21–30 of 38 posts
Nail biting. Yes and no. Now it's not as bad as it used to be.
Start by not biting one nail (left pinkie is good). Get that down (take pride in it. make it your friend :) ), then 'save' the left ring finger too. Carry on up the hand, but jump to stopping the whole left hand as soon as you're confident (become a right hand biter!).
Then move on to the right hand pinkie etc.
I made it as far as my right thumb, which I still chew when I'm thinking.
I got rid of it by reading the book "Easy way out" by Allen Carr. I highly recommend his stuff. I did read the book 3 times in a row until all the thinking damage in my head was gone. But then it was gone and after smoking heavily for 8 years I am now out for over 6 years.
If you think about quitting smoking, try Allen Carrs method, I truly recommend it, from man to man ;-)
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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.
I enjoy getting away from the computer and having fun just as much as anyone else, but with my mostly-full-time freelancing work + writing most of the codebase for a startup on my own, I have the bad habit of telling myself that if I do some extra work one night I can stop a little early the next night. But the next day comes around and I'll do the same thing all over again.
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 aut…
Apologies if it is too much of a private question, feel free to ignore: At what age did you start ? Were your parents aware ?
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…
I think I may be guilty of this too. And it's inconsistent with, "Release early, release often."
alert("Admitting you have a problem is the first step in solving it.")
1) Social Media sites (reddit, hacker news, slashdot, facebook) 2) Nail chewing 3) Excercising And no-I've never been able to overcome bad habits. My short attention span when it comes to learning has helped me though-since I'm quick on the uptake when I go from subject to subject it lets me suck up a lot of info. And nail chewing..I wish I could quit but unfortunately my fingers are always there and I end up chewing…
I've dealt with nail chewing my entire life. In the past year, I've (mostly) overcome it. My solution: chewing gum. Keeps my mouth busy so I don't bite my nails. I go through a lot of gum, but I've broken the habit of biting my nails, so I'm slowly weaning off the gum.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Watch out for Chantix.. it really messes with your brain chemistry. I couldn't use it: it gave me insane technicolor nightmares. After a week of sleep deprivation I gave up on the stuff.
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…
like enjoying coding so much I keep over-coding things I think I may be guilty of this too. And it's inconsistent with, "Release early, release often." alert("Admitting you have a problem is the first step in solving it.")
On my last startup venture I went to one-week sprints, where I delivered something each week. This helped out a lot, as it made me prioritize and triage.
But I think having an active customer base and a team to report to are just as important. I find I have a tendency to prioritize whiz-bang stuff -- stuff I'd like to code, instead of stuff the users actually need. Actually, when you get right down to it, users really need very little functionality. As programmers we end up putting it in there simply because we can. It's fun. We think everybody else is a power user because well, we're one.
Responding negatively to generic posts that ask questions yet reveal nothing about the poster's reasons for the question nor contain any elaboration on the poster's part as to their own in the post.