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Actions That Made Me Happier

garyharan.com

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Re: Actions That Made Me Happier

#21

Post by wallflower »

pasbesoin wrote: post #15

I had the pleasure of spending a week with a group of techies in Montreal (referenced in the post). Definitely a nice and interesting crowd to hang out with (and have a drink with (which did NOT == get blitzed)). Once I read Montreal, that part clicked a bit more. The value and pleasure in such does depend on the crowd and attitudes. Back here and at the corporate job, having drinks has usually been about awkwardly c…

Yes, since alcohol is a depressant, if you want someone to indirectly associate you with being stimulated, coffee.

Re: Actions That Made Me Happier

#22

Post by imgabe »

dazmax wrote: post #8

In the "removing small frustrations" category: getting a second power cord for my laptop. It makes me happy twice a day when I don't have to fish my cord out to bring it to work/home.

Getting a second usb cable for my iPhone had the same effect for me. One stays plugged into the wall with the charger, one stays by the laptop for syncing. Life is great.

Re: Actions That Made Me Happier

#23

Post by jazzdev »

nw wrote: post #16

A great and somewhat related article by David Brooks: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/opinion/30brooks.html From the article: "... economic and professional success exists on the surface of life, and that they emerge out of interpersonal relationships, which are much deeper and more important."

Yeah, good article. Thanks for the link. I liked this statement from article:

"Most governments release a ton of data on economic trends but not enough on trust and other social conditions. In short, modern societies have developed vast institutions oriented around the things that are easy to count, not around the things that matter most."

Re: Actions That Made Me Happier

#24

Post by timcederman »

sabat wrote: post #13

Makes me want to go to one of the SV/SF Hackers and Founders meetups. On drinking with co-workers: point taken, but if you are actually having mood problems, watch the alcohol intake. It's a depressant.

You're thinking of the wrong definition of "depressant". Alcohol is a physical depressant.

Re: Actions That Made Me Happier

#25

Post by colonelxc »

lotharbot wrote: post #18
dazmax wrote: post #8

In the "removing small frustrations" category: getting a second power cord for my laptop. It makes me happy twice a day when I don't have to fish my cord out to bring it to work/home.

More generally speaking: set up the right infrastructure and own the right tools for common tasks. If you can save yourself a few minutes and a bit of frustration every day for a ten dollar investment or for a bit of effort once, it's worth it! Some examples: - owning extra power cords, batteries, memory cards, etc. for electronic devices - setting up a power strip and various charging or connecting cables where they…

As dazmax said, not only is it removing frustration, it actually can make you more happy every time you realize you don't have to pack up your cord. This probably mostly applies to people who are used to having to pack up cords a couple times a day to move around.

Re: Actions That Made Me Happier

#26

Post by TheSOB88 »

Tichy wrote: post #14
dazmax wrote: post #8

In the "removing small frustrations" category: getting a second power cord for my laptop. It makes me happy twice a day when I don't have to fish my cord out to bring it to work/home.

I would probably not stop at the power cord. Why not get a second laptop? Though syncing stuff might be a pain, depending on the nature of your work. Source code might be easy to share with git.

So, basically two extra-light desktops? Is this satire?

Re: Actions That Made Me Happier

#27

Post by quickpost »

kalid wrote: post #19

I like the phrasing of the title, i.e. keeping track of what actually works. One tip that's helped me: when something makes you feel good, add it to feelgood.txt. Over time, you'll start to see patterns (vs. the random, fallible memories/ideas we have about what makes us happy). Every few days or so I'll have a random entry [7/23/09: felt good to chill with Andreas. played games, chatted, had bfast, etc. hospitality.…

I like that. A lot.

I'm going to create a feelgood.txt on my work computer right now. I'm also thinking about creating a feelbad.txt - so I know what to avoid in my life.

Re: Actions That Made Me Happier

#28

Post by thirdstation »

kalid wrote: post #19

I like the phrasing of the title, i.e. keeping track of what actually works. One tip that's helped me: when something makes you feel good, add it to feelgood.txt. Over time, you'll start to see patterns (vs. the random, fallible memories/ideas we have about what makes us happy). Every few days or so I'll have a random entry [7/23/09: felt good to chill with Andreas. played games, chatted, had bfast, etc. hospitality.…

Great idea! I made a remember-mode template for emacs so I can store happy thoughts whenever they occur.

If you use org-mode and remember-mode you can add this template to your org-remember-templates: ("Happy Thought" ?h "* %U %?" "~/happy.org" "Happy Thoughts")

Doing so made me happy, so I added it to the file, which in-turn produced happiness. Ahhh, recursive happiness.

Re: Actions That Made Me Happier

#29

Post by xexers »

lotharbot wrote: post #18
dazmax wrote: post #8

In the "removing small frustrations" category: getting a second power cord for my laptop. It makes me happy twice a day when I don't have to fish my cord out to bring it to work/home.

More generally speaking: set up the right infrastructure and own the right tools for common tasks. If you can save yourself a few minutes and a bit of frustration every day for a ten dollar investment or for a bit of effort once, it's worth it! Some examples: - owning extra power cords, batteries, memory cards, etc. for electronic devices - setting up a power strip and various charging or connecting cables where they…

Thanks, there are a lot of good suggestions here!

Re: Actions That Made Me Happier

#30

Post by zackattack »

quickpost wrote: post #27
kalid wrote: post #19

I like the phrasing of the title, i.e. keeping track of what actually works. One tip that's helped me: when something makes you feel good, add it to feelgood.txt. Over time, you'll start to see patterns (vs. the random, fallible memories/ideas we have about what makes us happy). Every few days or so I'll have a random entry [7/23/09: felt good to chill with Andreas. played games, chatted, had bfast, etc. hospitality.…

I like that. A lot. I'm going to create a feelgood.txt on my work computer right now. I'm also thinking about creating a feelbad.txt - so I know what to avoid in my life.

The flip side of this is it can be very hard to make changes in your life when you realize that people to whom you may be very close .. are no longer good for you.
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