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Ask HN: How do you get work done while there is a war in Europe?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you get work done while there is a war in Europe?

#61

Post by cellis »

Something that I’ve recently started doing is pomodoros of 25 minutes with 5 minute breaks. Finding discipline to just do real work is difficult if your work isn’t well specified beforehand. So I use a few tools for this:

* pen/pencil and mini wire bound notebooks. I tried using Apple notes but the phone is a source of endless distraction.

I write down goals for the day, headlined by project name. When I’m done I cross them out.

* befocusedpro app for pomodoros

It has a pretty nice way to setup pomodoro tasks and isn’t trying to be much more than a pomodoro app. My employer uses Jira and my side projects use Trello or Apple notes. It sits on the mac menu bar and beeps when both the pomodoro and break are up. During breaks sometimes I respond to text messages or take a quick walk around but you could read news too.

I write down about 5 “goals” and try to get them all done

* streaks app iOS

This is like GitHub history for habits. After every befocusedpro pomodoro I check the streak for e.g. ( employer pomodoro ) or ( side project pomodoro )

Finally, I put my phone in do not disturb pretty much the whole time I’m trying to accomplish my pomodoros and the only exceptions are my significant other and mom / sister.

That’s it!

Re: Ask HN: How do you get work done while there is a war in Europe?

#62

Post by johncoltrane »

FYI, the war in Ukraine has been ongoing since 2014. You care more about the current developments because the media you follow care more about it. Unless you live in the region, there is nothing you can do about it and it is unlikely to have any effect on your day-to-day life, so turn off the news and focus on things you actually have leverage on.

Me? I never cared about that war and I still don't, just like I don't care about any of the currently ongoing wars (Yemen, Syria, whatever). Not following the news makes life generally less unpleasant.

Re: Ask HN: How do you get work done while there is a war in Europe?

#63

Post by ianai »

SapporoChris wrote: post #43
ianai wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’ve clearly never worked nor lived somewhere high on the list of places a hostile would want to destroy. When I worked in a very tall building (tallest for thousands of miles) I would keep an eye towards the news “just in case”. Right now any such place is probably on high alert regardless of whether it would seem an obvious target to randos on the internet.

I'm curious of the odds of danger while being in a very tall building on a day to day basis. Additionally, I'm wondering what sort of news alert you're looking for that would be actionable. Do you really expect a news flash that will give you adequate time to take actions. Balance all this against the time you spend looking at news daily.

Considering I worked through multiple bomb threats, a nearby active shooter, and other such things I consider it time well spent. Probably any job with a high degree of public interaction benefits from situational awareness, further.

Re: Ask HN: How do you get work done while there is a war in Europe?

#64

Post by ianai »

chinathrow wrote: post #38
karaterobot wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the OP is in Ukraine, it's a different story. They didn't say so, and it's unlikely. If they're in, for example, the United States, they do not need to be on high alert at the moment.

I live in Europe.

I’m guessing learning about your local bomb alerting system might help. That way you realize it’s not just you.

Re: Ask HN: How do you get work done while there is a war in Europe?

#65

Post by [deleted] »

StanislavPetrov wrote: post #37

How did you keep your focus on working for the last several years, while the war has been raging in Yemen? Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in Yemen, with a millions displaced and starved to death - many orders of magnitude greater than the death and suffering that has taken place in Ukraine. Unfortunately it is because "new sources" generate your outrage and decide what you are going to focus on. Thi…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How do you get work done while there is a war in Europe?

#67

Post by DiabloD3 »

chinathrow wrote: post #23
DiabloD3 wrote: post #17

I am not in Europe, but American, and this war does affect me, since we are the largest member of NATO, but also the first target of Russian aggression in this weird neo-Soviet era if Russia decides to deploy nukes (a low, but non-zero, chance). I give the news 15 minutes of my time every day. Even when events like this happen, 15 minutes. I, nor you, can meaningfully change the course of events; even if we could, ne…

> I give the news 15 minutes of my time every day. Even when events like this happen, 15 minutes. I'll try that. Do you use pure self control for that? A timer?

Mostly self control. It only takes me about 15 minutes to go through all the actual news sources I follow. HN doesn't come out of the 15 minute budget, since its all technical focused not-exactly-news; it has its own budget of sorts.

Re: Ask HN: How do you get work done while there is a war in Europe?

#68

Post by [deleted] »

StanislavPetrov wrote: post #37

How did you keep your focus on working for the last several years, while the war has been raging in Yemen? Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in Yemen, with a millions displaced and starved to death - many orders of magnitude greater than the death and suffering that has taken place in Ukraine. Unfortunately it is because "new sources" generate your outrage and decide what you are going to focus on. Thi…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How do you get work done while there is a war in Europe?

#69

Post by ASalazarMX »

chinathrow wrote: post #31
orangepurple wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_missing_out

I know what Fomo is, and no, it's not like that. Maybe it's more a feeling of "wanting to know first" so I can be mentally prepared when things turn to the worse. Not sure.

It seems like a vicious cycle of anxiety. Make a serious effort to limit your news consumption to maybe a few quick glances a day. If you're glued to the news, you'll notice that 90% of them are the same, so it's a more efficient use of your attention to check them 90% less.

Many people, like me, fell in the trap of getting "hyperinformed" during COVID, only to find out staying on the bleeding edge of an evolving situation is like having another full-time job. Excessive infotainment only heightens anxiety.

Re: Ask HN: How do you get work done while there is a war in Europe?

#70

Post by jltsiren »

DiabloD3 wrote: post #17

I am not in Europe, but American, and this war does affect me, since we are the largest member of NATO, but also the first target of Russian aggression in this weird neo-Soviet era if Russia decides to deploy nukes (a low, but non-zero, chance). I give the news 15 minutes of my time every day. Even when events like this happen, 15 minutes. I, nor you, can meaningfully change the course of events; even if we could, ne…

It's much easier to avoid thinking about the war in the US. Here it's just another tragedy in a faraway country, and you only hear about it in the news. It probably doesn't affect your daily life.

The situation seems very different in Europe. The war is pretty much the only thing people are talking about on the channels I use to stay in touch with people in Finland. If I want to avoid thinking about the war, it's not enough to avoid the news. I must also avoid friends and family.

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