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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?

#81

Post by CodeGlitch »

colechristensen wrote: post #48

Why? Wars go on every day, people suffer every day, it doesn't benefit you or them to obsessively watch. I'd get it for people who live in or have close connections with the affected area, but knowing every update when you're on the other side of the world? What's the benefit? Keeping up with the general situation, sure, but up to the minute all day watching... I don't get the point or the motivation besides which is…

How many wars involve the possibility of WW3 or nuclear engagements? This ones a bit different.

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

#82

Post by jltsiren »

DiabloD3 wrote: post #80
jltsiren wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I am of the generation that saw people being sent overseas just to die because, as many put it, "Bush lied". The world is an international community, we sink or swim together. A tragedy in a faraway country is no different than one in my backyard.

You are talking about things that happen in the news rather than in the everyday world around you.

A lot of people in Finland may lose their jobs soon, because ~10% of foreign trade used to be with Russia. There is a feeling that the world has changed permanently, but nobody knows what will emerge. Ukraine is resisting the invasion, and ordinary people are sending money directly to its military. Even many activists on the left think that donating to traditional charities is insufficient. Meanwhile Russia seems to be only a shadow of its former self, which has awakened old fears of its collapse. And of refugee masses that could overwhelm Finland.

And here in the US, you can easily ignore all that, because you don't see the consequences in your daily life.

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

#83

Post by anelson »

kspacewalk2 wrote: post #20

It's not easy, doubly so for Ukrainians like me. I've decided to take hours-long breaks from touching my phone or using my browser for anything but work. I like to take impromptu 5 minute breaks while working if I'm stuck or frustrated with something. Have to end that and become more disciplined, otherwise the news and the sadness and the fury just consumes me. Thursday and Friday were write-offs, I'm determined to m…

My situation exactly. I’m American but I live in Kyiv, I was lucky to get out a few days before the invasion but my life, my team, and my property are still there. I try to focus on helping the guys still there find safety and arrange lodgings, but the draw of doomscrolling is ever present.

Fortunately I’ve noticed that I can’t focus on the horrible reality of this war and also on coding or reviewing PRs or debugging some code. If I can focus on a concrete task my mood improves for as long as I can hold the focus.

Also as usual, physical activity helps. I landed in Tbilisi with just a suitcase and didn’t have time to find a gym or set up a routine, but even just walking up the steep hills in the city improves my mood. Don’t underestimate the positive effect this has on the mental state.

This war is not going away soon and my people aren’t going to be out of danger any time soon, so it’s critical to find a way to focus on what needs to be done and not waste time and energy fretting. Easy to say, not so easy to do.

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

#84

Post by mikewarot »

jltsiren wrote: post #70
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…

>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.

That was true until Putin decided to saber rattle his nukes. If things go boom, I'll see the flash, and be roasted somewhere between 10 and 50 seconds later, depending on which industrial site they take out first.

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

#85

Post by DiabloD3 »

jltsiren wrote: post #82
DiabloD3 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am of the generation that saw people being sent overseas just to die because, as many put it, "Bush lied". The world is an international community, we sink or swim together. A tragedy in a faraway country is no different than one in my backyard.

You are talking about things that happen in the news rather than in the everyday world around you. A lot of people in Finland may lose their jobs soon, because ~10% of foreign trade used to be with Russia. There is a feeling that the world has changed permanently, but nobody knows what will emerge. Ukraine is resisting the invasion, and ordinary people are sending money directly to its military. Even many activists o…

Thats a rather ignorant statement, as if Americans somehow universally lack empathy.

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

#86

Post by Minor49er »

chinathrow wrote: post #24
Minor49er wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can you be so concerned about Russia and the Ukraine, two countries privileged enough to own weapons of war, when there are children dying of starvation in Africa?

My ask HN was specifically about the current war. I myself (and I guess many more) care very much about other causes but this is not about that.

I know. I was poking fun at the bleeding-hearted comment

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

#87

Post by jltsiren »

DiabloD3 wrote: post #85
jltsiren wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are talking about things that happen in the news rather than in the everyday world around you. A lot of people in Finland may lose their jobs soon, because ~10% of foreign trade used to be with Russia. There is a feeling that the world has changed permanently, but nobody knows what will emerge. Ukraine is resisting the invasion, and ordinary people are sending money directly to its military. Even many activists o…

Thats a rather ignorant statement, as if Americans somehow universally lack empathy.

How does empathy have anything to do with this discussion? We were talking about how it can be more difficult to ignore the war and focus on something else in Europe, because you may feel the consequences in your daily life. Giving the news only 15 minutes of your time every day is not a very effective strategy, if you keep encountering the thing you are trying to avoid outside news.

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

#88

Post by DiabloD3 »

jltsiren wrote: post #87
DiabloD3 wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thats a rather ignorant statement, as if Americans somehow universally lack empathy.

How does empathy have anything to do with this discussion? We were talking about how it can be more difficult to ignore the war and focus on something else in Europe, because you may feel the consequences in your daily life. Giving the news only 15 minutes of your time every day is not a very effective strategy, if you keep encountering the thing you are trying to avoid outside news.

If there is a war anywhere, it effects everyone, globally.

I don't get why this is such a hard concept for people to understand.

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

#89

Post by StanislavPetrov »

endless1234 wrote: post #56
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…

Is it somehow weird to be, as an European, more concerned by internationally escalating Russian invasion warfare in Europe than by civil war in Yemen? Of course war is shit always, but I don't see how "oh, there are other bad things also" is a helpful analysis of the situation.

No, but as an American, it is somehow weird for my fellow Americans to be more concerned with a war between European nations than a war we are actively engaged in.

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

#90

Post by lk0nga »

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…

Is always amusing how North Americans call themselves 'Americans' like it is a nationality and call their country the name of the whole continent.
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