder if we give "algorithms" too much credit, considering HN does such a good job of capturing my attention without them.

I agree. I think part of it is I feel like I actually might miss out on learning something interesting/career improving if I stop reading HN whereas to me the other platforms are more pure entertainment. I find it’s generally harder to do something in moderation than to give up cold turkey and when you’re worried you might miss something important if you stop all together, cold turkey isn’t really an option.

Also discussing things with people who like discussing things is like the best way to learn and internalize things. And HN has a lot of people who like discussing and actually read what you say and pokes holes at things you miss, it is like having someone review your thoughts for free.

Re: Scattered thoughts on why I waste my own time

#98

Post by reidalert »

Reflecticon wrote: post #90
endymi0n wrote: post #61

Facing a very similar issue and trying similar things unsuccessfully, I've found out lately with my coach that a more promising way to break out of the cycle of "wasting time" and beating myself up over it might be very counter-intuitive: Self-acceptance. I've found that acknowledging my need for relaxation and satisfying my curiosity was a solid first step in helping cure my addiction on a more fundamental level. Ch…

That makes an awful amount of sense. I sporadically ask myself, what would be the most fun to do for me? And then just do it. After a short period of time, I'm usually exhausted or bored by it and come back to more meaningful stuff. I got this advice from the now habit by Neil Fire. I haven't read the whole book, just skipped forward to the solution but it helps.

This thread resonated with me a lot - instead of dividing time into 'good/productive' and 'bad/unproductive', it's worth acknowledging the signal my brain is sending when it wants to scroll HN/Reddit and responding to it directly, instead of scrolling on autopilot and then feeling vaguely guilty/dissatisfied.

The times when I'm able to intentionally take a break feel much more restorative than the times when I'm acting out of avoidance.

Re: Scattered thoughts on why I waste my own time

#99

Post by uyt »

psychstudio wrote: post #85
hattmall wrote: post #58

The Hook with sites like Reddit, HN, etc is that they ARE addictive. Actually addictive in the sense of gambling. In gambling addiction the gamblers aren't addicted to winning, they are addicted to losing, or "almost winning". Now if they never ever won the addiction wouldn't form. If they ALWAYS won the addiction also wouldn't form. The old thing was email that people were addicted to checking because you MIGHT get…

Classical "variable reward". Manifests in all areas of life.

I wonder if there's an evolutionary reason for that preference or if this is just an edge case in our rewards system that never mattered until it became heavily exploited by other humans in the modern world.

Re: Scattered thoughts on why I waste my own time

#100

Post by michaelgrafl »

stavros wrote: post #91
hattmall wrote: post #58

The Hook with sites like Reddit, HN, etc is that they ARE addictive. Actually addictive in the sense of gambling. In gambling addiction the gamblers aren't addicted to winning, they are addicted to losing, or "almost winning". Now if they never ever won the addiction wouldn't form. If they ALWAYS won the addiction also wouldn't form. The old thing was email that people were addicted to checking because you MIGHT get…

> In gambling addiction the gamblers aren't addicted to winning, they are addicted to losing, or "almost winning". I disagree. I remember my DotA addiction, I wasn't addicted to losing or "almost winning", if anything I was addicted to "almost losing". Stomping the enemy wasn't fun, getting stomped wasn't fun, almost winning but losing in the end was VERY not fun, almost losing but winning in the end was a huge high,…

It's not about fun, it's about what kind of activities cause addiction.

You were addicted because when you played there was a chance of getting a high, but it wasn't certain. A certain high would not be as addictive, if at all.

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