Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Productivity porn

calebschoepp.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

281–290 of 430 posts

Re: Productivity porn

#281

Post by nicbou »

Forgeties79 wrote: post #133
nicbou wrote: post #41

Here is a really pleasant video with a similar message: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz4YqwH_6D0 A writer writes. A painter paints. You are not defined by what you want or prepare for, but by what you do . On the other hand, you don't have to spend every waking hour being productive. You can go on a bicycle ride without measuring speed and distance. You can work on things that won't develop into income streams. No…

>You can go on a bicycle ride without measuring speed and distance. It's kind of wild how people need metrics - myself included - in order to feel like they did something. I have been really trying to address that in my own life after I found it had creeped so far into my daily life that it was influencing what video games I play . I mean...what? I blame it on the fitbit I got years ago haha

I went the other way and refuse to measure things. I have a gut feeling for “enough” and it’s not a fixed value. It varies according to internal and external factors. I prefer to trust that feeling over arbitrary targets.

I feel good about a long enough bike ride, even if it’s a few kilometres below average. Maybe I was tired, or maybe I lingered in cafes with a good book that time. Distance isn’t a good measure of happiness.

Re: Productivity porn

#282

Post by nonethewiser »

LordHeini wrote: post #31

I really don't get any of those "be more productive", book, video, course and so on. Every single person I know just wastes their time with that. Usualy they work long hours and still don't get much done. But hey, they have Zettelkasten with things the never read. A to do list with stuff they never do. And they go out in the morning at 5 for jogging, while gulping down a liter of coffe or energy drinks which results…

But presumably there is valid info about being more productive. You claim to share such info in this very comment. It's a very specific subset of advice that you are identifying.

Re: Productivity porn

#283

Post by eptcyka »

MuffinFlavored wrote: post #144
eptcyka wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Valuing hard work, reading and trying to be financially successful is something completely unrelated to trying to do 18 hour work days, skimming several books a day, and running the hamster wheel off the peg and into the frying pan. Hard work is often what is required to be successful, but just mindlessly toiling away is not the key ingredient to success. Also, what good is a friend who wouldn't come to your aid in t…

> Valuing hard work, reading and trying to be financially successful is something completely unrelated to trying to do 18 hour work days Are you trying to say "it's easy to be financially successful by working 8 hours a day instead of 18 hours"? like... it's "overstated" that people think they need to "work more/work harder" to become successful?

I'd say you'll probably spend more money on medical bills I'd you were to work 18 hour days 5 days a week for any meaningful amount of time. Or one might be sorely mistaken about what constitutes 18 hour work days - does that include travel and eating time too?

Re: Productivity porn

#284

Post by nonethewiser »

jedberg wrote: post #101

I disagree with the premise. I think the things you learn reading that tweet or that medium post can be useful. There were definitely times when I ran into a problem and thought to myself, "Hey I remember reading about this on Hacker News, how did they solve it?" and then going back and finding the post and finding a solution to my problem. There is also the notion of being able to make better decisions with more "co…

The problem is these "fake productivity" sources arent clearly identified. They are just referenced and then different people assume hes a talking about different things and no one realizes that we're all using different definitions.

Re: Productivity porn

#285

Post by nonethewiser »

biztos wrote: post #182

One of the original, and most effective, competition hacks is to convince people that you sleep less than they do. When someone tells you they sleep 5 hours a night then run two miles and take a 15-minute cold shower then start their work day, 85% of the time they are lying, 10% of the time you will have already noticed the effects of chronic sleep deprivation, and 5% of the time it's drugs. But this has been a suref…

> But this has been a surefire way to put your competitors on the back foot for hundreds, probably thousands of years.

So there examples of this?

Re: Productivity porn

#286

Post by leo250 »

TrackerFF wrote: post #32

Hustle and grind. Create 7 streams of income. Work 18 hour days - anything less and you're a loser destined for mediocrity. Read 5 books a week. Start trading stocks and crypto. Take cold showers, hit the gym. Optimize your schedule, log every minute spent. Ditch your loser friends and only hang out with likeminded - success breeds success. Sigma grindset. Moon or bust. If you're not worth $1 million liquid before 30…

“You can always be thinner, look better”

Re: Productivity porn

#287

Post by complianceowl »

TrackerFF wrote: post #32

Hustle and grind. Create 7 streams of income. Work 18 hour days - anything less and you're a loser destined for mediocrity. Read 5 books a week. Start trading stocks and crypto. Take cold showers, hit the gym. Optimize your schedule, log every minute spent. Ditch your loser friends and only hang out with likeminded - success breeds success. Sigma grindset. Moon or bust. If you're not worth $1 million liquid before 30…

This comment was f-in poetic.

Re: Productivity porn

#288

Post by bribri »

It's a healthy balance.

Watching Ali Abdaal and dissing all productivity techniques is like watching a Crossfitter and dissing all forms of physical exercise. Yes, some people take exercise too far, but most people do nothing and that's a much bigger problem.

I see him as trying to push the envelope and give you a wide range of ideas. I don't try to copy everything he does, but he puts out a lot of ideas and usually some idea will stick.

I do believe there's always a better way of doing something. I especially believe in the productivity techniques to increase self reflection and "leverage" like the "daily highlight" and "five minute journal". It doesn't matter how productive you are if you haven't sorted out your priorities.

Re: Productivity porn

#289

Post by bribri »

> Productivity porn is anything that after having been consumed makes you feel like you were productive when in reality you didn’t actually do anything.

I disagree with the line of thinking that all research which isn't immediately useful is unproductive. It just needs to be limited. Set a time limit of 30 minutes per day for researching and improving your meta process.

Those articles on AI you read on hackernews might be planting the seeds for your next career change. It's impossible to know ahead of time.

I think the ideal breakdown is 20% research, 70% action and 10% reflection.

Re: Productivity porn

#290

Post by noud »

hackerlight wrote: post #260
biztos wrote: post #182

One of the original, and most effective, competition hacks is to convince people that you sleep less than they do. When someone tells you they sleep 5 hours a night then run two miles and take a 15-minute cold shower then start their work day, 85% of the time they are lying, 10% of the time you will have already noticed the effects of chronic sleep deprivation, and 5% of the time it's drugs. But this has been a suref…

No, some people have a genetic mutation that allows them to sleep for 5 hours a day.

Are there?

Not saying they don't exist. But I've yet to meet someone who only sleeps 5 hours a day, doesn't have bags under the eyes, and doesn't fall asleep in every meeting.

Post reply on HN