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We need to reclaim our attention

theguardian.com

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Re: We need to reclaim our attention

#271

Post by pier25 »

LightHugger wrote: post #257
pier25 wrote: post #250

I've been doing 100% full stack while bootstrapping my current project for the past year and a half. So basically doing absolutely everything alone. It's really exhausting and progress is extremely slow. It's not a matter of skill or knowledge as I've been doing design, front end, and general programming for 20 years. At first I thought it was because I was on my own, so the workload was tripled, but then realized a…

This is very familiar to me, I've been trying to use some strategies to limit cognitive load to mixed success. The most effective thing has just been taking better notes. If i know i take good notes, and i write something down and know i will go back and read it, my brain knows it's "allowed" to forget about it, and that greatly lessons the load. Sounds obvious and simple but sometimes it's not obvious that spending…

You mean like documentation? Or what type of notes are you talking about?

Re: We need to reclaim our attention

#272

Post by erikbye »

pier25 wrote: post #250

I've been doing 100% full stack while bootstrapping my current project for the past year and a half. So basically doing absolutely everything alone. It's really exhausting and progress is extremely slow. It's not a matter of skill or knowledge as I've been doing design, front end, and general programming for 20 years. At first I thought it was because I was on my own, so the workload was tripled, but then realized a…

Why would you try to "keep it all in your mind?" Document. Wiki. Code comments. Good commit messages. Etc. Use a task/issue tracker. Whether that is a text file, Trello, or whatever. Track progress.

Re: We need to reclaim our attention

#273

Post by Zak »

I want a digest system for notifications on my phone.

This used to be common for mailing lists and web forums with email notification systems. I could get an email daily or weekly with the replies to my posts and subscriptions instead of real-time. The temptation to poll manually was reduced because I knew I'd be notified eventually.

I want to be able to tell my phone to do the same with its notifications, preferably with fine-grained control. For messaging apps, it would be extra nice if the sender could mark a suggested priority so I could let certain people I trust not to abuse the privilege interrupt me when they think it's urgent enough.

Re: We need to reclaim our attention

#274

Post by Bud »

One of my antidotes to this: I perform large-scale musical works! The Bach St. Matthew Passion takes around three hours. Messiah is nearly that long. The flow state from performing or rehearsing these works is really quite wonderful.

Reading (books, not short articles) a lot also helps, I believe.

Re: We need to reclaim our attention

#275

Post by thegrimmest »

andersonvom wrote: post #207
thegrimmest wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> provably better First we have to all agree on what this means, which I'm quite sure is impossible. Everything the free market does is voluntary by definition. Every "intervention" is by definition not. That is exactly the basis for my opposition to authoritarian paternalism. Also I disagree that corporations are "enacting control" - they are merely exerting influence. There is a world of difference.

> Everything the free market does is voluntary by definition. Every "intervention" is by definition not. In some ideal world, where both parties of an exchange hold equal bargaining power, the "free" market might be "voluntary". This is certainly not the current state of affairs, though. Being able to "choose" between a crappy option and a horrible option is anything but voluntary: "you can choose to work for me for…

Being able to choose between horrible options is exactly the definition of freedom. Believe it or not many people would choose free destitution over pampered slavery. It is exactly the ability to make this choice, at the most extreme level, that should be respected. To take an maximal example: you should be able to sell your kidneys to fuel your heroin habit, for no other reason than because no one can claim more ownership over them than you.

To protect people, against their will, from the consequences of their own misfortune or inadequacy is fundamentally paternalistic. The goal isn't efficiency, but the primacy of agency and consent.

Re: We need to reclaim our attention

#276

Post by aabhay »

pier25 wrote: post #250

I've been doing 100% full stack while bootstrapping my current project for the past year and a half. So basically doing absolutely everything alone. It's really exhausting and progress is extremely slow. It's not a matter of skill or knowledge as I've been doing design, front end, and general programming for 20 years. At first I thought it was because I was on my own, so the workload was tripled, but then realized a…

Hire a contractor or junior dev. Even if they aren't good at what they do, the very act of waking up in the morning to have a check-in and answer questions will motivate you.

Most solo devs/founders don't do this because they feel that an employee will only slow them down and degrade the quality of the product. However, this isn't true. You will wake up more motivated every day, learn about communicating needs, and you will often receive very important feedback (like when a feature makes no sense).

If you can't afford to pay a junior dev (even off-shore), you should assess your business strategy because this means you are likely to be financially precarious or dangerously risky

Re: We need to reclaim our attention

#277

Post by pier25 »

erikbye wrote: post #272
pier25 wrote: post #250

I've been doing 100% full stack while bootstrapping my current project for the past year and a half. So basically doing absolutely everything alone. It's really exhausting and progress is extremely slow. It's not a matter of skill or knowledge as I've been doing design, front end, and general programming for 20 years. At first I thought it was because I was on my own, so the workload was tripled, but then realized a…

Why would you try to "keep it all in your mind?" Document. Wiki. Code comments. Good commit messages. Etc. Use a task/issue tracker. Whether that is a text file, Trello, or whatever. Track progress.

Of course I have documentation.

What I meant is that when working on certain features you will need to understand it all to implement it.

It's like when you're working on some code and you need to understand all the classes and abstractions involved to make it work.

Re: We need to reclaim our attention

#278

Post by jacquesm »

radicalbyte wrote: post #236
jacquesm wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One family member I have uses his kids as weights for exercising, they get a huge kick out of it and he gets his workout.

I did the same two years ago :)

We'll see how you fare when they're twelve :)

Re: We need to reclaim our attention

#279

Post by pier25 »

aabhay wrote: post #276
pier25 wrote: post #250

I've been doing 100% full stack while bootstrapping my current project for the past year and a half. So basically doing absolutely everything alone. It's really exhausting and progress is extremely slow. It's not a matter of skill or knowledge as I've been doing design, front end, and general programming for 20 years. At first I thought it was because I was on my own, so the workload was tripled, but then realized a…

Hire a contractor or junior dev. Even if they aren't good at what they do, the very act of waking up in the morning to have a check-in and answer questions will motivate you. Most solo devs/founders don't do this because they feel that an employee will only slow them down and degrade the quality of the product. However, this isn't true. You will wake up more motivated every day, learn about communicating needs, and y…

It's a good idea, but it doesn't really solve the cognitive cost I'm describing.

Re: We need to reclaim our attention

#280

Post by radicalbyte »

radicalbyte wrote: post #236
jacquesm wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One family member I have uses his kids as weights for exercising, they get a huge kick out of it and he gets his workout.

I did the same two years ago :)

I was lifting > 160KG before COVID, I'll get back there again, it'll just take a year of training :-)
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