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Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

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Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#171

Post by FPGAhacker »

dceddia wrote: post #166
deepGem wrote: post #35

Being totally honest here. I don't find any work that I totally can't stop thinking about. There is always something that I need to get done that I don't relish, that I don't enjoy. Here's how it goes - there's an idea that you think is really nice, you start talking to people then you are hit with reality - no one gives a shit about your idea. Some do, but most of them are like meh. There comes the first punch and y…

I realize that CSS itself isn’t really the point here, that it’s just one annoying thing in the pile of annoying things. But I wanted to mention... As a front end dev and someone who teaches front end stuff (React mainly), CSS really doesn’t change quickly, and when it does change, those changes are additive. CSS is very very good about backward compatibility. To give a specific example, CSS Grid is a newer feature t…

My problem is I don’t know a way. So I go searching for resources to learn from. Except there are dozens of ways to do a given thing. And all are really just partial, incomplete solutions, in different ways. Some are outdated, but how can I tell when I’m not a domain expert. And I don’t want to be an expert on every single domain I have to touch to build whatever thing I am working on.

It’s a frustrating world.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#172

Post by mikestew »

frfl wrote: post #145
overcast wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

11am, plenty of natural light, and a calibrated desktop monitor. Looks completely readable here.

Yes, but not everyone has perfect eyesight and perfect monitors or perfect lighting conditions. Thin font, plus a 5:1 contrast ratio (text #606f7b to white bg) isn't ideal for reading. Original vs higher contrast, objectively, one is easier to read https://i.imgur.com/kDMPhfx.png

I see the one on the right on my screen (iPhone XS and 5K iMac). If what you see is more like the left, I’m with sibling comment: you could use a display calibration.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#173

Post by PascLeRasc »

deepGem wrote: post #35

Being totally honest here. I don't find any work that I totally can't stop thinking about. There is always something that I need to get done that I don't relish, that I don't enjoy. Here's how it goes - there's an idea that you think is really nice, you start talking to people then you are hit with reality - no one gives a shit about your idea. Some do, but most of them are like meh. There comes the first punch and y…

Have you tried work other than software development? Like something adjacent in a scientific field, or working on creating art? I don't mean working on scientific computing software or AI-generated music, I mean actually doing biology experiments or playing the piano. It seems like software development just frustrates you, and I can understand why. But you might find a lot of joy doing something entirely different.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#174

Post by birdyrooster »

zhdc1 wrote: post #45
Garvey wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This pretty much sums up my experiences. I've noticed my frustration tends to stem from a feeling of not progressing quickly enough, or getting bogged down in architectural details before strictly necessary and then abandoning the whole thing due to the assumption it's too complex for my knowledge level...

I think that boredom also plays a role.

Imposter syndrome plays a role here. Only a tiny fraction of the population will be wired in such a way that the tedium of reresearching and reimplementing is obviated by near photographic or eidetic memory. Those people can rattle off entire APIs with all of their classes and methods for things that they haven’t seen in years. It should be no surprise that these people are the leaders of our industry and make us feel shame for our pittance of knowledge.

“I know everything, just not at the same time.” But for our most gifted engineers, it’s practically as if they know everything.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#175

Post by jlelonm »

technothrasher wrote: post #46
deepGem wrote: post #35

Being totally honest here. I don't find any work that I totally can't stop thinking about. There is always something that I need to get done that I don't relish, that I don't enjoy. Here's how it goes - there's an idea that you think is really nice, you start talking to people then you are hit with reality - no one gives a shit about your idea. Some do, but most of them are like meh. There comes the first punch and y…

It sounds like you're too goal oriented. Leisure activities can be simply about enjoying the activity and don't have to lead to anything. If you like to work on an idea, work on it. When you're annoyed by having to put a front end on it, just don't. You've played with your ideas, you've hopefully learned something and enjoyed passing the time. Now you are free to drop it like a hot potato and move on. I spend my work…

Not who you replied to, but you described me to a T.

Problem is - I have no idea what to do about it.

It's so hard to do anything fun in my free time because the moment I think about doing / starting something, goal oriented t thoughts follow, which means stress follows.

I wish I could just go into "kick the can" mode whenever I wanted and turn off the part of my brain that wants to see results, progress, and checkmarks.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#176

Post by jlelonm »

danielvaughn wrote: post #3

My problem is that I get excited about different things with far too much frequency. This past week I've become obsessed with a video game idea. The week before I was obsessed with a design app that I'm working on.

That's my problem as well.

The docs told me I have ADHD. Maybe you do, too?

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#177

Post by khallo »

eshyong wrote: post #124
ulisesrmzroche wrote: post #56

More productivity porn. War on leisure! Only this one particularly bad because it’s trying to say “no pain no gain” is a lie. That if the gains come with pain, the gains must not be worth it He’s not strong enough to squeeze the orange (rails contributor life perks) so the juice must not be worth squeezing Basically, that hard work ain’t worth it. Fun Uber Alles But it’s like, the process of building a sexy body is n…

Except that's the opposite of what he's saying. Instead of valuing feeling productive, he now values feeling energetic and excited every day. I think you may have missed that part. Not everyone wants to get swole or be a rails core maintainer.

replace "productive" with "feeling energetic and excited" in that response and their arguments are still valid. If you want to work on something, anything, there are going to be days where you are energetic and excited, and days you will feel like shit. The author of the article is suggesting to quit when the days are shit, and that is a bad advice.

There is nothing that will keep you excited forever.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#178

Post by danschumann »

Caveats being: every inspiring side project eventually becomes the draining monsters that cause us to find new side projects. The true key to happiness is to constantly pursue it, because there is no key, there is only chase. Sure, spend time on inspiring things, but also be able to sit down with a check list and do stuff you've been putting off, and be able to take a project from inspiration build out, to checklist maintenance, in good spirits.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#179

Post by qplex »

surfsvammel wrote: post #50

“Because every minute spent doing something other than what you love most today is a minute you’re more likely to regret when you’re 80.” I think the opposite is true. Most things that I hated doing when I was 20, I’m today at 49 happy that I did. Workout, do the homework, even my military service. Many things I loved doing in the moment, play video games all through university, for example, I’m not so sure about.

I'm absolutely glad that I did things _my way_ instead of succumbing to some general false conceptions of "doing the right thing".

This includes things like skipping military service and basically living as an outlaw for many years because of that.

I've also played a lot of video games and consider that time well spent.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#180

Post by mlthoughts2018 »

The only thing I think about is leisure time, vacation, indefinite amount of time in front of me with no obligations, commitments, or constraints to acquire resources that meet my biological, psychological or social needs.

Any behavior that I engage in that has productivity as a side effect that I rely on, ie to be paid money or to retrieve food or to nurture relationships, even if that productivity is not a conscious focus or stress, is inherently upsetting and painful to me.

If I had complete financial and commitment freedom, I literally would not do anything (and that sounds amazing). I know myself well and have introspected on it very much, and truly I would not do anything if I could. I would just sit there like a bump on a log and watch nature. I would not spend time with people. I would not busy my mind on any kind of puzzle or reductionist exploration of nature or myself. I would just sit there for years and years and years. That’s all I want to do.

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