How I regained concentration and focus • Hacker News Board

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#221

Post by vbezhenar » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 6:58 PM UTC

kortex wrote: post #174

"Trivial inconveniences" are a big hurdle when trying to build a habit, but are a great tool for breaking bad ones. Anything you can do to break the dopamine loop helps, however small it may be. I've had success with: - setting long passwords to social media that aren't autofilled (saved in bitwarden) and logging out after each session - nerfing addicting parts of webapps (plugins which block the facebook news feed b…

My method is using private browsing to open addicting websites. This way their address will not be saved in history and I'll have to type it which sometimes stop me from doing that in mid-way. Also helps with automatically logging out.

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#222

Post by II2II » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 7:02 PM UTC

leobg wrote: post #204

Isn’t it funny how much attention these anti-procrastination posts are getting on essentially a procrastination site? (Tongue in cheek! I love HN. I just know that I sometimes do abuse it as a procrastination device.)

When it comes to HN, I definitely have mixed feelings about the procrastination aspect. Yet I am unwilling to drop it since there are stories that I am genuinely interested in and make life better. So it is a net positive in my books.

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#223

Post by ben_w » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 7:08 PM UTC

throw93232 wrote: post #26

ben_w wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given the junk food analogy, things with much higher information density would be like drinking neat olive oil. I think a more useful thing is to filter news down to only that news which is important rather than merely engaging , and leave engagement for either friends or hobbies with a ratio depending on your personal level of introversion/extroversion.

I just checked front side of CNN, first 6 titles are about some unofficial trip. They do not know if it will happen, what will happen, where it may happen, what that means... There is no value for me there. Even if I invest time into filtering, there is no value to gain from that. Maybe it is important, but I am not policy maker or investor, it is not important right now for me! I can find out about that visit week l…

I think you've underestimated what I mean by filtering in this case: unless you're a politician, almost literally all political news is pointless; unless you are a game developer or unsatisfied with your VR headset, literally all news about VR headsets is pointless; there's no point watching a weather forecast for any place you are not going to be in; unless you're an investor or looking to invest or borrow, financial news is pointless; unless you're in the royal family or selling memorabilia, gossip about any royal family is worthless; …

Does CNN have any content that's genuinely important to you?

But the argument also applies to podcasts: no value in any fact-based podcast if you don't act on the information it gives you, just as there's no point in fiction-based podcasts if they don't entertain you.

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#224

Post by nonrandomstring » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 7:08 PM UTC

nunodonato wrote: post #45

nonrandomstring wrote: post #37

Switching to text only [1] browsing changed my relationship to information and vastly improved my focus while using computers. I highly recommend it. [1] Text mostly (90+%). Those few occasions I want to see images as part of a web page it's possible to turn that on.

do you use any particular browser or extension? or do you mean stuff like gopher/gemini?

I use w3m a fair bit, because of emacs. Also have "Links" (variant of Lynx maybe) set up in some environments.

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#225

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 7:16 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#226

Post by 1024core » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 7:20 PM UTC

ryanwaggoner wrote: post #165

yao420 wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m really struggling with this right now. I’m turning 33 next month and really want children. I have endless memories of my dad and grandfathers teaching me amazing lessons and being best/strongest men I have ever been around. I want to fulfill that role that for someone! We didn’t have much money but camping or diy building is something fondly reminisce on and made me who I am. My partner is 25 and is not decided o…

The worst thing you can do for yourself, your partner, and your future kids would be to pressure your partner into having children when she’s not ready or doesn’t want to. Her path is her own, and it’s completely valid. My advice is to have an honest conversation where you try to understand where she’s at on this and why, without trying to change it. And then if you determine that she really doesn’t want kids, or may…

I met a guy who was ~ 45 or so. He had been with his (then ex-) partner for 15+ years. She had wanted kids, and he kept saying "next year", "not ready yet", etc. Finally, at the age of 43 she gave him an ultimatum to make up his mind, and he replied "nah... don't want kids". She dumped him right away.

I met her too a little bit later, and boy, the resentment was strong with her. I couldn't blame her.

With things like kids, please don't be wishy-washy; make up your mind and set specific goals, timelines, etc. Kids are an expensive investment of both money and time.

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#227

Post by tootie » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 7:21 PM UTC

Zanneth wrote: post #154

Aaron Swartz wrote a blog post about the news[1] and just how terrible it is for the brain. Reading his post had a major impact on me—since then I have always thought differently about the time I spend online. It’s interesting how people, including myself, try to justify various addictions. How am I supposed to stay informed about important topics without the news? How do I know how to help people in need without kno…

Man, I don't get it. News is bad for you so become deliberately ignorant? Don't get distracted by the world so you can work more? It's like saying traffic lights distract you from driving.

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#228

Post by mr90210 » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 7:22 PM UTC

leobg wrote: post #204

Isn’t it funny how much attention these anti-procrastination posts are getting on essentially a procrastination site? (Tongue in cheek! I love HN. I just know that I sometimes do abuse it as a procrastination device.)

Where would you go if you wanted to target procrastinators?

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#229

Post by insightcheck » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 7:25 PM UTC

Arainach wrote: post #210

insightcheck wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not necessarily. There is almost always room to have a discussion and to see if there can be compromise acceptable to both sides first. In this case, it may be acceptable to have kids at a later age; in addition, there could be other related concerns not mentioned in the comment (a lot of information is lost when writing about something online), which could make having kids acceptable. Then if it's truly a red line i…

There is no compromise on children. Some people want them, some don't. This is one of the biggest sources of relationship strife and needs compatibility quickly or folks should agree to part and stop wasting time.

It's not a black-and-white issue. There is compromise if a person doesn't want children right now, but is genuinely open to it when there is more career stability. Some people may also be open to children, but not at the expense of giving up one's career (some couples have worked it out by having the man de-prioritize his career for a while).

I do agree that people can waste time if a person says they "don't want children right now," but really mean that they "don't want children ever." In either case, there is no harm to clarify this before going right to breaking up over hesitations.

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#230

Post by atmosx » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 7:27 PM UTC

leobg wrote: post #204

Isn’t it funny how much attention these anti-procrastination posts are getting on essentially a procrastination site? (Tongue in cheek! I love HN. I just know that I sometimes do abuse it as a procrastination device.)

It’s also funny how all these posts are so “western” in style: ‘Hey look at me, I did something a bit difficult for 3 days, now I am a guru!’

Not trying to knock the author but the time window is simply too small and this approach is simply too common online. Let’s see if the author can actually change lifestyle for more than 5 years and then we can discuss about “lessons learned”.