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Ask HN: Bad habits

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Re: Ask HN: Bad habits

#11

Post by harry »

raju wrote: post #7
harry wrote: post #6

Pack a day smoker. Quit cold turkey 3 years ago - through willpower. Not impossible & not easy.

A smoker myself - Not that much anymore, but still a smoker. Need to find that willpower. Also, exercise procrastinator. My problem is I don't put on weight, so weight loss (or maintenance) is not an incentive. But I know I need to work out, and have been doing some lately, even if it is a stiff 1 hour walks in the evenings

Imagine you haven't had a smoke for 2 days and want one. That's all that quitting is, putting up with that feeling for a long time. You get used to it!

It took about a year before I really stopped noticing that feeling. Whenever you smell one by walking past someone smoking, you'll want it all over again.

Oh, there are some real physical withdrawal effects as well. They leave within the first two weeks.

Re: Ask HN: Bad habits

#13

Post by sho »

raju wrote: post #7
harry wrote: post #6

Pack a day smoker. Quit cold turkey 3 years ago - through willpower. Not impossible & not easy.

A smoker myself - Not that much anymore, but still a smoker. Need to find that willpower. Also, exercise procrastinator. My problem is I don't put on weight, so weight loss (or maintenance) is not an incentive. But I know I need to work out, and have been doing some lately, even if it is a stiff 1 hour walks in the evenings

As a former smoker, let me recommend the drug Champix to you. It really worked for me. Quite the miracle drug, actually - you just kind of stop wanting to smoke, and keep forgetting about it. Before you know it you haven't smoked for weeks, and you don't want to, either.

Strongly recommended.

Re: Ask HN: Bad habits

#15

Post by TrevorJ »

Reading this site while I should be working. (Not being snarky, it's completely true.)

I also do art direction for film and video productions which has led to an insane need for me to save anything I think may someday come in handy. Suffice it to say I have a huge pile of junk that I just cannot get rid of and it's growing.

Re: Ask HN: Bad habits

#16

Post by DanielBMarkham »

I have an addictive personality, which means I like doing everything too much: coding, writing, visiting interesting web sites, smoking, drinking, eating. Basically if it has any sort of positive feedback loop at all, I can make a bad habit out of it.

Fortunately I began suspecting this early in life, so I didn't end up a coke-head or worse. Instead I've learned to balance all of my bad habits in a way that continues to optimize productivity for me. So for example after smoking for five years in my early 20s, I quit cold turkey. As for eating, I'm learning to control my blood sugar levels. I'm finding there is a blood-sugar/caffeine/alcohol feedback system that I'm dismantling. But then there are big problems that I'm still working on, like procrastination and too much web reading (which are related!) I probably lose dozens of hours a week on these. Sometimes I make progress, such as no TV (except for movies) Still others seem intractable, like enjoying coding so much I keep over-coding things.

I think as you get older you begin to realize how screwed up you are -- if you are introspective at all, that is. Some folks aren't introspective at all, or if they are they aren't able to critically see what needs fixing. These are the ones to be pitied. But introspection always has kind of a sad quality to it. I know for me it was a lot more fun when I used to think I was bullet-proof.

Re: Ask HN: Bad habits

#18

Post by scottw »

kierank wrote: post #12

Nail biting. Yes and no. Now it's not as bad as it used to be.

Ditto. I've found keeping a pair of nailclippers in all of the locations where I sit regularly (work office, home office, next to my bed, etc.) helps a lot. Nail trimmings everywhere is my next challenge.

Re: Ask HN: Bad habits

#19

Post by Deadsunrise »

kierank wrote: post #12

Nail biting. Yes and no. Now it's not as bad as it used to be.

Every time you notice that you are biting your nails or have the hands close to your mouth slap yourself in the face. Do it hard the first couple of times trying to surprise yourself. I ended years of nail biting doing this, in fact it works so well that I even wrote about it a couple months ago (in spanish: http://deadsunrise.net/post/10-Como%20dejar%20de%20comerse%2... )

You can do other things like screaming or standing up fast or some other unusual action, it will help you to identify the habit and stop it.

Re: Ask HN: Bad habits

#20

Post by pbhjpbhj »

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #16

I have an addictive personality, which means I like doing everything too much: coding, writing, visiting interesting web sites, smoking, drinking, eating. Basically if it has any sort of positive feedback loop at all, I can make a bad habit out of it. Fortunately I began suspecting this early in life, so I didn't end up a coke-head or worse. Instead I've learned to balance all of my bad habits in a way that continues…

Your post is pretty close to where I am, 'cept I gave up smoking when I was 12 (I still fancy a ciggy occassionally!), apart from a few occassions since.

I was speculating whether or not computers make me overall less productive or not - I'm convinced they do. I need other people around to work with, then I can get "addicted" to helping and progressing the task rather than anything else.

Sadly I'm working largely autonomously despite efforts to change that.

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