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How to lose time and money

paulgraham.com

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Re: How to lose time and money

#31

Post by ivankirigin »

fferen wrote: post #5

I think this ties into the idea of MMORPGs. I used to play them a lot until I realized they were not fun, just addictive; they make you feel like you're accomplishing something by leveling and gaining skills, when really it's only your character that's improving - you're not getting better at anything.

I had some roommates in college that played Diable II like beasts. Once, when they thought they were online but weren't, we heard a scream through the wall, "Fuck! I'm not getting any experience from this!"

We laughed for a while at that one while we browsed videos of people getting hurt on ebaum's world.

Re: How to lose time and money

#32

Post by sgarman »

orky56 wrote: post #22

This is really a question of short-term gain versus long-term gain as well as tasks versus goals. For short-term fulfillment, we can entertain ourselves or keep ourselves occupied in some manner, regardless of whether it's productive. The key is figuring out how it fits into our overall strategy or goals. Is that activity or task contributing to that long-term gain? More importantly, am I actively managing it as oppo…

I like this comment more then the article. The terms "waste time" are used but what does that mean? How do you define wasting time? Easy, you measure what you were doing to your long term goals. I't is easy to say that "playing game x" is wasting time, unless your goal is to be the worlds best player.

Of course if you set bad long term goals for yourself you maybe always be "wasting time."

Re: How to lose time and money

#33

Post by gabaix »

One of my alarms is looking at my long-term objectives and see if my work made me move in the right direction. I have my objectives written down in a prominent place, so I can make sure I stay focused.

Re: How to lose time and money

#34

Post by bostonvaulter2 »

Swizec wrote: post #16
fferen wrote: post #5

I think this ties into the idea of MMORPGs. I used to play them a lot until I realized they were not fun, just addictive; they make you feel like you're accomplishing something by leveling and gaining skills, when really it's only your character that's improving - you're not getting better at anything.

Same story for me as far as MMORPG's, Farmville and similar go. I get super addicted for a week and play probably 8 hours a day, then I just get bored. The whole thing is vaguely addicting, but ultimately completely uninteresting. If I'm going to watch a character level up I'd much rather hit the gym. The increasing weights you can lift offer a nice chance for some nerdy analysis while you're also actually doing some…

What did you use for the analytics? Or was it just spreadsheets?

Re: How to lose time and money

#35

Post by hollerith »

ebzlo wrote: post #28
Swizec wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same story for me as far as MMORPG's, Farmville and similar go. I get super addicted for a week and play probably 8 hours a day, then I just get bored. The whole thing is vaguely addicting, but ultimately completely uninteresting. If I'm going to watch a character level up I'd much rather hit the gym. The increasing weights you can lift offer a nice chance for some nerdy analysis while you're also actually doing some…

What you just suggested is exactly what I did and it completely changed my life.

Please confirm: the thing that completely changed your life was hitting the gym; right?

Re: How to lose time and money

#36

Post by gavingmiller »

bostonvaulter2 wrote: post #34
Swizec wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same story for me as far as MMORPG's, Farmville and similar go. I get super addicted for a week and play probably 8 hours a day, then I just get bored. The whole thing is vaguely addicting, but ultimately completely uninteresting. If I'm going to watch a character level up I'd much rather hit the gym. The increasing weights you can lift offer a nice chance for some nerdy analysis while you're also actually doing some…

What did you use for the analytics? Or was it just spreadsheets?

I use a program called Beyond the White Board (http://beyondthewhiteboard.com/) it's $3/month. It's mainly built around CrossFit, but you could easily tailor it for your own workouts. Like a good geek, I tried to "roll my own" and use spreadsheets, but after 2-3 months I realized that the $3/month was a better usage of my resources.

Re: How to lose time and money

#37

Post by gavingmiller »

hollerith wrote: post #35
ebzlo wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you just suggested is exactly what I did and it completely changed my life.

Please confirm: the thing that completely changed your life was hitting the gym ; right?

I'll chime in on this about how the gym worked for me. Do both strength training and aerobic exercise; both are good for you, and both will work to keep you healthy. I joined a gym that did CrossFit workouts which combines both styles of exercise, and have been doing so for the last 9 months.

I could never stay motivated at the gym on my own, whereas CrossFit is nice because it's run as a group class, and you typically have a coach that runs you through the exercises. It's a bit more expensive, but it's the only gym that I've ever actually stayed committed to.

As for results, I haven't lost any weight; but I've lost fat and gained a ton of muscle (it was extremely noticeable in my face.) I've also taken 2.5 inches off of my waist.

Re: How to lose time and money

#38

Post by rokhayakebe »

goldmab wrote: post #18

If Paul Graham realized that people can easily lose lots of money by investing, why did he devote himself to investing large amounts of his own money in high-risk businesses? I'm not being facetious, I just think that seems contradictory. If I had a lot of money and that same knowledge, I would invest very conservatively.

If people could talk to the managing team of the companies they invest in for just about 3 minutes, it would be a lot less risky and a lot less money would get lost.

Re: How to lose time and money

#39

Post by Swizec »

bostonvaulter2 wrote: post #34
Swizec wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same story for me as far as MMORPG's, Farmville and similar go. I get super addicted for a week and play probably 8 hours a day, then I just get bored. The whole thing is vaguely addicting, but ultimately completely uninteresting. If I'm going to watch a character level up I'd much rather hit the gym. The increasing weights you can lift offer a nice chance for some nerdy analysis while you're also actually doing some…

What did you use for the analytics? Or was it just spreadsheets?

I didn't really run any super advanced analytics. But when you're there 2 hours a day 6 days a week, it tends to stick in your mind when you're progressing and when you aren't.

But to give you a sense, it took me 3 years to go from 50kg to 64kg body weight (first ~8kg was in 6 months or so). 64 is my IBM limit so it's incredibly difficult to go up from that.

I could squat-lift 130kg, benchpress about 80kg, biceps curl around 25kg and so on ... it was epic.

I've since taken up boxing and in a way it's even awesomer.

Re: How to lose time and money

#40

Post by mst »

ivankirigin wrote: post #31
fferen wrote: post #5

I think this ties into the idea of MMORPGs. I used to play them a lot until I realized they were not fun, just addictive; they make you feel like you're accomplishing something by leveling and gaining skills, when really it's only your character that's improving - you're not getting better at anything.

I had some roommates in college that played Diable II like beasts. Once, when they thought they were online but weren't, we heard a scream through the wall, "Fuck! I'm not getting any experience from this!" We laughed for a while at that one while we browsed videos of people getting hurt on ebaum's world.

Diablo II is actually the one game I return to, time and time again - but not really so much for the game as the socialisation.

I've never had a battle.net account - instead I've always played co-operative LAN with friends. The madness and the glory, the "oh shit" moments where you start cursing under your breath and everybody else piles over to where you are to help, and the tactical analysis over pizza - that's what Diablo II's about for me.

I think the advent of MMORPGs with voice communication has made them much more social - a friend of mine who's a serious WoW player spends as much time talking about his guildmates as he does about the gameplay.

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