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Ask HN: Are you an information addict?

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Re: Ask HN: Are you an information addict?

#21

Post by wgren »

ghotli wrote: post #18
wgren wrote: post #7

I am trying to use the Pomodoro technique - focus hard for 25 minutes, then relax for 5. This of course requires closing down mail, Twitter etc apps while a Pomodor is running. Unfortunately I still have problems, it is far too easy to open up a browser window and start looking at Hacker News, Digg, Engadget etc. I am thinking about making my own Pomodoro script which puts all my favourite timewasting sites in /etc/h…

The pomodoro technique seems like allowing yourself a hit of heroin every few days, even though you know it's a problem. I've never been able to follow it for long enough for it to be effective. Any tips?

I guess you should try to see every time you fail to do a Pomodoro what it was that caused you to lose focus, and seek to eliminate that distraction.

For me, losing flow due to long compile times, having to download libraries or something is a sure focus killer.

And as I said, just idle web browsing is a problem that I should try to take care of. :)

Re: Ask HN: Are you an information addict?

#22

Post by DanielBMarkham »

Yes. I find myself consuming more and more material that contains information that is more and more trivial.

Today's haul: found out the name and life story of the guy who played "Hoss" on Bonanza. Read an essay on tax policies in a state several hundred miles from my own. Went through an extended interview (linked from here) about life in North Korea. Researched various types of pulse oximeters. And that's just in the last couple of hours.

At one point in my life I would have thought "I have a voracious appetite for new knowledge. This is a good thing" But lately I'm seeing this in not-as-flattering terms. I'm more or less picking up little shiny things simply because they glitter. There's no depth or follow-through. There's no long-range goal of acquiring knowledge in any one area. It's all just stimulus-response.

Re: Ask HN: Are you an information addict?

#25

Post by ghotli »

maxklein wrote: post #20

Information is mostly just noise. The actual useful stuff comes rarely, so I try as much as possible to minimize the external information I get that is not important - for example, the news. The news are mostly totally unimportant and irrelevant. If you read the news twice a week, that's more than fine. I also believe in using tools that pre/filter the info I get so I don|t have to wade through junk to read the info…

"I also believe in using tools that pre/filter the info I get so I don|t have to wade through junk to read the info that could be useful to me."

Care to elaborate on your methods?

Re: Ask HN: Are you an information addict?

#26

Post by j_baker »

maxklein wrote: post #20

Information is mostly just noise. The actual useful stuff comes rarely, so I try as much as possible to minimize the external information I get that is not important - for example, the news. The news are mostly totally unimportant and irrelevant. If you read the news twice a week, that's more than fine. I also believe in using tools that pre/filter the info I get so I don|t have to wade through junk to read the info…

I think what you're getting at is that information by itself isn't necessarily useful, but knowledge is.

Re: Ask HN: Are you an information addict?

#27

Post by maxklein »

ghotli wrote: post #25
maxklein wrote: post #20

Information is mostly just noise. The actual useful stuff comes rarely, so I try as much as possible to minimize the external information I get that is not important - for example, the news. The news are mostly totally unimportant and irrelevant. If you read the news twice a week, that's more than fine. I also believe in using tools that pre/filter the info I get so I don|t have to wade through junk to read the info…

"I also believe in using tools that pre/filter the info I get so I don|t have to wade through junk to read the info that could be useful to me." Care to elaborate on your methods?

Nothing spectacular - I don't subscribe to blogs or forums or newssites, just to news aggregators that allow some form of voting then only read the highest ranked stuff.

Re: Ask HN: Are you an information addict?

#28

Post by j_baker »

joshkaufman wrote: post #12
raheemm wrote: post #4

I am embracing it. I am trying to create a life that will allow me to gather information all day long and get paid to do it.

That's essentially what I did - given my mild obsession with figuring out how businesses work, I read thousands of books over ~6 years, started a website (personalmba.com), created a 12-week course (crashcourse.personalmba.com), took on private clients, and landed a book deal. I'm essentially paid to learn as much as I can, isolate the useful/practical bits, then teach them to others. If learning comes naturally to y…

How did you get into this line of work? If I could get paid just to learn things and share them with others that were truly motivated to learn, I'd be set for life.
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