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Ask HN: Why Is My Happiness Tied to My Productivity?

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Re: Ask HN: Why Is My Happiness Tied to My Productivity?

#11

Post by muzani »

A mantra that worked for me: Productive engineers are happy engineers. Happy engineers are productive engineers. It's a self-sustaining loop.

One option is a minimum of happiness - brightly lit office, decent food, music.

The other option is a minimum of productivity. I like to wash dishes after a bad day lol. Work from office. Use AI to handle the blank page problem (you can reject everything it says afterwards).

The trick with side projects is to complete and ship them. The first side project should be limited to 10 hours max. Sometimes shipping is the hard part. Once you can do this, add more time. Do 20 hours, 40 hours, 100 hours, and so on. But progressively. If you start by making the world's greatest something, it will drain all your motivation and energy, especially once the bloat kicks in.

Re: Ask HN: Why Is My Happiness Tied to My Productivity?

#13

Post by d--b »

muzani wrote: post #11

A mantra that worked for me: Productive engineers are happy engineers. Happy engineers are productive engineers. It's a self-sustaining loop. One option is a minimum of happiness - brightly lit office, decent food, music. The other option is a minimum of productivity. I like to wash dishes after a bad day lol. Work from office. Use AI to handle the blank page problem (you can reject everything it says afterwards). Th…

> I like to wash dishes after a bad day lol

Man, there is so much wisdom in that single sentence. I didn't think I'd read something like this here. Kudos for figuring that out and thanks for spelling it out so clearly.

Readers who think this is silly, please think twice.

Re: Ask HN: Why Is My Happiness Tied to My Productivity?

#14

Post by hnquestion12345 »

thisoneisreal wrote: post #4

I don't know you personally and can't offer individual advice, but there are some general things about our culture and general psychology that might be helpful to people like you dealing with those sorts of feelings (and yes I have been/am one of them): 1. A lot of social status is attached to productivity. This makes it really easy to feel like you "should" be doing things that you don't actually care about because…

I think your two points really capture the cycle that I'm stuck in. Being online, and especially on this site, I come across a lot of smart people and interesting projects that they're working on. I convince myself that I also need to make something interesting and usually it's something complex. After it gets complex, I start to see the flaws and start feeling low and lose motivation. I've also noticed this in some of my personal relationships.

I'll definitely check out the videos. Thank you for your insight.

Re: Ask HN: Why Is My Happiness Tied to My Productivity?

#15

Post by hnquestion12345 »

ivape wrote: post #10

Bad parenting. High expectations, or just ridiculous expectations, fuck up people to seek external validation at all phases of life. It's also a form of neglect because you get used to the concept of trading value for love.

I think about this sometimes, and my upbringing wasn't great, but it feels like the past is the past so I should move on. I've tried to bring it up to family before but it wasn't well received.

If this is something you've struggled with (trading value for love), have you found ways to break out of that cycle?

Re: Ask HN: Why Is My Happiness Tied to My Productivity?

#16

Post by hnquestion12345 »

aristofun wrote: post #6

Happiness != good emotions. If you’re seeking for good emotions to feel happiness you’re not any different from a junkie. Modern culture promotes this false idea that happiness == good emotions. Because it sells. The secret is not to buy into this myth. Whether by yourself or with help of psychiatrists depending on how deep is the problem.

If it's not happiness == good emotions then what does equal good emotions?

Re: Ask HN: Why Is My Happiness Tied to My Productivity?

#17

Post by hnquestion12345 »

efavdb wrote: post #5

I have had similar issues. It has helped to remember to do things I know help me feel better: reading novels, going on walks etc. even though I know these help I can fall out the habit easily. Another is to try to load balance my productivity by leaving low hanging fruit for the next day. Something easy to do or that I’m excited about. That helps me get started the next day on a good foot and avoid procrastination. T…

Recently I have started reading more and picked up artistic hobbies like drawing. I do find that they help a lot. It's hard for me to just keep something a hobby though. Like I think I should post my drawings but they're not good enough so it becomes stressful trying to learn how to draw well. I don't know why it's hard for me to keep a hobby a hobby.

Same thing with development. I see people making cool things and I feel like I should also be making cool things.

Re: Ask HN: Why Is My Happiness Tied to My Productivity?

#18

Post by hnquestion12345 »

gigikenn wrote: post #3

I've found that taking a real look at what energizes me is key. Find something, anything, even if it's not for the long-term. Just something that makes you feel alive. Run with it. It starts momentum and that helps a lot.

This comment brings back some memories. I've only had a few moments like that in my life so I think about them sometimes and funny enough, they've had nothing to do with my productivity.

Re: Ask HN: Why Is My Happiness Tied to My Productivity?

#19

Post by hnquestion12345 »

muzani wrote: post #11

A mantra that worked for me: Productive engineers are happy engineers. Happy engineers are productive engineers. It's a self-sustaining loop. One option is a minimum of happiness - brightly lit office, decent food, music. The other option is a minimum of productivity. I like to wash dishes after a bad day lol. Work from office. Use AI to handle the blank page problem (you can reject everything it says afterwards). Th…

My living situation has been a bit chaotic over the last few years, mostly moving around between family members so I haven't really had a good working environment. Usually just a spot I can place my laptop down. I do think a better environment would help me out. Sometimes I go to Ikea and wish I could have a nice desk and setup.

It's funny you mention washing dishes because that's one of my favorite ways to relax haha. I really enjoy things like that but when I see all of things people are doing, especially on this site, I start to feel like, okay I have to create something cool to keep up. I feel like I can't just enjoy simple hobbies like reading and drawing without doing something "meaningful".

I'm really going to try the side project thing. The things I want to create always end up so grand in scale. Yesterday I had an idea and I was already looking for best ways to make it cross-platform before I even did anything with the idea. All the stuff around that takes away from the fun of the idea and adds so much complexity and I just let it go.

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