141–150 of 162 posts
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Unfortunately, that's not an easy thing to do. It's not practical for 90% of people. Being software developers, we're lucky, but even though I love what I do, I often hate doing it for other people.
90%? You think 1 in 10 people out there are passionate about their job and love going to work on Monday?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> for example, when you try to force yourself to do something that you don't, in fact, want to do This is called a day job, even for programmers. > you haven't resolved the clash between your short-time desires and your long-term goals Is it even possible to resolve? One would like to read books (play guitar, gardening) for the rest of his life instead of trying to get his docker-compose file working properly. How a…
Then play guitar for the rest of your life. It might be a short life. "Productivity" techniques are inherently flawed by the way they put capitalist "productivity" at the top of the most important things in life. Check the blogpost where the author describes playing a computer game as "life down the drain" and how their productivity tips have to tightly control that. If your life is to be commercially productive and…
Serious question: Is anything less productive than reading other people's productivity thoughts? It's a combination of procrastination and finding out what works for someone who is presumably more productive than you (ie: guilt).
I need just one thing: a way to get rid of a bad habit that doesn't involve changing the circumstances in which I have that habit. I'm a Web developer with a mindless tic-like habit of opening sites like Reddit and HN all the time. Even a second after closing it. I can't very well get rid of Web browsers. Edit: ohh, but the tip of going to a place where I've never procrastinated before and sitting down to think what…
You can limit your time on specified sites
> If you aren’t working from home, your workplace should be at least a couple of minutes away (better: an hour away) The notion of a commute being beneficial is weird to me. If it takes more than 5 minutes to get to work, I end up spending the time engaged in something else, which leads to me being significantly distracted when I arrive. Thinking for an hour about what to do when you arrive seems like the opposite of…
By happenstance I just ended up in an apartment that's a 5 minute walk from my office. It's the best thing that's ever happened to me. I go home for lunch. I spend 0 time commuting, I'm basically home as soon as I'm ready to leave. Compared to my other jobs, which tended to have more like a ~30 minute commute, I feel like I have so much more time in the day. I'm never taking a job where I have to commute again. It su…
Although some opportunities weren't available. The ability to spend essentially 0% of my time commuting for any errands made my life very simple and enjoyable.
I love in Boston now and work for a startup, so there's been quite a stark contrast between my lifestyle in the past year. Luckily I work completely remote now because I told myself then, I would never work or live anywhere that requires me to spend a dozen hours a week driving and doing errand.
I often get surprised how deep we got hooked into the system. We tell ourselves unless we're doing something (no matter how useless that is) we're worthless. Everything becomes a different kind of procrastination. We feel productive creating yet another CRUD app, idle game or advertisement optimization tool that ultimately does nothing for anyone but the capitalists on the top of the chain. Only to feel bad about doi…
Fortunately, many engineers, among others in technology-centric roles, have co-opted this definition to mean their intellectual output.
Depending on whether or not an individual's intellectual currency is manifested via productive output, this hyper-productivity needn't be unhealthy in itself.
It is when this desire overtakes those who don't derive value from the "hobby" of productivity that it becomes dangerous.
I wonder when achieving personal productivity has become a widespread problem and why did this happen.
The simplest productivity hack is finding passion. I never seen a windsurfer procrastinate. If you are truly enjoying your work and can't wait to do it, there is nothing going to stop you.
I need just one thing: a way to get rid of a bad habit that doesn't involve changing the circumstances in which I have that habit. I'm a Web developer with a mindless tic-like habit of opening sites like Reddit and HN all the time. Even a second after closing it. I can't very well get rid of Web browsers. Edit: ohh, but the tip of going to a place where I've never procrastinated before and sitting down to think what…
What's worked for me every time I get in that routine is to force myself to do one to five push ups every time I think about switching tabs. During that time I think about what it is that I really want to be doing. After a while I automatically skip to this step without having the desire to refresh HN.
To the point that I sometimes do it in the middle of talking to people (while sitting behind my desk), who will point it out to me, and then I will close the tab. And then re-open it a few seconds later while still talking to them. ctrl-T O enter, for old.reddit.com. It's really a true habit.
There is an extension where you can limit the number of tabs you have open, I'm going to try that again. Limiting myself to 1 should lead to some conscious thought, after those keystrokes fail a few times.
I highly recommend Jean Moroney's blog. She digs deep into the psychology behind productivity and goal-setting. I found many unique insights in her articles. Thanks to her writing I've come to believe that procrastination often stems from deeper emotional issues or an unacknowledged clash of priorities (for example, when you try to force yourself to do something that you don't, in fact, want to do, the deeper issue i…
> So often, people take on tasks because they think you have to do them, or the task meets some criteria that someone else has set. You feel you have to do the project because it's required for a class, or your boss told you to do it, or it's the only way you see to get the credential you need to take the next step in your career. Remided me of passage from J.K's book. "There are two kinds of action. One brings you r…