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There's no speed limit (2009)

sivers.org

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Re: There's no speed limit (2009)

#191

Post by sivers »

felideon wrote: post #150

Hi Derek, thanks for an awesome thread and your many enlightening blog posts. (I'm surprised you're surprised to see a post of yours here :P) What advice do you have for a generalist? I feel I can learn things quickly, but I don't get great at anything -- maybe due to a lack of motivation and a surplus of procrastination. I'm a back-end programmer who likes front-end development, only because I'm not a great UI desig…

Felipe: Sorry I didn't see your question until hours later.

See http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3761474

It's not your exact question, but similar, and led to some other comments in that thread.

I hope that helps.

Re: There's no speed limit (2009)

#192

Post by [deleted] »

felideon wrote: post #150

Hi Derek, thanks for an awesome thread and your many enlightening blog posts. (I'm surprised you're surprised to see a post of yours here :P) What advice do you have for a generalist? I feel I can learn things quickly, but I don't get great at anything -- maybe due to a lack of motivation and a surplus of procrastination. I'm a back-end programmer who likes front-end development, only because I'm not a great UI desig…

[deleted]

Re: There's no speed limit (2009)

#193

Post by sivers »

kpennell wrote: post #184

I really appreciate your writing, TED talks, ideas, and the humble and positive way in which you present your work. I think one of the problems I struggled with the most with this type of thinking is feeling like I'm being conceited or thinking that "I'm special" when I try to remove speed limits. I've always learned a lot of things fairly fast but I think I limited myself by subconsciously not wanting to feel better…

Yes! Absolutely! It takes a strong ego to say, "Hell I'm better than all these other mofos. Get out of my way, slow-pokes!"

It's got a competitive edge to it. You'd need that same attitude if competing in sports.

And, like sports, it doesn't mean you're a jerk for wanting to achieve as much as you can, or more than everyone else. It's just a relative-comparison thing that gives you an extra boost.

You need to feel you're special, that the rules don't apply to you, Neo. ☺

Re: There's no speed limit (2009)

#194

Post by mkl »

sivers wrote: post #100
kamaal wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you manage your time and track your productivity. If its not too personal can you give us a framework of your daily time table.

I was wondering that myself! So I wrote my first Android app, to track every minute of every day. See https://github.com/50pop/NowNowNow if interested. Most of my time these days is spent studying some new programming languages and techniques (Ruby, Rails, Sinatra, Sequel, JavaScript, jQuery, Backbone). Less time spent turning that learning into real creation. Soon... soon....

That app sounds interesting. Is it in the Android Market/Play Shop?

Re: There's no speed limit (2009)

#195

Post by oliverhunt »

mkl wrote: post #194
sivers wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was wondering that myself! So I wrote my first Android app, to track every minute of every day. See https://github.com/50pop/NowNowNow if interested. Most of my time these days is spent studying some new programming languages and techniques (Ruby, Rails, Sinatra, Sequel, JavaScript, jQuery, Backbone). Less time spent turning that learning into real creation. Soon... soon....

That app sounds interesting. Is it in the Android Market/Play Shop?

+1 for interest in this app. From what I can find it is a private app created for himself.

Re: There's no speed limit (2009)

#196

Post by tnorthcutt »

sivers wrote: post #188
tnorthcutt wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How (practically) did you do the watching? Did you hire someone local, and just go watch them work, and ask questions as they went along? Was it hard to find someone willing to let you do that? Did it cost significantly more than if you'd paid someone to do it without the condition of letting you watch?

Found a guy halfway across the world, but we did Skype screen-sharing so we could talk and I could watch his screen. Didn't cost much. The key was how I asked. I just made it a criteria of the job when I posted/announced it. "Looking for someone to program while I watch and ask questions." I know he really enjoyed it. Said it was much more rewarding than the usual coding in solitude, not knowing if the client is real…

That's great to hear! I was hoping your answer would be something like this (easy for me to replicate).

Did you use a large freelance-finding site (oDesk, elance, etc.)? If some other method, do you mind sharing?

Re: There's no speed limit (2009)

#197

Post by unimpressive »

sivers wrote: post #189
db42 wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi Derek, I can't describe how much motivated I feel everytime I read something similar to this. But I just can't convert this motivation into actual practice/habits. Any advice ?

A young man went to Socrates and asked how he could gain wisdom. Socrates walked the young man into a nearby lake. When the water was a few feet deep, Socrates suddly grabbed the young man and pushed his head under water and held it there. At first the young man thought it was a joke, but as he was held under longer and longer, he became frantic. He struggled desperately to get free and his lungs burned for lack of o…

>It's the same with your motivation/practice/habits.

First of all. Excellent blog post. Just reading it made me want to leave behind the things capping the speed limit on my life.

However, I see that story used in a lot of contexts. (And the characters involved change often.) And what I always find myself asking every time I read it (Or rather skim it as the case may be.) is "Well yes, I knew that much already, but how do you desire something that's not air as much as the ability to breathe itself.". It would seem that therein lies the rub. Getting that excited about anything is tough.

In a way it's a non-answer. Which is always disappointing to receive.

Re: There's no speed limit (2009)

#198

Post by sivers »

tnorthcutt wrote: post #196
sivers wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Found a guy halfway across the world, but we did Skype screen-sharing so we could talk and I could watch his screen. Didn't cost much. The key was how I asked. I just made it a criteria of the job when I posted/announced it. "Looking for someone to program while I watch and ask questions." I know he really enjoyed it. Said it was much more rewarding than the usual coding in solitude, not knowing if the client is real…

That's great to hear! I was hoping your answer would be something like this (easy for me to replicate). Did you use a large freelance-finding site (oDesk, elance, etc.)? If some other method, do you mind sharing?

In this last case, I just asked on my Twitter account.

But for future, I'd try odesk, elance, and also asking around my network of programmers I already know.

Re: There's no speed limit (2009)

#199

Post by felideon »

sivers wrote: post #191
felideon wrote: post #150

Hi Derek, thanks for an awesome thread and your many enlightening blog posts. (I'm surprised you're surprised to see a post of yours here :P) What advice do you have for a generalist? I feel I can learn things quickly, but I don't get great at anything -- maybe due to a lack of motivation and a surplus of procrastination. I'm a back-end programmer who likes front-end development, only because I'm not a great UI desig…

Felipe: Sorry I didn't see your question until hours later. See http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3761474 It's not your exact question, but similar, and led to some other comments in that thread. I hope that helps.

No worries, I figured you had taken off. Thanks for responding and bringing your other comment to my attention — I glossed over it too quickly to make the connection.

Cheers, best of luck on your new projects.

Re: There's no speed limit (2009)

#200

Post by sivers »

mkl wrote: post #194
sivers wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was wondering that myself! So I wrote my first Android app, to track every minute of every day. See https://github.com/50pop/NowNowNow if interested. Most of my time these days is spent studying some new programming languages and techniques (Ruby, Rails, Sinatra, Sequel, JavaScript, jQuery, Backbone). Less time spent turning that learning into real creation. Soon... soon....

That app sounds interesting. Is it in the Android Market/Play Shop?

It's not in Android market. Just installed directly on to my phone. I should probably package it and put it up there.

In the meantime, feel free to fork it and use it yourself.

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