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Every productivity thought I've ever had, as concisely as possible

guzey.com

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Re: Every productivity thought I've ever had, as concisely as possible

#41

Post by vadansky »

Scarblac wrote: post #23

I need just one thing: a way to get rid of a bad habit that doesn't involve changing the circumstances in which I have that habit. I'm a Web developer with a mindless tic-like habit of opening sites like Reddit and HN all the time. Even a second after closing it. I can't very well get rid of Web browsers. Edit: ohh, but the tip of going to a place where I've never procrastinated before and sitting down to think what…

Edit: ohh, but the tip of going to a place where I've never procrastinated before and sitting down to think what I actually want to do next, that doesn't involve a Web browser. Nice.

That is a great idea, but what do you call it when I do not want to do it because I start thinking about all the awesome things I could have done in my life if I started doing that earlier?

Re: Every productivity thought I've ever had, as concisely as possible

#42

Post by Reedx »

CPLX wrote: post #27
freediver wrote: post #12

The simplest productivity hack is finding passion. I never seen a windsurfer procrastinate. If you are truly enjoying your work and can't wait to do it, there is nothing going to stop you.

Find someone who has to windsurf for a living and you'll find one who procrastinates.

If they are windsurfing for someone else, probably...

But it doesn't seem like top pro athletes and olympians procrastinate. They are intrinsically driven.

Re: Every productivity thought I've ever had, as concisely as possible

#43

Post by savolai »

OedipusRex wrote: post #34
pleasecalllater wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One less productive thing I can think about is reading a comment about how unproductive reading thoughts about productivity is :)

It's turtles all the way down.

Or in this case, tomatoes.

(My first hn joke. Not sure if jokes are allowed but sure was worth it.)

Re: Every productivity thought I've ever had, as concisely as possible

#44

Post by Reedx »

toxik wrote: post #10

I would definitely recommend against having an hour’s commute to work. It is a really strong predictor for life dissatisfaction. Fifteen minutes is the number I heard to be a good balance.

Strongly agree, though if you find yourself in that situation there are ways you can turn it into productive time. Especially if you otherwise don't have blocks of alone downtime.

- Use the time to think. Driving the same commute every day becomes automatic and you can solve problems, practice a talk, iterate or come up with ideas and so on. Take notes via voice.

- Podcasts. There's an endless amount of learning available. Some recommendations: 99% Invisible, Making Sense, Hardcore History, Freakonomics, Business Wars, Planet Money.

- Audiobooks.

Make it a habit and you can actually get to the point where your commute is almost painless and even something to look forward to (particularly if it's the only place you listen to podcasts/audiobooks). Sometimes I actually end up waiting in the car extra time for a Podcast to finish or to clean up notes.

Re: Every productivity thought I've ever had, as concisely as possible

#45

Post by adamsea »

thomas wrote: post #2

Serious question: Is anything less productive than reading other people's productivity thoughts? It's a combination of procrastination and finding out what works for someone who is presumably more productive than you (ie: guilt).

Commenting on them ;)

Re: Every productivity thought I've ever had, as concisely as possible

#46

Post by guzey »

arjan_sch wrote: post #9
bobowzki wrote: post #7

Whenever I read one of these posts I'm always very curious about the age of the writer. I find my thoughts on this topic has changed a lot from mid twenties to mid thirties.

Esp. when reading the part about 15 working hours per day.

Note that there's only 625 minutes of working during this "15 " hours work day. So working 5 days a week this is less than 60 hours of work per week.

Re: Every productivity thought I've ever had, as concisely as possible

#47

Post by Scarblac »

vadansky wrote: post #41
Scarblac wrote: post #23

I need just one thing: a way to get rid of a bad habit that doesn't involve changing the circumstances in which I have that habit. I'm a Web developer with a mindless tic-like habit of opening sites like Reddit and HN all the time. Even a second after closing it. I can't very well get rid of Web browsers. Edit: ohh, but the tip of going to a place where I've never procrastinated before and sitting down to think what…

Edit: ohh, but the tip of going to a place where I've never procrastinated before and sitting down to think what I actually want to do next, that doesn't involve a Web browser. Nice. That is a great idea, but what do you call it when I do not want to do it because I start thinking about all the awesome things I could have done in my life if I started doing that earlier?

Midlife crisis? Life?

Last week I sat down with a notebook and wrote down my thoughts about what all my problems in life boil down to, how I should deal with each of them, what my next actions are... And then I noticed I was using an old notebook and on the first pages I had written almost the exact same things, in 2011.

Except I was much more stressed about them then than I am now. Becoming wiser apparently means thinking the exact same thoughts as ever but being more relaxed about them.

Re: Every productivity thought I've ever had, as concisely as possible

#48

Post by gadders »

tomlong wrote: post #31
toxik wrote: post #10

I would definitely recommend against having an hour’s commute to work. It is a really strong predictor for life dissatisfaction. Fifteen minutes is the number I heard to be a good balance.

I currently have an hours commute, which I find works quite well for me. It is a little bit unusual though - it is a train journey with no changes, I always get a seat, and I live about a 2 minute walk from the train station, and work about a 2 minute walk from the train station at the other side. The train journey is about 50 minutes. It's a good period of time to slowly engage and disengage - I do the things that m…

Mine is pretty similar.

An hour's commute on the train is not at all similar to an hour's car commute.

Re: Every productivity thought I've ever had, as concisely as possible

#49

Post by lm28469 »

freediver wrote: post #12

The simplest productivity hack is finding passion. I never seen a windsurfer procrastinate. If you are truly enjoying your work and can't wait to do it, there is nothing going to stop you.

For most people as soon as your passion becomes your money earning occupation it ceases to be a passion.

"Follow your passion" requires a lot of willpower and very often more work than a salaried position, unless you lower your standards drastically.

Re: Every productivity thought I've ever had, as concisely as possible

#50

Post by mrieck »

frlnc_throwaway wrote: post #25

I highly recommend Jean Moroney's blog. She digs deep into the psychology behind productivity and goal-setting. I found many unique insights in her articles. Thanks to her writing I've come to believe that procrastination often stems from deeper emotional issues or an unacknowledged clash of priorities (for example, when you try to force yourself to do something that you don't, in fact, want to do, the deeper issue i…

More and more research is showing procrastination to be an emotion management problem. [1]

That's why it's been really helpful for me to start keeping a journal. It helps increase self-awareness and helps when I get off-track on my side projects. I can can realign my goals and ease back into being productive again.

[1] https://www.fastcompany.com/90357248/procrastination-is-an-e...

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