A simple habit that saves my evenings • Hacker News Board

Re: A simple habit that saves my evenings

#21

Post by mxuribe » Thu, Oct 02, 2025, 9:51 PM UTC

bee_rider wrote: post #10

mxuribe wrote: post #9

During my previous jobs, i used to use a sort of "end of day review" to see both what i accomplished that day (which made me feel good when i completed things), plus also get allowed me to get ready for what i need to do the next day. I suppose its similar to the habit denoted in this piece; pretty cool! At my current job, things are messier and shall we say not sustainable - culture is simply toxic. I actually can n…

Does your chat client or whatever is making you visible logged on have an “away” mode?

Good idea, i'll give that a shot. Thx for the tip!

Re: A simple habit that saves my evenings

#22

Post by rco8786 » Thu, Oct 02, 2025, 9:55 PM UTC

rockercoaster wrote: post #20

dangus wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP discovered clocking out and going home, how innovative! Next up: how to poop on company time.

I wonder what the oldest reference is we can find to this practice. I bet it's very old. Oldest I know of is only the late 19th century, but I bet we could beat that by at least several hundred years. Surely it comes up at least once somewhere in Shakespeare?

Solid question for r/askhistorians

Re: A simple habit that saves my evenings

#23

Post by hn-ifs » Thu, Oct 02, 2025, 9:59 PM UTC

9dev wrote: post #17

goopypoop wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

a feeling of incompleteness couldn't even motivate me to finish thi

I see what you’re doing, yet it’s still infuriating me.

I'm infuriated t

Re: A simple habit that saves my evenings

#24

Post by skirmish » Thu, Oct 02, 2025, 10:00 PM UTC

usefulcat wrote: post #11

> As a bonus, there is a chance that new, better ideas will come while you sleep or rest. IMO this feature should not be underestimated. Happens to me semi-regularly.

And then you wake up at 3:00am and start planning things to do the next working day. Do not recommend it.

Re: A simple habit that saves my evenings

#25

Post by Chilko » Thu, Oct 02, 2025, 10:02 PM UTC

mxuribe wrote: post #21

bee_rider wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does your chat client or whatever is making you visible logged on have an “away” mode?

Good idea, i'll give that a shot. Thx for the tip!

Another options (particularly if your org runs off MS outlook & Teams) - pencil in the review time as an appointment in your calendar, so your status shows as 'Busy' during that time. If that's not sufficient, you can even make it a Teams meeting with only yourself in it, so then your Teams status would show that you're in a call.

Re: A simple habit that saves my evenings

#26

Post by alpinisme » Thu, Oct 02, 2025, 10:04 PM UTC

rockercoaster wrote: post #20

dangus wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP discovered clocking out and going home, how innovative! Next up: how to poop on company time.

I wonder what the oldest reference is we can find to this practice. I bet it's very old. Oldest I know of is only the late 19th century, but I bet we could beat that by at least several hundred years. Surely it comes up at least once somewhere in Shakespeare?

You need clock based wage labor for that. Which only really starts with the Industrial Revolution

Re: A simple habit that saves my evenings

#27

Post by cyberpunk » Thu, Oct 02, 2025, 10:05 PM UTC

mxuribe wrote: post #9

During my previous jobs, i used to use a sort of "end of day review" to see both what i accomplished that day (which made me feel good when i completed things), plus also get allowed me to get ready for what i need to do the next day. I suppose its similar to the habit denoted in this piece; pretty cool! At my current job, things are messier and shall we say not sustainable - culture is simply toxic. I actually can n…

Genuine question, why do you feel the need to respond to every message? I work in a place with teams on my project split across multiple time zones, and I reply to people when I'm able. If something is really on fire, I'll get a load of messages but generally that stuff should go to the team chat and not at me directly.

Of course, we all keep some 'favourites' we do the odd favour for, but if you can't find 15 minutes to work interrupted (and your review is work) then you really need to think about how you're working as you're making the problems worse.

Being the superhero feels good for the first decade, eventually you realise you're Brent from the Phoenix Project and you're really part of the problem.

Not a personal attack, mxuribe, just some crap I worked out over the years. YMMV.

Re: A simple habit that saves my evenings

#28

Post by mistersquid » Thu, Oct 02, 2025, 10:09 PM UTC

rockercoaster wrote: post #20

dangus wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP discovered clocking out and going home, how innovative! Next up: how to poop on company time.

I wonder what the oldest reference is we can find to this practice. I bet it's very old. Oldest I know of is only the late 19th century, but I bet we could beat that by at least several hundred years. Surely it comes up at least once somewhere in Shakespeare?

> Surely it comes up at least once somewhere in Shakespeare?

Doubtful because the concept of clocking and clocking out is an artifact of the shift from mercantilism to capitalism and the Industrial Revolution where people sold their time in exchange for money.

Before that, in Elizabethan England, people were not free agents but subjects of British Empire. Merchants could control their destinies to some extent but did not exchange their labor so much as accumulated wealth through trade. They did not clock in and out.

So, there was not company time vs. personal time. There was just time and people conducted their bowel functions in outhouses and chamber pots befitting their stations.

Re: A simple habit that saves my evenings

#29

Post by cantalopes » Thu, Oct 02, 2025, 10:44 PM UTC

“20 minutes more and I will finish it,” you think. Obviously, this is not the case; some edge cases and new issues will inevitably arise. You come to your senses only 2–3 hours later—tired, hungry, demotivated, and still struggling with your problem. You just wasted your evening, with nothing to show for it."

I feel personally attacked

Re: A simple habit that saves my evenings

#30

Post by rockercoaster » Thu, Oct 02, 2025, 10:45 PM UTC

mistersquid wrote: post #28

rockercoaster wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder what the oldest reference is we can find to this practice. I bet it's very old. Oldest I know of is only the late 19th century, but I bet we could beat that by at least several hundred years. Surely it comes up at least once somewhere in Shakespeare?

> Surely it comes up at least once somewhere in Shakespeare? Doubtful because the concept of clocking and clocking out is an artifact of the shift from mercantilism to capitalism and the Industrial Revolution where people sold their time in exchange for money. Before that, in Elizabethan England, people were not free agents but subjects of British Empire. Merchants could control their destinies to some extent but did…

The idea of avoiding work by taking a shit, though.

Like I could entirely see Julius Caesar’s Gallic Campaign including a bit about punishing some soldier because he always managed to need to shit during the hardest parts of setting up camp, or something like that.